Majo no takkyûbin (1989)

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Eiko Kadono (novel)
Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 July 1989 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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:

Witch | Cat | Talking Cat | Courier | Courier Service

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)
Kôichi 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)
Toshiko Asai	...	(voice)
Yoshiko Kamei	...	(voice)
Hiroko Maruyama	...	(voice)
Shinpachi Tsuji	...	(voice)
Yûko Maruyama	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Masa Saitô	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Yûko Tsuga	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Tomomichi Nishimura	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Kirsten Dunst	...	Kiki (voice: English version)
Kath Soucie	...	Kiki's Mother (voice: English version)
Debbie Reynolds	...	Madame (voice: English version)
Jeff Bennett	...	Kiki's Father (voice: English version)
Phil Hartman	...	Jiji (voice: English version)
Tress MacNeille	...	Osono (voice: English version)
Edie McClurg	...	Barsa (Bertha) (voice: English version)
Debi Derryberry	...	Young Senior Witch (voice: English version)
Matthew Lawrence	...	Tombo (voice: English version)
Janeane Garofalo	...	Ursula (voice: English version)
Corey Burton	...	Radio Announcer (voice: English version)
Pamela Adlon	...	Ket (voice: English version) (as Pamela Segall)
Eddie Frierson	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Sherry Lynn	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Matt K. Miller	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nacho Aldeguer	...	Tombo (voice: Spanish version)
June Angela	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lewis Arquette	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lola Cervantes	...	Madam (voice: Spanish version)
Matilde Conesa	...	Barsa / Berta (voice: Spanish version)
Iñaki Crespo	...	Yiyi (voice: Spanish version)
John DeMita	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Fay DeWitt	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Julia Fletcher	...	Ket's Aunt, Ket's Mother (voice: English version) (as Julia DeMita)
Susan Hickman	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John Hostetter	...	Dirigible Captain (voice: English version)
Yolanda Mateos	...	Úrsula (voice: Spanish version)
Scott Menville	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Carolina Montijano	...	Kokiri (mamá de Nicky) (voice: Spanish version)
Laura Palacios	...	Osono (voice: Spanish version)
Antonio Villar	...	Okino (papá de Nicky) (voice: Spanish version)
Cristina Yuste	...	Nicky (voice: Spanish version)

Directed by
Hayao Miyazaki

Writing credits
Eiko Kadono		(novel)
Hayao Miyazaki		(screenplay)

Produced by
Hayao Miyazaki	....	producer
Jane Schonberger	....	executive producer
Jane Schonberger	....	producer (US version)
Toshio Suzuki	....	associate producer
Morihisa Takagi	....	executive producer
Yasuyoshi Tokuma	....	executive producer
Mikihiko Tsuzuki	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Sydney Forest
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Shigeo Sugimura

Film Editing by
Takeshi Seyama

Production Design by
Hinoshi Ono

Art Direction by
Hiroshi Ohno

Production Management
Eiko Tanaka	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sunao Katabuchi	....	assistant director

Art Department
Yuriko Katayama	....	color designer
Michiyo Yasuda	....	color designer

Sound Department
Naoko Asari	....	recording supervisor
Shuji Inoue	....	sound
Norio Kobayashi	....	sound effects assistant
William Komar	....	sound effects editor: US version (as Bill Komar)
Hironori Ono	....	sound effects assistant
Kazutoshi Satou	....	sound effects
Ernie Sheesley	....	sound: US version
Shoichi Tamaasa	....	sound recording assistant
James Twomey	....	adr recordist
Danny van Spreuwel	....	adr recordist: Dutch version
Fujio Yamada	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Kaoru Tanifuji	....	special effects

