Kiki, a young witch-in-training, has reached the age of 13. According to tradition, all witches of that age must leave home for one year, so that they can learn how to live on their own. Kiki, along with her talking cat Gigi, fly away to live in the seaside town of Korico. After starting her own delivery service (using her broom as the delivery vehicle), Kiki must learn how to deal with her new life, especially after she loses the power to fly.

Majo no takkyûbin (1989)
  • Rating: (27,652 votes)
  • Runtime:103 minutes
  • Director: Hayao Miyazaki
  • Country:Japan
  • Actors:
    Kiki / Ursula (voice)
    Minami Takayama
    Jiji (voice)
    Rei Sakuma
    Tombo (voice)
    Kappei Yamaguchi
    Osono (voice)
    Keiko Toda
    Kokiri, Kiki no haha (Kiki's mummy) (voice)
    Mieko Nobusawa
    Okino, Kiki no chichi (Kiki's daddy) (voice)
    Kôichi Miura
    Rô-fujin (Madame) (voice)
    Haruko Kato
    Barsa (Bertha) (voice)
    Hiroko Seki
    Ketto (voice)
    Yuriko Fuchizaki
    Bakery worker, policeman (voice)
    Kôichi Yamadera
  • Genres:Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
  • Producers:
    Hayao Miyazaki
    producer  
    Todd Olsson
    co-producer (english version)  
    Jane Schonberger
    executive producer  
    Jane Schonberger
    producer (US version)  
    Toshio Suzuki
    associate producer  
    Morihisa Takagi
    executive producer  
    Eiko Tanaka
    line producer  
    Yasuyoshi Tokuma
    executive producer  
    Mikihiko Tsuzuki
    executive producer  
  • Plots: This is the story of a young witch, named Kiki who is now thirteen years old. But she is still a little green and plenty headstrong, but also resourceful, imaginative, and determined. With her trusty wisp of a talking cat named Jiji by her side she's ready to take on the world, or at least the quaintly European seaside village she's chosen as her new home. Written by Anthony Pereyra (hypersonic91@yahoo.com)
Majo no takkyûbin
  • User's comment:The greatest movie ever made by panicwatcher (panicflyer@altavista.com)

    Kiki's Delivery Service is my favorite move. I have seen it at least 10 times and I laughed and cried each time. The animation by Hayao Miyazaki is wonderful, as always. The flying scenes and scenery of the generic European city are totally convincing. I think I really got a feeling of what it would be like to fly in on a broom over and through a European city. In each city scene, I feel like it is some place I have visited in my trips to Europe.

    What I really appreciate about this movie is the simplicity of the characters and the plot. There are no robots, no psychotic megalomaniacs, no monsters, no superheros, no bratty smarty kids that are smarter than adults, no evil moron adults, and no fight scenes. No one is kidnapped or seriously injured. Even though the movie a about a witch, the only supernatural acts in the movie are Kiki flying on a broom and talking to her cat.

    The movie is about a young girl witch who leaves home with her cat Jiji, moves to a new town, and starts a delivery service. In her business she has some adventures and meets mostly nice people who help her out. In the process she meets a boy named Tombo. Tombo does not have any special powers. He is just a nerdy guy who is trying to build a bicycle that can fly. Tombo gets in to some trouble and Kiki helps him out.

    That sounds very dull, but by avoiding the supernatural and monsters, the story is much more easy to relate to. It is a story about leaving home and starting anew, meeting people, helping people, and have people help you when you get into trouble. It is very upbeat, even when things look bleak, they work out with a little help from friends. I liked Tombo's problems trying to be friends with Kiki because they seem like the problems people really have. One of the most beautiful scenes in the movie is Tombo silently waiting in the rain for Kiki who never shows up.

    This movie is full of silent beauty. When the baker's wife invites Kiki to move in above the bakery, you get the impression that the gruff but silent husband does not care for Kiki. But in a later scene you see that he has baked a loaf of bread shaped like a girl riding a broom and mounted it in the bakery window. Nothing is ever said about it, but you see how he appreciates her.

    I have both the dubbed and subtitled version of the movie. They are both great. This movie is one of the best dubbed I have seen. The dubbed version has a lighter, funnier tone because of the wise-cracking Jiji. I felt I could appreciate the animation better in the dubbed version because I did not have to focus on reading the subtitles. In general the voice acting in the dubbed version is excellent. The subtitled version is also the letterbox version, so you get to see the full beauty of the animation. In some of the flying scenes, Jiji is humorously complaining about the flying conditions in the dubbed version, where the subtitled version lets you silently appreciate the beauty of flying. Due to licensing problems the dubbed and subtitled versions have different theme songs. I think both songs are great. I recommend getting both versions.


  • Quotes: Jiji: You'd think they'd never seen a girl and a cat on a broom before. Ursula: We each need to find our own inspiration, Kiki. Sometimes it's not easy. Kiki: If I lose my magic, that means I've lost absolutely everything.
  • Also known as: Kiki's Delivery Service (Australia - imdb display title), Kiki's Delivery Service (International - imdb display title, English title), Kiki's Delivery Service (UK), Kiki's Delivery Service (USA), El Delivery de Kiki (Argentina), Küçük cadi Kiki (Turkey - Turkish title), Kiki - A Aprendiz de Feiticeira (Portugal - imdb display title), Kiki - A boszorkányfutár (Hungary - imdb display title), Kiki - den lille heks (Denmark), Kiki consegne a domicilio (Italy), Kiki entregas a domicilio (Mexico - imdb display title), Kiki's vliegende koeriersdienst (Netherlands - imdb display title), Kiki, la petite sorcière (France), Kiki: I mikri magissoula (Greece - DVD title), Kikin lähettipalvelu (Finland), Kikis budservice (Norway), Kikis expressbud (Sweden), Kikis kleiner Lieferservice (Germany - imdb display title), Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja (Spain), O Serviço de Entregas da Kiki (Brazil), Podniebna poczta Kiki (Poland), Serviciul de curierat al lui Kiki (Romania - video title), Witch's Special Express Delivery (International - literal title, English title),

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