Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便, Majo no Takkyūbin, lit. "Witch's Delivery Service") is a 1989 animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Toshio Suzuki. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for publisher Tokuma Shoten, Yamato Transport Co. and the Nippon Television Network and distributed by the Toei Company. The film's theme song was the song by Yumi Arai.

The film is based on the children's novel of the same name by Eiko Kadono. However, the film deviated from the original novel's story and themes, which upset Kadono during its production. She has since reconciled with Miyazaki. A more faithful live action film adaptation in March 1, 2014, featuring Kadono as the narrator.

Kiki's Delivery Service began production on April 1, 1988 and was released in Japan on July 29, 1989, and won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize. It was the first film released under a 15-year distribution partnership between The Walt Disney Company and Studio Ghibli; Buena Vista Home Video recorded an English dub in 1997, which premiered in United States theaters at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 23, 1998. The film was released on home video in the U.S. and Canada on September 15, 1998.

Departure
Tradition dictates that 13-year-old witches had to leave home for a year on the night of a full moon to pursue their skill through training. Thirteen-year-old trainee witch Kiki leaves home with her familiar, a talking black cat named Jiji. She flies on her broomstick to the port city of Koriko. While trying to find somewhere to live, Kiki is pursued by Tombo Kopoli, a geeky boy obsessed with aviation who admires her flying ability.

Starting a Job
In exchange for accommodation, Kiki helps Osono, the kindly and heavily pregnant owner of a bakery. She opens a "Witch Delivery Business", delivering goods by broomstick. Her first delivery goes badly; she is caught in wind and loses the black cat toy she is supposed to deliver. Jiji pretends to be the toy until Kiki can retrieve the real item. She finds it in the home of a young painter, Ursula, who repairs and returns it to Kiki so she can complete the delivery and rescue Jiji.

Kiki accepts a party invitation from Tombo, but is delayed by her work and, exhausted, falls ill. When she recovers, Osono clandestinely arranges for Kiki to see Tombo again by assigning her a delivery addressed to him. After Kiki apologizes for missing the party, Tombo takes her for a test ride on the flying machine he is working on fashioned from a bicycle. Kiki warms to Tombo but is intimidated by his friends, and walks home.

Heartbroken Kiki
Kiki becomes depressed and discovers she can no longer understand Jiji, who has befriended a pretty white cat. She has also lost her flying ability and is forced to suspend her delivery business. Kiki has a surprise visit from Ursula, who determines that Kiki's crisis is a form of artist's block. Ursula suggests that if Kiki can find a new purpose, she will regain her powers.

Rendevous on a Push Broom
While Kiki is visiting a customer, she witnesses an airship accident on television which leaves Tombo hanging from one of the drifting vessel's mooring lines. Kiki regains her flying power and manages to rescue him. She regains her confidence, resumes her delivery service, and writes a letter home saying that she and Jiji are happy.

Initial Plans
In December 1985, a film production company known as Group Fudosha drew up plans to adapt Eiko Kakuno's children's novel, "Kiki's Delivery Service". Since "Ta-Q-Bin" or "Takkyūbin" (宅急便, lit. shipping or fast service, also the name of Yamato's company mascot) was a registered trademark of Yamato Transport Co. , Ltd., they were first company that was approached to sponsor the film's production. Yamato Transport was initially hesitant, but realized that the use of the company's trademark black cat mascot would be a beneficial one if it appears in the film.

In the spring of 1987, Group Fudosha and Yamato Transport, Inc. formed a cooperation with Kadono's publisher Tokuma Shoten through Dentsu, Inc. (a major advertising agency) to acquire the rights to adapt Kadono's novel into a feature film directed by either Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata of Studio Ghibli. However, both of the chosen directors were busy, working on My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies respectively. Miyazaki accepted the role of producer while the studio continued to search for a director.

