YouTuber recreates visual splendor of Howl’s Moving Castle out of a bunch of trash

It’s not controversial to say that Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most visually ambitious and exacting filmmakers of all time. The proof is in the pudding, as Miyazaki would probably say. His movies have tactility and attention to detail that transcend the bounds of most animation. Simply put, Miyazaki’s work is in a class all its own.

So it might seem odd for a YouTuber to honor him using a bunch of random junk, but it’s just another day at the office for Studson Studios. Studson makes lovingly recreated models and miniatures of various properties, mainly within the video game and anime worlds. While he’s messed around in the Ghibli canon before, building the Spirited Away bathhouse out of a tissue box and a Castle In The Sky diorama out of more junk, Studson’s outdone himself here. The ironically massive Howl’s Movie Castle miniature, which he charts the construction of during a 52-minute video, is a work of art.

Obviously, at nearly an hour long, the video is a commitment, but skipping around to see the process of turning a plastic kimchi jar into the base of the Howl’s Castle is still very rewarding.

Studson gives a rundown of the model, complete with sizes, in the description:

Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s big (21" tall). It’s heavy (4.2 lbs). It’s made out of junk (mostly). Help yourself to a full breakfast and strap yourself in to the merry-go-round of life for almost a full hour.

It’s hard to say what Hayao “anime was a mistake” Miyazaki would think of someone devoting their time to someone else’s craft. But it’s nice to think that he would believe it was made “honestly,” which is what the Academy Award-winner said of his filmmaker son’s directorial debut.

[via Boing Boing]