‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ at 20: Find Me in The Future

Studio Ghibli films have always found a special place in the hearts of Hayao Miyazaki fans, as his fanbase expands globally. As one of the beloved classics from the Ghibli stable, Howl’s Moving Castle celebrates its 20th anniversary, the animated film is being rereleased in theaters worldwide starting Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.

Based on an English fantasy novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones, the story follows the adventures of a milliner, young Sophie whose humdrum life is totally turned upside down after an accidental encounter with the mysterious caped stranger Howl Pendragon who rescues her from unwanted attention.

Tokuma Shoten (a Japanese publishing house) would send Miyazaki children’s books every month for film inspirations. Howl’s Moving Castle was one among those books. What fascinated Miyazaki about the English fantasy novel was the idea of a giant moving castle. When Miyazaki delved into the source material, he explored and expanded on the premise of the story turning it into something more intense, philosophical and metaphorical.

From a simple fantasy story, Howl’s Moving Castle evolved into a complex narrative on war, peace and personal growth.

The film’s centerpiece is that of war and peace. However, in the original book, the war was only at the fringes of the main plot. Howl’s job was to simply find the missing brother of the king. Howl’s mysterious, abrupt disappearances in the book were attributed to his Casanova persona. In the film, this facet of his personality was significantly toned down and the reason for his surreptitious departures were heroic quests to put an end to the war that is raging. 

Other characters were also completely changed in the film. In the book, Calcifer is a demonic figure whereas in the film he’s a sweet little domesticated fire who frets after Howl and Sophie. In the English dub, Calcifer is voiced by the delightful Billy Crystal. The primary antagonist in the book, Witch of the Waste’s threat level is significantly reduced, she is turned into a harmless senile old lady midway through the film. And Sophie herself was a powerful sorceress in the original, here she is a simple, sheltered hatmaker.

The titular character, Howl’s Moving Castle also takes a much bigger role in the film. It was the aspect of a moving castle that drew Miyazaki to the story. In the film, the Moving Castle mirrors the changing personality of its master, Howl. The Castle appears unwieldy, weighed down by its own complicated paraphernalia like Howl himself, burdened as he is by his tribulations. Its shifting interiors with multiple doorways are an indication of Howl’s mercurial temperament. All of this begins to change when Sophie storms past its red door straight into Howl’s heart. She cleans the castle, one dusty cobweb at a time.

Jones’ novel was about challenging class and gender expectations, but Miyazaki turns it into a treatise on peace as against war and about overcoming hardships via love. By giving the protagonists more noble attributes, the message of the film’s story becomes all the more evocative and powerful.

Miyazaki’s magic lies in transforming simple, innocent, seemingly delicate protagonists setting out into the world on a seemingly impossible task and finding the courage within themselves to overcome difficult situations and adversaries without giving into despair.

The setting of Howl’s Moving Castle appears to be modeled after a quaint European town unlike the idyllic Japanese countryside one usually sees in a Ghibli film. The visuals of the town scenes were based on the architecture and aesthetic of Alsace, a region in France that he visited on the recommendation of Walt Disney’s French distributor. He was also inspired by the art and lithographs of the 19th-century French illustrator and novelist Albert Robida. The futuristic aspects of the film, from the Moving Castle to the war artillery, were inspired by the French maverick artist.

Miyazaki’s films are always drawn more realistically, where everything is to scale compared to other anime films. Though it was a digital production, all the artwork for the film, the characters, the scenes, the castle itself and the background were all painstakingly hand drawn before being scanned.

In the novel, Howl’s castle is a sinister wizard’s tower, with hardly any description. There is no explanation as to how the castle is moving. In the film, the Castle is an iconic character itself, looking like a steampunk version of the Slavic folklore’s witch Baba Yaga’s house with its chicken legs. With a mouth that spews steam, the Castle moves along the countryside looking as though it was just a wobbly mass of hurriedly cobbled together pieces of scrap iron.

The Castle in the film was modeled on a hiker’s bag that was almost bursting at its seams, with utensils hanging on the sides. This allowed the graphic design team to realistically envision how all the elements of the castle would move.

The design elements were first hand-painted and then scanned onto a computer. Thereafter, it was broken down into smaller individual parts and then assembled like a jigsaw puzzle in Photoshop. This was done so that the rendering of the movements of the Castle would be more precise and realistic.

The reason that the Castle stood on chicken legs was not because it was bought from the same relator that sold Baba Yaga her house, instead it was simply because chicken legs seemed like an easier option to animate. 

In fact, if you visit the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, you can see the original hand-drawn key animation scenes for the film, along with most of Miyazaki’s other works. It’s a treasure trove of information for artists and illustrators; the technique, the use of the colours, the mediums used. The Ghibli Museum provides a masterclass by itself.

The film took two years to make, facing a delay in the release date, a first for Miyazaki as the storyboard was incomplete due to the expansion of the film’s story. 

Today, it is even possible to step into Howl’s Moving Castle yourself in Ghibli Park in Aichi, Japan! Er, rather Howl’s Selectively Moving Castle, as the castle itself is stationary but certain parts do move. It even puffs out steam with Turnip-head greeting you at the entrance.