This Hayao Miyazaki Movie Christian Bale Calls a Masterpiece — and Wants His Kids to See
He may be Batman to millions, but Christian Bale’s most cherished role is an animated one: Howl in Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 classic Howl’s Moving Castle.
Christian Bale has played a lot of intense guys in his career — Batman, Patrick Bateman, the dude who starved himself for The Machinist — but the movie he lights up over is not one of those. It is Howl's Moving Castle, the 2004 Hayao Miyazaki film where Bale voices the dreamy wizard Howl in the English dub. Asked in a recent Instagram prompt which one of his movies he would show his kids, he picked Howl without hesitation and dropped a simple verdict:
'Masterpiece.'
Why Bale took the gig in the first place
Bale is not exactly known for voice work. Before Howl, his only voice role was back in 1995 on Disney's Pocahontas. The pivot to Studio Ghibli happened because he saw Miyazaki's Spirited Away and got floored by it — the animation, the emotion, the whole thing. That pushed him to tell people he wanted to work with Ghibli in any capacity. When Howl's Moving Castle came around in 2004, he got the call and, to his surprise, it was for the lead. He has said he did not expect that, but he jumped in and became the English voice of Howl.
Fun little crossover note: Bale is the second Batman actor to pop up in a Ghibli movie. Michael Keaton did it first, voicing the lead in Porco Rosso. Caped crusaders by day, airborne wizards and pig pilots by night.
What makes Howl stick
The story centers on Sophie, a young woman cursed by a witch to suddenly look elderly. She crosses paths with Howl, a powerful but enigmatic wizard who lives in a walking castle, and the two find their way through fear, love, and, yes, war. It is classic Miyazaki: fantasy that feels grounded, characters who get under your skin, and a melancholy warmth that sneaks up on you.
The anti-war streak is not subtle, and that matters. Miyazaki made the film during the Iraq War years, choosing to dwell less on battlefield spectacle and more on how conflict warps everyday lives. The movie does not get loud about it; it just keeps showing you the cost, then insists on kindness anyway.
It is adapted from Diana Wynne Jones's 1986 novel, and it was both a critical and commercial hit — the thing grossed over $235 million worldwide and settled into that rare spot where adults call it profound and kids think it is pure magic.
Quick facts if you are queuing it up
- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- English voice cast highlights: Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall, Jena Malone
- Runtime: 1h 59m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
- Based on: Diana Wynne Jones's 1986 novel
- Worldwide box office: $235M+
- US streaming: Hulu
So yes, Bale calling it a masterpiece tracks. If you somehow missed it, it is on Hulu in the US. Whether you have kids around or not, you do not need an excuse.