Short answers, pulled from the story.
Howl's Moving Castle is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on Diana Wynne Jones' 1986 novel. It follows Sophie, a young milliner cursed into old age by the Witch of the Waste, who seeks to break her curse and becomes entangled with a wizard named Howl and his refusal to fight in a kingdom's war. The film explores anti-war themes, old age, compassion, and the destructive effects of conflict.
Miyazaki made the film in direct response to the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003. He stated he "had a great deal of rage" about the war and, on its eve, decided to make a film he felt would be poorly received in the United States. Miyazaki identifies as a pacifist, and the film reflects his opposition to military conflict.
Howl's Moving Castle grossed $190 million in Japan and an additional $46 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $236 million. In its first week of release in Japan alone, the film earned $14.5 million, briefly making it the third most financially successful film in Japanese history behind Titanic and Spirited Away.
Howl's Moving Castle was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards but lost to Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The film did win four Tokyo Anime Awards and a Nebula Award for Best Script in 2007, shared by Miyazaki, Cindy Davis Hewitt, and Donald H. Hewitt.
The film significantly expands the role of war, which is only a minor background detail in Jones' 1986 novel. Miyazaki added Howl transforming into a giant bird to disrupt both armies' battle plans, whereas in the novel Howl's absences are due to his womanizing. The film also reduces the Witch of the Waste from the novel's chief antagonist to a sympathetic old woman, and merges two novel characters into the film's Madame Suliman.
Joe Hisaishi composed and conducted the score, performed by the New Japan Philharmonic. The soundtrack CD was released on the 19th of November 2004 by Tokuma Japan Communications. Hisaishi also produced the Symphony Suite and co-composed a maxi-single featuring the theme song sung by Chieko Baisho; the film's main theme is titled "The Merry-Go-Round of Life."