March 16th: HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (Hayao Miyazaki, 2004)
NOTE: This film will be projected in the high-definition Blu-ray format
A young hatmaker is cursed by a witch and turned into an old woman, and is swept up in adventures with a powerful wizard and his efforts to stop a war between kingdoms.
Following his Oscar-winning, Japanese box office record-breaking Spirited Away, writer-director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement. Studio Ghibli (of which he was co-founder) continued planning productions and announced upcoming titles, including an adaptation of British children's book Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. When the original director left the project due to creative differences, Miyazaki returned to work to take over the reins.
Miyazaki travelled to the region of Alsace in northeast France for research on the setting of the story. In keeping with his long-held pacifist beliefs, while crafting the adaptation he was moved to include a prominent anti-war theme, a reaction to the current war in Iraq.
While the film was made largely with current digital animation technology, the backgrounds and characters were all drawn by hand and painted. The title castle was made up of over 80 moving parts.
Following the recent distribution deal with Walt Disney Pictures, screenwriters Don and Cindy Hewitt were brought onboard to assist with the English language adaptation. Working with a translation of the shooting script, subtitles on the Japanese version, and the source novel, they crafted dialogue that would be fully understandable to western audiences while remaining faithful to the material.
Pixar director Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out) oversaw the English voice recording, which drew a roster of notable names. Christian Bale had volunteered his services sight unseen out of respect for Miyazaki's work, and was ultimately given the title role. He was joined by Hollywood legends Lauren Bacall and Jean Simmons, British actress Emily Mortimer, and American actors Blythe Danner, Billy Crystal, and eventual Hunger Games co-stars Josh Hutcherson and Jena Malone.
Running time is approx. 2 hours.
A young hatmaker is cursed by a witch and turned into an old woman, and is swept up in adventures with a powerful wizard and his efforts to stop a war between kingdoms.
Following his Oscar-winning, Japanese box office record-breaking Spirited Away, writer-director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement. Studio Ghibli (of which he was co-founder) continued planning productions and announced upcoming titles, including an adaptation of British children's book Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. When the original director left the project due to creative differences, Miyazaki returned to work to take over the reins.
Miyazaki travelled to the region of Alsace in northeast France for research on the setting of the story. In keeping with his long-held pacifist beliefs, while crafting the adaptation he was moved to include a prominent anti-war theme, a reaction to the current war in Iraq.
While the film was made largely with current digital animation technology, the backgrounds and characters were all drawn by hand and painted. The title castle was made up of over 80 moving parts.
The film was released in Japan to positive reviews, and broke Spirited Away's box office record as the all-time highest-grossing film. It was released in the U.S. by Disney with a larger fanfare than its predecessor, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.
Running time is approx. 2 hours.
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