Recently Watched: Howl's Moving Castle

[ellyssian]

Howl's Moving Castle

Because they're released in the US by Disney, Studio Ghibli films kept cropping up on Pixar and Disney sneak previews. Well, Kiki's Delivery Service did, anyway. Rachel was hooked before she saw one of Miyazaki's films, what with her interest in Pokemon turning into an interest in Japanese anime. Without her interest, we never would have rented whichever one we tried first - and, speaking for at least three of us, we're hooked.

Howl's Moving Castle is typical - in other words, excellent animation, beautiful scenery, fantastic world, incredible mechanical gadgetry, and magical, erm, magic. The story in this one is very accessible - it started off life as a children's book - and very much a Miyazaki story - which, of course, it's not; at least, not originally. I can see why Miyazaki selected this - although now I'm curious about the book; curious how many liberties he took to make it his, or was it always like that?

One trademark of all of the Studio Ghibli films is the sense of place that reminds me of Europe - specifically, Holland. Something about the beautiful fields of flowers that makes me think of the fields of bulbs; something about the steamtech that makes me think of canals, which, in turn, bypasses local canals, the Erie, and those of Venice and jumps right to Amsterdam. Not clear exactly why; something in the architecture; something in the clothing worn by the characters. I haven't studied up - in other words, watched the special features on any of the discs - to determine if this is solely my impression, or if it is a purposeful effect.

Unless you absolutely break out in hives when subjected to animation, I advise you watch this as soon as possible - it's got a lot to offer for all age groups. If you're into fantasy, steamtech, sci fi, animation, love stories, adventure, or anything with story, than it is a must see.

Comments

[ladyazure.livejournal.com]

I love his "Spirited Away" and I adore "Kiki's Delivery Service". I bought this movie a couple weekends ago, but haven't watched it yet. I'll have to do that this weekend.

They've been playing his movies on Cartoon Network in the evenings. I saw the one, "My Neighbor..." (can't rememeber the name) and loved it as well. I'm going to try and find that one on DVD if I can.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

My Neighbor Totoro - haven't seen that yet. It is part of the Disney deal, so it should be available easily.

We have Nausica, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, and Kiki's Delivery Service - that's probably as close to a definitive (descending) order - with the first two swapping places most often. Howl is going to disrupt those two! We've also watched The Cat Returns - it's Studio Ghibli, but not Miyazaki - still very enjoyable, and the only reason we found he wasn't director was looking at a list of what was available and seeing another's name. I haven't come across one of them that I disliked in any way, shape, or form.

Looking forward to see what they do with Earthsea - the stills I've seen look great!

[ladyazure.livejournal.com]

"Nausica" is a really nice series. I remember when it was just comics and models. He did a really good job rendering them.

I caught the last 45 minutes of "My Neighbor Totoro" (Thanks for the name!) and loved it. It's extremely whimsical among a rather sad story. It also has the fat pudgy creature his studio uses, which made me smile.

I've tried 5 times now to watch "Castle in the Sky" and I end up falling asleep every time. I don't know why it doesn't capture my attention the way some of his other do, but I simply have no interest in it.

I'm not a big fan of "Princess Monoke" either. It was too preachy for my taste and I really didn't find it as enjoyable as some of his others.

I've seen "The Cat Returns" under his studio label and almost bought it, but opted for "The Bottle Fairies" instead when I was buying last. The kids enjoy that series alot.

[jenjiyana.livejournal.com]

i saw ads for this but forgot about it. Im going to have to add it to my Netflix queue - even though Disney does make me break out in hives

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Disney does good here - they're distributing the films, getting them to a wider audience, and probably helping to land some of the voice talent.

[dreamingcrow.livejournal.com]

The movie and book are both wonderful, but just think of them as two great things that happen to share the same name and a few characters. :p

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Kind of thought so - there were just too many Miyazakisms for it to be otherwise.