Movie vs. Book: Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle -Callie

 

“I feel ill," Howl announced. "I'm going to bed, where I may die.” - Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle

Spoiler for book and movie ahead! 

When I first watched Howl's Moving Castle, I remember thinking Howl Pendragon was a boring character. Besides being a little vain and a drama queen, it seemed to me that he didn’t have much of a personality. I loved the movie but I thought the plot was lacking. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the movie was based on a book and the book had more character background/development. After reading the book, I was surprised at how much the movie left out, specifically all the stuff left out about the main character Howl. 

The main difference between the book Howl and the movie Howl is his romantic pursuits. ‘“Howl is very fickle,” said Calcifer. “He’s only interested until the girl falls in love with him. Then he can’t be bothered with her.”’  In the book, Howl is a player. As Calcifer said, he is always pursuing a woman and trying to get her to fall in love with him. As soon as she is in love with him, he leaves her immediately, leaving her heartbroken and angering her mother and aunts. He does this because he, like in the movie, is literally heartless since he gave his heart to keep the fire demon Calcifer alive. Within the book, he is seen flirting with his nephew’s teacher, Miss Angorian, despite her having a fiancé. At one point Sophie thinks he is trying to woo her sister Lettie but in actuality, he is trying to gather information about Sophie herself. In the movie he is never seen flirting with a woman and the only mention of his previous romances is his brief history with the Witch of the Waste.

Another difference between the book Howl and the movie Howl is his relationship with Sophie. In the movie, Howl and Sophie first meet when Howl rescues her from being hit on by two soldiers. He swoops in and saves her from the harassment of these men then flies her to safety. Book Howl and Sophie's first meeting is very different. Sophie is walking to her sister's work during the May Day festival being held in her town. She is hurrying along the street when Howl spots her and offers to buy her a drink. She rejects him saying she is on her way to see her sister. He then offers to walk her to her sister to which she rejects him again. Their first meeting is not as romantic in the book but does showcase how much of a flirt book Howl is in comparison to movie Howl.

    Another difference between the book and the movie is Howl’s notorious flower garden. In the movie Howl sets one of the castle’s locations to his old garden and gives it to Sophie, telling her she can visit it anytime. In the book, there is no garden but instead a flower shop they use as cover from the Witch of the Waste. Howl uses the flower shop as a cover from the Witch of the Waste because he knows how much Sophie likes flowers, her having mentioned it several times before in the book. In both, the movie and book Howl uses flowers as his first romantic gesture towards Sophie. In my opinion, the book Howl is a little more obvious about his feelings towards Sophie with the flower shop since he remembered how much she loved flowers.

One aspect of Howl that was almost completely left out of the movie is the fact that he is from Wales. Within the book, Sophie learns Howl is from Wales, can speak Welsh, and his real name is Howell Jenkins. She even goes with him when he visits his sister and nephew at their home in Wales. I was very surprised to read this part because there is zero mention of him being from Wales in the movie. The castle has a location that leads to his sister's home in Wales, which I assume is the black color on the location wheel in the movie. 

One thing that hasn’t changed about Howl's personality between the book and the movie is how vain he is. In both the movie and book, he spends a lot of time getting ready in the bathroom and cares a lot about his looks and clothing. He dyes his hair the wrong color (in the movie it is ginger but in the book it is more of a pink color) leading to a huge “tantrum” and him covering himself and parts of the castle in green slime. “There were horrendous, dramatic, violent quantities of green slime--oodles of it.” At one point in the book Michael says this about how long Howl spends getting ready, “The day Howl forgets to do that will be the day I believe he's really in love…’” 

book Howl's appearance

movie Howl's appearance

The rest of his personality is a little different, with book Howl being more sarcastic and movie Howl being a positive and happier character. In the book, he often teases Sophie and calls her “Ms. Nose'' because she has a big nose and is also nosy and snoops around the castle. One of the funniest Howl moments in the novel is when he is drunk and says, “‘I assure you, my friends, I am cone sold stober.’...’What a lie that was!’ Howl remarked as he walked into the wall.” One odd aspect of Howl that was added into the movie is his ability to turn into a bird. In the movie there is a war going on, which I think was added in to express director/animator Hayao Miyazaki’s anti-war views, but there is no war in the book thus Howl has no reason to turn into a bird. Movie Howl’s bird transformation is a key part of his good heartedness in the movie, since he uses this power to save people, so book Howl looks pretty selfish in comparison.

Thank you for reading this blog post and I highly suggest the Howl’s Moving Castle book if you have not read it!! -Callie