Pre-Production
Near the end of Totoros production, members of Studio Ghibli were being recruited as senior staff for Kiki's Delivery Service. The character design position was given to Katsuya Kondo, who was working with Miyazaki on the Totoro film before. Hiroshi Ohno, who would later work on projects such as Jin-Roh, was hired as art director at the request of Kazuo Oga.

Miyazaki chose Sunao Katabuchi as director. Katabuchi had worked with Miyazaki on Sherlock Hound; Kiki's Delivery Service would be his directorial debut. Studio Ghibli hired Nobuyuki Isshiki as script writer, but Miyazaki was dissatisfied by the first draft, finding it dry and too divergent from his own vision of the film. Since the novel was based in a fictional country in northern Europe, Miyazaki and the senior staff went to research landscapes and other elements of the setting. Their main stops were and  at the Swedish island Gotland. Upon their return to Japan, Miyazaki and the creative team worked on conceptual art and character designs. Miyazaki began significantly modifying the story, creating new ideas and changing existing ones.

Majo no Takkyūbin, the original children's book by Kadono that the movie was based on, is very different from Miyazaki's finished film. Kadono's novel is more episodic, consisting of small stories about various people and incidents Kiki encounters while making deliveries. Kiki overcomes many challenges in the novel based on "her good heart" and consequently expands her circle of friends. She faces no particular traumas or crises. Many of the more dramatic elements, such as Kiki losing her powers or the airship incident at the film's climax, are not present in the original story. However, in order to more clearly illustrate the themes of struggling with independence and growing up in the film, Miyazaki intended to have Kiki face tougher challenges and create a more potent sense of loneliness.

One such challenge is Kiki's sudden loss of ability to fly. This event is only loosely paralleled in the novel, in which Kiki's broom breaks and merely requires her to fix it. Miyazaki remarked, "As movies always create a more realistic feeling, Kiki will suffer stronger setbacks and loneliness than in the original". Kadono was unhappy with the changes that made between the book and film, to the point that the project was in danger of being shelved at the screenplay stage. Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki, the producer of Studio Ghibli, went to the author's home and invited her to the film's studio. After her visit to the studio, Kadono decided to let the project continue.

Production
Miyazaki finished the rough draft of the screenplay in June 1988 and presented it in July 1988. Sunao Katabuchi was scheduled to assume the director's chair, and would've been assisted by several directors at the will of the sponsoring companies. These initial plans later fell through after Miyazaki revealed that he had decided to direct the film, because he had influenced the project so much. The film was originally intended to be a 60-minute special, but expanded into a feature film running 102 minutes after Miyazaki completed storyboarding and scripting it. Yoshifumi Kondo also assisted Miyazaki with storyboard work, but due to the varying circumstances, he ended up as key drawing ("genga") director. Katsuya Kondo and Shinji Otsuka were also greatly involved during production.

The production faced numerous delays due to the large number of crowd scenes during the second half of the film, which placed a heavy burden on the staff and proved difficult to animate. Isao Takahata took charge of the music production as Miyazaki's workload proved extremely taxing. Additional music work was given to composer Joe Hisaishi, who himself was busy with his own album production and busy schedule.

The city of "Koriko" depicted in the film freely interwove scenes and architecture from Stockholm and Gotland Island in Visby, Sweden, all of which were filmed by Ghibli staff during a research trip. Miyazaki personally traveled to Ireland in 1988, and additional imagery for the film were inspired by trips to San Francisco, Lisbon, the countrysides of Paris and Naples. In the movie a rescue firefighter's helmet read Corico instead of Koriko. However, it is common for the letter c to be translated as k into many different languages. Miyazaki had previously visited Stockholm and Visby in 1971 while working for A-production (the studio behind "Lupin the 3rd") during a location scouting for the failed "Pippi Longstocking" movie project.

According to a pamphlet available during the film's release, the city where Kiki lives is called "Koriko". Miyazaki wanted to depict Europe had it not been through two major wars, thereby slowing the development of technology. Therefore, despite the film being set in the 80's, the use of black and white television, old vehicles and airships was still commonplace.

