Today, I'm writing a review about my favourite anime movie, Howl's Moving Castle. I've just finished reading the novel by Diana Wynne Jones and I can't believe how different the plot of the movie is to the book. Jones states that the idea of a moving castle was suggested to her by a boy she meet on a school visit and that she has also been fascinated by fairy stories. The major thing I love about this book is the front cover. The art work really draws you in! It's two-tone purple and green colours, the black bold words and all the images that seem to have been fitted inside the letters. It looks magical and fantastical and very attractive to the eyes of children. The book, like the movie, has an intended audience of kids, but adults can just as easily love it. The language used in the book reflects that of a young readership and I found it simple and quick to read. There's not so much in the way of fantasy vocabulary, but when it does appear one of the characters explains it. Like 'seven-league boots' which are basically boots that can travel very fast. The imagery is also great, though I had the movie stuck in my head for much of the first half of the book. The scenes with the marsh covered in flowers and the descriptions of the different towns and cities really make the settings come alive.
The description of the characters is also really good, though once again it's hard when you've got the images of the characters from the movie in mind, but the book characters soon take over and they do have many differences. For me the character of Howl didn't come across in the book as good as he did in the film. He's still handsome and vain, a powerful but cowardly wizard, however, he's very childlike and doesn't come across as being heroic. Sophie on the other hand did work for me and there's a lot more about her family background too, which works well to explain on a deeper level why she doesn't mind carrying on her family's business. I was impressed by how Jones used the transform of Sophie into an old woman to allow a different look at the world and the people through older eyes. It's odd to think how true it actually is and how people of different ages look and understand something. Also, Sophie does have some magical powers and though these are hinted at in the movie, they come out more in the book. Michael the other main character in the story does appear the same as well, though you get to see him actually practising magic and making spells.
There's also a lot of other characters and though some appear in the movie they are very different. The antagonist, the Witch of the Waste, comes across as being in the form of a beautiful woman, kept that way by magic and she is also attracted to a fire demon. In the movie she is an older, fatter, wrinkly woman and for me this image just works better. I don't know, maybe it's because she looks more evil witch like? Both characters still have the same goal; to get Howl's heart and the back-plot that goes with the Witch is also the same; Howl tried to court her and then changed his mind about her and she got anger and cursed him.
The movie dramatically changes three of the other characters in the book who are important to the plot. They are the scarecrow, the dog and madam Suliman. Now, I'm not big on spoiling plots, but the next part might contain some.... Now, firstly the scarecrow in the book is actually a golan and has been created of different parts of different men and sent on a mission to collect the missing parts. In the movie he is just the missing Prince. The dog in the book is actually a dog-man, who's been cursed by the Witch and can sometimes transform back into a man again to speak. In the movie, this dog is just a dog owned by Suliman and sent to watch over things. Suliman in the movie is a woman and in the book Sullivan (as it's spelt) is actually a male wizard, who's become lost in the Waste looking for the Prince. Now in both contexts these characters work well, but I can see why they were changed for the movie, because the plot was different and needed the characters to act differently.
The book was published in 1986. And that feels like a very long time ago and actually it was out two years before I was born! The movie came out in 2004 and was directed by Hayao Miyazaki. I've many reasons why I love this film and it's always the first thing I put on when I'm feeling down or ill. The art is awesome, the details in the background are always there and help give more depth to the film. The characters are very addictive. Howl, voiced by Christian Bale in the English dubbed version, is really cute and sexy. Calcifer, voiced by Billy Crystal and Sophie voiced by Jean Simmons, work well along side Bale.
One of the biggest changes from the book is the steam punk style that appears. Now Jones said this was because of Miyazaki's love of flying machines and that he was interested in the war which appears as a very, very small sub-plot in the novel. Miyazaki made this the actual sub-plot of the movie and it works well because it creates tension/horror, gives the characters something to discuss/do and reflects on humanity. For me the book lacked the tension and this is because the plot is focused on the characters' relationships and developments. I actually love the steam punk style in the movie and think that it adds so much. Now if the book had had some of that, it would have made it even better for me and created a much more fantasy style world.
My favourite scene has to be the one where Sophie starts cleaning and goes on a complete rampage. It makes me giggle every time. It does appear in the book to less effect though. Oh and also the castle is a different shape in the book! It looks more castle like and made out of black bricks. I prefer the Miyazaki version. My favourite scene in the book? It's a difficult one, because no one scene really stood out as the book tends to jump from one action scene to another. With the endings too, I prefer the movie one because you believe that there is a chance that Howl and Calcifer could be dead and that creates a high emotional tone. In the book and granted this is a children's fairy tale story, everyone pairs off and lives happy ever after, rather suddenly at the end. In the movie only Howl and Sophie get together which works better.
Overall, I did love the book, though it is very different from the film. I also found out that Jones has written two other squeals; Castle In The Air and House Of Many Ways. Though I properly won't get around to reading them as I've so many on my list now and I just wanted to read Howl because of the links to the movie. And now I get to move on to Fifty Shades of Grey....
Images from:
http://yabookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/bevy-of-book-covers.html
http://matttrailer.com/howls_moving_castle_2004
http://www.sheezyart.com/art/view/1344506/
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