(U, 119mins) Starring the voices of Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Billy Crystal. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

While Disney and Pixar may be making the big bucks with their exclusively computer-generated animated blockbusters, it has fallen to Japan's Studio Ghibli to remind us of the art involved in the traditional hand-drawn cartoon.

Making old Uncle Walt look like an arthritic four-year-old with a pack of knackered crayons, director Hayao Miyazaki and his Ghibli cohorts have been knocking out stunning works which would not look out of place on the walls of the Louvre for years.

Stunning vistas, amazing characters and a sprinkling of magic which has yet to be watered down by years of merchandising and theme parks are the hallmarks of Miyazaki's work - Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away.

The studio's latest output, Howl's Moving Castle - based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones - continues in the same vein. It's a colourful and fantastical fable awash with wondrous creatures and wildly inventive visuals.

It's the suitably off-kilter story of a self-conscious girl called Sophie (voiced in the English-language version by Emily Mortimer), who works at a hat shop with her mother and sisters. Overshadowed by her glamourous family, the dowdy milliner spends most of her time attending to the head gear of the rich and outrageous.

However, after being accosted by a couple of sleazy soldiers, Sophie is thrust into a world of magic when she is saved by the charismatic and oh-so-dandy magician Howl (Christian Bale).

After quite literally walking on air with the wand-carrying wunderkind, Sophie comes crashing down to Earth when she is subjected to the vengeance of the jealous Witch Of The Waste (Lauren Bacall).

Transformed into a wheezing 90-year-old woman who cannot speak of her curse, Sophie is forced to find Howl's elusive moving castle (a sort of junkyard/motor home hybrid) in an effort to break the spell.

Combining themes of love, fate and a refreshingly candid look at the real effects of war - something you don't usually get in a kids' film - the film bears all of Miyazaki's trademarks.

While not quite as brilliant as Spirited Away, the quality of the animation, along with great voice performances (in both languages) and a non-linear storyline which doesn't pander to brainless audiences, makes this another stand-out effort from a film maker who can force even the most cynical viewer into a child-like state of wonder.