I found this article on Cartoon Brew. I have always enjoyed Miyazaki’s social commentaries in his movies, but his way of protesting the Iraq War was quite interesting. Also ,I knew Howl’s Moving Castle had that anti-war commentary attached to it, but I never thought it was a direct commentary of the Iraq War. I may need to re-watch it and do a retro-review…
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by: Amid
Hayao Miyazaki didn’t come to the United States in 2003 to accept his Oscar forSpirited Away because of his opposition to the Iraq War, he recently told the LA Times:
“The reason I wasn’t here for the Academy Award was because I didn’t want to visit a country that was bombing Iraq. At the time, my producer shut me up and did not allow me to say that, but I don’t see him around today. By the way, my producer also shared in that feeling.”
Critic Daniel Thomas MacInnes offers some context to Miyazaki’s actions onThe Ghibli Blog:
It should be common knowledge to any serious Miyazaki scholar that he abhorred not only the Iraq War, but war itself. The idea of violence is depicted in his work as violent tragedy, slapstick mockery, or both…I don’t think very many Westerners know that the war in Howl’s Moving Castle was itself a reflection on the Iraq War. It was a comment on that war, viewed through the lens of Miyazaki’s long career.
Now I’m not a big shoe aficionado , so the design of the show doesn’t vibe with me too much (still pretty cool). BUT that BOX! GENIUS! 
Yesterday was one of those surreal days. I think mostly everyone will remember the day Michael Jackson died. Combine this with the whirlwind of Farrah Fawcett passing away earlier in the day and Ed McMahon passing 2 days before that, it was just madness. I’m not even sure how they went through with an NBA Draft. Anyway, my dude 
My Take: I think Dick Grayson was an obvious choice, however Dick Grayson was already Batman once, shortly after the Knightfall Series (BTW, Prodigal was an underrated storyline!!!) I think it’s pretty obvious that DC Comics will eventually give the mantle of Batman back to Bruce Wayne (Bruce is currently perceived to be dead, but is actually trapped in the past). But for this to work, DC needs to have Dick hold onto the mantle of Batman for at least a year. And they need to delve into the reasons why Dick decided to take up the mantle of Batman (because Battle for the Cowl did not address that!)
Art of the Cartoon 