Kiki's Delivery Service
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| Kiki's Delivery Service | |
|---|---|
| Image:Kiki's Delivery Service (Movie).jpg | |
| Directed by | Hayao Miyazaki |
| Produced by | Hayao Miyazaki Toru Hara |
| Written by | Hayao Miyazaki (original script) Based on the book by Eiko Kadono |
| Starring | Minami Takayama Rei Sakuma Kappei Yamaguchi |
| Music by | Joe Hisaishi |
| Distributed by | Toei Animation (Japan) Buena Vista Home Entertainment (USA) |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of Japan.svg July 29, 1989 Image:Flag of Hong Kong.svg January 20, 1990 Image:Flag of the United States.svg May 23, 1998 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | ¥800,000,000 (estimated) $6,927,244.46 |
| IMDb profile | |
Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便 Majo no Takkyūbin?, trans. "Witch's Delivery Service") is a 1989 anime film, produced, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
The movie was based on Eiko Kadono's original story, Majo no Takkyūbin (published by Fukuinkan Shoten).
This animation depicts the gulf that exists between independence and self-reliance in the hopes and spirit of common Japanese teenage girls.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
Kiki -- a thirteen-year-old apprentice witch, leaving her home village to spend a year on her own. She has no magical abilities other than communicating with her cat and broom-flying (at which she is still a novice). She is excitable, innocent, by turns eager and shy.
Jiji -- Kiki's black cat. Jiji and Kiki are able to talk to each other. He is very cautious, especially in comparison to her innocent eagerness, and possesses a somewhat sarcastic wit.
Tombo Kopoli (or Kopori) -- a fourteen-year-old boy in the city where Kiki settles. He is obsessed with aviation, a member of a club building a human-powered aircraft, and is at first intrigued only by Kiki's ability to fly. (It is not clear, at least to an English-speaker, whether "Kopoli" is intended as a given name or family name. "Tombo", according to the novel, is a nickname, Japanese for "dragonfly".)
Osono -- proprietress of a small bakery in Koriko, Kiki's new town. She is heavily pregnant throughout the film. She is the first person in Koriko to treat Kiki with kindness and respect.
The baker -- Osono's nameless husband; he is tall, strongly built and almost inarticulate. Kiki is intimidated by him at first, but warms to him after he makes a gift for her; this being an advertising wreath for her delivery service.
Ursula -- an artist in her late teens, who lives -- for the summer, at least -- in a one-room cabin in a wooded area outside of Koriko. She takes an "older-sister" role to Kiki, explaining Kiki's temporary inability to fly in terms of "artist's block", and telling her that gifts -- whether the ability to paint, to be a witch, or to bake bread -- must be used, not rejected.
Oku-sama ("Madam" in the English version) -- one of Kiki's customers. She is elderly and aristocratic, but warmhearted and kindly, and crippled with arthritis.
Bertha -- Oku-sama's housekeeper and friend. Her name is often rendered as "Bassa", the phonetic English spelling of the Japanese pronunciation of "Bertha".
Okino -- Kiki's father; according to Miyazaki a professor of folklore.
Kokiri -- Kiki's mother, witch and village herbalist. Her concoctions turn black and give off smoke when she is startled during a mixing. She worries that Kiki isn't equipped to spend a year on her own.
[edit] Setting
The story is set in the fictional European country of Carikia. The custom is for a witch to leave home at thirteen and spend a year living on her own, earning her living by her witchcraft skills.
The time setting for Kiki's Delivery Service was a subject for discussion among the movie's fans for some time: Kiki carries a transistor radio apparently of 1950s vintage, and some characters are seen watching black-and-white television sets; but the cars and some of the aircraft seem to be from an earlier period (specifically, a plane resembling the Handley-Page HP42 is seen during the opening credits, but in the real world all eight of the HP42 aircraft had been decommissioned or destroyed by 1941). The controversy was settled when Miyazaki said the story took place in the 1950s of an alternative universe in which World War II never took place.
