Just Watched Howl's moving castle....AND LOVED IT

[ChristianKitsune]

OMIGOSH! Yesterday when I went to Wal Mart I was so happy! I saw this dvd and I was like "YAY!" But then I looked down and Saw Whisper of the Heart and My Neighbor Totoro too...and I WANTED them too..but I only had 20 dollars to spend...(I am savign the rest of my money for my spring Break trip)

So anyway, I decided that I would buy Howl's Moving Castle. ANd the others later....AND I AM SO GLAD I DID!

I stayed up till 3 am watching this movie (meh, I was waiting for my sis to watch it with me, but I didn't know she was already sleeping, lol so I started it at 1..)

ANYWAY... WOW I think thisi s one of Miyazaki's best! It was just splendid!

But I do have one Question... Did Turnip ever talk? Because it said that Crispin Freeman did his voice, but i never even heard him....O.o

Well, yah, that's my rant...What did you guys think?

[thelostsindar]

I just saw Howl's Moving Castle recently too. It was so good! I watched it two days in a row ^_^ I liked it just as well as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, so I'd agree that it's one of Miyazaki's best.

I noticed that Crispin Freeman did his voice too. I thought maybe it was after he was turned back into the Prince, but I'm not sure.

[Sakura15]

I still need to see that!! it looks sooo cool! ^^

[Tenshi no Ai]

*gasps* I was JUST gunna make a topic on it cause I watched it last night too! And I picked it up at Walmart a couple nights ago too (VERY cheap there for an anime DVD^^) but just had time to watch it last night.

It was great^^ You can tell it was Miyazakish but, almost had a different feel to it. Heh, that Howl is an interesting character. When he first appeared I thought "what a bishie!...with tight pants though :/" And then it came to the part where his hair was dyed and he had that freak out... :/ (And I'm sorry, but he's also VERY skinny :/)

*cough* but yeah, good movie though^^

[Lynx]

yeah it's a good one, nominated for an oscar too

[Radical Dreamer]

Aaaah, I still have yet to see it! I saw it at Target yesterday, and I was SO about to buy it, but I was on my way to Books-A-Million to buy volumes 23 and 24 of Kenshin (which they didn't have anyway... ), so I didn't get to buy it! XD I need to see it, though. I do REALLY want Whisper of the Heart too, though...Ack, decisions!

[Myoti]

I still must see it. It seems pretty good...

[ChristianKitsune]

ROFL! I loved when he freaked out....

When I first saw that Jean Simmons was the voice of Old Sophie I was like "THE KISS SINGER?!" and thats what my mom thought to....but nope!

Yeah, this was a neat movie I am going to watch it again tonight with my sis after FMA.

I think what I like about this movie is it's really thought provoking.
[spoiler] Like whenever Sophie changes from old to young and back again over and over...I think its because of her love for Howl, Right?[/spoiler]

The graphics made me wanna drool, and Howl is a new Bishie on my long list of Bishies....

I wonder if I like him blonde or Black best? hmmm....

[Tenshi no Ai]

I think what I like about this movie is it's really thought provoking.
[spoiler] Like whenever Sophie changes from old to young and back again over and over...I think its because of her love for Howl, Right?[/spoiler]

The graphics made me wanna drool, and Howl is a new Bishie on my long list of Bishies....

I wonder if I like him blonde or Black best? hmmm....

Yeah in the spoiler above, it got me confused but my guess was basically the same as yours.

And about the hair colour... it explains why my friend and I were having a debate on his hair, since we both seen screenshots of it in both colours :/

[ChristianKitsune]

debates? What kind of debates?

[jon_jinn]

i've never seen the movie but i did happen to read the book. it was pretty good but somewhat hard to grasp the picture of what was going on. in the book, Howl seemed more like an older man than the pictures of him in the anime.

[Tenshi no Ai]

debates? What kind of debates?

As I said. One of us saw him blonde, the other saw him as a brunette, and we couldn't understand it. My assumption before I saw the movie was that he turned brunettey or whatever colour that was when he turned into a bird (just by looking on the DVD cover, cept it's more bluey then anyways).

