That's not why she cursed sophie. She cursed sophie outta jealousy, not precisely because she was beautiful. And it wasn't a rumor. She saw the attention Howl gave her and that's what she was jealous of.

@NC-ij9rb

2 ай бұрын

It could be both

@Ananaskaneli

2 ай бұрын

This seems very likely. The motivations aren't as clear in the movie as they are in the book. In the book the witch of the waste curses Sofie because she was unknowingly spelling each hat she made (Sofie didn't know she was a witch untill half way through) and the witch of the waste wanted to stump the possible competition.

@Trioditis

2 ай бұрын

​@Ananaskaneli actually in the book the Witch of the Waste cursed Sophie because Howl was going after her sister, Lettie, and the witch assumed Sophie was Lettie lol. She did realize Sophie was a witch when she saw the charmed hats though, so it could partially be true. But the primary motivation was getting rid of Howl's current romantic interest so she could pursue him.

@RotheAlien

2 ай бұрын

YES! in the book, the witch is beautiful (unlike how they made her in the movie) and its not because she was ugly that howl left her

@MeowMeow-he2yk

2 ай бұрын

Iirc it wasnt about jelousy but bcs she have a beef with howl. And iirc she thought sophie "lied" about having ties with Howl when the witch was looking for him and Sophie answered that she doesnt know where he was

In the book, she also has magic (and another reason why the curse sticks). She doesn't know she has magic, and puts spells on the hats she makes. One was worn on a girl who fell in love with a prince. The witch bought the same design not made by her, and got mad that it didn't work for her.

@dashzag

2 ай бұрын

You misremembered. There was a random lady that came in, bought the same bonnet that the girl who met the prince did, and then came back furious that it didn't do anything. The witch didn't buy any hats. She came into the store under a pretense of buying a hat, and then cursed Sophie because - and I quote - "I've heard of you, Miss Hatter, and I don't care for your competition or your attitude. I came to put a stop to you. There." And it had to do with Howl, because he already showed interest in Sophie.

@fulana_de_tal

2 ай бұрын

​@@dashzag but it also had to do with Sophie accidentally selling charmed hats, the Witch of the Waste saw her as competition in business too

@hergnomieness

2 ай бұрын

The witch of the waste also though Sophie was her sister Lettie, who was pretending to be their other sister Martha, who was rumoured to have caught the eye of Howl. The Witch was kind of jealous, but mostly just wanted Howl's head, literally.

@dashzag

2 ай бұрын

@@fulana_de_talNot really, because one, the Witch doesn't interact with humans or offer any services, and two, she's much stronger than Sophie. Why would Sophie be competition?

@dashzag

2 ай бұрын

@@hergnomieness The Witch of the Waste never confused the sisters. She literally called Sophie by her full name when she came to curse her. Also Lettie/Martha caught Howl's attention much later in the book after Sophie was already cursed.

It's how she sees herself. That's why she'll look younger at times when she's feeling happy/not down on herself but becomes old when she starts feeling that about herself

@Nifoxil

2 ай бұрын

Maybe in the movie but not the book, in the book Sophie considers herself an ordinary girl who will never be anything extraordinary as she is the oldest of the sisters, when the witch of the West turns her into an old woman she let's go of society's expectations and decides to try and live her life, also in the book Sophie is a witch and she doesn't know about it until much later, when her sisters are made apprentices under other people she fully focuses on her hat making, wearing gray, muted clothes and starts talking to the hats, saying things like "you will marry a prince" putting a spell on them by accident and causing the shop's popularity to skyrocket. OH, also she was the one to create the moving scarecrow by commenting about it on her way up the hill xD

@cb8953

2 ай бұрын

@@Nifoxil sounds like I'm gonna go read the book now

@Nifoxil

2 ай бұрын

@@cb8953 I have reread the book three times, it's still amazing, although in case you've only watched the movie the first half of the movie and the first half of the book are both similar but the other halfs take two different paths, also that black circle from the door, really cool little tidbit and also makes you understand why howl is acting so aloof :D

@Nifoxil

2 ай бұрын

There is also a continuation of the world with the second book from the series, although the second book has two different protagonists, Howl and Sophie show up in that book :>