[edit] Plot
Kiki is a 13 year-old witch in training, living in a small rural village where her mother is the resident herbalist. By tradition, it is time for Kiki to leave her home to spend a year alone in a new town to establish herself as a full witch. Kiki sets herself on her mother's broom with her closest companion, Jiji, a loquacious black cat. She flies off to a new life, but unfortunately has not inherited her mother's skills as a healer, nor developed any other magic skills, with the exception of flying -- and she is notoriously unskilled even at that. At her departure from home, she has trouble controlling her newly-inherited broom, and ricochets from the trees in her front yard. Wind bells in the trees chime, and one of the neighbors wistfully comments that he will miss the sound of the bells.
Kiki settles in the beautiful seaside island city of Koriko, and after initially finding it difficult to adjust to the pace of life, starts a delivery service that takes advantage of her ability to fly. Kiki experiences several setbacks such as slow business, misplaced merchandise, rude customers and illness. She also has to deal with her loneliness, worries, and homesickness.
Having caught the eye of Tombo, a local boy about her age, who has an interest in aviation and in Kiki herself, she at first rebuffs, then befriends him, and they begin to develop a normal boy-girl relationship. Simulatenously, Jiji courts a local cat called Lily, with whom he has several kittens.
Perhaps as a result of neglect, Kiki's powers diminish and ultimately disappear, to her great shame and terror. Kiki learns about overcoming such obstacles with the help of a newfound friend, a young artist who gives some good advice about the kind of inspiration she needs to regain her magic.
Then comes a moment of deadly crisis, when Tombo who is so important to her is accidentally lifted into the air in a dirigible accident. When she is his only hope of rescue, she finds the inspiration to regain her flying ability.
Suddenly famous, she sends home a simple, modest letter to her parents, saying that she is becoming used to her new home, and that things are working out well for her.
The story continues through the end titles, as she flies a high-guard formation with her friend as he flies his human-powered aircraft in a flight sequence obviously inspired by the Gossamer Albatross. Later, she is on the street of her town and notices a little girl walking past, because the little girl has her hair and clothing styled like Kiki's and is even carrying a small broom.
[edit] Differences between the English and Japanese versions
Although the plot and much of the script was left intact, Disney's English dub of Kiki's Delivery Service contains some changes. There were occasional additions and embellishments to the musical score overlaying some of the previously silent sequences. Most of the extra pieces of music (provided by Paul Chihara) ranged from soft piano music to a string-plucked rendition of Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King. In addition, the original opening and ending theme songs were replaced. The new songs, "Soaring" and "I'm Gonna Fly" were written and performed by Sydney Forest.
In terms of plot, the character of the cat Jiji has changed slightly. The Japanese version had Jiji speak in a more female-sounding voice, which is how the Japanese depict cats in their media. The American version had Jiji as a more distinct male voice -- possibly for fear audiences would think him female, until "she" showed interest in the white Persian cat next door -- and gave him more of a wisecracking exterior. In the Japanese version, Jiji loses his ability to communicate with Kiki but in the American version, an extra line is included that implies he is able to speak (or she to understand him) again.
More minor changes to appeal to the different demographics include Kiki drinking hot chocolate instead of coffee, and a line about disco is changed instead to about 'cute boys'. All changes were approved by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
[edit] Trivia
- "Kiki" is coincidentally the nickname of actress Kirsten Dunst, who voiced the character in the 1998 English dub. The English dub was also Phil Hartman's last voice-acting performance (as Jiji) before he was murdered.
- Kiki's father's name, Okino, is rendered as the family's surname, "O'Keefe", in the dubbed version; thus Kiki's full name is sometimes given as "Kiki O'Keefe".
- In the original Japanese, Kiki and Ursula are voiced by the same actress, reinforcing the idea of Ursula's being on the same journey to self-reliance as Kiki, but a little farther along.
- This was the first release under the Disney/Studio Ghibli deal; the dub was recorded in 1997, and released directly to video on September 1, 1998. The video release proved popular, selling over a million copies. A few weeks later, Disney released a subtitled VHS of the movie, complete with the original Japanese soundtrack and subtitles. A LaserDisc version of the English dub was also available at this time. The region 1 DVD was released on April 15, 2003, alongside Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky.
- The word takkyūbin (宅急便, literally home-fast-mail) in the Japanese title is a trademark of Yamato Transport, though it is used today as a synonym for takuhaibin (宅配便, literally home-delivery-mail). The company not only permitted the use of the trademark, but also enthusiastically sponsored the film as the company use a stylized depiction of a black mother cat carrying her kitten as its corporate logo. Note, however, that the movie title is exempt from Japanese trademark laws and this was merely an overreaction on the production side.
