Howl’s Moving Castle Premiere
My day starts off with a train ride into the city early in the morning. I somehow managed to get the last advance ticket, but more people wanted to come see the premiere with me. So I take the subway to 53rd and walked into the Museum of Modern Art. Tickets were still not going to be on sale for another three and a half hours, but there was already a line of anime fanboys and fangirls waiting there to get them. I was the 20th person.
As I passed the time on line reading my girlfriend’s shojo comic called “Happy Hustle High,” I managed to get into some conversations with the people around me. They weren’t anime fans, but Miyazaki fans. Highly educated college and grad students who’ve traveled around the world. New York was just another stop for them, and they wanted to see the man who was so highly regarded everywhere. This was quite a different audience then the kids in the front of the line reading manga and talking about the last convention they went to. I was in the middle of a very interesting line.
But two hours later, the museum staff determined that the line was too big for the amount of tickets they had. The show was now sold out even before anyone bought anything! So they started selling to us. As the 20th person, I had my three new tickets in my hand and was out of the door in no time at all. It was noon in NYC, and I had 5 hours to kill before my girlfriend and her friends arrived to join me. So I walked around.
A look down the shounen section in Book Off! NYC
Every time I got into the city, I always have to stop buy my favorite place. It’s a Japanese book store called Book Off! They have a whole floor filled with un-translated manga imported directly from Japan. They divide it into a shounen, shojo, and adult section. And the best part is that half of their inventory is only a dollar per book! So I always check it out to see what they have stocked on the shelves, and then buy a lot of books for really cheap.
After Book Off, I wandered around the hot city. Reading manga in the park… playing video games at the Toys R Us in Time Square… getting an ice cold Frappachino at Starbucks… then I made my way to New York Penn Station to pick up my cutie. We went back onto the same subway line I took earlier, and we waited outside in line for the actual movie. We were 3 hours early, but we were only the 6th people on line.
Jenn, sporting the cool Domokun t-shirt, plays some old-school Pokemon Blue while waiting on line at the museum.
In less then an hour of waiting, we start seeing some pretty fancy cars pull up. Then Japanese television reporters gathered out side and set up their cameras. Who were they going to interview? Why, the fans waiting in line, of course! (^_^)
Japanese TV reporter interviews a Miyazaki fan waiting on line in front of us.
Of course, the reporter caught a glimpse of the cutie on line wearing the Domokun t-shirt, so she brings her camera crew to us. My shy girlfriend refused to speak on camera, so yours truly did all the talking for the both of us. The woman was Japanese and couldn’t really speak English so well, so we had some problems understanding what she was asking. Be I answered questions about why we were there and why we liked Miyazaki so much. And finally she asked a question which reminded me of every single Japanese interview I’ve ever seen.
“So, are you excited?”
Yes, very, very excited!
Finally, a large black van appears, and out steps the man himself. I whip out my camera, but only manage to get that back of his head.
And then he went inside the museum to greet the press that was in there. At this point, I had to use the bathroom, so I went inside of the building to find one. I talked to the security on duty about my problem, but ultimately they turned me away saying that the area was restricted to press only. But while I was waiting, I watched a little of Miyazaki’s press conference. I couldn’t hear anything, but I was still in awe seeing the guy with my own eyes. I wanted to snap a picture right then, but I know that if I did, I was going to get my ass kicked by some pretty big bodyguards. So I went back outside, where now my girlfriend’s friend, Angie, had arrived with her friend and an order of Chinese food. Mmm… so the four of us dig into some dumplings as more limos pulled up to the entrance.
Legendary Hollywood actress and voice of the Witch of the Waste, Lauren Bacall, arrives at the premiere.
After a little while of waiting, we hear, “Here he comes! Here he comes!” We look over to see Mr. Miyazaki come through the rotating doors. I guess he went back to his van to pick up something, because he went out of sight for a little. Then he came back into the entrance. Chance!
The only good picture of Miyazaki I could get.
Not long after that, they allowed us to enter the theater. However, they were going to confiscate my camera. Crap! So we took one last picture while waiting in the press area.
Jenn and Angie pose in the press area right before entering the theater.
Being so far up in line, we had our choice of any seat in the theater. So we sat at what I felt were the best seats in the house- fourth row, dead center. After everybody was seated, a round of applause went up as Miyazaki and producer Isao Takahata made their way to the front of the theater. Some woman from the museum gave an introduction to the guest and the film. After another round of applause, the guests left, the lights went out, and the film started.
When the Japanese reporter asked me why I liked Miyazaki, I think I had a very good answer:
“I like him because there’s just a great feeling of magic and imagination to his films. His films are for children, but every one of all ages can enjoy them. He brings out the child in all of us.”
Howl’s Moving Castle holds very true to this. With a movie set to such a serious themes, there is a level of magic that you can’t help but to smile at. The protagonist, Sophie, lives in a world similar to that of World War II England, only with wizards and witches. A young but simple hat shop worker, she encounters the Witch of the Waste. The evil witch puts a curse on Sophie to make her an old woman. The poor girl then goes on a quest finding a way to break the curse. On her journey, she encounters the wild cast of characters. There’s the pretty boy Howl, his cute little assistant Markl, and the hilarious fire sprite Calcifer.
There’s no doubt about it, Billy Crystal’s performance as Calcifer wins over the dubbing of this film. Disney does an fantastic job at taking great care of this release. They work side-by-side with Studio Ghibli during the whole process to ensure that the film sticks as close to the original while still being suitable to an American audience. The translation is fantastic, and so are the talented Hollywood actors doing the vocal work. With something like Miyazaki and Disney, I really find no need to complain about dubbing in anime. It couldn’t be any better.
And this film is very Miyazaki in all ways, showing off a lot of the conventions that the director is best known for. A strong female protagonist, the backdrop of war, and the pleasures of being in flight run through out the film. Those who are familiar with his past work will be recalling the same kind of emotions that we all experienced before while watching his movies. I couldn’t help but to think to the grinning Totoro with Turnip-head, the scarecrow character in this film. That’s the kind of magic I was talking about earlier.
But there is something that completely kills the whole film. If you recall Miyazaki’s first film, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, it ended with something like this:
“Well, looks like I gotta go arrest him now.”
“But why, Mr. Zenigata? He didn’t steal anything this time.”
“Yes he did, ma’am. He stole your heart.”
::sniff::
What’s that?
Do I smell cheese around here?
Yeah, I think I smell something really cheesy.
Without giving away any of it, I found that the ending to Howl’s Moving Castle to be very similar in terms of corniness to the Castle of Cagliostro. Mononoke Hime didn’t have that. Neither did the childish Spirited Away or Totoro. It is because of this fact that I cannot claim this to be the best Miyazaki film ever. It’s actually pretty far from the best…
But this is still a must watch for anyone who can sit back and enjoy just what makes anime so special. It’s not the best Miyazaki film, but it’s still one of the best films of all time. If you live in or near a city, you must catch this playing on the big screen. It’s definitely worth it.
But I just wish I got some more face time with the man himself. But still, I’m not to surprised at this at his shyness at all. I’ve heard about it before. Maybe next time I will be considered a member of the press, so I will be able to meet him. Hey, you never know. 