@AdmiralStoicRum

Ай бұрын

​@@NifoxilWell no The scarecrow was already a cursed being splitting the wizard I think is what it was not howl but the other one. She just spoke life back into it because it's magic battery was out

Having read the book, it was that she considered herself ordinary, not ugly (even though she actually had an aptitude for magic and put enchantments on hats she made without realizing). She was the oldest of three daughters and has decided that that means she will never achieve anything extraordinary, so she should settle for a quiet life in the hat shop. The witch cursed her not because she was beautiful, but out of jealousy, and having become an old woman, suddenly she dropped all of her expectations of herself to be normal and ordinary because it wasn't really needed anymore, in her opinion. And all of the other stuff happened. Also Howl is a soccer player and goes to visit his old English teacher with her. Read the book y'all its wild (and hilarious)

@tephwilliams

2 ай бұрын

I love both the book and the movie, but they are definitely separate entities! The first part is mostly the same, but then they go their different directions. It’s also interesting to see how a couple of the names change due to translating them from English to Japanese, than back to English. The author of the book (Dianna Wynne Jones) has said that Miyazaki was one of the few people who really understood the story, through, and that just makes me so happy!

@Nifoxil

2 ай бұрын

I have reread the book 3 times,I love it

@fulana_de_tal

2 ай бұрын

Howl is a rugby player (not soccer), i think, and also a phd student who just happened to stumble upon a magic land may i add

@lorblauh

2 ай бұрын

Howl is Welsh.

@nomukun1138

2 ай бұрын

This movie (re-)introduced me to Diana Wynne Jones, a fantasy author on the level of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I found out she was the author of Tale of Time City, a story that I read as a child and is still one of the most fascinating time travel stories I've found.

I'll never get over how beautiful Ghibli's animations are... look at the expressions, the movements, the simple blink of an eye...

@ChumpyGames

2 ай бұрын

Agreed!

They should have kept the book reason for the curse. Made much more sense, especially when they added the aging/deaging to the movie. (In the books, she basically inflected sophies magic, which she was jealous of, back onto sophie and prevented her telling anyone she was spellbound. Sophie didn't know she had magic at all so couldn’t undo it. Howl basically went "huh, shes made herself old, guess she wants to be disguised, I'll not being it up". He also knows her sisters all put themselves under disguses at some point too so thought it was just a family peculiarity 😂)

@Eranrenrae

Ай бұрын

I'm cackling at the idea of Howl not being perturbed in the slightest. Bro is really just like "well I suppose I like older women now"

“Howl only takes the hearts of beatiful girls”-Sophie

@user-A8khgy687mji

14 күн бұрын

❤😢

In the book, part of her lack of confidence in herself is because she's the oldest of her sisters. So she's got different expectations and she doesn't think she could go with a guy like Howl because they (her parents) have certain expectations for her. And yk how older siblings are sometimes seen as more serious or less attractive because they have to take on more serious roles. So then they end up not seeing their full potential because they're being put into a corner to focus on what their parents expect of them instead.

@ArchieRatsworth

2 ай бұрын

Sophie is the oldest child with brown hair and brown eyes, and since nothing good happens in farie tales to eldest daughters or girls with brown hair and eyes, she assumes that she'd be doomed if she ever ran away to seek her fortune. She resigns to inherit the hat shop and be normal. However, when she's turned into an old woman, she gets excited because old ladies can go on adventures and have happy endings too. So she hurries off, free from feeling ashamed of herself.

@brittanylehman5104

2 ай бұрын

​@@ArchieRatsworthIn that viewpoint, I guess the curse the witch of the waste placed on her was somewhat of a blessing instead of a curse.😅

@ArchieRatsworth

Ай бұрын

@brittanylehman5104 It's implied that Sophie is unconsciously keeping herself cursed because of her self-esteem issues. The witch came because Sophie has magic as well and was enchanting the hats by talking to them. She has story magic, where she can describe magic onto things. Right before Witch arrived, Sophie had a breakdown and told the hats they were worthless normal hats, and that made them normal. The Witch, furious that she was tricked and angry that Sophie is pretty and rude, curses her. Later, the Witch is shocked to see that Sophie hasn't lifted the curse yet, assuming that a young Witch with Howl's help could have gotten herself free by now. Sophie stays old because she prefers the expectations. It isn't until she realises that she is in love that she finally lets the curse go.

