Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

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.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Eiko Kadono (novel), Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)

Stars:

Kirsten Dunst, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma

4 wins.

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's Mother (voice)
Kôichi Miura	...	Okino - Kiki's Father (voice)
Haruko Katô	...	Rô-fujin (voice)
Hiroko Seki	...	Barsa (voice)
Yuriko Fuchizaki	...	Ketto (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Bakery Worker / Policeman (voice)
Kikuko Inoue	...	Maki (voice)
Yûko Kobayashi	...	Young Sempai Witch (voice)
Mika Doi	...	Ketto's Mother (voice)
Takaya Hashi	...	Ketto's Father (voice)
Chika Sakamoto	...	Baby (voice)

Storyline

This is the story of a young witch, named Kiki who is now 13 years old. But she is still a little green and plenty headstrong, but also resourceful, imaginative, and determined. With her trusty wisp of a talking cat named Jiji by her side she's ready to take on the world, or at least the quaintly European seaside village she's chosen as her new home.

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Plot Keywords:

witch | cat | studio ghibli | goodwill | magic | 

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Taglines:

I was feeling blue, but I'm better now.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hayao Miyazaki didn't want to bore the audience during the film's end credits by using just the names. He set it up to be like a mini sequel so that the audience would leave the theatre feeling happy.

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Goofs

When Tombo and the boys are driving their car, the front licence plate changes from N177 to E-177 between shots.

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Quotes

Kiki: Without even thinking about it, I used to be able to fly. Now I'm trying to look inside myself and find out how I did it.

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Crazy Credits

The denouement scenes of the film play out with the credits rolling ending with Kiki's parents reading a letter from her after the credits finish.

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Alternate Versions

A new English dub of this film was released in 1998 by the Walt Disney Company. This version featured the vocal talents of Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, Janeane Garofalo as Ursala and Debbie Reynolds. Phil Hartman provided the voice of Jiji in one of his final roles.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Studio Ghibli Movies (2016)

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Soundtracks

Rouge no Dengon (Message of Rouge)
Performed by Yumi Matsutoya

User Reviews

Amazing

I happened to catch this movie on The Disney Channel last night. I had heard good things about it from my friends, but it's overall theme just seemed too kiddie for me to watch. But since Princess Monoke happens to be my all time favorite Anime, I decided to give it a chance.

Wow! I was blown away. Hayao Miyazaki is a genius and a true master of his craft. The animation is beautiful. Miyazaki adds so many little details to the animation that other movies don't bother with, that really sets his movies apart and gives them an amazingly real, natural feel to them. I was amazed by the scenes of Kiki flying on her broom; you really get a sense of flight unsurpassed by any other movie I've ever seen.

I was surprised I enjoyed this movie as much as I did. If you judge it from its cover you aren't giving it a chance. A story about a 13 year old witch who leaves her home to begin her training. Alright, that sounds like a great plot for a target audience of girls in the 6-13 year range. I'm a 24 year old male and I can't recommend this movie enough.

Go out and rent this movie as soon as possible. I saw the dubbed pan&scan version on t.v. and I thought the dubbing was actually pretty good. And I'm a die-hard subtitled anime fan. So do yourself a favor, rent this movie, and enjoy the experience. You won't regret it.

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

20 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kiki's Delivery Service

Box Office

Budget:

JPY800,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$352,556, 28 July 2019

Gross USA:

$1,004,057

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,151,019

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kiki's Delivery Service Production Committee, Nibariki, Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1