Kiki's Delivery Service

USA DVD cover.

Kiki's Delivery Service, known in Japan as 魔女の宅急便, Majo no Takkyubin, "Witch's Delivery Service" is an animated movie about a young witch striking out on her own. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and released by Studio Ghibli in 1989. The movie is based on a book of the same name.

Kiki's Delivery Service was first dubbed into English in 1990 by a company called Streamline, but it didn't see much of a release. In 1998, it was re-dubbed by Disney and saw a proper released.

Having become a fan of Spirited Away, I decided to watch some of Miyazaki's other work. At first, I avoided Kiki's Delivery Service because it sounded to childish, but when I did finally get around to watching it, I found that it was an amazing adventure and beautifully animated. I now watch the movie fairly regularly just to bask in the beauty and feel-goodness of it. I've only ever seen the subtitled release, I haven't seen either of the English-dubbed versions.

Status

I do not own this movie, but I have seen it over a dozen times.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

Over all, the movie just makes you feel good. I love seeing films where the characters overcome problems and have satisfying results.
The background art is just exquisite.
The music is fantastic. Joe Hisaishi really captured the mood of the movie with his soundtracks, and the inclusion of old pop songs was a great idea.
One of the film's themes, how to balance traditional ideals with contemporary ideals is a time-honored struggle that the film deals with perfectly.

Bad

I never feel like Kiki is ever in any real danger other than her own failure. The city is just too perfect and polite. Even in the beginning when she can't find work, she always has the option to return home.
The movie has a bit of a lull before the finale.
Ursula's head is strangely misshapen.

Ugly

Nothing

Cover Art

This Japanese VHS cover shows Kiki and Jiji bored in the bakery. While it's a good scene in the movie, it makes a terrible cover. It doesn't accurately portray the movie or show any of the magic.
The Japanese DVD cover has great art, but the pink layout is dull.
The original US VHS cover is pretty good. The art style has unfortunately been Westernized, but it accurately depicts the spirit of the movie. However, Kiki never delivered muffins.
This is the first US DVD cover. Kiki and Jiji look a little off, I think they were Westernized, and the collage is a bit too busy.
The UK DVD cover uses the Japanese art, but somehow manages to have and even worse layout with a black background.
The USA DVD revision uses the original theatrical release poster which is my favorite because it properly captures the magic of the film.