Kiki's Delivery Service
Majo no Takkyubin
1989. 102 mins.
Based on the book by Kadono Eiko.
On March 22, 1999 in Boston, MA, Kiki was chosen as the best Video Of The Year.
Kiki's Delivery Service is a wonderful and sweet film by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. It is the story of a young witch named Kiki who leaves home at the age of 13 in order to complete her one year witches' training abroad.
When a witch turns 13, it is traditional for her to move away from home to spend a year in another city or town where there is no witch already living, so that she can learn to be independent and practice her trade.
Having arrived in her dream town by the ocean, Kiki and her black cat Jiji were at first faced with difficulty. However, Kiki's optimism and enthusiasm quickly helps her make new friends and it is not long before Kiki soon captivates the heart of all those in her new home.
The movie was first released in Japan in 1989. It was based on children's book by Kadono Eiko titled "Majo no Takkyubin". A sequel to the original book was written shortly after the movie, but it is unlikely that the sequel will be made into a film by Miyazaki since he has retired.
However, the story of Kiki will live on especially since it is now being distributed worldwide by Disney
Under the shining full moon, people gather to send Kiki off. Kiki, a witch-in-training, is now 13 years old and according to a tradition, she has to leave her home to spend a year alone in a new town to establish herself as a full witch. Kissing her mom and dad good-bye, Kiki sets herself on her mother's broom with her father's transistor radio and her closest companion, Jiji the black cat, at her side. And she flies off - to a new town, to a new adventure, and to a new life.
Finding herself a beautiful seaside city of Korico, Kiki sets up a flying delivery service, to take advantage of the only magic she knows - flying a broom.
However, her magic does not make Kiki happy or successful overnight. Miyazaki says, "In this movie, magic just means some kinds of talents that today's girls have" and Kiki is "a girl who tries to be herself by flying".
Kiki encounters several setbacks and mishaps that an upcoming young entrepreneur would typically face - slow business, misplaced merchandise, not-so-nice customers, and a rainy day (literally!). Kiki also has to deal with her feelings such as loneliness, worries, shyness, and self-doubt, as a teenage girl in a new town. Miyazaki says, "the ability to fly frees her from what is going on on the ground, but freedom also means worries and loneliness", and she has to face and overcome such problems to really become self-sufficient and independent.
Her biggest challenge comes when Kiki loses her magic. Flying, which was as natural to Kiki as breathing, no longer comes so easily to her. Miyazaki says that talent is something that you are given, and you have to go through a process to consciously make such a talent truely yours.
Kiki overcomes such obstacles with her energy and resourcefulness, and with help from nice people she meets in the course of her adventure. Osono and her baker husband, who gave Kiki a place to stay, take good care of Kiki as sort of surrogate parents. Tombo, a boy whose biggest dream is to fly, befriends Kiki and makes her laugh. Grandmotherly Madame, for whom Kiki delivers a pie, treats Kiki with kindness and care to give Kiki the energy to go on. And a young painter, Ursula, gives Kiki good advice as someone who not so long ago went through the same struggle as Kiki is going through now.
In the end, Kiki finds her independence and the meaning of self-reliance. In her letter to her parents, Kiki writes, "There are still some times when I feel a little homesick, but all in all I sure love this city!" as she flies over Korico, which she now calls home.
The End