@gwenndolyncampbell1560

15 күн бұрын

@@ArchieRatsworth This is a small thing, but if I remember correctly, Sophie wasn't a brunette in the books, she had red hair. Your other points I agree with, though.

I'm not going to say the witch wasn't jealous but the reason why she targeted Sophie was because her shadow puppets who were following him saw the wizard with her and assumed she would find a way to get to Howl because she left something in Sophie's pocket that's scorched his table it was all to send a message

For anyone who loves the movie, the book is also incredible. Don't go in expecting the same story, a lot was changed, but the heart of the story comes from Jones and mixes with Ghibli to create a masterpiece on screen. Jones has this way of writing that sounds like she is just adding unnecessary detail but it all comes back around to play a role either in the themes of the story or in a big reveal.

Sophie is the classic, “ she doesnt know how beautiful she is.” But rather than being annoying. It really does work for the story because of how like able, relatable and down to earth she is. You really understand why she could believe she isn’t worthy of love when she had to grow up so fast and take over her dad’s hat shop, putting aside any needs or wants she had for the family, for her father. I love sophie, she’s kind, hard working, honest, optimistic and most of all brave. All absolutely beautiful qualities in a person. But for one reason or another, she was made to feel like she’s not enough. She’s neurotic, anxious and impulsive. It’s only when she realizes that she is enough as she is, she is love, she is beautiful and deserves good things…. I love this movie so much. It teaches us all a valuable lesson about in giving love freely, we receive love in turn.

Howl used to be superficial and vein. He rejects his heart early on in the story so he goes for looks like in the witch of the waste before she has aged so much she cannot conceal it to the level she once was. Howl falls in love with Sophie while she is elderly, he loves her platonically as a roommate before he sees the nature of her curse. What I love most is the witch thinks she is beautiful, she does not, beauty is not about looks, it never mattered if she was “beautiful” to everyone, she found love in the everyday practice of taking care of him and his home. It never mattered if Sophie was beautiful or not and it’s up to us to choose if she ever was out of it ever even mattered.

If you read the book it's because of Fairy Tale logic that she looks the way she does and is lonely.

The irony is that in cursing her, the old witch set into motion the events that led to Sophie living with Howl and Howl falling in love with her.

I TOTALLY get how Sophie feels though, I'm the oldest daughter of my family, and am told by many around me that I'm beautiful, but I have a very negative outlook about my looks, and don't find myself desirable for anyone, especially not men. I've never had a boyfriend, and don't think any man will truly like or love me for me due to my autism. I struggle SEVERELY with my self-image and have grown frightened of men and boys in general because I'm scared of their intentions towards me. ( Childhood school trauma has this kind of effect that leeches into people's adulthood. Never discount childhood traumas, they ALWAYS comes back to haunt you, ALWAYS, some of them are bad enough that they cause PTSD, so...yeah, not fun.😢

@Merlodica

Ай бұрын

You’re beautiful Brittany ❤️ Grow to love yourself and you’ll come to know that truth yourself 🧜‍♀️

@brittanylehman5104

Ай бұрын

Thanks, I'll try to, it'll take a while, but... I'm sure I can do it eventually. Thankyou for the compliment and the encouragement, I definitely need that A LOT right now.{=3

@Pollicina_db

23 күн бұрын

Same with me, due to being bullied for my severe acne I have pretty bad image of myself. Even now after I got rid of acne I still have scars over my face so I def consider myself as ugly. I believe I’m destined to never find someone to love in that certain way but I’m fine with it now.

I really love that being cursed taught Sophie to love herself no matter how she looks

Sophie started living life the moment she was free from expectation. She believed she was ugly but still it wasn't a solid fact, since she was at least young. Sometimes what bring us pain is an unconfirmed idea that torments us, in other words, hope. When she became old, that wasn't a possibility anymore, there was no hope, it was a fact. She was now ugly and had nothing to lose, so she starts living life in a different and fulliest way.

