Reviews of Howls moving Castle are superb, anyone actually seen it?

[fairyfly]

Is it worth going to watch?

Yes, it really is. Did you see Spirited Away? This is similar.

Medea, have you seen it? I am a Diana Wynne Jones fan and haven't seen Spirited Away, but liked the look of the animation/style. The reviews I saw were very mixed, and I wasn't sure how suitable it would be for my little ones (5 and 6).

Apparently its not as good as spirited away, not seen either ( times review) as it has a weak plot.
I'm going to give it a bash anyhow, animation looks refreshing and a break from all the disney beiung cout.

I saw that review too, and thought it odd. The book is one of my all time favourites (I read it whenever I am down, maybe a couple of times a year!)

Nooka, I haven't read Diana Wynne Jones, but I'm a Miyazaki fan, and I saw Howl's Moving Castle about 6 months ago in America, and liked it a lot--even though I had a scared 2-yr-old to contend with! (I really shouldn't have taken her along, but I had no one to leave her with and my 5-yrs old was desperate to see it.) I think 5 and 6 are great ages for this film, but it's a little chilling even for that age group. Not because it's violent, but there's something about things changing into other things that seems to bring out fear in my 5-yr-old. . .maybe there's somethng primal about that, who knows. I agree with fairlyfly's info that it' s not as good as Spirited Away, but it's still good, still worth seeing. . .so much better than a lot of the usual rubbish. I recommend it.

Thanks Medea. Will do, I usually end up with dd on my lap anyway! Still she is very happy with fairy stories in general, which can also be quite scary, so she should be OK.