This review is going to be a brief summary and then a comparison with the film, which I think is wonderful.

You can jump to the sections here or use the PAGE navigation above, or if you want, open it up on one page.

• Summary
• The Book vs The Film
  • The Characters
  • The Plot
• Conculsion

Summary

Sophie Hatter is the eldest of 3 daughters. She works in the hat shop orginally run by her father until he passes, and her step-mother cannot mantain the cost of 3 daughters, so she find apprencicships for the 2 youngest. In traditonal fairy tale “rules” the youngest is the favored one (think Cinderella) but Sophie and Lettie (number 2) are not wicked step sisters in any form, just not the favored youngest.

Sophie remains at the hat shop and produces wonderful hats and instills them with “magic”. Some are purchased and individuals have their destinies fullfilled because of them. This starts a reputation that causes the Witch of the Waste to appear and curse Sophie, turning her into a 90 year old woman and restricting her from talking about the curse to anyone.

Sophie decides to leave the shop and find her “fortune”. In the town she live, Market Clipping, there has now been a castle of the Wizard Howl that has appeared all around town. The rumor is that he easts the souls of young girls. Sophie heads out of Market Clipping and soon she looks for a walking stick, only to find a stick that is actually the pole of a scarecrow upside down. She ups him and continues on her way only to have him pursue her, which she dislikes. She comes across Howl’s castle in this moment. She searches all around (only being able to circle the castle in an “anti-clockwise” direction and finds a door that opens. She steps in and enters Howl’s castle.

She is greeted by Calcifer, a fire demon who has entered into a contract with Howl and can tell that Sophie has been cursed. He makes a deal that he will break Sophie’s curse, if she will get him out of his contract - which he is restricted from talking about, but says there will be hints dropped.

Howl’s apprentice, Michael , a 15 year old boy is stunned by Sophie’s appearance and she insists she is the new cleaning woman. And in this “guise” she enters into the castle and establishes a relationship with Calcifer, Michael and ultimatly Howl.

The ending is fast and there are a lot of loose ends that get tied up at the end, some much too quickly but it is a very enjoyable read.

I will compare the Film and Book next, and there are MAJOR PLOT POINTS revealed here. PLEASE be forewarned!

The Book vs. The Film

The motive

The reasons I want to compare these two works are as follows.

• The film is by one of my favorite directors, Hayao Miyazaki, and is a feast for the eyes
• There are very distince differences, and I think the typical “The book was better” answer does not cover it here
• Sometimes, it is just fun to do this.

I think this is a fun project. I am sure there are plenty of superior articles out there about the same thing, even Jones herself discusses it on her website. But I have not had the opportunity to compare two items that I enjoyed so much, despite their differences.

Characters

I think the best place to start is with the characters, verses the plot. This is a very character driven experience, both in the film and the book.

Sophie

First and foremost - our heroine.

The Book: Sophie is the eldest of 3 sisters (Herself, Lettie and Martha - who is her half-sister). As in typical fairy tale worlds, the youngest is fated to greatness, though against the grain - Lettie and Sophie are not “wicked” or “bad”. All three of them are major characters in the plot

The Film:Sophie is the eldest of some amount of siblings, we are not sure but Lettie is there and Sophie visits her at the bakery. And that is about it for Lettie, once and done.

The Difference - I found the character of Sophie to be pretty consistent between the book and film as far as her actions and reactions, but her family and motivations are very different between the 2.

Howl

Onto our “evil wizard”

The Book: Howl is a “heartless” vein powerful wizard who is always out breaking young girls hearts. He is also cursed and avoids the Witch of the Waste. He has tempter tantrums and spews green slime all over.

The Film: Howl is a “heartless” vain powerful wizard who is involved in a weird military campaign. He is cursed and avoids the Witch of the Waste. He has temper tantrums and spews green slime all over. He also turns into a bird creature.

The Difference - I again found the character consistent in his actions as far as his vainness and smug attitude but the bird transformation was a total departure. But some of the things are very consistent, like his time in the bathroom and his hair color changing.

Calcifer

A little orange fire demon or is he more than that??

The Book: Calcifer is a powerful fire demon that “lives” in Howl’s castle and is a scary Blue/green flame with sharp teeth and orange flame eyes.

The Film: Calcifer is a fire demon who lives in Howl’s Castle. He is a cute orangy flame that only once becomes scary looking.

The Difference - The physical character was very different and the film version was given a more comic relief role at times, being voiced by Billy Crystal in the English version. The character was more “sneaky” in the book, but the two versions are in sync.

