Venue: Curzon Soho (Japanese version)

Miyazaki is back with a new offering. Thank goodness Disney hasn't soured his talent.

Sophie is a hat maker who is drawn into the world of wizards and witches after encountering Howl. You see, he has this moving castle, and that always gets the girls. Anyway, the Witch of the Waste pays her a visit and turns her into an old woman. So Sophie sets out to try and break the spell. On the way she meets a scarecrow...

Wizards? The Witch of the Waste? A Scarecrow? Isn't this just the Wizard of Oz? Although there are echoes of Dorothy's adventures, this is very much a Miyazaki style story. The animation is of course gorgeous, with no sign of a computer generated image - hooray!

There is much more to this story and many more characters, but I don't want to spoil it. This is another gem from Studio Ghibli. Don't miss it!

BTW Who doesn't want a magic door after seeing this?