Kiki’s Delivery Service

There’s something truly special and unique about Kiki’s Delivery Service. Being a 1989 Japanese animated film written, produced and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli, this film, much like several others that have been made under the banner of Ghibli, is great at being able to say a lot with very little and mean so much in spite of its small scale. Being a movie with very little stakes, very little plot, practically no action and even very little resolution, it somehow not only works brilliantly, but did so in a way that proved extra beneficial to the company, as it was at the time the first Ghibli film to do successful at its initial release. Even with the passage of time and other Ghibli films with a similarly chill vibe and personality, the strengths of this film haven’t gone away, still remaining as easily one of the most charming, beautifully simple, well animated, entertaining, likeable movies that Studio Ghibli has made in their already massively impressive line-up. After reaching the age of 13, a young witch named Kiki (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) decides to take the next step in her life and leave her family to find a new place to call home. Leaving with her magic flying broomstick and her talking black cat, Jiji (voiced by Phil Hartman), Kiki arrives in a small seaside town called Koriko and finds that the townsfolk aren’t quite sure how to react to her, although her witchy antics do cause her a bit of a rough start. Realizing that finding a job and a new home in this unknown new environment isn’t going to be as simple as she thought, she receives help from a friendly pregnant baker named Osono (voiced by Tress MacNeille) and her husband, who allow her to stay in their home, and after settling in, Kiki decides to open a delivery service, which will allow her the chance to grow accustom to her new home as well as interact with all the townsfolk (both the good and the bad). Having to deal with new experiences as well as a form of mental block that cuts off her magic when she starts to lose faith in herself, this new life may be difficult at the moment, but with practice and adjustment, just might turn around for the better. Based on the children’s fantasy novel written by Eiko Kadono and illustrated by Akiko Hayashi, Kiki’s Delivery Service is a bucket load of adorable fun with tons of likeable characters, fantastic imagery, simple storytelling, and wonderfully engrossing atmosphere.

As previously stated, this film doesn’t really have much to offer in terms of dramatic plot twists, grand world-ending threats or bombastic writing, it is instead just a simple story about a young witch trying to find her place in the world after leaving home and the people she encounters while trying to run a business. Even despite containing elements like witches and magic, the world they exist in doesn’t seem to treat them as anything more than just an uncommon occurrence rather than a fantastical rarity, putting this world in a position where it can have magical components, but not lose its quaint simplicity and homeliness. It would normally be quite difficult to work a story so limiting in narrative arcs or depth but considering that Ghibli had just the previous year proven they are able to make mundane, family dramas still extremely enjoyable, heartwarming and even magical through My Neighbor Totoro, it’s no surprise they are still able to work around this issue especially after Miyazaki (who was originally just going to produce the film) took over as director. The original book that this film was based on (known as Majo no Takkyūbin in Japanese), despite containing the same kind of low-stakes energy, is actually quite different from the way the film portrays things, as Kadono’s novel is a bit more episodic in its delivery of these stories and actually contains even less stakes and turmoil’s than the film does. It still has the same feel as well as the element of Kiki’s pure hearted kindness winning people over and usually being able to overcome any task in spite of any setbacks, but the stories are strangely limited in any form of dilemma in any way, which is where things start to diverge between adaptations, as the movie injects things such as Kiki’s self-doubt preventing her from being able to fly and a final climax involving a blimp that Kiki needs to save someone from. While this did actually cause an initial friction between the author and the studio (even to the point of threatening to break off the deal), Kadono did eventually come around when she saw the vision of the film, and it honestly feels like this was the right direction to take. With no physical threat to face, an emotional one seems like the best choice for this very human coming-of-age story to tackle, as are themes such as the journey to adulthood and what comes with maturity, the fear of confronting a new life on your own, and the strength that comes from simple kindness and faith in another person. With Miyazaki being a creative that seems to have a narrow but otherwise optimistic look on life as well as the struggles that come with being young, it feels like he brings a maturity to Kiki that feels slightly browbeating, but always retains the hopeful possibilities that come with the unexpected. Strangely the climax of the film involving stopping the blimp crash is one of the few moments where things feel big and even out of place for this story, but it isn’t a bad cap to the story and ending on something big doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It just proves to be one of those films that doesn’t need to rely on plot to stand out, as its characters, writing, and atmosphere is enough to sustain things.

