Majo no takkyûbin (1989)

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Eiko Kadono (original book)
Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 July 1989 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Comedy | Adventure

Plot:

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

Plot Keywords:

White Panties | Goodwill | Birds | Friendship Between Girls | Seaside Town

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Minami Takayama	...	Kiki / Ursula (voice)
Rei Sakuma	...	Jiji (voice)
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Tombo (voice)
Keiko Toda	...	Osono (voice)
Mieko Nobusawa	...	Kokiri, Kiki no haha (Kiki's mummy) (voice)
Koichi Miura	...	Okino, Kiki no chichi (Kiki's daddy) (voice)
Haruko Kato	...	Rô-fujin (Madame) (voice)
Hiroko Seki	...	Barsa (Bertha) (voice)
Yuriko Fuchizaki	...	Ketto (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Bakery worker, policeman (voice)
Kikuko Inoue	...	Beautiful designer girl (voice)
Yûko Kobayashi	...	Young sempai witch (voice)
Mika Doi	...	Ketto's mother (voice)
Takaya Hashi	...	Ketto's father (voice)
Chika Sakamoto	...	Baby (voice)

Also Known As:

Kiki's Delivery Service (USA)
The Witch's Express Mail (literal title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

French | German | Italian | Portuguese | Spanish | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Ireland:G | Germany:o.Al. | Sweden:Btl | Finland:K-3 | Australia:G | South Korea:All | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G | France:U | USA:G | UK:U | Spain:T

Company:

Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Hayao Miyazaki]the director can be seen for a moment in the scene when the street-sweeper says "that's my broom she used". He's in the upper-right corner of the picture.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Kiki drops the black cat doll, she is attacked by what looks like magpies, but they sound like jackdaws.

Quotes:

Jiji: [Jiji looks at his paws and around the room that is covered in flour] If you wake up tomorrow and find a white cat, it's me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mimi wo sumaseba (1995)

uplifting movie

Another great Miyazaki film. A young witch, with a good heart, leaves her mom and dad on her 13th birthday with her black cat, as all witches are supposed to do to complete her training and make it on her own. She looks for a city in need of a witch and finds a city near an ocean. She meets some other good hearted people who help her along the way.

There really isn't a villain in the movie and it's mainly a slice of life type of film. In the end of the film it all comes together and she performs a heroic act.

I tried to watch the dubbed version. Dunst was fine, but I just couldn't stand Garofolo and Hartman. So set the DVD audio to the original Japanese soundtrack and used English subtitles.

If you watch the dubbed version. Turn on the subtitles and you will see all the additional dialog they added. They just couldn't help padding their roles, especially Hartman.