Perfection is the only word that comes to mind when I try to describe this movie, while it itself is relatively old (1998) the years have done nothing to diminish from the luster it presents. Although I have been hearing about it for many years now, I personally only saw it recently and I believe that would be a result of my first impression being that is was somewhat childlike and boring (probably due to seeing the big walking chicken feet castle in the trailer). I finally decided to watch it (had nothing left on my pc I had not seen) and to my pleasant surprise it is now hands down my favorite animated film, replacing Princess Mononoke for the number one spot, both directed by the prominent filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

The movie is set in a pre World War I setting where magic and sorcery is incorporated in everyday life and revolves around a young 18 year old girl called Sophie who was transformed into a 90 year old lady due to a witches curse. Sophie ventures out in attempt to find someone to undo the curse and encounters a magic scarecrow who leads her to meet Howl, an extraordinarily powerful but infamous wizard who was rumored to eat the hearts of beautiful women, Calcifer, a powerful fire demon who powers the Castle and enables it to move and Markl, the young apprentice of who often creates potions and spells for Howls customers. (more…)