- The crows featured in this movie seem to be collared crows (Corvus torquatus), which live in China.
- In Spain Kiki was re-christened "Nicky", and the film re-titled "Nicky la aprendiz de bruja" (Nicky the Apprentice Witch), due to the fact that the word kiki is Spanish slang for sexual intercourse. The Latin American title "Kiki - repartos a domicilio" would obviously have given rise to a rather unfortunate double entendre and so the protagonist's name was changed.
- Although the setting for the movie is never explicitly established, Studio Ghibli promotional material claims that it is based heavily on Stockholm, Sweden, and that parts of the architecture owe a debt to Ireland, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo's Ginza district.
[edit] Credits
[edit] Cast
The movie stars the following actors (listed in English version/Japanese version format):
- Kirsten Dunst/Minami Takayama: Kiki
- Janeane Garofalo/Minami Takayama: Ursula
- Phil Hartman/Rei Sakuma: Jiji
- Matthew Lawrence/Kappei Yamaguchi: Tombo
- Tress MacNeille/Keiko Toda: Osono
- Debbie Reynolds/Haruko Kato: Madame
- Edie McClurg/Hiroko Seki: Barsa
- Kath Soucie/Mieko Nobuzawa: Kiki's Mother (Kokiri)
- Jeff Bennett/Kouichi Miura: Kiki's Father (Okino)
[edit] Awards
- Best Animated Film; 44th Mainichi Film Competition
- Best Japanese Film of the Year, Voted by Readers; Kinema Junpo (a prestigious Japanese movie magazine)
- Special Award; Japan Academy Award
- Tokyo Metropolitan Cultural Honor
- 7th Annual Money Making Director's Award
- Gold, Japanese Film; 7th Annual Golden Gross Award
- Special Achievement Award; The Movie's Day
- Special Award: The Erandole Award
- Best Film and Best Director; Japan Cinema Association Award
- Excellent Movie; Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs (a government agency under the Ministry of Education)
- Best Anime; 12th Annual Anime Grand Prix
[edit] Musical
In 1993, a musical version of the show was produced. Yukio Ninagawa wrote the script and Kensuke Yokouchi (横内謙介 Yokouchi Kensuke) directed the show. The role of Kiki was originated by Youki Kudoh and the role of Tombo was originated by Akira Akasaka (赤坂晃 Akasaka Akira). He was replaced by Katsyuki Mori (森且行 Mori Katsuyuki) (of SMAP fame) within the year. There was a cast recording produced of the original cast and the show revived in 1995 ,1996.
[edit] External links
- Kiki's Delivery Service page at Nausicaa.net
- Kiki's Delivery Service page at OnlineGhibli.com
- Review at THEM Anime
- Kiki's Delivery Service at the Internet Movie Database
| Studio Ghibli Films |
|---|
| Pre Ghibli Films |
|
Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968) • Panda! Go, Panda! (1972) • Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (1977) • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) |
| Ghibli Films |
|
Castle in the Sky (1986) •
My Neighbor Totoro (1988) •
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) •
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) •
Only Yesterday (1991) •
Porco Rosso (1992) •
Ocean Waves (1993) •
Pom Poko (1994) •
Whisper of the Heart (1995) •
Princess Mononoke (1997) •
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) •
Spirited Away (2001) •
The Cat Returns (2002) •
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) •
Tales from Earthsea (2006)
|
| Studio Ghibli Shorts |
|
Nandarou (1992) • On Your Mark (1995) • Ghiblies (2000) • Ghiblies Episode II (2002) • Mei and the Kittenbus (2003) • The Night of Taneyamagahara (2006) |
| See also... |
|
Ghibli Museum • Katsuya Kondō • Yoshifumi Kondō • Gorō Miyazaki • Hayao Miyazaki • Kazuo Oga • Yasuo Ōtsuka • Toshio Suzuki • Isao Takahata • |
de:Kikis kleiner Lieferservice es:Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja fr:Kiki la petite sorcière hr:Kikin servis za dostavljanje it:Kiki consegne a domicilio ja:魔女の宅急便 pt:Majo no takkyûbin sv:Kiki's Delivery Service th:Kiki's Delivery Service zh:魔女宅急便