I personally love that when moments come into play she's not aware of her youth never being gone but, the second she notices, reality comes back to normal little things in the movie are so much fun to see (i might not be fully correct on my wording, but, she does go young then back to being old at times) her in the dream was cool to see her get young for a moment then is back to her old age (sorry this was so long)

In the original book, Sophie knows that she lives in a world where fairytale logic reigns supreme. Because she is the eldest of three, she believes she is doomed to fail if she ever leaves the comfort of her home and family. She is certain her half sister, Hattie, the youngest of them, will be most successful (working by the logic of the rule of three). The curse basically forces her to leave the house, her family and the safety of the hat shop. She also compares herself to a mouse or an old maiden before the curse. Which is excellent foreshowing

Weirdly, in the book, she doesn't really say anything about being ugly, she talks instead about how she's cursed because she's the oldest of 3, which is considered unlucky in their land.

I feel sophie rn, shes such a realistic character and the way she fell for howl without any hesitation just shows. ( Besides who wouldn't fall for him anyway? )

The fact that 2 grown men went up to her and started to call her a mouse and say that shes to cute to be a mouse-

oh that sounds rather different from the book

@ChumpyGames

3 ай бұрын

I haven’t read the book but I’m told it’s very different

@pancakethetenrec3213

2 ай бұрын

If I remember correctly Sophie was not the target for the curse but her stepmother was and since they were both called hatter the witch just picked the wrong hatter. But I could be wrong

@serenarodriguez7631

2 ай бұрын

​@@pancakethetenrec3213 I'm pretty sure it was actually one of her sisters, don't know which one, though

@dashzag

2 ай бұрын

No, in the book, the witch came to curse Sophie. She says her full name, she knows exactly who Sophie is. The witch is cursing her because Howl had just broken up with her, and showed interest in Sophie, and she's jealous.

@crickca

2 ай бұрын

@@dashzag her relationship with howl occured wayyyy before the story takes place , plus…i believe the witch was originally searching for her step mother or one of her sisters. she only knows her last name “hatter”, which is what she calls sophie throughout their interaction. so yeah she was jealous but not for the reasons as to which the movie states. though ive never seen it so i cant really speak about it.

I think the movie takes an interesting stance on the original story, in the book she was cursing herself to be old because she thought it was better that way and always thought she would fail or already failed so when she became old she gave up in a way. She didn’t think as much about the beauty and/or ugliness of herself in the book. But in the book her putting herself down stems from the idea in storytails where the oldest sibling would fail and the youngest would thrive, sadly Sophie took that fairytale ideology to heart. Also fun fact the original story doesn’t have any war in it, instead replaced with a plot not that unsimilar to the Japanese term for isekai, howl is originally from wales in there (: Ps. I absolutely love the movie, it’s why I read the book after. No hate to either version.

I like how you frame it in a way that is relatable to today's younger generations

This is such a movie

Is nobody gonna talk about how pretty Sophie is with white hair and Howl is with black? Such a Yin Yang contrast

I always figured that the witch of the waste was jealous of Sophie getting How's attention, that and that she steals other people's youth to keep herself young But more than anything I always thought that Sophie was beautiful, because she was genuine.

The curse didn't take her youth; rather it made her appearance reflect her dispositions. She acted like timid old lady, so the curse turned her into one.

I love that in the book Sophie literally could not care less that she’s an old lady now 😂😂😂

Does she get her beauty back?

@ChumpyGames

2 ай бұрын

Yeah!

@DeathFace99

2 ай бұрын

She does, the book is a bit different from the movies but it's an amazing story very fun!!

its funny how hollywoods understanding of a strong women is a spiteful, violent, angry, vile individual. while sophie manages to be a million times stronger than them by being kind. really all of ghiblis woman protagonists are very strong, and none of them are the modern hollywood women protags. for some reason hollywood is not taking notes.

The book is so different and actually has two sequels. The witch has her own castle, Sophie is fully magic in a very odd way, and the land is run by tradition in the same way the Fae world is described to be (Sophie was convinced nothing good would happen for her because the eldest children are always the dullest iirc), and real world Wales is visited. Very fun.

GUYS THERE'S NOT ONE, BUT THREE BOOKS ABOUT THIS WORLD AND THESE CHARACTERS GO READ THEM ALL RIGHT NOW

Sophie actually cursed herself, that's the whole point, we limit ourselfs without realising how much potential we hold. Yall, go read the books PLEASE, THEY ARE WONDERFUL

I thought it was quite obvious that the witch cursed her to be an old woman to have her outer appearance match her inner persona. At the beginning of the movie Sophie is portrayed as this very shy and industrious young woman who only cares about crafting hats and is trapped in a dull life but does nothing to change it: she is basically 80 but in the body of a young woman. That's the reason she freaks out only for a few minutes after being cursed and then accepts her condition, because now it matches how she has always behaved: the movie is about how Sophie learns to experience life, live a life she actively chooses and "become young". She learns how to be more carefree and lighthearted (while remaining herself: notice the silver hair at the ending) while Howl learns how to be more responsible and "adult".