Takkyūbin (宅急便) in the Japanese film title is a trademark of. The company not only approved the use of its trademark, though its permission was not required under Japanese trademark laws, The name of the bakery is a pun on panya (Japanese for bakery, lit. bread shop) and Guchokipa, an alternate name for Jankenpon, or Rock, Paper, Scissors in English.

Release
It is the fifth Studio Ghibli film. It was the fourth theatrically released film from the studio, and was also the second feature film that Miyazaki directed but did not originally write himself. The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1989. Kiki's Delivery Service is based on Eiko Kadono's novel of the same name, which is the first in a series originally published by Fukuinkan Shoten in 1985. The film adaptation includes only some of the episodes in the book; it ends at the end of summer while the book covers an entire calendar year. The movie depicts the gulf that exists between independence and reliance in the hopes and spirit of ordinary Japanese teenage girls.

It was the first Studio Ghibli movie released under the Disney/Studio Ghibli partnership; Disney recorded an English dub in 1997, which theatrical premiered in the United States at the Seattle International Film Festival May 23, 1998. It was released on home video in the U.S. on September 1, 1998.

The first official English dub of Kiki's Delivery Service was produced by Carl Macek of Streamline Pictures at the request of Tokuma Shoten for Japan Airlines international flights. Kiki was portrayed by voice actress Lisa Michelson, who voiced Satuski in the Streamline Dub of My Neighbor Totoro. This dub is only available in the Ghibli Laserdisc Box Set.

Kirsten Dunst voiced Kiki in Disney's 1997 English dub, released in 1998. This dub was also Canadian comedian and actor Phil Hartman's last voice-acting performance (as Jiji) before his death in 1998. The dub is dedicated to his memory.

The Disney English dub of Kiki's Delivery Service premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 23, 1998. It was released to VHS on September 15, 1998. A few weeks later, Disney released another VHS of the movie, this time with the original Japanese soundtrack and with both English and Japanese subtitles. A laserdisc version of the English dub also became available at this time. The DVD was released on August 16, 2005 alongside the releases of Spirited Away and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. It was again reissued in March 2010 along with My Neighbor Totoro and Castle in the Sky as a tribute to the home release of Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. This version of this 2010 release was slightly edited to match the original Japanese version, removing some of Hartman's ad-libbed lines and replacing Sydney Forest's opening and ending songs with the original Japanese songs.

2 years later, on 1 July 2013, StudioCanal released a Blu-ray, followed by a Grave of the Fireflies release except in that same format, only in the United Kingdom. Disney released Kiki's Delivery Service on blu-ray on November 18, 2014. GKIDS re-issued the film on Blu-ray & DVD on October 17, 2017.

Differences Between Versions
Disney's English dub of Kiki's Delivery Service contained some changes, which have been described as "pragmatic". The changes were approved by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

There are a number of additions and embellishments to the film's musical score, and several lavish sound effects over sections that are silent in the Japanese original. The extra pieces of music, composed by Paul Chihara, range from soft piano music to a string-plucked rendition of Edvard Griegmusical's In the Hall of the Mountain King. The original Japanese opening theme is Message of Rouge, and the ending theme is Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta, both performed by Yumi Matsutoya (credited as Yumi Arai). The original opening and ending theme songs were replaced by two new songs, Soaring and I'm Gonna Fly, written and performed for the English dub by Sydney Forest.

The depiction of the cat, Jiji, changed significantly in the Disney version. In the Japanese version Jiji is voiced by Rei Sakuma, while in the English version Jiji is voiced by comedian Phil Hartman. In Japanese culture, cats are usually depicted with feminine voices, whereas in American culture their voices are more gender-specific. A number of Hartman's lines exist where Jiji simply says nothing in the original. Jiji's personality is notably different between the two versions, showing a more cynical and sarcastic attitude in the Disney English version as opposed to cautious and conscientious in the original Japanese.

