Kiki's Delivery Service

Original Title: 魔女の宅急便
Romanized: Majo no Takkyuubin
Literal: Witch's Delivery Service

Plot Synopsis

In a place like a Europe of the 50s, untouched by the ravages of war, where witches aren't bad (as a matter of fact, they're just like the rest of us, and everybody knows about them), Kiki is a young witch just coming into her own. Having reached the age of 13, she follows tradition and sets out into the world to make her way, accompanied only by her knowledge of magic, her trusty flying broom, and her familiar, a cat named Jiji. Kiki finds her way to a good sized town, and is taken in by a kindly baker. Soon, she sets up shop as a one-girl flying delivery service (think the pizza guy only cuter and with a flying broom). While making her rounds and living on her own in the big city, Kiki meets interesting folks of all types, and runs into a number of adventures and misadventures.

Quick Review

Rating: 5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2003-07-04

Miyazaki is known for creating fanciful and entertaining tales filled with beautiful imagery and endearing characters, and Kiki's Delivery Service does not disappoint--it is a simple and wondrous movie that, although targeted at a relatively young age group (by anime standards), will almost certainly be enjoyed by anyone who has even a little bit of a kid inside. The story is simple, but imbued with a richness and reality that is engrossing despite its relatively low-key nature and everyday adventures, and it is set in a world so realistically crafted and beautifully drawn it is hard to believe it doesn't exist. The characters are lovable but real, and both the English and Japanese versions feature an endearing cast.

Most highly recommended to absolutely anyone with anything even resembling an inner child, Kiki's Delivery Service is the sort of movie with a subtle richness and sense of wonder that must be seen to be truly appreciated.

US DVD Review

The DVD, is similar to the rest of Disney's Miyazaki DVD flood, and equally good. The basics are thoroughly covered; the video is a clean, beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer, and the audio gives you the choice of an English Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, crisp 2-channel Japanese, or a Spanish dub. You also have the choice of English captions based on the dub (which is enough different that it's useful) or subtitles (which unfortunately aren't terribly accurate, though they are closer). The video even includes both the untouched Japanese version, with the title and credits in the original language, or an English version; these appear automatically depending on which language you select in the menus, although it's unfortunate that it won't let you switch languages or subtitle tracks while playing the film.

The 2-disc set includes a 2nd DVD (in a flippity case, so the package is normal thickness) filled entirely with extras; complete storyboards, the original Japanese trailers, and a making of feature with Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman. There's also an introduction by Pixar's John Lasseter before the movie, as with the other Miyazaki DVDs.

My only complaints are relatively minor nitpicks: As I said, you can't switch languages while playing, and the Japanese version does not include a translation of the cast anywhere or most of the credits anywhere, nor does it have subtitles for the songs. In the annoying department, the disc automatically starts out playing Disney's trailers for Spirited Away et al, though these can be skipped, and when you play the feature it starts with the John Lasseter introduction, though again a quick chapter skip gets rid of his entirely unnecessary introduction.

Content Guide

Rated G. Has some scenes of mild stress, but nothing noteworthy.

Violence: 1 - A bit of excitement here and there, but nothing serious.

Nudity: 0 - 0--Zip.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - 0--Nada.

Language: 0 - None.

Notes and Trivia

A theatrical movie by master animator Hayao Miyazaki and his legendary studio, Ghibli. Only the second of Hayao Miyazaki's films to make it to America (Warriors of the Wind does not count), and the first to be subtitled, it was released by no less than Disney. (Keep in mind that Disney did nothing more than buy the rights, translate it, and hire some high profile dubbing talent--they had nothing to do with the production). It was heaped with praise by mainstream reviewers, including being selected as Entertainment Weekly's Best Video of 1998

Note that the original title, Majo no Takkyuubin (lit: Witch Delivery Service), doesn't have any of the negative connotations that the word "witch" has in English. Majo no Takkyuubin is loosely based on a children's book of the same name by Kadono Eiko (with illustrations by Hayashi Akiko that look very different from Miyazaki's vision). There is also a sequel to that book.

The English translation is an interesting case; apparently, Carl Maceck (best known for his work on Robotech) was involved in the creation of an English dub that was never released in the US. The script from this dub was the one that Disney used for the subtitles in their releases (explaining some of its relatively minor dialogue differences), and Disney's dub script seems to be based loosely on this translation as well. The Disney dub adds many lines to Jiji's dialogue, but does not change the plot significantly from the original.

One relatively minor but notable change in the English dialogue (and subtitles) is that it was never expressly stated in the original Japanese that Kiki would only be away in training for a year--only that it was a tradition for witches to set out on their own when they turn 13. Kiki did say at one point that she would be in training in whatever city she found for one year, and the witch she runs into while flying says that her training period is almost over so she can go home proudly, implying that a one year period away from home is the tradition.

Last, a note about the music. Though Disney replaced the opening credit song in the dub, the original was "Ruuju no Dengon" ("Message in Rouge"), a popular song in Japan from several years ago by Arai Yumi (now Matsutouya Yumi, thanks to a marriage). The full lyrics in Japanese and English are available at this site. There are also original words to the instrumental theme song, though the song version never appears in the movie (it is, however, quite beautiful).

Availability

Available in the US from Disney on bilingual DVD (buy from RightStuf or AnimeNation). Was previously also available on dubbed or (impressively well-done) subtitled VHS.

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