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During the movie, Sophie for the most part was seen in the form of an old
woman, thanks to the curse the Witch of the Wastes cast on her. However,
whenever Sophie slept, she seemed to revert back to her regular self. And when
she was talking to Madam Soloman, her body was slowly reverting and her hair
was changing colour. Also, when Howl was setting things up for everyone, her
facial features and voice reverted but not her hair.

By the end of the film, Sophie still had white hair but she seemed to have
regained her youthful appearance. However, the Witch of the Wastes never
removed the curse, given her magic was drained. I am wondering if Sophie's
curse was eventually dispelled or not.


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2015-01-26T22:26:01.537
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2015-01-27T14:50:03.937
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howls-moving-castle
What happened to Sophie's curse?


The film glosses over the explanation with only a few hints, but it's
explained properly in the original novel by Dianne Wynn-Jones (and its
sequels). The Witch of the Waste's curse was only short-term, and wore off
very early on. The reason Sophie didn't recover was because

> she herself had undiscovered magic talent, and was staying in the form of an
> old woman because she kept thinking of herself as such. She tended to revert
> whenever she wasn't thinking of herself that way - such as when she slept or
> when she was too focused on telling Madame Solomon off (and hence was
> thinking more of Howl).


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2015-01-26T23:49:59.197
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In the book, the spell

> did not actually last that long, and the only reason that Sophie stayed old
> was of her own doing and thoughts (she winds up having the magical ability
> to talk life into things.)

In fact, Howl

> secretly tries to break her curse more than once and fails, commenting that
> Sophie "...must like..." being an old lady.

Also, in the book, Sophie

> never switched back and forth repeatedly from young to old, rather she only
> becomes young when she frees Calcifer and gives back Howl's heart.

In Ghibli's version, I think he shows her

> switching from one form to another to help explain that the spell is
> partially all in her mind.

As for the end... Miyazaki might have kept her

> hair grey to physically show her metamorphosis from having low self-
> confidence in her looks to becoming "pretty", or he might have done it
> purely for visual appeal...


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