One of the Best (it not THE Best) Animations Ever!!!

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2007)

Howl's Moving Castle is an amazing movie made by animation genius Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli). If not familiar with his name, Miyazaki-san also created "Spirited Away," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Porco Rosso," and "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds." Howl's Moving Castle is his latest film to date and is sure to be an instant classic.
The story follows nineteen-year-old Sophie, a shy girl with a lack of self confidence who works in her family's hat shop. Everybody in town is talking about the mysterious Wizard Howl who arrived recently- they can't wait to meet the handsome wizard! Sophie, however doesn't bother with the gossip and decides to walk to her sister Lettie's work and pay her a call. While walking to her sister's job, a bakery, she turns down an alley and runs into two soldiers. Shy and a bit confused, she tries to avoid their flirting, but fails.... A handsome blonde man saves her from the flirts, but involves her into his own escape- from the dreaded Witch of the Waste's henchmen. The man takes hold of Sophie and lightly lifts her up and flies through the sky. He drops her off at her sister's work and flies off. Could it be the mysterious Wizard Howl?!?!?!? When Sophie returns home from her sister's, she closes the hat shop. A large, bulging woman enters the closed shop, jeers Sophie, and when Sophie sticks up for herself, the woman turns Sophie into an old woman. The woman admits that she is the Witch of the Waste and leaves speedily. Sopie is then left with the problem of being a nineteen-year-old girl who is stuck in an eighty-year-old's body. Sophie leaves her house and job to find a cure for the curse. She finds a scarecrow on the way and he leads her to HOWL'S CASTLE! She falls asleep by a fire and wakes up to see Howl's apprentice, Markl. She tells Markl that she's the new cleaning lady. Howl arrives back to his castle... but Howl's the handsome man from the day before!!!! What could this situation evolve into....?
If you find it hard to love the remarkable, AMAZING story, you won't be able to help falling in love with the colors, detail, and the scenery of this animation. The Japanese and the English voice actors are great, but I recommend listening to the Japanese- it's a great version and has much more detailed dialog (the English subtitles are good, too).
This movie is based upon the novel by Diana Wynne Jones.
I hope that my comments help! Please watch this movie- it's too good to pass up!