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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Eiko Kadono (original book)
Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Release Date:
29 July 1989 (Japan) more
Plot:
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
4 wins more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Must Watch: Second Full Trailer for Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo
(From FirstShowing.net. 31 July 2009, 3:42 PM, PDT)
Trailer Park: Spreading, Bending and Breaking
(From Cinematical. 27 June 2009, 5:03 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Ghibli is impressive as always more (115 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Minami Takayama | ... | Kiki / Ursula (voice) | |
| Rei Sakuma | ... | Jiji (voice) | |
| Kappei Yamaguchi | ... | Tombo (voice) | |
| Keiko Toda | ... | Osono (voice) | |
| Mieko Nobusawa | ... | Kokiri, Kiki no haha (Kiki's mummy) (voice) | |
| Kôichi Miura | ... | Okino, Kiki no chichi (Kiki's daddy) (voice) | |
| Haruko Kato | ... | Rô-fujin (Madame) (voice) | |
| Hiroko Seki | ... | Barsa (Bertha) (voice) | |
| Yuriko Fuchizaki | ... | Ketto (voice) | |
| Kôichi Yamadera | ... | Bakery worker, policeman (voice) | |
| Kikuko Inoue | ... | Beautiful designer girl (voice) | |
| Yûko Kobayashi | ... | Young sempai witch (voice) | |
| Mika Doi | ... | Ketto's mother (voice) | |
| Takaya Hashi | ... | Ketto's father (voice) | |
| Chika Sakamoto | ... | Baby (voice) |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Kiki's Delivery Service (UK) (USA)
The Witch's Express Mail (literal title)
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
103 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:G | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:K-3 | Germany:o.Al. | Ireland:G | South Korea:All | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G | France:U | USA:G | UK:U | Spain:T
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
During the zeppelin accident, the radio broadcaster says "Oh! the humanity". Those are the same words said in the Hindenburg disaster live broadcast by USA radio reporter Herbert Morrison in 1937. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The Disney dub refers several times to the airship as a "dirigible", which is correct, but also as a "blimp", which it isn't; it is a zeppelin, a rigid airship with an internal skeleton that holds it in shape, not a blimp, which is basically a big helium-inflated balloon held in shape by the helium. more
Quotes:
[Japanese version with English subtitles]
Jiji:
[Jiji's paws are covered with flour] At this rate, I'll be a white cat by the morning.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#38.4)" (2007) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (115 total)
Message Boards
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First of all, 10 points to Ghibli for Variety. Producing this and 'Grave of the Fireflies' inside a year of each other would be like Disney doing 'Mary Poppins' and 'Judgement at Nuremberg' back to back.
Words that spring to mind after watching Kiki include 'delightful', 'light', 'bouyant', and so forth. It's obvious Miyazaki has refined his craft considerably from the early movies, which somehow seemed a bit... I don't know - stuttery. Kiki, though just flows effortlessly. Combine this with the beautiful use of lighting and colour to produce that summertime, Mediterranean sort of feel, and Kiki is a movie that is just thoroughly uplifting, never getting bogged down in complexities or dark intrigues.
Unfortunately - and this is the only thing holding it back from 4 stars from me - what it does get slightly bogged down in, is its own lightness. There were just a few sections where the lack of a villain, of any real action, of anything other than people being nice to each other, took the top 10% off what was otherwise a masterful movie. I suppose there were a few other flaws, too: some characters and situations which came into it were just not developed at all. And there was one moment that teetered on real poignancy - the old dog with what he thought was a stuffed toy - but it sort of didn't happen. Also allowing the cat - sorry, forgotten his name - to drop out of proceedings for most of the latter half the film, definitely removed a spark from the film (I can't believe I just complained about the LACK of a comic sidekick)
BTW, as someone who lives in Tasmania, which is allegedly the inspiration for much of the setting of this film, please come here by all means, but don't expect it to look like that. The bakery in Ross (central Tasmania) which supposedly inspired the one in the film is in one of the few Tasmanian towns that you _can't_ see the ocean from, and the general look of the movie is distinctly southern European, though I guess some of the rural shots look a bit Tasmanian.
Whatever the case, Miyazaki's attention to detail is, as usual, stunning. The town may have been cobbled together from his favourite bits of Italy, France, Tasmania and wherever else, but its nothing less than a labour of love nonetheless.
Anyway, 8 out of 10.