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NEWS: Howl's Moving Castle Box Office Results

I think the only way to understand Howl is to read the book. So I'm kind of surprised they didn't try to do something useful, like giving out a free ticket to people who bought the book.

I agree, in Arizona it is being shown in 4 theaters! FOUR

There are a few other smaller problems that are hurting Howl's numbers, I think.

1) - Over-active middle-class American parents think anime is porny/sexist/violent/stupid/etc. Thanks to the oversaturation of the market with crappy harem/girls with guns/guys with big-ass swords titles, anime gets a bad rep. And Howl is marketed as anime - therein lies the problem. Personally, I honestly consider Studio Ghibli's creations to be in a class entirely seperate from most anime, and I think that Disney should not be marketing Howl's Moving Castle as anime, but as an animated film.

2) - People who brought their kids to see Spirited Away (and/or Mononoke, perhaps.) might have been turned off by the movie's little splurts of violence. Of course I think that's ridiculous, but when I went to see Spirited Away for a second time, people in front of us would squirm and cover their kids' eyes during the scenes where Haku was bleeding, or when No-Face was vomitting.

3) Now let's move away from kids and talk about adults. "Animation = children's play" is, unfortunatley, still what most Americans think of animated film, be it from Japan or wherever else. Howl's Moving Castle is a movie that's more suited for people who are at least pre-teens or teens, and the film does require actual thought process - gasp! That's just too much for some people. Sorry, I know I sound very condensending in these comments, but it's the truth.

4) I agree that the trailer didn't tell us very much about the film. Just from watching the trailer, you can't really tell what the movie's about at all.

But one thing I really did enjoy were the voices they cast. I think this is Disney's best dub yet, and I thoroughly enjoyed each important character's voice.

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I agree, in Arizona it is being shown in 4 theaters! FOUR

I saw it at the AMC. The locations, overall, are spread out pretty well, but I wish it was playing somewhere in the PV/Scottsdale area. Both times I saw Howl, the theater was pretty empty, it was a dissapointment. But on the other hand, I went at unpopular times (10:30 in the morning opening day, and 7 at night on a Monday.)

As I mentioned before it got very good ratings and great reviews from critics, so how can it be a bad movie? It's a bad movie compared to what? Spirited Away? Maybe people ilke you and Disney, are just too busy making up excuses as to why they haven't/shouldnt give the Ghibli movies a wider release. After what Spirited Away did, they only bothered with 200??? Even British animated movies get far more screens than that.

some of you guys are missing the point.

It actually was shown in theatres! That's awesome. 10 years ago no one would have given it a chance.

3. The public perception of "animated films = kids" is slowly fading. I credit smart, witty films like Toy Story and Shrek for giving older audiences more of a taste for animated feature films.

(cartoon is not a synonym for animation, the origin of the word has to do with funny/silly drawings).

If Totoro got any theatrical release, it would have been festivals and very low-level arthouse circuit only.