These characters are so infectiously likeable and despite how little time they get, have some memorably heart-warming moments that makes you really fall in love with this universe. It’s a world that doesn’t really require too much grounded logic, but also retains just enough of a grounded nature to how people react to situations that it brings just enough reality the fantasy to create a very nice blend. Kiki is a very likeable lead and is very easily able to carry this movie all by herself.  She’s very helpful, excitable, eager to assist others and someone who’s willing to go to extreme ends in order to do what’s right, even if she is capable of get down on herself like any kid would. Her cheery attitude really does carry the movie, and it’s a role that you can easily sympathize with and one that feels very real as the struggles she goes through feel like real problems that a kid would go through, it’s a very well-handled character. This was also the first Ghibli film to be release under the agreement they made with Disney to release English dubs to an international market, and while often dubs from Japanese material can be a little awkward, these movies have usually had fantastic dubs, and this one is no different. Kirsten Dunst is a perfect choice for Kiki as she really does capture the excitable and youthful nature of the character very well, which also comes through her incredibly expressive animation and design. A lot of the voice actors also work in the same way, with people like Tress MacNeille, Janeane Garofalo, Matthew Lawrence, John Hostetter, Debbie Reynolds and Edie McClurg all making these characters just so endearing and sweet while also being clearly established roles in just the few minutes they’re on screen. Probably the only one that feels out of place is Phil Hartman as Jiji, as his performance feels a bit too one note, the voice doesn’t really fit with the design, and it doesn’t help that a lot of his lines don’t really add anything to the plot, so the choice to have him talk feels very pointless, it’s a bit of shame.

The visuals, as to be expected of Ghibli at this point, are outstanding and feel a little more impressive than usual this time as there’s nothing really that staggeringly cinematic to display this time in comparison to their other films, which (even when pretty low-key) had something pretty grand or even just whimsical to display. Outside of a witch flying around on a broom stick, it mostly just feels like a standard seaside town, but even still, it is still able to capture a level of subtle and magical beauty in its simplicity. The characters are all very well designed and have those great Ghibli-ism that can feel a little extreme but never to the point of feeling out of place, the facial expressions are still so smooth and full of life, the environments are very colorful and look lived-in in the best way possible, and the best element that this film captures is its sense of flight. The flying scenes in this movie somehow are able to feel real in how they capture them, it legitimately feels like the character is in the air and it’s very hard to figure out how they are able to do what many other animators have tried and failed to achieve. Whether it has something to do with the way its drawn, the speed at which its animated, or the cinematography by Shigeo Sugimura who really knows how to show the space and vastness of the open air very well, but being up in that beautiful rich blue sky always feels amazing. The music by frequent Ghibli collaborator, Joe Hisaishi, is a typical Ghibli score with traditional orchestral backing and while it isn’t quite as memorable as some other scores he’s produce, it does still have a very nice relaxing element to it that helps set the mood and tone of the film overall. During the opening and ending credits, they feature two songs from American musician Sydney Forest, and while it feels a little odd, it’s not nearly as painfully out of place as other forced-in American pop songs for other movies.

Kiki’s Delivery Service is wholesomeness packaged in with a heaping full of cheer and topped with a bow of complete delight. It’s so strange to think that a man who has been connected to several epic fantasy stories with grand tales, massive worlds and important characters, would make one of his greatest flicks about a kind-hearted witch making friends in a small town, it feels so weird yet also so right. He’s always been great at creating believable fantasy worlds with realistic elements sprinkled on to shake up the norm, so doing a normal story with a sprinkle of magic only makes sense. The story is effectively paced out and endearingly simplistic, the atmosphere brims with charm and likability, the characters and voice actors are perfect, the visuals are great as always, and it’s just a pleasant viewing experience. It won’t be for everybody as surely some people won’t be into these kind of plot-less movies that work more on feelings than logic, but if someone is just looking for a good time, this is a perfect movie that will deliver just that.