Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is an animated fantasy film produced by Studio Ghibli that opened in Japanese theaters in November 2004. Director Hayao Miyazaki scripted the film based on the 1986 fantasy novel written by British author Diana Wynne Jones.

Joe Hisaishi composed the orchestral score, conducting the New Japan Philharmonic for the soundtrack recordings. Akihiko Yamashita supervised the animation alongside character designs guided by director Hayao Miyazaki. Veteran actress Chieko Baisho supplied the Japanese voice of young and elderly Sophie Hatter, while actor Takuya Kimura voiced the enigmatic Wizard Howl. Domestic distributor Toho launched the 119-minute animated film across 448 movie screens in Japan. The studio developed the film with traditional hand-drawn animation techniques blended with digital rendering for the mechanical movements of the walking castle.

An 18-year-old milliner named Sophie Hatter leads a quiet life crafting hats in her deceased father's workshop in the fictional kingdom of Ingary. Her routine shatters when the vindictive Witch of the Waste enters the shop and casts a curse that ages Sophie into a 90-year-old woman. Unable to remain in her hometown, Sophie journeys into the mountainous wasteland and takes shelter inside the four-legged walking castle of the reclusive wizard Howl. She strikes an alliance with Calcifer, a bound fire demon powering the hearth, who agrees to break her curse if she frees him from his pact with Howl.

Walt Disney Pictures oversaw international distribution in English-speaking territories, releasing an English dub directed by Pete Docter across North American theaters in June 2005. The anime earned $236 million worldwide, including ¥19.6 billion from Japanese cinema admissions. At the 61st Venice International Film Festival in 2004, the film won the Osella Award for Technical Achievement. The film secured Animation of the Year at the 4th Tokyo Anime Awards in 2005 and received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. Novelist Diana Wynne Jones attended an advance screening arranged personally by Miyazaki in England.