Trailer for Howl's Moving Castle

The trailer looks lovely! Go here to see it. The first download option requires Quicktime, the second, DivX.

For those who can't read Japanese, here is the text in English (translated by Deborah Goldsmith):

A film by Miyazaki Hayao

The heroine is a 90-year-old girl

Her sweetheart is a cowardly wizard

Sophie: Baisho Chieko

Howl: Kimura Takuya

Witch of the Waste: Miwa Akihiro

The two lived... in Howl's Moving Castle

Script, Director: Miyazaki Hayao

Music: Hisaishi Joe

This old lady is pretty energetic!

The fun of being alive, the joy of being in love, drawn by Miyazaki Hayao ("drawn by Miyazaki" comes first due to difference in word order between English and Japanese)

The deeply moving super-classic that's caught the attention of all the world

Howl's Moving Castle
(voiceover: a film directed by Miyazaki Hayao)

Original work: Diana Wynne Jones

"The Wizard Howl and the Fire Demon" (published by Tokuma Shoten) (c) 2004 Nibariki, "Howl's Moving Castle" Production Committee (voiceover: "Howl's Moving Castle")

This Fall
Coming to Toho theaters throughout Japan

My thoughts:
- Calcifer, the fire demon, looks adorable. I love his look of pure mortification at the start of the trailer.
- Howl is probably the first grown-up male protagonist that Miyazaki has illustrated. He looks cool - I'm glad they got the jewelry bit in, and the hair color changes too.
- Old Sophie looks a little like Yubaba from Spirited Away.
- They got the four-colored knob right!
- As in his other films, Miyazaki has included some lovely flight shots. There's always someone or something flying in each of his films.
- The location or architectural work as an important character in the film is key here - the castle itself. Other great locations Miyazaki has developed - Laputa, the bathhouse in Spirited Away, the forest in Mononoke Hime, the seaside town in Kiki's Delivery Service.

Looks like the rest of the world will see this some time next year. If it arrives in Japan this fall, it may reach Asia later in the year, but I'll be away and have to wait till 2005!

Posted by Monoceros at July 5, 2004 3:18 AM