ハウルの動く城 (aka Howl's Moving Castle) (2004)

Set in a fictional kingdom that is at war with another kingdom. A young milliner (Emily Mortimer) is turned into an elderly woman (Jean Simmons) by a witch (Lauren Bacall) who enters her shop and places a curse on her. Based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (THE BOY AND THE HERON). Yet another gorgeous piece of animation by the great Miyazaki and it well may be my favorite. This one is pretty heavy duty as it addresses issues such as war, old age and empathy. The narrative is geared more toward adults than young children and its often complex themes will likely go right over their heads. Miyazaki (who's a pacifist) emphasizes a prominent anti war aspect that is not in the original novel. Normally, I prefer to watch Miyazaki's films in the original Japanese langauage but HOWL'S is based on an English novel, its characters are not Japanese and the story is not set in Japan so the excellent English dub was preferred. It received an Oscar nomination for best animated film. With the voice talents of Christian Bale, Billy Crystal, Blythe Danner, Josh Hutcherson and Jena Malone.