[Lady Macbeth]

Yes, I saw (and own) and loved this movie as well. It's definitely another Miyazaki classic.

To reply to some of the points I saw brought up in this thread so far:

But I do have one Question... Did Turnip ever talk? Because it said that Crispin Freeman did his voice, but i never even heard him....O.o

Turnip Head didn't talk until he was turned back into the Prince. Until that point, he communicated solely through actions and rough gestures - that's why Sophie didn't understand what he wanted at first, or why he kept trailing after her.

"what a bishie!...with tight pants though :/" And then it came to the part where his hair was dyed and he had that freak out... :/ (And I'm sorry, but he's also VERY skinny :/)

I found nothing wrong with his pants. His temper tantrum was cute too - I think that's why Sophie found it endearing as well.

[spoiler] Like whenever Sophie changes from old to young and back again over and over...I think its because of her love for Howl, Right?[/spoiler]

This is explained a little more clearly in the book, but it takes that wee bit of magical? knowledge that Japanese (and some other cultures) have to understand fully.

[spoiler]Sophie changes from old to young and back because she is the only one who can break her spell. She didn't realize it because the Witch of the Waste didn't give her any indication in that direction when the curse was set on her. When her heart starts to yearn to be young and beautiful for Howl, that's when her own power lifts the curse - and when Howl outright mentions beauty to her, it shocks her back into old age, because she doesn't think of herself as beautiful or young. Once she realizes the solution to Howl and Calcifer's curse, she also inwardly acknowledges her feelings toward Howl and her curse is lifted as well. That was the key to her curse as well as Howl's, Calcifer's and the Prince's - the feelings of the heart.[/spoiler]

I wonder if I like him blonde or Black best? hmmm....

I actually rather like him blonde. It makes him look older and more wordly. He's supposed to be in his 30s, and the blonde gives that impression. The black hair makes him look more Sophie's age.

[Debitt]

Just got done watching the movie for the kajillionth time (x3 happened to be in Japan the day the DVD was released there) and I can totally understand why you loved it, CR.

Personally I prefer Howl with blonde hair. >_> He looks too much like one of my characters when he has black hair. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it definitely weirds me out. XD

[ChristianKitsune]

I saw this book was written by an author that my library has... (Is it Dynna Wynn Jones or something like that?)
Anyway, What is the title of the book? Is it the same? Is the movie close to it?

