Howl's Moving Castle (English dub)

[oyceter]

To note beforehand: I've only read the DWJ book once, and I don't quite remember all the details, so I can't really say how well the movie followed the book.

The animation was so gorgeous! It's set in the sort of vague late nineteenth century Europe that Miyazaki has used before, but this setting is more urban and technological than the more pastoral Laputa and Kiki's Delivery Service. And, oh, I adored it. The cities, the crowds, the fashionable sort of Edwardian looking people, wah! And I loved the giant steampunk castle on its teetering chicken feet, along with the glass conservatory of the palace and the the airships and the beautiful fields of flowers and the rivers and cliffs. Watching a Miyazaki movie is always such a feast for the eyes. There's a little more CGI than I'm used to for a Miyazaki movie, but I suppose he's starting to use more. And oh, the way the castle moved and lumbered and lurched about, the way it creaked and breathed and snorted smoke! And of course Joe Hisaishi's music was wonderful as always. I was so glad that they left the song at the end in the original Japanese instead of dubbing it over. I really want to get it now.

The dub, I wasn't quite so enthusiastic about, but I sort of figured that would happen. But I did like Sophie's voice, so that was good. I think I like the British accents in the film more, possibly because the film looks like it's set in Europe, and so the broad American accents of Christian Bale and Billy Crystal sound incredibly out of place. Either that, or the American accents are too familiar to me, and I expect something slightly more foreign sounding to come out of the people's mouths. I wonder if people in Britain think British accents sound strange in dubs and American ones sound more natural? Or this could just be one of those weird me things. Also, it was very strange hearing Billy Crystal as Calcifer, just because he's so recognizably Billy Crystal. Ditto with Christian Bale as Howl, but then the strangeness was partially because Bale's voice is very masculine for the androgynous-looking Howl, but mostly because I'd just seen Batman Begins on Monday, and man, the conflation of Bruce Wayne and Howl was too much for my brain.

I really liked the character designs as well, particularly the horribly sneezy dog, which had me cracking up pretty much every time he was on screen. Especially when he couldn't figure out how to climb up the palace stairs! I liked the young Witch of the Waste, because she looked creepy without looking stereotypically witchy, and I adored the witch's henchmen, who were really creepy. Sophie looks pretty much like every other Miyazaki heroine, and Howl is flamboyant, but not quite as vain as I remember from the book.

Book comparisons, from the very, very few impressions I have: Howl doesn't seem to be quite as vain and self-centered as I remember from the book, with the exception of his hair dye tragedy ;). He just felt so serious and tortured the entire time, and I don't quite remember the Howl of the book being quite so much like that. Sophie was crochety, but possibly less so from the book. And I enjoyed how they had her age shifting around to sort of represent how much she thought about her looks, how she grew straighter and less wrinkled when she was less self-conscious, and how she reverted from being young Sophie to old Sophie when Howl mentioned how nice she looked. I thought it was a rather subtle way to hint at the fact that Sophie was the one keeping the spell on herself. I seem to remember Sophie being more magic in the book, but am not sure about that. I also seem to remember Calcifer having a scary moment or two, but I'm also not sure about this. I don't remember how the Witch of the Waste was portrayed in the book, or the role Madame Suliman played, but both of them ended up feeling a little too benign for me, even in the movie, and I don't quite remember the book being so concerned with Howl turning into a monster. Actually, I didn't remember that part as well, but I thought it was rather cool to watch in the movie, even if it turned Howl rather more angsty than trickstery.

Overall, I thought the movie ran a little longer than it should have, and I was a bit confused at the end because no one quite explained the point of the spell on Sophie or what the war was about anyway. But man, I loved the animation and all the little details and the entire world. Spirited Away still remains my favorite Miyazaki though. It's hard to beat the sheer strangeness and wonderfulness of the world of Spirited Away, but most of all, I adore Chihiro. I liked Sophie as well, but I felt that Howl's Moving Castle ended up being more Howl's story than Sophie's, so that even though she does seem to grow a bit during the movie, the real journey seems to be Howl's, and it's the mystery of Howl that drives the entire movie, despite Sophie being under a spell as well. I don't quite remember this in the book; I seem to remember the climax revolving around Sophie solving Howl's past, yes, but also finding her own power as a witch and something like that.

Come to think of it, I tend to prefer the Miyazaki movies that end up being about the inner strength of the heroines first and the wonders of the world and etc. second. While I like his male characters, they never seem to grow and develop quite the same way his female characters do when he focuses on them. Lupin was incredibly fun, but not all that deep (but really, really fun!). I liked Princess Mononoke, but San was more a character caught up in the giant events of the world, same with the girl in Laputa. My favorites so far are Spirited Away, Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, because even though some of the others are larger in scope and have gorgeous, gorgeous animation, I just like watching stories about girls growing up, I guess. Heh. Go fig. Anyhow, still have a few more Miyazakis to watch, and am so glad he didn't retire like he was saying after Princess Mononoke. Just... there are so many beautiful things on the screen, and I love that about the animation. I mean, I also love Pixar and some of the Dreamworks things that have been put out, but I'm just glad that there's still someone out there focusing on animating these visual feasts, since there already seem to be quite a few someones out there focusing on humor and good CG and the like (I'm not so much a fan of celebrity voicework, though).

Now I am going to borrow fannishly's copy of DWJ's Howl's Moving Castle and promptly reread it.