In the original Japanese script, Kiki loses her ability to communicate with Jiji permanently, but the American version adds a line that implies that she is once again able to understand him at the end of the film. Miyazaki said that Jiji is the immature side of Kiki, and this implies that Kiki, by the end of the original Japanese version, has matured beyond talking to her cat.

More minor changes to appeal to the different teenage habits of the day include Kiki drinking hot chocolate instead of coffee and referring to "cute boys" instead of to "the disco".

However, as outlined in the Release notes section above, the 2010 English release is once again quite different; many elements have reverted more towards the original Japanese version. For example, JiJi once again does not talk at the very end, and many of the sound effects added to the "traditional" English version have been removed.

The English subtitled script used for the original VHS subbed release and the later DVD release more closely adheres to the Japanese script, but still contains a few alterations. Tokuma mistakenly believed the Streamline dub was an accurate translation of the film and offered it to Disney to use as subtitles. As a result, several additions from the dub appear in the subtitles regardless of whether or not they are present in the film.

In Spain, Kiki was renamed "Nicky" because in Castilian language the phonetically similar "quiqui" is commonly used in the slang expression "echar un quiqui", which means "to have intercourse". The film was re-titled Nicky la aprendiz de bruja.

Re-Release
In 2010, the film saw a re-release by Disney. This version featured less music and character dialogue, such as Kiki not being able to understand Jiji like in the Japanese original version. The opening song "Message of Rouge" (ルージュの伝言), and the ending song "Wrapped in Kindness" (やさしさに包まれたなら), both performed by Yumi Matsutoya (credited as Yumi Arai) were also restored.

Manga
A manga book series using stills from the film was published in Japan by Tokuma Shoten. An English translation was published in 2006 by VIZ Media, in four volumes.

Musical
In 1993, a musical version of the story was produced. Yukio Ninagawa wrote the script and Kensuke Yokouchi directed the show. The role of Kiki was portrayed by Youki Kudoh and the role of Tombo was portrayed by Akira Akasaka. Akasaka was replaced by Katsuyuki Mori within the year. A cast recording was produced by the original cast, and the show was revived in 1995 and 1996.

Reception
"Kiki's Delivery Service" premiered on July 29, 1989 in Japanese theaters. The total distribution receipts were 2,170,000,000 Yen (US$18,000,000). The film proved to be a financial success and was the highest-grossing film in Japan in 1989. The Japanese DVD was the best selling anime DVD for February 7, 2001.

Buena Vista Home Video's VHS release became the 8th-most-rented title at Blockbuster stores during its first week of availability. This video release also sold over a million copies.

On September 4, 1998, Entertainment Weekly rated it as Video of the Year, and on September 12, 1998, it was the first video release to be reviewed as a normal film on Siskel and Ebert rather than on the Video Pick of the Week section. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it "two thumbs up" and Ebert went on to rank it as one of the best animated films of 1989. The film ranked #12 on Wizard's Anime Magazine's list of the "Top 50 Anime released in North America". Other reviews were very positive as well. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Kiki's Delivery Service has a score of 97% based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 7.8/10, the website's consensus reads, "Kiki's Delivery Service is a heartwarming, gorgeously-rendered tale of a young witch discovering her place in the world." The conservative Christian group Concerned Women for America boycotted Kiki's Delivery Service screenings and released a press release on February 5, 1998, titled "Disney Reverts to Witchcraft in Japanese Animation". Calling for a boycott of The Walt Disney Company, the group said the company "is still not family friendly, but continues to have a darker agenda".

Sponsorship Results
As a result of the film's sponsorship and advertising efforts via TV commercials, the film sold roughly 2.64 million tickets, and the distribution revenue reached 21.5 billion yen, more than three times as much as Ghibli's previous work in "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Grave of the Fireflies".

Ghibli
Just for a short time a bus pass by with Ghibli written on it.