I wonder if I could read it for school...
~~~

ahhh what you said about the curse makes sense LM!

[Kawaiikneko]

I got it and watched it last night!! I loved it sooooo much. I watched the Japanese first then watched snippits in English. The english dub was pretty good! I just didn't like Howl's voice that much.

But really, they did amazing for what they had to work with, matching the lips and all

[Debitt]

I saw this book was written by an author that my library has... (Is it Dynna Wynn Jones or something like that?)
Anyway, What is the title of the book? Is it the same? Is the movie close to it?

^_^ Yes, Howl's Moving Castle is also the title of the book by Diana Wynne Jones. I adore her writing, and the original book is an awesome read - there are several differences in the plot. For example, the countries don't go to war in the book, there is simply the threat of war, and Markl is 18 in the book. XD But I definitely reccommend you read the book if your library has it! I don't know if it would, though, I had to special order my copy through Barnes and Noble. =X

[Anime Dad]

I have a copy of what I guess would be a manga version of the film, rather than the original book. It's in color, and I got it long before the film was actually released. It's in Japanese, and I had not much idea what was going on plotwise because of that

I actually got it from a Japanese contact at a company in Japan that I deal with through work. I asked him if he could bring over some manga for my son (just old copies) and he brought that instead, along with a few other things.

[Kami]

Oh my gosh ! This is so creepy ! I JUST saw Howl's Moving Castle like a couple of days ago as well ! XD Lol. Small -Miyazaki- World I suppose XD;;. Wnywho- I loved it <3 It had such a wonderful ending too, comparitivly to Spirited Away. I just adore this movie.

It had such good plot lines and humour in it I just couldn't stand to watch it only once ! I personally liked both, his blonde hair made him look so...aristocratic, while whenh he had black hair he seemed more his usual, spastic,temper-tantrum self. - I LOVED that scene by the way. XD;

-Kami

[Tenshi no Ai]

I just have to ask: is this is the ONLY Miyazaki movie where a character has long hair? Seriously, Sophie is probably the ONLY character that goes against his mid-length trend... well, for most of the movie at least she does :/ But think about it... EVERY other main character he has essentially has the same length and everything... Chihiro is a bit different, but her hair is up all the time. *wonders if he just disslikes drawing long hair* :/

[ChristianKitsune]

actually, no she isn't...

That girl from Castle in the sky had long hair.. her name escapes me though.. ^^;

I loved it when he was blonde though and they first met, Howl seemed to float everywhere

OH!! MY SCHOOL LIBRARY TOTALLY HAS THIS BOOK! WOOOOOT!

[Tenshi no Ai]

[quote="ChristianRonin"]actually, no she isn't...

That girl from Castle in the sky had long hair.. her name escapes me though.. ^^]

Oh that's right^^ She just had her hair done up in braids... and then there was the one instant where they got shot... haven't seen it in a while but think went short again sorta like Sophie's?

[ChristianKitsune]

yeah..they got shot off..^^;

[starwarsboy90]

This Movie is totally awesome, I just saw it last night! Howl is so awesome, the bouncing scarecrow was so funny, I also liked the Fire, forgot his name, played by Billy Crystal. Christian Bale did a really good job Voice Acting for Howl,though...

[Debitt]

Christian Bale did an excellent job - I liked both the subbed and the dubbed versions of this movie. ^_^ I really enjoyed Billy Crystal as Calcifer, too. I think he gave the character a lot of personality.

[DaughterOfZion]

*jumps for joy*i was waiting for it to be released.i didnt get a chance to see it in theaters.i HAVE to tell my friend.*skips of to email friend*

[Pride]

I loved the movie. My mother has already seen it more than I thought. How that woman could spend eight hours viewing something she claims to hate is beyond me.

[Heart of Sword]

I love it too! Next to Phantom of the Opera (of course), this is a favorite!

"what a bishie!...with tight pants though :/" And then it came to the part where his hair was dyed and he had that freak out... :/ (And I'm sorry, but he's also VERY skinny :/)

in the book, Howl seemed more like an older man than the pictures of him in the anime.

Ewww...

The english dub was pretty good! I just didn't like Howl's voice that much.

It seems too deep for him, though I did get used to it eventually.

By the way...why does Howl turn into a bird? Is it a curse or something? Because he hid his feathered arm from Sophie, and she told him that she didn't care if he was a monster and he turned around. I'm a little confused.

[Lady Macbeth]

:eh: Ewww...

Not to start an argument or anything, but can I ask why the "Ewww"? I find him a perfectly all right hero at 30-something or even 40-something if he were to be that old.

Then again, that could be because I am closing in on 30-something myself.

By the way...why does Howl turn into a bird? Is it a curse or something? Because he hid his feathered arm from Sophie, and she told him that she didn't care if he was a monster and he turned around. I'm a little confused.

Because he's a wizard - shapeshifting is a staple of witch/wizard lore, particularly in countries where shamanic magic or magic influenced by shamanic history is common, including Wales (where Howl is from) and Japan (where the anime was made). Howl tried to hide his bird shape from Sophie originally because he didn't want to frighten her off, and at the same time he didn't want her to come to know him like that.

His thoughts on his bird shape are also reflected in his commentary on the other wizards who were fighting the war and stayed as monsters for extended periods of time - they were in danger of losing themselves as humans, because like the monsters they had shifted in to they had lost focus of the humanity underneath the war. When a wizard loses sight of their humanity, they remain a monster forever. Had Sophie been frightened off by Howl's bird form he could have lost a reason to return to being human, and he knew it - and had she accepted him fully as a monster and not cared if he returned to human form he would have likewise been lost. It was through her love for him as a person - as a human - that she was able to recover his heart and pull him back into the human world.

[Heart of Sword]

Ohhhh! That makes sense! Thank you! ^^

As for why 30 is "eww"...I'm nowhere near being 30. ^^;;;