June 2004

June 26, 2004 "Howl's Moving Castle" Trailer seen (with English Script)
A just-under-two minute trailer for Howl's Moving Castle was broadcast on "Comin' Soon TV" in Japan. Currently, we do not have a version of this trailer that we can link to here.

Thanks to Andrei for posting the news to the MML and the wingsee.com forums for the original word.

Thanks to Deborah Goldsmith following translation:

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A film by Miyazaki Hayao

The heroine is a 90-year-old girl

Her sweetheart is a cowardly wizard

Sophie: Baisho Chieko

Howl: Kimura Takuya

Witch of the Waste: Miwa Akihiro

The two lived... in Howl's Moving Castle

Script, Director: Miyazaki Hayao

Music: Hisaishi Joe

This old lady is pretty energetic!

The fun of being alive, the joy of being in love, drawn by Miyazaki Hayao ("drawn by Miyazaki" comes first due to difference in word order between English and Japanese)

The deeply moving super-classic that's caught the attention of all the world

Howl's Moving Castle
(voiceover: a film directed by Miyazaki Hayao)

Original work: Diana Wynne Jones

"The Wizard Howl and the Fire Demon" (published by Tokuma Shoten) (c) 2004 Nibariki, "Howl's Moving Castle" Production Committee (voiceover: "Howl's Moving Castle")

This Fall
Coming to Toho theaters throughout Japan
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June 20, 2004 August R1 DVDs Delayed
The Digital Bits reports:

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One other note today - Buena Vista has delayed the second wave of Miyazaki DVDs, which had been slated for release on 8/31 (My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Porco Rosso). We'll give you the new date as soon as it becomes available.
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Thanks to Paul Mayer and Paul Spann for the word.

June 12, 2004 "Howl's Moving Castle" Theme Song Clip
You can now listen to "Sekai no Yakusoku (The Promise of the World)", the theme song for Howl's Moving Castle at Yumi KIMURA's site.

This is a version sung by KIMURA, not Chieko BAISHO, the voice actress of Sophie. KIMURA made and sang it for her album "Ryuusei (Shooting Star)", which was released in 2003 (details at Amazon Japan). Miyazaki-San liked the song and decided to put in Howl. Hisaishi-San rearranged the music and recorded with the new vocal of BAISHO.

So, this is different from what you will hear in the movie, but you can get an idea about what the song is like.

According to KIMURA, the song is about farewell with someone whom you cherish.

A mirror of the song (MP3, 622 KB, 42 seconds)

June 11, 2004 "An Anime Explosion"
The University of Texas at Austin's current feature article is titled "An Anime Explosion" and focuses on Dr. Susan Napier (author of "Anime: from Akira to Princess Mononoke") and her research on anime.

Thanks to Cynthia Tsao for the link.

June 7, 2004 "Howl's Moving Castle" Poster
Along with the information about the theme song, the previously mentioned Houchi article had an image of the new poster for Howl. Since it's scanned from a newspaper, the image quality is not so good, the blue things at the left edge are the part of the article's headline.

This image captured from a morning TV show shows a bit clearer image of the poster.

It's difficult to tranalate the copy. It's made by Shigesato ITOI, the copywriter who did the copy for almost all the Ghibli films (such as "Ikiro" for Princess Mononoke). He also did the voice of Dad in Totoro.

It is intentionally vague so that people can imagine a lot of different things and it makes them want to go to the theater.

Litetal translation is "The two lived." At the bottom of the poster is the title of the film, so it can be read as "Howl's Moving Castle Where the Two Lived Together." Probably it's just one of the meanings that the copywriter intended.

June 7, 2004 "Howl's Moving Castle" Theme Song
According to Sports Houchi (in Japanese), Chieko BAISHO, the voice actress of Sophie, will sing the theme song of "Howl's Moving Castle."

The song was written by Yumi KIMURA, who wrote and sang "Istumo Nando Demo," the theme song of "Spirited Away." Shuntaro TANIGAWA, a famous poet, wrote the lyrics.

It's been 41 years since Baisho last sang a song for a movie.