cartoon magic

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2006)

From the Oscar winning director of 'spirited away' comes this fine Japanese animation. It tell the story of a girl who is turned into an old woman by an evil witch and then seeks refuge in the castle of a wizard, howl, disguised as a cleaning lady. This has all the magical and fantastical elements you would expect from the mind of a mad Japanese animator. It pure fantasy and freedom the kind you can only do in a cartoon. It looks great the style is amazing and it's the attention to detail that stands out as far as the graphics go, howl's castle as it walks round the land wobbling and creaking like a huge engine. It is just a delight that adults and kids alike can sit together and enjoy this film for all sorts of different reasons. From wildly bizarre to oddly strange the story twists so many times you never know where it's going to end up and by the end I still had no idea. I think that is where some of this films charms are, in that it doesn't have to make sense to be enjoyed its just so mystical and aesthetically pleasing. Disney and Pixar have very good looking computer generated films that are funny but if you want to see a film with a real soul and old school animation right at its heart then you can't go far wrong with howl's.