Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle recreated in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

March 2023 · 2 minute read

Studio Ghibli fans are on another level, so it comes as no surprise that one talented person has managed to recreate Sophie’s flower field from hit movie Howl’s Moving Castle in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Howl’s Moving Castle is often regarded as one of Studio Ghibli’s best films. Written and directed by renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, it follows the story of Sophie, an 18-year-old who is cursed with the appearance of a 90-year-old woman by the Witch of the Waste, and her journey to break her curse. She encounters a wizard named Howl along the way, and the two become inseparable.

It is one of the most successful animated movies in history, grossing over $236 million worldwide, capturing the hearts of millions with its gripping story. One fan decided to remake a scene from the film in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it’s one of the best unofficial crossovers we’ve ever seen.

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Howl’s Moving Castle in New Horizons

Sophie gets turned into an old woman after the Witch of the Waste sees her with Howl and gets jealous.

Reddit user ‘victato‘ is the genius behind the creation, and truly brought the movie to life by recreating the famous flower field scene in their game. In the film, Howl takes Sophie to his secret garden – the place he first caught Calcifer, who then became his personal Fire Demon.

The fan nails every single detail down perfectly, and used a player’s house to replicate the door from the Castle to the field. The area is covered with pools of water and several types of flower, just like in the animation – and it looks beautiful.

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They even dressed up as Sophie and got a friend to dress as Howl as they took a leisurely stroll together through the scene, tying the entire thing together in the perfect way.

Recreating Sophie’s flower field from Howl’s Moving Castle (audio on) from ac_newhorizons

This isn’t the first time a Studio Ghibli fan has recreated a motion picture in Animal Crossing: there’s been a Spirited Away one too, where someone made the famous bathhouse boiler room – soot sprites and all.

Hayao Miyazaki is currently working on his last film, titled How Do You Live?, and it’s expected to release “in the next three years,” meaning AC:NH players will have a new movie to play around with in the future.

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