A new audio adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' classic young adult fantasy Howl's Moving Castle has received a new audio drama adaptation that features a surprising Game of Thrones star as the titular wizard.
Iwan Rheon, the actor behind Games of Thrones' infamous, sadistic bastard Ramsay Snow, voices the magical, flamboyant Howl. Produced by Bafflegab and aired by BBC Radio 4 on Dec. 12, the audio adaptation's cast also includes many other notable actors like Julia McKenzie (Agatha Christie's Marple, Midsomer Murders) as Old Sophie, Dakota Blue-Richards (The Golden Compass) as Young Sophie, Dan Starkey (Doctor Who) as Calcifer, Pippa Bennett-Warner (Harlots, Gangs of London) as the Witch of the Waste and Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey, Toast of London) as the narrator.
Jones's Howl's Moving Castle, the first book in her Land of Ingary trilogy, was originally published in April 1986 by Greenwillow Books. It tells the story of Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three sisters living in a world where fairy tale tropes are accepted ways of life. Even though she possesses the ability to talk life into objects, Sophie is resigned to a dull existence; however, when she is cursed by the powerful Witch of the Waste and is transformed into an old woman, surprisingly, she finds herself working as the cleaning lady for the notorious wizard Howl.
The book was well-received by both critics and readers upon its release; it was the runner-up for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1986 and went on to win the Phoenix Award in 2006.
Of course, Bafflegab's audio adaptation isn't the first adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. In 2004, Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki created an animated feature film based on Jones's story, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards, losing to Nick Park and Steve Box's Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbits. There are substantial differences between the movie and the book, as Sophie's magical ability and second sister are absent in Studio Ghibli's interpretation of the story.
Like Bafflegab's audio adaptation, the film's voice casts included several popular actors. The original Japanese version starred Takuya Kimura (Blade of the Immortal, Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur) and Akihiro Miwa (Princess Mononoke, Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life) and the English dub featured Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Josh Hutcherson and Billy Crystal.
Bafflegab's audio adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle is available to stream on BBC Radio 4's website for a limited time, and the film can be watched on HBO Max alongside other Studio Ghibli classics like Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky.
Source: BBC Radio 4