Howl’s Moving Castle

I’ve finished reading Dianna Wynne Jones’ book entitled Howl’s Moving Castle. Having watched Hayao Miyazaki’s movie adaptation of the book, I was intrigued how the inspiration for the movie was. I have to say that it turned out to be very interesting, though.

Here I’ll note some facts about the book and its differences with the animated movie by Miyazaki. I’ve also included my comments about each.

$Howl\'s Moving Castle$ $Howl\'s Moving Castle$

Howl’s true name is Howell Jenkins.: What the hey?! I’ll stick with ‘Howl,’ thank you.
Howl is actually from England.: The black part on the door sign leads to his sister’s home in Wales, unlike in the movie.
Back in his life in Wales, Howl wrote his doctorate thesis regarding charms and spells.: I want to know what degree he was taking up to be able to hand in that thesis.
Howl really likes change.: He changes his name (Wizard Jenkins or Wizard Pendragon), he changes girls often, and he changes his hair color frequently. “I’ve never seen why people put such a value on things being natural,” Howl said, and Sophie knew then that he was scarcely changed at all.
Sophie’s curse was never meant for her in the first place.: It was meant for her sister Lettie. The Witch of the Waste was jealous of Lettie’s populary with men of the village so she decided to curse her. Expecting to find her in the hat shop, she encounters Sophie instead and mistakes her for Lettie.
Michael is not a child.: Though the movie portrayed Michael as a kid of maybe less than ten years, he is actually fifteen years old in the book and is the suitor of Sophie’s sister, Martha.
Sophie’s curse didn’t break gradually.: Rather, it was broken instantaneously once Sophie returned Howl’s heart to him.
There is a bad guy in the book. Yes, we have someone to hate.: Unlike Miyazaki’s version, there was a definite antagonist in the book in the form of the Witch of the Waste and her demon.
The best for last. The romantic side of the story was delivered quite differently from the movie. Or should I say, “quite reluctantly by Howl.”: The ending of the romantic side of the story is different, but no less sweet. Howl said, “I think we ought to live happily ever after,” and she thought he meant it. Sophie knew living happily ever after with Howl would be a great deal more eventful than any story made it sound, though she was determined to try. “It should be hair-raising,” added Howl.

Some interesting things, right? Next stop, Confessions of a Shopaholic!

September 25th, 2006 |

Posted in Addiction, Anime, Books, Fantasy, Fickle Musings

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2 Responses to “Howl’s Moving Castle”

There’s a sequel to the book - Castle in the sky.
And the curse WAS broken gradually in the book, Howl is constantly working on the curse without the knowledge of Sophie (or in fact the reader until near the end) as he says to sophie “didnt you notice the aches and pains easing up?” (or something similar - I lent someone my copy)
Some more differences for you: The scarecrow becomes a person at the end of the film - in the book there are actually 2 people whos bodies are split between various objects - the skull on howl’s hearth, the scarecrow, the dog (which didn’t belong to howl’s teacher) and the witch of the waste’s footman…Prince Justin (the missing brother of the King) and Wizard Suliman, Howl’s predecessor to the post of Royal Magician.