Micheal/Markl

A little boy or a young man out to find his own in the world?

The Book: Micheal is a 15 year old boy who is apprenticed to Howl. He is in love with Spohie’s sister, Martha and helps out with tasks around the castle.

The Film:Markl is a little boy, perhaps 8 and lives with Howl. He is apprenticed to Howl but basically tags along with Sophie.

The Difference - This as far as characters go is the most deviated from the two. The book needs Michael, the film does not need Markl. It is an interesting change that is driven by the plot changes.

The Witch of the Waste

No houses getting dropped on her.

The Book: The witch is a clever, svelte woman who is very old and using enchantments to stay young. She also has a curse on Howl.

The Film:The Witch is a huge “Jabba the hut” type of woman who is evil and who has her “youngness” stripped away in an event at the castle.

The Difference - The character was also very different at the end, but started very similar. Other than her appearance, her actions at the beginning of both book and film are very alike. They deviate quite quickly at about the same point as everything else.

The Scarecrow

He is more than his turnip head, but what is he?

The Book: The scarecrow is saved by Sophie and then follows them around, as they attempt to get away from it.

The Film:The scarecrow is saved by Sophi and follows her. Sophie befriends the scarecrow who ultimatly saves them.

The Difference - The character again started similar and then deviated (at nearly the same point).

Other Characters

• The Dog - In the book The Dog is a major plot “mover”, in the film - he is cute and suspicious.
• Lettie/Martha - They both appear in the book - only Lettie does BRIEFLY in the film.
• Mrs. Pentstemmon/Madame Sulliman - Howls’ former master in both, but very very different in the their part in the story and their actions/personality.
• The King - The king is a character with concerns and thoughts in the book, in the film - he is a goof ball.

The Plot

I am not going to go into a plot recount, but discuss the differences in a sense. The book and the movie are similar enough thought Chapter 5 of the book, with some very specific things being in place (the number of eggs used in breakfast, the cleaning of the house). The differences at this point are right up front with Sophie’s relations being different as discussed in The Character section. Miyazaki treats some items different than Jones, and adds some more fantasical visual elements. None of them seem out of place and are solid enough because they do match the Miyazaki style.

Eveything changes after that. It is almost as if Miyazaki read the beginning and the end and decided to take the characters and change them and the plot as he wanted. I mean it is completely different except that the characters act the same in totally different situations. It is a very odd set of decisions. Some examples:

• In the book, there is no war per se - there is a mention of the King wanting to know about moving troops through a marsh - but nothing else. In the film, it is a weird side story that Howl is involved in. The war in the movie, never matched to me. This may seem why. I also think that Miyazaki felt a need to justify the “black” setting on the door in a different way. In the book, it is very different.
• Mrs. Pentstemmon is Howl’s former teacher and is a mentor still and ery old and helps out Howl and Sophie. Madame Sulliman (”same” character different name and purpose) in the movie is Howl’s former teacher and is tricky and is helping the king (who is immature and “odd”) with his war (see above).
• Howl has a sister and extended family in the book that live in the “Real” Wales. They play a significant role with their involvement with the Witch of the Waste. Guess what - they are not in the film - anywhere. No mention.

By no means is that the extent of it. As a matter of fact, it really seems as if Miyazaki decided to take the characters and develop an very different story. One thing that is the same though is tone. The feel of both is the same, and I think Miyazaki captures Jones feel very well.

One thing that is very similar is the rush to the ending. Both have a sense of getting a lot of loose ends tied up quickly. This is less surprising in a film, but both have this quality. Again, same feel.

Conclusion

I think the book and film of Howl’s Moving Castle are an interesting example of interpretation of one work by another very gifted artist. I think Jones was more comfortable with Miyazaki making changes because of a mutual respect and admiration. Yes, the film is visiual so there are going to be elements that are more -well- visual . The Castle is a good example. In the book it is a black, dark castle, in the film it is a moving mechanical “beast” of a castle. I think those two items really set up the ideas as a whole very well. Jones’s castle was a traditional but ominous castle. Dark, black and with physical presence. Miyazaki’s was mechanical and at times, nearly comical. The two stand as a good example of the differences - no doubt both are castles and both fill the same role, but both are two very talented individuals interpretation of the word “castle”.

It think that is key here: interpretation. If you accept the license Miyazaki has taken, then you can equally enjoy both. If you are a purest, then you will be frustrated. I find my self in the first camp.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 27th, 2007 at 11:10 am and is filed under Books, Movies.