Animation Department
Midori Chiba	....	background artist
Kuzuo Ebisawa	....	background artist
Masaaki Endo	....	key animator
Atsuko Fukushima	....	key animator
Makiko Futaki	....	key animator
Yoshiyuki Hane	....	key animator
Akiko Hasegawa	....	key animator
Yuji Ikehata	....	background artist
Toshiyuki Inoue	....	key animator
Yutaka Itô	....	background artist
Megumi Kagawa	....	key animator (as Ai Kagawa)
Yoshinori Kanada	....	key animator
Hidetoshi Kaneko	....	background artist
Kiyoko Kanno	....	background artist
Kenji Kashiyama	....	background artist
Toshio Kawaguchi	....	key animator
Kazuhiro Kinoshita	....	background artist
Katsuya Kondô	....	character designer
Katsuya Kondô	....	supervising animator
Yoshifumi Kondo	....	supervising animator
Miyuki Kudo	....	background artist
Satoshi Kuroda	....	background artist
Yuko Matsuura	....	background artist
Toshiharu Mizutani	....	background artist
Kôji Morimoto	....	key animator (as Kouji Morimoto)
Hiroyuki Morita	....	inbetween animator
Noriko Moritomo	....	key animator
Kyouko Naganawa	....	background artist
Yoko Nagashima	....	background artist
Toshiya Niidome	....	key animator
Kazuo Oga	....	background artist
Kumiko Ohno	....	background artist
Kiyomi Ota	....	background artist
Atsuko Ôtani	....	key animator
Shinji Otsuka	....	supervising animator
Yoshiharu Sato	....	key animator
Masahiro Sekino	....	key animator
Sachiko Sugino	....	key animator
Yasuko Tachiki	....	animation checker
Hitomi Tateno	....	animation checker
Ken Tokushige	....	background artist
Chie Uratani	....	key animator
Hiroshi Watanabe	....	key animator
Hirômi Yamakawa	....	key animator
Natsuyo Yasuda	....	key animator

Casting Department
Jack Fletcher	....	voice casting: English version

Editorial Department
Hiroshi Adachi	....	assistant editor

Music Department
June Angela	....	soloist
Yumi Matsutôya	....	composer: song "Rouge no dengon" (as Arai Yumi)
Yumi Matsutôya	....	composer: theme song "Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta-nara" (as Arai Yumi)
Isao Takahata	....	musical director

Other crew
Jack Fletcher	....	adaptor: English version
Jack Fletcher	....	dialogue director: English version
Eric Garcia	....	production coordinator
Kaoru Mano	....	titles
Akira Michikawa	....	titles
Hideo Ogata	....	planner
John Semper	....	adaptor: English version
Iwao Setô	....	planner
Tatsumi Yamashita	....	planner

Production Companies

• Nibariki
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• Studio Ghibli
• Tokuma Shoten

Distributors

• Sonet Film (2007) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Cinema Mondo (2007) (Finland) (all media)
• Optimum Releasing (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• RUSCICO (2008) (Russia) (all media)
• Studio Ghibli (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Toei Company
• Universum Film (UFA) (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Anime Torotoro  animation assistance
• DOGA Productions  animation assistance
• Domusha  animation assistance
• IM Studio  ink and paint support studio
• Kyoto Animation  ink and paint support studio
• Nakamura Production  animation assistance
• Oh Production  animation assistance
• Ryu Production  ink and paint support studio
• Screen Music Studios (SMS)  dialogue recording facilities (US version)
• Studio Fantasia  ink and paint support studio
• Studio Hibari  animation assistance
• Studio Killy  ink and paint support studio
• Studio Muku  animation assistance
• Studio OZ  ink and paint support studio
• Toy House  ink and paint support studio
• Trace Studio M  ink and paint support studio

Also Known As:

Kiki's Delivery Service (UK) (USA)
Witch's Special Express Delivery (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

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

Company:

Nibariki

Trivia:

67,317 traditional "cels" were used for this movie.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Disney dub refers several times to the airship as a "dirigible", which is correct, but also as a "blimp", which it isn't; it is a zeppelin, a rigid airship with an internal skeleton that holds it in shape, not a blimp, which is basically a big helium-inflated balloon held in shape by the helium.

Quotes:

Kiki: Without even thinking about it, I used to be able to fly. Now I'm trying to look inside myself and find out how I did it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Troldspejlet: (#38.4)" (2007)

See the Disney version, then find the original

I've been a fan of the original "Majo no takkyubin" for a long time, and I've been extremely pessimistic about American dubs of Japanese animation, which have ranged from barely tolerable to scrape-it-off-your-shoe terrible. When I heard Disney had bought distribution rights, I wondered whether a big-name animation studio would do right by this film.

Well, I've now seen the Disney version and I'm a little disappointed. Like most other American studios, Disney assumes that anything animated must be aimed solely at children under five. Much of the charm and subtlety of the original film is lost in this dubbed version, and in a few places the translation just plain doesn't make sense. Phil Hartman is funny as the smart-alecky Jiji, and despite his frequent ad-libs, the part comes off reasonably well. But if you've seen and liked the Disney version of this film, do yourself a favor and dig up the original Japanese (subtitled) version. You'll see what Hayao Miyazaki really wanted you to see.