The Review - Kiki's Delivery Service

So you may or may not know that I am a fan of cartoons/anime/anything cute. When the latest Pixar comes out I normally go see it at the cinema, and also inevitably cry at some point (there is always that moment, you know what I mean?). I especially love the work of Hayao Miyazaki, who is also known as the Japanese Walt Disney. Luckily for me, my brother-in-law and his wife are also big fans, so we can watch movies out of their collection. You know, care and share alike.

Recently they lent us Kiki’s Delivery Service. I had no idea what to expect, but I gathered it had something to do with witches, since the girl on front of the DVD was riding a broomstick. This movie came out in 1989 and is based on a novel by Eiko Kadono. Actually, in Japanese the title is simply “Witch’s Delivery Service”, which spoils the surprise even more.

Kiki is a young witch who, according to tradition, must leave her parents on her 13^th birthday and find a town where she can be the resident witch. She takes along her cat Jiji, who without a doubt is the best thing in the movie, and comes across a quaint European seaside village. Although things don’t go quite as planned, Kiki’s headstrong and resourceful determination help her as she comes across new challenges.  
According to Miyazaki, the movie touches on the gulf that exists between independence and reliance in Japanese teenage girls. Going far beyond coming-of-age themes, this work deals with the nature of creativity and talent, and the central difficulty every person faces in becoming themselves, whether through luck, hard work or confidence.

 

 

 

This is the first Studio Ghibli film released under the partnership between The Walt Disney Company and Studio Ghibli. Also note: if you watch the English dubbed version (which is very good), Kiki is voiced by Kirsten Dunst and Jiji (the cat) is voiced by Phil Hartman, also known as Troy McCure from the Simpsons. I only just learnt that, and now I really want to watch it again so I can say: “Hey that’s Troy McCure!”

Best line of the movie:

Jiji: More sleep please, thank you! 

(I now say this every morning to Luke.)

The trailer for your viewing pleasure:

Until next time :)