ETA: Oh, and I forgot... I was a little put off as to how quickly Howl and Sophie fell in love. I suppose I remembered a more antagonistic relationship and much more yelling between Howl and Sophie as Sophie cleaned the castle and reorganized everything. I mean, I found the newer, more angsty Howl very cute, yes, and I understood why Sophie fell head over heels, but I had sort of wished for something more argue-y. Wai, ok, this half-rememberance of the book is driving me crazy, so I really, really need to reread.

Comments

[undeadjournal.livejournal.com]

Interesting stuff, good review.

There's a little more CGI than I'm used to for a Miyazaki movie, but I suppose he's starting to use more.

I'd be really interested to hear exactly where in the movie you detected the CGI. I was half looking out for it, and I thought the castle, for the most part, looked CGI.

The strange thing is, the moment you mention CGI, some people say "Miyazake doesn't use CGI!" and get offended. One person even said "isn't that the whole point of Miyazaki"!

I told them to go back and watch "Spirited Away" when Chihiro and Haku are running between the hydrangeas...

Am I right in thinking this is the first time ever that Miyazaki has based a movie on someone else's work?

[I saw it with subtitles by the way]

[seajules]

For book-related reasons, I was very, very surprised Christian Bale did not revert to his native accent for this movie. Of course, the movie took away the reason I expected the accent, but everyone else seemed to at least have a vague one, so I was still surprised.

Your recollection of the book is largely correct, and it is very much Sophie's story. So while the movie is gorgeous and movie Howl enchanted me (and I adore Christian Bale even when he's pulling an American accent), I still much prefer the book. I hope you'll post your reaction to it when you're done re-reading.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

In the UK there's a big social prejudice that subtitles are the only way to enjoy foreign films and dubbing is for Dumb Yanks who can't read. So there's not much of an issue with UK vs. American accents in dubbing.

[oyceter]

I was pretty sure that the castle was CGI.... Ditto with the hydrangeas in "Spirited Away"! Yeah, I think he has started using CGI, at least he mentioned that in one of the Spirited Away interviews, but there's some percentage of CGI that he refuses to go over.

I don't know if this is the first movie Miyazaki has based off something else... I think the Lupin character for Lupin III may not be his creation. I'm not sure about that though... I just remember there being other Lupin TV shows or movies before and after the Miyazaki one.

[oyceter]

Ooh, where is Christian Bale from?

I did very much miss what I remembered as Sophie's crochety nature in the book. The movie seems to capture some of it, but Sophie and Howl and Calcifer all seem much nicer than I remember.

[oyceter]

Heh, I am a little jealous -- at least that means there is the option of seeing the film subtitled. Not to say that it's the only way a film should be seen, but it'd be nice if the option were open for foreign animated movies here.

[undeadjournal.livejournal.com]

I think the Lupin character for Lupin III may not be his creation.

Good point, I'm sure you're right, although the plot may still have been his.

I was just thinking that "Howl's" is the most sexual of his movies, like when the soldiers are harrassing her at the start, and the fact that she and Howl actually kiss.

[oyceter]

Yeah! I was actually a little surprised as to how quickly the romance developed. I think I prefer the more bickery Sophie and Howl from the book (in the midst of the reread).

[seajules]

Christian Bale was born and raised in Wales, though his native accent sounds more English than Welsh to me. He's gained the ability to turn it on and off at will, it seems, but Reign of Fire is a good example of him with it "on."

All three characters are definitely nicer than in the book. I think part of that is the conventions of movie-making, especially when it comes to "kid movies." Characters who are flawed but likable seem to be regarded as too complex for a two-hour film, so you often get characters who are more one-dimensionally nice than the originals when adapting a book into a movie. Another part is that the difference between events in the film and the book makes the film characters come out as more traditionally nice and romantically heroic (as opposed to non-romantically heroic, which I felt Sophie was in the book, and loved her for it).

[oyceter]

Ooohhh, how nifty! Doh, I wish he had used his accent then.

Man, the book characters are so wonderful that I am sort of retroactively regretting the movie, if that makes any sense. I think Miyazaki definitely could have made a much more crochety Sophie and a vainer Howl, but he just didn't for some reason. Sigh. I think I wanted something more like the old romantic comedies like Bringing Up Baby, except with a moving castle and witches instead of leopards.

[seajules]

The movie is beautiful, but definitely flawed. And that's an excellent comparison for their relationship. I have a friend who calls the archetype the Bickersons. *G*

[gopherguts1218.livejournal.com]

I loved Howl's Moving Castle... You're right, the animation was gorgeous, between Miyzaki and Satoshi Kon though, I really can't say I have a preference. They're both so talented!

By the way, sorry for intruding on your LJ like this, I just saw a cross-link (somewhere) that led to your site. I'm Adrian... You have an awesome site! ^^v

[oyceter]

Hi! Thanks, and people are always welcome on my LJ!

Dubbing UK

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah that's not right, certain picky anime die hard fans have trouble with dubbing, not the UK in general. Also...to answer another thing here. Thats a no on wondering if british accents sound odd in dub and americans sound more natural. As a person with several American friends whom I lived with over a year I can tell you that american dub is awful and artificial where the English ( and i mean english) dub is so much more natural. no changes of words or lines (other than for translation purposes) and no annoying changes to suit national syntax. American dubbing is the worst i have ever encountered...which is a shame really as I think the US excels at so many things in the entertainment area.