Few could manage to write a story centred on such a mechanical location and manage to keep the picture so poetic and serene. The harsh greys and browns are surrounded by punctuating greens and blues, bringing the whole world to life. While taking place in such a brutalist location, it strides through breath-taking environments.

It is bold, loud dominating the frames it resides and is all around wonderful. It owes more to the visuals of cyberpunk than the arthouse standards of Miyazaki. The steampunk design with its grilled face, spider-like legs and belching chimneys, has left a lasting impression in the imaginations of its audience and envy of artists in the genre. More of a character in of itself than an actual location, its look and aesthetic quickly became iconic. The walking-castle is this film’s most distinctive aspect. To regain her youth and achieve the confidence she lacks, she embarks on a journey with a young wizard in an enormous walking-castle.

The swansong however, turned out to be premature, as once again Hayao Miyazaki (writer and director of Studio Ghibli fame) proved not only to be the master of visual storytelling, but also of an art form he dearly loves.īased on a Welsh novel of the same name, we follow an uneasy and self-doubting young woman who, following an encounter with a witch, is cursed with an old body. The following years, and especially at the beginning of the 21st century, there was a race to switch from 2D to 3D, capitalising on the success Pixar had been seeing.Īt the time of release, Howl’s Moving Castle was seen as something of a leftover from a bygone era, a defiant swansong for the 2D age. In 2004, the landscape of animation was rapidly changing.ĩ years previous, Pixar released the revolutionary Toy Story, showcasing the very first fully 3D animated feature.

Howls moving castle movie visuals