FAQ

Howl is being forcefully requested to join their respective sides in the war. He is known by both kingdoms and they both demand his help. Both Porthaven and Kingsbury were part of the same kingdom, just different towns.

The moving castle has multiple doors in different parts of the same kingdom. Howl made it that way to run away from the Witch of the Wastes. He made the aliases to avoid the witch, and the actual king didn't know, but Howl had been an apprentice for the advisor (Suliman) and that's how she knew.

He tells Sophie he was summoned to the palace under both of his aliases. You see soldiers breaking down his door from two cities for the same kingdom, because Suliman had already sent them to arrest Howl for not reporting to the palace himself.

Suliman wasn't a ruler, just the kings advisor because the actual king was at war.

Not really. She met with representatives from Studio Ghibli but did not have any input or involvement in the production of the film.

She's quoted in this USENET posting as saying, "It's fantastic. No, I have no input - I write books, not films. Yes it will be =different= from the book - in fact it's likely to be very different, but that's as it should be. It will still be a fantastic film."

The following comes from someone who attended a private screening of the film in Bristol:

She enjoyed it a great deal and she particularly recommends anyone who sees it to watch out for the falling stars, which she says are "out of this world, literally and figuratively". Although it doesn't follow the plot of the book exactly nor have quite the same characterisation, and includes things that are definitely not in the original text, she didn't come away feeling unhappy with what has been done with her work.

At the meal, she and Miyazaki talked with each other so much that the poor girl interpreting for them didn't get a bite to eat, and DWJ was quite worried for her (but she was able to hand over to another interpreter after a while and did get some food in the end). He seems to be a great fan of the Dalemark books in particular, and his understanding of them and his views about them impressed DWJ a lot.

In the novel the movie is based on, Howl's name is revealed to actually be Howell Jenkins. Howell is really from present-day Wales, and, using his magic, is able to cross over to the fantastical world where the bulk of the story takes place. (This is the source of the "Wizard Jenkins" name.)