By Staff Writer, Linet Der-Yaghoobian
After mesmerizing American audiences with contemporary classics like “Nausicaa” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” director Hayao Miyazaki has completed another masterpiece “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

The first wave of Miyazaki’s brilliance hit with the highly acclaimed “Princess Mononoke.” If that was the small-but-tasty appetizer, “Spirited Away” was the unbelievable main course. The film won the Oscar for Best-Animated Film in 2003 and entranced audiences of all ages worldwide. “Spirited Away” did exactly what its title suggested, sweeping audiences into a world they had never seen before. It created legions of English-speaking Miyazaki fans who waited anxiously for the follow-up, “Howl’s Moving Castle.” Though it is not the instant classic “Spirited Away” was, it is a great dessert to finish off that full meal.
Miyazaki maintained a strong cult following but gained very little international awareness. Disney wisely recognized the loyal audience of Miyazaki and put much of its significant DVD weight behind his films. The “Howl’s Moving Castle” DVD comes home with the kind of artistic integrity that was seen in theaters along with a flawless video and audio transfer, a handful of extras, and a whole second disc of the original storyboards for the film.
In the story, young Sophie Hatter is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and turns into an old hag. Ashamed of how she looks, she flees to the hills, where a moving castle roams the hills. It is said to belong to the young and handsome wizard Howl, who has a bad reputation. Within the castle, Sophie befriends the fire demon Calcifer, who promises to help her become young again. There is one catch: she must help Calcifer be free of Howl, and Calcifer cannot tell her how. However, Sophie agrees to stay and try to find out about the contract through other ways. Still, Howl can see that Sophie is under a spell like Calcifer can, and falls in love with her for who she is and not for the way she looks. Sophie manages to turn the moving castle into a home and helps Howl face his former tutor, Madam Suliman.
Sophie’s adventures with Howl are brought to life brilliantly, with a perfect anamorphic widescreen transfer that has no problems at all. Like most animators, Miyazaki is primarily a visual storyteller, and his use of imagery and color in “Howl’s Moving Castle” is the strongest element of the film. The stunning use of sound — from the creaking of the moving castle to Joe Hisaishi’s perfect score —¬¬¬ comes together beautifully.
Some hardcore Miyazaki fans will say that you should only watch his films in the original language, but this is not your standard sloppy dub job. When Miyazaki films are dubbed, they are overseen by the masters of the genre and cast with actors’ intent on creating characters, not just reading subtitles. The “Behind the Microphone” featurette includes Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, and Billy Crystal. Howl features more detail on how the actors translate a character from one culture to another, which is fascinating. Disney includes two other featurettes, which include an interview with dialogue director Peter Docter, and a visit by Miyazaki himself to the Pixar studios to congratulate them on the translation and watch the English-language premiere. TV spots and trailers are also included.
Miyazaki is considered such a respected figure in the world of cinema that when John Lasseter of Pixar introduces him to the audience as a living legend, it is not considered a hyperbole. “Howl’s Moving Castle” does not necessarily stand up to the master’s best, but sub-par Miyazaki is better than career-best work by many other animators.
Take a ride into Miyazaki’s world in a magnificent flying castle. You may never want to come back.