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:

studio ghibli | goodwill | anime | based on book | pancake | 

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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

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

20 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kiki's Delivery Service

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 800,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,081,851

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Jiji: [after Kiki almost collides with an approaching bus while trying to make a good impression] Smooth. Very smooth. You definitely know how to make a good first impression.

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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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Connections

Referenced in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

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Soundtracks

Soaring
Written and Performed by Sydney Forest

User Reviews

uplifting movie

Another great Miyazaki film. A young witch, with a good heart, leaves her mom and dad on her 13th birthday with her black cat, as all witches are supposed to do to complete her training and make it on her own. She looks for a city in need of a witch and finds a city near an ocean. She meets some other good hearted people who help her along the way.

There really isn't a villain in the movie and it's mainly a slice of life type of film. In the end of the film it all comes together and she performs a heroic act.

I tried to watch the dubbed version. Dunst was fine, but I just couldn't stand Garofolo and Hartman. So set the DVD audio to the original Japanese soundtrack and used English subtitles.

If you watch the dubbed version. Turn on the subtitles and you will see all the additional dialog they added. They just couldn't help padding their roles, especially Hartman.