Hayao
Kiki saving Tombo is broadcasted on TV. Next to the TV stands a man who looks like director Hayao Miyazaki. This cameo was noted in the film's release pamphlet.

Totoro
Kiki owns a Totoro plush. Another small Totoro is found next to a girl in Koriko.

In the book shelf there is Totoro and Mei sitting in a toy house.

Supplementary

 * The order of chapters from the original novel were altered for the film, and the reason why Kiki could not fly well with her broom is different.
 * The Disney dub contains a memorial scene for Phil Hartman as he played the role of Jiji.
 * Many of the signboards in the film are written in English. However, the text of the Kiki's letter to her parents are written in Japanese. This was a concession to allow Japanese audiences to understand what was written, but they were intended to be the relevant language to the setting.
 * Although multiple concept layout images were made by Studio Ghibli, only one piece made it as a final cut in the film - that being the close-up scene of Kiki lying on a plain while listening to her radio.
 * Legendary animator Kenji Kamiyama, then a background staff member, worked on the scenes involving a firewood kiln being used to bake herring pie, and Kiki tearing up after she receives a cake from a kindly grandmother.
 * At the time of the film's first theatrical release, it was presented in 35mm film while the audio track was shown in Dolby Stereo (4 channel surround sound).
 * Toei President Shigeru Okada, who handled distribution, said in an interview in August 1990, "Mr. Yasuyoshi Tokuma and Hayao Miyazaki, who teamed up with Mr. Tokuma, have a shared insanity. Miyazaki worked at Toei in the very beginning and went on a rampage, but geniuses like him don't fit in the company. As a result, he seems to have had a hard time independently, but Miyazaki's insanity didn't come to fruition with Kiki's Delivery Service. Filmmaking is a passion. Even director Akira Kurosawa was inundated with customers for his work, but his film "Dreams" (1990) lost that kind of madness, so it's not good to get in. What I really want now is Miyazaki to invoke the guru-sama who utters madness. If this guru-sama doesn't come out from his work, he won't be able to create a blockbuster that will change the flow of the films."

Related Movie Content

 * A portion of the song "Sora Tobu Takkyuubin" in the film's soundtrack (around 24 seconds to 54 seconds track time) is used as background music for a radio commercial for a confectionery shop called "Sweets Day High". The store is known for "Nanjakoya Daifuku" and is located in Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture.

Possible Cameo Appearances
Two possible cameo appearances occur in the movie. The first appears to be director Hayao Miyazaki in the form of a background character with similar glasses. This occurs in the scene where the person who lent the push broom to Kiki announces proudly the broom was his. The second appears to occur during the rolling of the credits in the Japanese version. A rather large character in a non-speaking roll appears in the center of the screen wearing a hat and glasses. Oddly, the character appears to have no eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. It is difficult to believe facial features of this character were omitted by accident. The evidently Western male figure appears for nearly a full 3 seconds. If the omission was intentional, the clue to who this character may have represented may be the style of his hat. Walt Disney, who by this time had died, appears in photographs wearing an almost identical hat. Although it should be pointed out that the hat style was quite popular.

Controversy
Critics of the film have pointed out that despite the fact there are large crowd scenes in an obviously European city, that during the entire film not a single person of color makes an appearance anywhere. This has caused the film to be labeled as an example of colorism and more specifically erasure. 

Additional Voices

 * Japanese: Yoshiko Kamei, Hiroko Maruyama, Shinpachi Tsuji, Yuko Maruyama, Yuko Tsuga, Akio Otsuka
 * Streamline: Barbara Goodson, Dave Mallow, Diane Michelle, Doug Stone, Greg Snegoff, Kerrigan Mahan, Lara Cody, Melanie MacQueen, Mike Reynolds, Steve Kramer, Wendee Lee
 * Disney: John DeMita, Eddie Frierson, John Hostetter, Sherry Lynn, Scott Menville