DVD details for for
Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004)

(Japan) Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki creates another delicately textured fantasy of magic and mechanical wonders with this story, adapted from the novel by English writer Diana Wynne Jones. After shy shopgirl Sophie is quite literally swept off her feet by the notoriously mysterious wizard Howl, the decadent and jealous Witch of the Waste steals her youth. Sophie takes refuge in Howl's clanking, steam driven castle. The 2-disc set features both the original Japanese soundtrack and an English language version featuring the voices of Emily Mortimer and Jean Simmons as the young and old shopgirl, respectively, Christian Bale as the dashing Howl, Lauren Bacall as the Witch and Billy Crystal as the fire demon. Among the supplements is a lovely real time presentation of the complete storyboards set to the movie soundtrack, which becomes something like a video storybook as well as an illustration of the pre-production animation process.