‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ Animator on Working with Hayao Miyazaki

Before the initial release of “Howl’s Moving Castle” 20 years ago, Akihiko Yamashita spent nearly two years working as the supervising animator on the Studio Ghibli film.

“I really have no idea how many pages of drawings there were or how many cels we drew. I just know that we worked a huge amount and we drew a huge amount,” Yamashita tells Variety through an interpreter. “Nowadays, we talk about work-life balance, but in those days, there was no concept of that.”

Yamashita first worked with animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki as a key animator on 2001’s “Spirited Away.” Over the past 20-plus years, he has served various roles on Studio Ghibli films, including as an assistant supervising animator on “Ponyo” (2008) and a key animator on “The Wind Rises” (2013) and “The Boy and the Heron” (2023).

Yamashita recalls working 14 hours a day on “Howl’s Moving Castle” during the last six months of production, noting that there were “no Sundays” nor “time off during the week.” However, after Miyazaki’s film was complete, the supervising animator received three months of paid leave.

“I realized that I could only do this because I was in my 30s in those days,” Yamashita says. “I wouldn’t be able to do that now at all.”

Based on Dianna Wynne Jones’ 1986 fantasy novel of the same name, “Howl’s Moving Castle” follows a young milliner named Sophie, who is magically transformed into a 90-year-old woman by the Witch of the Waste. On a quest to break the curse, the elderly Sophie takes refuge in a moving castle owned by a charismatic wizard named Howl.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of “Howl’s Moving Castle,” now playing in theaters until Oct. 3 as part of Ghibli Fest, Yamashita spoke with Variety via an interpreter about his relationship with Miyazaki and bringing the animated fantasy film to life.

How does the animation process for a Hayao Miyazaki…