Howl's Moving Castle will come to DVD on March 7, 2006. Its 2-disc set will present the film in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in both the original Japanese audio and the Disney/Pixar-supervised English dub. Bonus features will include a "Behind the Microphone" featurette on the English voice cast, the entire film in storyboard format, trailers and TV ads, an interview with Pete Docter (who directed the English dub), and "Hello, Mr. Lasseter" which depicts a meeting between Howl's director Hayao Miyazaki and his friend/fan John Lasseter of Pixar.

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Howl's Moving Castle, the latest and supposedly last film from Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, is adapted from a 1986 fantasy novel of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones. Nonetheless, like the eight major films that he has previously helmed, Howl's credits Miyazaki with penning the screenplay, putting this production in a tradition that has earned the attendance and adoration of countless moviegoers around the world. Last fall, while Pixar Animation Studios' latest triumph The Incredibles was setting records and topping charts stateside and in several territories overseas, it was no match for Howl in Japan, where the film (titled Hauru no ugoku shiro) grossed more than $175 million to date.

In America, where Miyazaki's previous film Spirited Away was commended with the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature just over two years ago, Howl's Moving Castle is distributed by the local pioneers of animation, Walt Disney Studios. The English language version is co-directed by Pete Docter (the director of Monsters, Inc.) and executive-produced by John Lasseter (director of A Bug's Life and the two Toy Story films), both from the aforementioned Pixar, the industry-leading computer animation studio which shares a somewhat similar relationship with Disney. Here in the US, Disney will open Howl's in just 35 theaters on June 10, expand to many more a week later, and continously reassess the limited distribution method in the months ahead.

That Howl's is based on a pre-existing piece of British literature distinguishes the film from Miyazaki's two prior works which both made their way to a number of American theaters in 1999 (Princess Mononoke) and 2002 (Spirited Away). However, it shares with those films many of the director's creative trademarks including fantastical elements, rich characters, emotional complexity, and an atypical narrative arc.

The protagonist of the film is a plain-looking 18-year-old girl named Sophie who works hard in a hat shop that was her father's when he was alive. Sophie's life seems fairly ordinary, even after a walk with a charming, mysterious stranger out of a potentially uncomfortable situation. But "ordinary" is not a fitting way to describe what happens to Sophie next. While working late one night after the shop's close, Sophie is visited by a large and obnoxious woman. Before Sophie can figure out just what's going on, she has been cursed by that woman, who many know as The Witch of the Waste.

Sophie is shocked to discover that the next time she sees herself, the mirror shows a 90-year-old woman. Such were the terms of the Witch's spell and part of the bargain is that Sophie cannot speak of her cursed plight. Now elderly and without a clear solution to her problem, Sophie runs off from her family. For the transformed Sophie, standing upright poses challenge enough, but nonetheless she sets off on a quest for a new home.

In her journeys, Sophie encounters a compelling cast of characters. The first of these (and one of my favorites) is a mute scarecrow she dubs Turniphead for obvious reasons. With his help, she finds a place to stay, but it is the fabled moving castle of Howl, the enigmatic wizard who, legend has it, takes the hearts of young girls. Aboard his unique mobile home, Sophie takes on the position of cleaning lady and becoming a type of grandmother to the master, his apprentice Merkl (who puts on a beard whenever someone comes to the door), and a fire demon named Calcifer who keeps the place running as long as he is kept lit. Clearly, Sophie's curse was her first encounter with magic, but it won't be her last as she is surrounded by unexplainable phenomena and living in a modest home which can instantly lead to one of four portals.

Howl's Moving Castle may not be Miyazaki's most emotionally affecting film, but along with the fantasy, there is again a sophisticated humanity on display. The handful of central personalities come to life not with catchphrases or pop culture references, but with genuine character - flair, flaws, and unexpected power. The story is enhanced with lush, atmospheric imagery and an evocative score by Miyazaki's regular collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The film is dripping with imagination. Though it takes place in an unclear time and location and may seem irrelevant to your life, you cannot help but find yourself taken in by the plights of the various characters, especially Sophie, who has your sympathy from the start.

As stated earlier, two versions of the film will be making it to theaters (and eventually to Region 1 DVD): one with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles, one dubbed in English by a reputable American voice cast. The screening I attended was of the latter version. Though the dubbing doesn't synch with the animation perfectly, the matching of characters and actors illustrates inspired casting choices. Christian Bale, who later this month will be seen as Batman, gives the lanky and slightly vain Howl an air similar to the Gotham suphero: powerful but mysterious. Long-time screen legends Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall lend their voices to the film's cursed heroine and her curser, respectively. Emily Mortimer plays the young Sophie, and her lines of dialogue are seamlessly matched with Simmons's. While Bacall's Witch of the Waste cannot cleanly be referred to as "the villain", she's easy to dislike, a grotesque blob of a woman who becomes more hideous as the film progresses. (Her henchmen, amorphous beings who dress in Willy Wonka's purple suits, are another story altogether.) As Calcifer, the eggshell-eating fire demon, Billy Crystal delivers a few lines with his trademark mock-frustration, but like the rest of the cast, his primary interest is in serving his character rather than getting laughs from his usual persona; as such, there's nary a hint of Mike Wazowski in there.

Seeing Howl's Moving Castle, and especially on a big screen, the film is very magnetic and engulfing. Accordingly, it's hard to notice any shortcomings. At one minute shy of two hours, the film does feel a bit bloated, lingering on the wheezy dog Heen for at least one shot too many near the end. Still, there is always a lot going on, from the vague war going on that Howl wants nothing to do with to the internal dilemmas that each character is grappling with. I appreciate that, like most of Miyazaki's past works, this film so rich with ideas does not pander to audiences. It requires deduction and participation, and seemingly not out of laziness or creative voids.

A number of Miyazaki's films are marked by anomalies which mostly puzzle Western audiences and are widely left open to interpretation. Spirited Away is rich with examples, from Yubaba's gargantuan baby to the odd guest-eating patron No-Face. By contrast, Howl's Moving Castle is remarkably straightforward through its first half, I suspect, due to fidelity to its textual source. As the film progresses, questions are raised and not necessarily given a clean answer. For instance, what is the reasoning behind Sophie's fluctuation in appearance throughout the second half of the film? Surely, certain feelings she expresses or statement she makes cue a return to the young-looking Sophie, but the transformation introduces some of the complexity which makes Miyazaki's works (and to be fair, other Studio Ghibli films) ripe for discussion and multiple viewings.

In several ways, Howl's Moving Castle is reminiscent of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, though it has less humor and no musical numbers. The roles are slightly reversed, the potential romance is not quite an essential issue, and the silverwear does not come to life. This is a visually compelling fairy tale told with Miyazaki's sensibilities and requiring active participation from the audience. At a time when the box office is predominantly occupied by mindless big budget spectacles, Disney is releasing Howl's Moving Castle as a welcome alternative for those who consider thinking as part of the moviegoing process.

Reviewed June 9, 2005.

Howl's Moving Castle will come to DVD on March 7, 2006. Its 2-disc set will present the film in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in both the original Japanese audio and the Disney/Pixar-supervised English dub. Bonus features will include a "Behind the Microphone" featurette on the English voice cast, the entire film in storyboard format, trailers and TV ads, an interview with Pete Docter (who directed the English dub), and "Hello, Mr. Lasseter" which depicts a meeting between Howl's director Hayao Miyazaki and his friend/fan John Lasseter of Pixar.

Preorder Howl's Moving Castle (2-Disc DVD) from Amazon.com