Howl’s Moving Castle

In September I posted about one of my favorite Japanese anime movies, Spirited Away.  Today I bring you another masterpiece by the same filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki: Howl’s Moving Castle.

Sophie, a quiet girl with low self-esteem, is about to find her life turned upside down.  While out and about, she has a chance encounter with the mysterious and handsome wizard, Howl.  Sophie isn’t afraid of him like everyone else because Howl “only eats the hearts of pretty girls.”  The wicked Witch of the Waste is jealous of Howl’s attentions towards Sophie, and puts a spell on her, turning her into an old woman.  Unable to remain in her normal life, Sophie ventures into the wastes and comes across Howl’s magical moving castle, a heaping piece of creaky junk powered by the powerful fire demon, Calcifer.  The two strike a bargain, agreeing to help each other break the curses they’re under.  Sophie hires herself as Howl’s cleaning lady, but finds it’s not so simple a job when the great and powerful wizard is as mature as a two-year-old and a war between two countries threatens to destroy them all.

The Characters

Sophie handles being cursed into an old woman’s body rather well, considering.  She gains more confidence as “Grandma Sophie” than she ever did as a young woman.  She works hard and grows to love her new family.  When that love shows, she even becomes visibly younger, though it doesn’t break the curse.

Howl may be handsome and mysterious, but at heart he’s really vain and selfish.  He’s under a kind of curse as well, though these curses come with a gag order and no one’s able to speak about it.  Howl transforms into a hideous monster at night when he flies out to survey the destruction of a war he hates, yet the King is calling upon him to serve and fight, and Howl can’t hide forever.

Calcifer is a fire demon.  He and Howl are under a binding curse that keeps Calcifer trapped in the fireplace and running the magical castle.  Calcifer is belligerent and petulant, but is most definitely the comedic relief.  Voiced by Billy Crystal, he’s my favorite character in this movie.

The Witch of the Waste has been after Howl for years.  Though hideous, she’s vain and prideful.  She gets some nasty just desserts in the end.

Markl is a young boy apprenticed to Howl.  At first suspicious of Sophie, he comes to love her with a little boy’s vulnerability.

Turnip Head is a scarecrow who hops around on his stick and tries to help Sophie.  He’s got a turnip for a head, which is what earns him his nickname.  He’s got a secret identity that won’t be revealed until the end…

This movie is actually based on a novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones.  However, though the characters are the same and the inciting incident of Sophie being cursed are the same, the two stories go in completely different directions after that.  So much so, that I can’t even compare the two; they are independent plots, and I love them both in their uniqueness.

If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, I highly recommend both.

This week I also did a guest post on Kim Kozlowski’s blog about writing and my little helper.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spirited Away

Welcome to Imagine That on Wednesdays!  Here’s a random fact about me: I love fantasy anime.  The breadth of imagination the writers and animators have inspires me.  Sometimes the images are breathtaking, sometimes they’re crazy weird, but that’s what makes watching it such an adventure.

Here’s one of those masterpieces by acclaimed filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki: Spirited Away.

Ten-year-old Chihiro is sullen when her parents uproot her from her home and move to a new neighborhood.  On the way, they stumble into the spirit world where her parents are transformed into pigs.  To find a way to save them, Chihiro takes a job at the bathhouse, run by the witch Yubaba.  Yubaba controls people by stealing their names.  Chihiro becomes Sen and must fight to remember who she is and why she’s in the spirit world.  She’ll discover courage she never knew she had as she faces a stink spirit, a monster who devours people, a curse, and a dragon who knew her as a young child, though she can’t remember how.

The Characters

Chihiro starts out as a pouting, obnoxious whiner.  However, throughout her adventure, she will learn strength and determination, not to mention the discipline of hard work.  She’ll learn to think of others before herself and face her fears on behalf of those she loves.

Haku is the boy (also a dragon) who rescues Chihiro when she first enters the spirit world.  He continues to help her by sending her to people he trusts.  Haku has his own agenda, and though he works for Yubaba, he’s fighting to remember his name and be free of her.  He thinks Chihiro holds the key to his true identity, though neither can recall how or where.

Yubaba runs the bathhouse and controls all her employees by stealing their names.  She’s obsessed with profit and running a business, so much so that she fails to notice when her baby boy is replaced with a dummy.

Boh is a selfish, fussy, screaming child who’s never left the safety of his padded playpen.  Yubaba’s twin sister transforms Boh into a mouse as punishment for Yubaba ordering Haku to steal her gold seal.  Like Chihiro, this swaddling baby boy undergoes his own journey from selfish brat to wiser toddler.

Zeniba is Yubaba’s twin sister who lives out in the boonies.  When Chihiro makes her way there to return the gold seal and plead for Haku’s life, Zeniba turns out to be quite the grandmotherly figure.  All the curses she cast were to teach lessons.

There are some other interesting characters.  Karmaji is a six-armed man who works in the boiler room with the soot mites.  No Face takes a liking to Chihiro, but accidentally loses control and starts eating all the employees at the bathhouse.

Spirited Away is a beautiful coming of age story wrapped in wonder and splendor.

So tell me, have you seen Spirited Away?  Are you going to go rent it?  Do you like the style of anime and the fantastical interpretations?  Or is it too weird for you?  I love hearing from you!