 After six months, Studio Ghibli resurrected the project.Miyazaki was inspired to direct the film upon reading Jones' novel, and was struck by the image of a castle moving around the countryside; the novel does not explain how the castle moved, which led to Miyazaki's designs.He travelled to Colmar and Riquewihr in Alsace, France, to study the architecture and the surroundings for the film's setting.