Catch of the day Animation Review : Howl's Moving Castle

It's not very often that I get to blog about animated movies that generally excel in all ideas represented, but today I do get to. Howl's Moving Castle was produced by Hayao Miyazaki, and based off a book by Diana Wynne Jones. It was animated by Studio Ghibli. For those who do not know Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most successful animation directors ever, he is known internationally (which when you think about it is kind of a big deal), Thus I will probably do several other post about his works (so get ready to hear his name a lot).
The storyline centers around Sophie, an eighteen year old hatter. One day while on her way in town she runs into Howl; a powerful wizard whom rumors created a shroud of mystery over. Later that day The Witch of the Waste (who has quite the nasty reputation) lays a curse on her that transformed her into an old woman. Looking for a cure, she travels into the Wastes and comes across a living scarecrow, whom she later names Turnip Head. She asks him to find her a place to stay, and he hops off. Later he returns with Howl's Castle, a giant fortress that is moved about on giant metal chicken legs. She goes inside and meets the fire demon Calcifer, who apparently is the reason behind the castles ability to move, and Markl Howl's apprentice. After Howl returns she becomes his cleaning lady. And the story goes on from there.
While the animation done by Studio Ghibli is always superb I found that there were some parts of the animation that really shined through in this production. First off: the wide-shot scenery. This is probably the most beautiful part of the film. The scenes of the scenery are done in a slightly extra paint-like fashion which gives it a very natal feel (versus paying close attention to each individual detail, which generally adds to much human perspective for my taste). Second: the odd little details. In this film I found that the animators seemed to be using a bismuth-like iridescent style to certain objects, particularly metallic.
I have to say they did a good job on the setting. The setting is this kind of industrial revolution/victorian era that goes together amazingly well. The victorian era style comes into play ion the buildings and somewhat in the clothing. The industrial revolution comes in by the machines. The "cars" look kind of like if an original Ford automobile had a miniature steam engine powering it. Also there are some great flying machines, which I can only describe as "Steampunk Davinci". On top of the great style there are some interesting concepts explored. One of the more notable pieces of the plot is a war that is going on, and wizards are conscripted into it. One of the things one may do with magic in this story is change one's appearance/body. The conscripted wizards are forced to change themselves into beast-like creatures. One of the consequences of this is if used enough; one may not be able to change back to human. This has relevance because coupled with the quote "After the war they won't recall they ever were human" it shows a connection the psychological state required to take part in war. Overall I think anyone could enjoy watching this, but if you particularly like fantasy and dramatic elements with bit of comedy then you should definitely consider watching this one.