Hey, how come nobody told me that the Miyazaki animated version of Howl’s Moving Castle was completed? I know there’s zero chance that I will see it for years and years, but dang! I am so psyched to see this thing.
It just happened that I reread the book this week. I was looking for a bathtub book, and hadn’t read any Diana Wynne Jones for a while. Howl is my favorite of hers, and I had just as much fun the third time through.
I’m also a Miyazaki fan, particularly of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. I do like Kiki’s Delivery Service, and I like most of My Neighbor Totorro a lot, and The Castle of Cagliostro was fine. I haven’t seen Porco Rosso, or Castle in the Sky, or Nausica�. And I should point out that the ones I’ve seen have been in the dubbed American edits; no film festival version for me. Which is fine; one the whole, I am exactly who the adaptor should be writing for, enough interested in the movies to brave some slight cultural disorientation, but not to break down cultural walls.
Anyway, when I first heard that Miyazaki was taking over the Howl movie, I thought it was perfect stuff for him. In fact, looking at it through Miyazaki specs, it might have been written for him. Seen through the eyes of a young girl? Check. Transformations? Check. Scary strangers that turn out to be friendly, that turn out to be far scarier and far more indifferent than you thought at first, that turn out to be gentle after all? Check. Permeable borders between ‘our’ world and that of ‘fantasy’? Check. Opportunities for breathtaking visuals, particularly involving non- or semi- human characters? Check.
Oh, hurry up, Disney.
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-Vardibidian.