The title is a quote from the next anime movie I'm reviewing. This is Howl's Moving Castle.Another Studio Ghibli film, based off a fantasy novel made in 1986 by British author Diana Wynne Jones.
We follow Sophie Hatter, a young woman who doesn't see herself as pretty and spends most of her time making hats while her co-workers love to go out and have fun. While going out to visit her little sister, she comes across a young wizard who saves her after a mysterious attack by black blobs.
Later that night, a woman visits her shop, only to be the infamous Witch of the Waste and curse her, transforming 18-year-old Sophie into a 90-year-old woman. Trying to look for a way to lift the curse, Sophie leaves her home going into the Land of the Wastes. Along the way, she meets a cursed scarecrow with a turnip for a head (naming it Turnip-head) who finds her a place to stay: The mobile "castle" of the infamous wizard Howl who she later discovers is the same person who saved her earlier in the movie.
Upon entering the castle, Sophie meets the fire demon who helps move the castle, Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal in English [Mike from Monster's Inc]). He lets her stay as cleaning lady under the condition to help him break the spell between him and Howl; in return, Calcifer will break the curse on Sophie. As she lives with Howl and his 8-year-old apprentice Markl, she embarks on an adventure grander than she's ever dreamed even as the country plunges into a war.
Now if anyone's actually read the original book, the film doesn't follow the novel's original plot. While Jones didn't have any input in the movie, she enjoyed it and knew it was going to be different. Mixed with Hayao Miyazaki's style of animation, it displays a beautiful presentation of a world of magic combined with warfare similar to that of the World Wars. It's very bright and colorful but also has its dark moments too. The cast of characters are dynamic while facing their own conflicts. Another success by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
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