Howl's Moving Castle: Blossay 3

Howls Moving Castle is a Japanese anime film by Hayao Miyazaki.

            I will start this blossay with a summary of Howl’s Moving Castle, for those of you who haven’t watched this film. The protagonist of the film is Sophie, a young hat maker who is very responsible. When eighteen year old Sophie is on the way to visit her sister she meets a young attractive wizard named Howl. Another witch named the Witch of the Waste sees Howl and Sophie, and makes her an old woman. Sophie is distraught and wants to find a cure to the curse; she then heads off to the Wastes. At the Wastes she meets a living scarecrow who takes her to Howl’s castle. The castle is energized and powered by a fire demon named Calcifer. Calcifer is also under a spell which keeps him energizing the house and to hide the house from outside people. Sophie and Calcifer want to work together to break each other’s curses. Sophie decides to work as a maid in the castle to find a way to break the spell and to help Calcifer who is old and ill.

            While Sophie is at the castle working her home country is at war with its neighboring land, after the Prince of their land is missing. The war is getting bad and the father of the prince the King asks Howl to morph into other creatures to help him fight the war. Howl wants Sophie to pretend to be his mother to go to the king and confess that one of Howl’s allies is a coward.

            Sophie runs into the Witch of the Waste and Suliman the kings magic advisor, drains the witches powers. Suliman tells Sophie that Howl’s powers will also be taken if he does not help out their side. Sophie tells Howl and Howl transforms into a birdlike creature to hide from Suliman, after Suliman attempts to trap him.

            Howl makes multiple transformations to help fight with the war, which is making it more difficult to come back to human form. Sophie and Howl have become very close and is scared that he will leave them. Sophie also fears that Howl will lose the ability to be a human as well. Among all of the troubles occurring during the war Calcifer gets very sick and weak, after eating a bug that creates the castle to be visible.

            The country is attacked and stores are being bombed. A local flowershop is almost attacked before Howl saves it. After this he saves Calcifer and takes Calcifer from the fire ruining the castle. Howl is also very sick and Sophie cares for him and Calcifer. Sophie offers Calcifer a piece of her hair to give him enough strength to make it a bit longer. Howl also gives a piece of his hear to the dying demon to help save him. The Witch of the Waste grabs the heart and burns it in her hand. Sophie pours water on the burning heart and Calcifer loses his powers for good.  Sophie learns of how Howl and Calcifer meet; Howl eats Calciefer and gains his heart. Sophie finds Howl near death in bird form. She runs to the witch and asks for Howls heart. She gets the heart gives it to Howl and frees Calcifer. She thanks the scarecrow for his help and he reveals that he is the prince. Everyone flies off together happily after the war has ended.

            What ultimately drew me to this film was the imagery in the film. When you see the castle for the first time your breath is truly taken away. The film is filled with amazing shots and proves that cinematography can apply for animated films as well. Princess Mononoke is a phenomenal example of beautiful cinematography. Both films have amazing images, of simple fields with grass blowing in the wind or of phenomenal structures and buildings. Both films also show amazing images of just the characters faces, their hair blowing in the wind in a melodramatic way. Even though these films are animated we still see the emotional depth on the faces of the characters.

            There are obvious similarities between Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke, they are both anime films by Miyazaki. Both films show a high power, such as a wizard and a God who is given much control over the world these people live in.  Howl is a powerful wizard that has many people look up to him. Just as the Dear God and Lady Eboshi. Power is something that gets to the head of Lady Eboshi and something that creates a feud between Irontown and the forest. Conflict is something that we see in cinema now and something that has been and will be in film until movies are not made anymore.

            Another obvious connection is the slight love story that is in both Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke is the relationships between our protagonists. Sophie and Howl have a spark and a need to care for one another and feel the need to protect each other. Ashitaka and San though they are on opposite sides of the war their own people are fighting they care for one another even though their own separate sides of a war.

            Animals are a main theme in both of these films as well. San was literally raised by wolves and acts more as an animal than the human that she truly is. Howl morphs into different animals throughout the film. Animals are symbols of a new type of creature and even a new form of communication, this can be a barrier between two worlds that aren't communicating well. This is a theme not only with the animalistic ways of Howl and San but of the problems with communication between the two worlds that fight in both films.   

            This film heavily reminded me of The Wizard of Oz. Sophie a young woman who is gentle and kind reminds me of Dorothy Gale, the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz. The Witch of the Waste is in some way envious of Sophie’s beauty and youth, just like how the Wicked Witch of the West seeks revenge on Dorothy. Though the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't seek the youth of Dorothy she does want her dead after the accidental death of her sister. After Sophie is cursed and becomes an old woman she wonders off to the Wastes and encounters a scarecrow, who is alive, just like the scarecrow that Dorothy meets on her way to Oz. After Sophie is cursed she and the scarecrow go to Howl’s castle to have him reverse the spell, which is similar to Dorothy going to Oz to meet the Wizard and to send her home.  Also given that Howl’s castle moves is a metaphor of some sort for the Dorothy’s home moving from Kansas to Oz. Sophie also returns home on the plane just as Dorothy does on the hot air balloon. 

            In conclusion both films are similar not only because of the director and the fact that they are anime films but they both feature such similar films. Both feature a fantastical element and a true story of fighting and war. Conflict comes into play with these films and they show how much communication truly matters, not only in speak but in how they act and go through the way of leadership.