Howl's Moving Castle

ハウルの動く城 (2004)

Timing: 1:59 (119 min)

8.388/10
10954

8.348/10
533689

8.2/10
508000

All about film

Video 8

Photo 184

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-09-09

Country

Japan

Production

TOHO, Studio Ghibli, dentsu, Nippon Television Network Corporation, TFC, Tokuma Shoten, dentsu Music And Entertainment, Mitsubishi, d-rights, Walt Disney Japan

Genre

Fantasy, Animation, Adventure

Budget

$24 000 000

Revenue

$236 049 757

Website

https://gkids.com/films/howls-moving-castle/

Director

Hayao Miyazaki

Actors

Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashûin, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mitsunori Isaki, Yo Oizumi, Akio Otsuka, Daijirō Harada, Haruko Katō
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Toshio Suzuki, Tomohiko Ishii, Hayao Miyazaki

Operator

Atsushi Okui

Composer

Joe Hisaishi

Artist

Audition

Editing

Takeshi Seyama
All team (177)

• The animated film is based on Diana Wynne Jones's novel *Howl's Moving Castle* (1986).
• The original title of the animated film translates as *Howl's Moving Castle*.
• Before filming began, the art team traveled through Europe in search of suitable landscapes for the film. They found them in the eastern province of Alsace, France.
• According to director Hayao Miyazaki, the prototype for the moving castle was the hut on chicken legs from Russian folk tales.
• Mamoru Hosoda was originally supposed to direct the film.
• Before its national release in Japan, *Howl's Moving Castle* was shown at the 61st Venice International Film Festival in 2004. It was the first anime film ever to open the festival.
• Hayao Miyazaki called this film the first anime for adults.
• Christian Bale immediately agreed to voice any role in the English version of the animated film after watching *Spirited Away*. He ultimately became the voice of Howl.
• Hayao Miyazaki and Lauren Bacall, being long-time fans of each other's work, first met at a subtitled screening of the film in New York. Bacall reportedly jokingly asked Miyazaki if he was married.
• In Diana Wynne Jones’s novel, the demon Calcifer is repeatedly noted to whistle to himself a song about a “little pot.” This refers to the well-known Welsh folk song “Sosban Fach” (“Little Pot”), traditionally often performed at rugby matches. The chorus repeats the words “Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân/ Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr” (“Little pot boils on the fire, big pot boils on the floor”).
• The film was created on a computer, but the backgrounds and characters were drawn by hand and then digitized. The storyboard consisted of 1400 scenes and was completed on January 16, 2004. Rough animation was completed on June 25 of the same year.
• The film is based on Diana Wynne Jones' novel "Howl's Moving Castle" (1986).
• The original title of the film translates as "Howl's Moving Castle".
• Before its national release in Japan, "Howl's Moving Castle" was shown at the 61st Venice International Film Festival in 2004. It was the first anime film ever to open the festival.
• Christian Bale immediately agreed to voice any role in the English version of the film after watching "Spirited Away." He ultimately became the voice of Howl.
• In Diana Wynne Jones' novel, the demon Calcifer is repeatedly noted to hum a song about a "little saucepan." This refers to the well-known Welsh folk song "Sosban Fach" ("Little Saucepan"), traditionally often performed at rugby matches. The chorus repeats the lines "Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân/ Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr" ("Little saucepan is boiling on the fire, big saucepan is boiling in the hands").