goes on to show that the housework is equitably distributed, strengthening its feminist aspect. In 2013, Miyazaki stated that Howl's Moving Castle was his favorite creation, and explained his choice by saying "I wanted to convey the message that life is worth living, and I don't think that's changed." In the film, Sophie is shown to overcome extreme challenges by learning to put the well-being of those she cares about above her own self-interest, a quality which Miyazaki refers to as devotion. Several of the protagonists in Miyazaki's films, such as Ashitaka and San in Princess Mononoke and Sheeta and Pazu in Castle in the Sky learn to survive by learning the same lesson. Cavallaro states that Miyazaki spreads this moral through the entire film, to convey human beings' ability to be compassionate, such as when the scarecrow holds an umbrella over Sophie's head when it rains. Over the course of the film, Howl, its most vain and selfish character, also learns to put others before himself. When Madame Suliman returns the Witch of the Waste to her true form as a decrepit old woman, Sophie takes her in and cares for her, despite the witch being responsible for Sophie's curse, thus strongly demonstrating the idea of compassion. The witch then nearly destroys Howl through her selfish behavior, but also helps save the castle at the end. Parsons writes that "In Miyazaki's balancing act, old women can be powerful and weak, positive and negative, nurturing and selfish, maligned and loved; in short, they can not be simply categorized or stereotyped, and they can not be dismissed as fantasy malefactors embodied by evil witches." They are also given a lot of space in the film as active characters, something not commonly found in western movies. Production In September 2001, Studio Ghibli announced the production of two films. The first would become The Cat Returns and the second was an adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' novel, Howl's Moving Castle. A rumor persists that Miyazaki had an idea to do Howl's Moving Castle during a visit to Strasbourg Christmas market. Toshio Suzuki, who produced Howl's Moving Castle, stated that Miyazaki was inspired to make the film when he read Jones' novel, and was struck by the image of a castle moving around the countryside. The novel does not explain how the castle moved, and Miyazaki was interested in figuring out how the castle