I love it when evil old ladies become good in Ghibli films

She humble and dress simple... thats what nakes her beautiful.

She didn’t consider herself ugly, just ordinary

I watched this move last month or so. I WANT TO WATCH IT AGAIN!!!

I watched the beginning of the movie as a little kid, and I got really mad when she turned into an old lady because I thought she was pretty 😭

The book I think has a more interesting reason for her to just allow monotony and accept a lesser life because it isnt about beauty, its about being the firstborn. The story is set around concepts in fairytales. I found it more interesting that Sophie didnt think poorly of herself, she only thought highly of her younger sisters but because of their likelihood of success.

In a way, her old age also freed her.

I think there's a whole other half to this where she believes that her age and ugliness are why she's so deprived of relationships and adventure, but she gains both while being exceedingly old and not having any youthful beauty, showing that the only thing in Sophie's way was her own mentality.

I couldn't decide what movie i wanted to watch, THIS IS PERFECT! Now I just gotta dig it out...

Woah this is so cool!

I too felt like Sophie as a young girl. It wasn’t until my mid forties that I realized I wasn’t hideously ugly. I always wonder how many young girls felt the same way.

She was consumed with the idea that she was the middle child, and so bound by fairytale rules to have the least exciting life... the witch of the waste is jealous of her natural magic. the hats she made would give people the qualities she described to them.

I feel like Sophie gives Audrey Hepburn vibes honestly.

Girly pop literally looks just like me, smh 🙄🙄 I was so mad when she called herself ugly lmfao

also in the books sophie was the eldest and her younger siblings were able to follow their dreams and be gorgeous whereas she was doomed to live a boring average life

The movie is gorgeous and visually a treat. But i recommend reading the book as its actually really cute and romantic, different story too. Better fleshed out character motivations for everyone

The witch of the “waist” has my dying😂

@ChildofChrist1983

2 ай бұрын

Witch of the Waste. Not "waist". Big difference

@Handy8

2 ай бұрын

@@ChildofChrist1983 I’m just saying it sounds like “waist” not “wast” 😐 it’s only a joke man I actually know what it says

I only now realized its " witch of the waste " like wasteland. I thought it was * witch of the waist " a pun or badfaith nickname because shes heavy

In the book the witch gets what she deserves iykyk she’s actually so evil in the book too

This is also a unique example where the curse of "taking away beauty" is not the result of vanity of the cursed. Infact it's not even Sophie who has to learn a lesson. If anything the story teachers the guy to love the girl even when she grows old. Because old Sophie and young Sophie are still the same person he fell in love with.

I hear ya Sophie, I hear ya

Witch of the WASTE😭😭😭😭😭 I'M CRYING

Well, they weren’t really wrong about Sophie being Howl’s sweetheart, since the entire movie is a loop, two lovers meeting one another again & again, along with falling inlove over & over again. It’s implied when Howl says to Calcifer(?) after Sophie “bullied” him: “Not just anyone can do that”, and implied again when Sophie goes back in time to meet a younger Howl, as she screams out: “Find me in the future!”. (or smth like that, I haven’t seen the movie in like a year or so, lol; but I wrote from what I remembered:D)

It also changes how she sees herself. When she's confident, she turns young again. When she's insecure, she turns back into an old woman

But it also shows her inner beauty to howl

She ain't ugly, she just needs a different hairstyle 😁

It's not that she's ugly, it's that she's the eldest, and the eldest is never going to have luck or fortune.

