Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城 Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film scripted and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The film is based on the novel of the same name by English writer Diana Wynne Jones. The film was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho.
The film was released in Japanese theaters on November 20, 2004 and went on to gross $190 million in Japan and $235 million worldwide, making it one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history. The film was later dubbed into English by Pixar's Pete Docter and distributed in North America by Walt Disney Pictures. It received a limited release in the United States and Canada beginning June 10, 2005.
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Cast[]
| Image | Character | Seiyū | Dub Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
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Sophie | Chieko Baisho | Emily Mortimer |
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Jean Simmons | ||
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Howl | Takuya Kimura | Christian Bale |
| |||
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Witch of the Waste | Akihiro Mura | Lauren Bacall |
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Madame Suliman | Haruko Kato | Blythe Danner |
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Calcifer | Tatsuya Gashuin | Billy Crystal |
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Markl | Ryūnosuke Kamiki | Josh Hutcherson |
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King | Akio Ōtsuka | Mark Silverman |
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Lettie | Yayoi Kazuki | Jena Malone |
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Honey | Mayuno Yasokawa | Mari Devon |
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Prince Justin / Turnip Head | Yo Oizumi | Crispin Freeman |
| |||
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Madge | Rio Kanno | Liliana Mumy |
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Heen | Daijirō Harada | |
Additional Voices[]
- Carlos Alazraqui
- Newell Alexander
- Rosemary Alexander
- Dee Bradley Baker
- Julia Barnett
- Susanne Blakeslee
- Leslie Carrara-Rudolph
- Mitch Carter
- David Cowgill
- Holly Dorff
- Moosie Drier
- Ike Eisenmann
- Will Friedle
- Bridget Hoffman
- Richard Steven Horvitz
- Sherry Hursey
- Hope Levy
- Christina MacGregor
- Joel McCrary
- Edie Mirman
- Peter Renaday
- Kristen Rutherford
- Warren Sroka
Notes[]
- Emily Mortimer was chosen to voice the young Sophie in the English dub because the producers felt that her voice resembled that of the young Jean Simmons, who voiced the old Sophie.
- Jean Simmons' last cinema film before her death in 2010
- Lauren Bacall is popular in Japan. Hayao Miyazaki and Lauren Bacall, both long-time fans of each other's work, met at a subtitled screening in New York. Reportedly, Bacall jokingly asked Miyazaki if he was married.
- Although the film was not released in the United Kingdom until 23 September 2005, director Hayao Miyazaki personally traveled to England in the summer of 2004 to give a private showing of the film to Diana Wynne Jones.
Video Releases[]
| Distributor | Year | Format | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Home Entertainment |
2006 | 
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1 NTSC |
United States | 
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| Optimum Releasing | 2007 | 2 PAL |
United Kingdom | 
| |
| 2012 | 
|
B DVB-T | |||
| Buena Vista Home Entertainment |
2013 | A DVB-T |
United States |
| |
| GKIDS | 2017 | ||||
External Links[]
- Howl's Moving Castle at the Internet Movie Database
- Howl's Moving Castle (anime) at the Anime News Network
