Howl’s Moving Castle is a great introduction to Studio Ghibli.

Story

Howl’s Moving Castle tells the story of a young hatmaker named Sophie whose encounter with the Witch of the Waste turns her into an old woman. She then encounters a wizard named Howl and ends up on the adventure of a lifetime.

The best way to describe the story is with two words, magical adventure. Yes, the plot is on the strange side but it’s refreshing. I have ever watched a movie like this and it kept me engaged throughout.

Voice Acting

I was today years old when I found out that Christian Bale played Howl in the dubbed version. That is pretty cool information to know. And even though I didn’t watch the dubbed version, the voice cast is stellar with so many familiar faces (well, voices) from Josh Hutcherson to Jena Malone and Emily Mortimer. The subbed version I watched has a lot of emotion, Chieko Baisho who plays Sophie, manages to mould her voice to fit with whatever stage her character is in whether as an exasperated old woman or a terrified young one.

The other standout performance is Takuya Kimura who plays Howl. You can actually hear the change in voice as his character grows and changes throughout the film and those vocal shifts make the movie more immersive and emotional.