Miyazaki feature to premiere at MOMA

NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. premiere of Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" is set to take place during a retrospective on Japanese animation at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

"Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata: Masters of Animation," a 13-film tribute, is slated to take place June 3 through June 30 at MOMA's Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters.

Miyazaki and Takahata are the co-founders of the influential Japanese animation house, "Studio Ghibli."

The Oscar-winning director of the animated feature, "Spirited Away," Miyazaki is expected to attend the North American premiere of "Howl's Moving Castle" at the museum on June 6.

Based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones and already a major commercial success in Europe and Asia, the film will be released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 10 in English, featuring the vocal talents of Emily Mortimer, Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Lauren Bacall and Billy Crystal.