From the Guy that Brought You Totoro and Yubaba: Howl's Moving Castle

     In 2004, another creation of Hayao Mayazaki was released to the public: Howl's Moving Castle, based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones, which was published in 1986.

     Once upon a time, a young woman named Sophie was working diligently in her late father's hat shop. Sophie is very reserved, but she is dedicated, zealous, and caring. She lives a quiet and unexciting life. But now that she's met a young wizard named Howl, her life will change forever. Jealous of Sophie's interaction with Howl, the Witch of the Waste visits the hat shop and places a curse on her, instantly turning Sophie into an old woman. She can't hide what's happened for long, so Sophie leaves her home and stumbles upon Howl's magic castle. It's a walking house with legs, and she enters, becoming Howl's "cleaning lady," while calling herself Grandma Sophie. With a war going on in Sophie's country, Howl and his many aliases have been ordered to the palace to give aid in the war. With the help of the burning fire called Calcifer, Howl's apprentice named Markl, and the scarecrow nicknamed "Turnip Head," will Sophie be able to break the curse she's under as well as help Howl find his heart, or are they both headed for an unhappy fate?

     The thing about anime films is that they sometimes come across as art more than other forms of animation. After all, anime is an art form from Japan, even before film was invented. 
     In Howl's Moving Castle, Hayao Miyazaki demonstrates a creative use of color. Most of our settings in the film are very colorful: The Royal city, Sophie's hometown, the meadow that Howl gives to Sophie. The one thing that is not colorful is Howl's castle. Inside and out, the castle tends to look dark and gray, except for Howl's bedroom. Even Markl contrasts the look of the castle. As for Howl's bedroom, it looks a little bit like a gypsy's office. The rest of the castle doesn't look like that, thus making Howl all the more mysterious. A nearly colorless castle doesn't add to Howl's true self, it hides it. Those who have watched the film know that is takes a while for Sophie to make sense of why Howl is the way he is, and the difference between the general surroundings of Howl's castle and his personal quarters, (and even his hair color), makes the audience want to know more about Howl himself. 

     Howl's Moving Castle is a love story as well as a story about overcoming fear and insecurities. Sophie tends to believe that she isn't beautiful: "...even though I'm not pretty and all I'm good at is cleaning," she says to Howl at one point. Throughout the film, Sophie says other things like this to reflect her lack of physical self-worth 
    Howl also struggles with self-worth. At one moment of the film when Howl was in despair he said that, "I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful." Not only that, but Howl does not want to face things. "I'm such a big coward, all I do is hide. All of this magic is to keep everybody away. I can't stand how scared I am," he confides in Sophie. 
    But Howl and Sophie manage to help change each other. Sophie's own bravery and determination teaches Howl how to be brave, and her love for Howl also motivates him to be selfless. As his love for Sophie grows, Howl chooses to face danger rather than run from it in order to protect her. In turn, Howl's love, as well as all the things that she has to go through for Howl, helps Sophie to see her own beauty and grow her confidence. In the end, Howl and Sophie have brought each other to a better happiness.

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Miyazaki's Masterpeice: Spirited Away

    I was looking into anime films by Hayao Miyazaki, and the most popular one by far seemed to be Spirited Away.  This 2001 film by Studio Ghibli and Disney won academy awards and has been called "Miyazaki's masterpiece," for its beautiful art and meaning. But what is the meaning that Miyazaki has to offer in this film?

     Once upon a time, a ten year old girl by the name of Chihiro was moving to a new home with her parents. On the way they stumble onto an abandoned village, which they think to be an empty amusement park. When they find a table with delicious food, Chihiro's parents decide to dig in, but Chihiro refuses. While exploring the park, Chihiro runs into a bath house and a young boy who tells her that she needs to leave immediately. Chihiro tries to escape from the park, only to find that she is now trapped in a world of spirits and her parents turned into pigs. Now her only option is to stay there until she finds a way to help them. With the help of the young boy named Haku, Kamaji the boiler man, and a young woman named Lin, Chihiro manages to get a job in the bathhouse, owned by the witch Yubaba. Now under a contract with Yubaba, Chihiro's name has been taken and she is now to called Sen. Will Chihiro be able find her way in a world of spirits and remember her true name as well as help Haku remember his? Or is she going to spend eternity as a worker in the bathhouse?

     One of the many good things I've heard about Spirited Away is that "the storyline is intriguing and abstract." After seeing the film and receiving input, I have found this to be indeed true. That being said, there were still things that I didn't understand. Why did No Face go crazy in the bathhouse? Why do some the spirits like Haku look human? One thing that I heard is that it helps if you understand the Japanese culture. I would love FRIENDLY opinions and input about this film so be sure to leave them in the comments!

     

Before a Bath

After a Bath

     Spirited Away is mostly about Chihiro, but there is more to the story than meets the eye. It's true to life because it shows how some relationships are between the employee and the employer, and it also tells us to be kind to nature. It made wonderful sense when it was pointed out to me that the river spirit covered in mud represents this. When the spirit comes to take a bath, it's up to Sen and the rest of the workers to pull tons of junk out of the spirit, restoring his true and more powerful self.
   While Chihiro is at the bathhouse she has to call herself Sen while remembering that her name is Chihiro at the same time. She needs to remember other things about herself too, such as her normal clothes, and the goodbye card that was given to her by her best friend. Spirited Away teaches us about the value of identity. You never know when you're going to be in a time or place when the fact of who you is going to be challenged.
    Memory is also a big part of it. Besides herself, Chihiro has to remember which of all the pigs in the pig pen are her parents. All pigs look alike don't they? But Chihiro has been told to remember things about her parents and Haku to help recognize them. The witch Zeniba tells Chihiro that, "Once you've met someone you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memories to return." 

   John Lasseter tells us that Chihiro "grows tremendously," as a person throughout the film, and she most definitely does. When we first meet Chihiro, she's a little bit whiny and grumpy. We can't blame her of course, because it's hard moving to a new place. But she does tend to have an impatient, and apathetic attitude. But at the end of the movie she is more pleasant.
     Once the film starts, it's not long before we come to the point of Chihiro working in the bathhouse. As far as film time goes, she is thrown into her situation rather quickly, and she was not all prepared to face a witch and a bathhouse full of spirits. At this time we could choose to either criticize the pacing of the film or look at it some other way. When you think about it, bravery was something that Chihiro needed to have from the very beginning. So where did she get the courage she needed if there was little to no preparation prior to her journey? She already had it. Chihiro had to summon up all the courage that was already inside of her. The journey Chihiro goes on in Spirited Away was an opportunity for her to use the abilities and potential she didn't know she had. By the time her adventure is over, Chihiro knows that if she can take on the many dangers of being a human in the spirit world, she can certainly be able to manage a new home and a new school.

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