Not me watching it over and over without getting to know why she gets cursed 😅😅. Arigatou

I believed that her beauty came from her self-esteem she has while thinking her appearance is just average. Being old didn't affect her inner beauty and this is what the Witch and Howl loved about her. The movie represents the effect on all the characters with the same issue: What do you value more? The appearance or the inner strength (beauty) of a person? What do others value more about you? This movie is relatable and every character goes through a faze and development till they reach the goal to answer all the questions to themselves.

my name is sophie and the first sentence removing “in howls moving castle” fits me, lowk got kinda creeped

I prefer the explanation in the book version in that case. Tying a woman’s worth to her beauty and youth always comes across as a bizarre thing to me to do to another human being (in this case it’s the story teller doing it to the character). Also- I always wonder how must an older woman viewing the movie feel about it when she sees her age being used as a “curse”. And how a younger person (especially girls) might subtly internalize that aging is bad for them.

Howel had been looking for Sophie since he was a child (Sophie time traveled in the end of the movie). He once pursued the witch, but realized she wasn't beautiful (she wasn't Sophie). This rejection caused the witch to become obsessed, she must have him. The witch saw Howel escorting Sophie and assumed they were a couple...but Sophie had only just met him.

Aww, I love this kind of stuff

in the end of the movie she is back with her youth and beauty, but she has white hair, doesn't it mean that she finally accepts herself fully, combing her beautiful young and "ugly" wise sides together? like she gets back to herself in the past but now with inseparable experience and new point of view

At book, which mistakenly curses her instead of her older sister who was flirting with Howl

I feel like her.

The fact she looks like me is just so

witch of the waist😂

@ChildofChrist1983

2 ай бұрын

Witch of the Waste. Not "waist". Big difference

in the book, the witch actually cursed sophie thinking she was her sister.

So she had the Straw Hat before Roger

She’s the same way in the book. She describes herself as rather mousy.

Book Witch: I'm gonna curse this powerful witch (Sophie's sis), visits a hat shop, 'hm you're magically powerful, got you Ms. Hatter'. Movie Witch: You're too pretty!

And shes not exactly trying to break her curse. Although calcifer mentions it and she asks she doesn't really do much just. Can you break my curse? No? Oh well. Hey why don't you break the spell you put on me. Oh well I have things to do. She just lets it be.

"This rumor was false" Well... Yes and No... Time travel is complicated.

witch of the wAsTe 😂

nah thats the witch of the weights

Many of us are Sophie.

I thought her cursing Sophie had something to do with the hat business 🤔? To be fair, i also read the book and i know its different.

A guy I used to be friends with said “I really like you, I’d date you if you lost weight.” And from then on, I realized I was a lesbian.

The narrator clearly hasn't read the book. All the sister's were considered pretty girls. She doesn't think of herself as ugly just plain her lack of confidence is because as the eldest she is supposed to be the "responsible" (boring and predictable and she internally resents this role) As for the witch she has heard stories of things that happen to Sophie's clients. A hat that can grant certain wishes or abilities. That is what makes her jealous of Sophie

@ChumpyGames

Ай бұрын

I would argue that the movie departs from the book and centers slightly different themes, because Sophie does complain about not being pretty a couple of times in the movie

My fav movie

No she's very pretty she just doesn't think that she is pretty I mean most young girls don't think they're pretty but some large aren't

I’m also not too too sure if I still like Howl.. He is fine! But I mean like… Kinda selfish man. That scene when Sophie just tell him how she’s never felt beautiful once in her life. Whilst he just grovelling that his hair colour changed. It’s not wrong to be insecure, but it’s wrong to let it consume you till you’re not aware of others around you. You’ll never know if someone had or is having an even more hard time but just not showing i

So actually the witch thought Sufi was beautiful because another male mage loved her?!

Also it's funny that she gets all of her new friends as the old woman, who is stereotypically less attractive. So again reinforcing the idea that looks aren't all that important

Beauty ≠ youth

Can anyone tell me where to watch the movie or where to read that book ????

Im changing my name is Sophie....if ya know why we are instant Friends

I mean, she is right. Nobody gave a shit about Sophie. A world of magic had to rip the world asunder to manifest a magic man of her dreams to wisk her off her feet away from the misery of her day to day. When she returns to mundanity later, her family sells her out to maintain their style of living.

Funny. I hate howl cuz he said red hair was ugly. Never watched the movie again cuz i was offened xD

Beauty and youth are different things 😐

Does she stay old? Because if she does then it’s a movie I can take off my watchlist lmaooo!💀

Reel logic is getting out of hands day by day 😂

And yet he still hit that