Howl receives summons from the King, who orders his various assumed identities to fight in the war. When Howl appears, Sophie announces that she is the castle's new cleaning lady hired by Calcifer.Īt the same time, Sophie's country is caught up in the beginning of a war with its neighboring country, following the mysterious disappearance of the other country's Crown Prince. Calcifer offers to break the curse in exchange for Sophie's help in breaking the spell he's under, which keeps Calcifer bound to the house. Here, Sophie meets Howl's young apprentice, Markl and the fire-demon Calcifer, who is the source of all of the castle's energy and magical power. Seeking a cure for the transformation spell, Sophie travels into the Wastes but instead finds a cursed living scarecrow whom she calls "Turnip Head", who takes her to Howl's castle. The Witch of the Waste, who romantically pursues Howl, comes to the hat shop and curses Sophie who refuses to serve her by transforming Sophie into a ninety-year old woman. Sophie, an eighteen-year old hatter, is a responsible young woman who encounters a mysterious and tremendously powerful wizard named Howl while on her way to visit her younger sister Lettie. The change might be a blessed chance for adventure. Nevertheless, she learns to embrace it as a liberation from anxiety, fear and self-consciousness. Sophie is horrified by the change at first. She starts out as an 18-year-old hat maker, but then a witch's curse transforms her into a 90-year-old grey-haired woman. Wynne Jones's novel allows Miyazaki to combine a plucky young woman and a mother figure into a single character in the heroine, Sophie. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. It received a limited release in the United States and Canada beginning Jand was released nationwide in Australia on September 22 and in the United Kingdom the following September. The film was later dubbed into English by Pixar's Peter Docter and distributed in North America by Walt Disney Pictures. It went on to gross $190 million in Japan and $235 million worldwide, making it one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history. The film is one of only three (out of a current 18) Studio Ghibli films which were not released in July, and the last since 2004. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2004, and was released in Japanese theaters on November 20, 2004. Mamoru Hosoda, director of one episode and two movies from the Digimon series, was originally selected to direct but abruptly left the project, leaving the then-retired Miyazaki to take up the director's role.
The film was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. The film is based on the novel of the same name by British writer Diana Wynne Jones. Howl's Moving Castle ( Japanese: ハウルの動く城 Hepburn: Hauru no Ugoku Shiro ?) is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film scripted and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.