Jiji

Jiji (ジジ) is Kiki's familiar in the film, Kiki's Delivery Service.

Plot
Jiji is Kiki's companion as she is training to become a full-fledged witch. One time, he had to pretend to be a stuffed cat for a boy's birthday gift. The real stuffed cat, which looked exactly like him, was lost in the forest.

Jiji also gets a girlfriend, who is a white cat named Lily. In the credits, it is shown that Jiji and Lily had kittens together.

Appearance
Jiji is a black cat with large white eyes and black pupils. The insides of his ears are iris purple.

As a witch familiar, he has a much longer lifespan than normal cats.

Personality
In the American version, Jiji is a chatty and sarcastic cat that likes to act proud whilst in the Japanese version, Jiji is a cautious and humble, and is always ready to help Kiki.

The character of Jiji is significantly different in the American dub. In the Japanese version, Jiji is voiced by the female performer Rei Sakuma, while in the American version Jiji is performed by Phil Hartman, and also has more of a wisecracking demeanor.

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 (such as in the scene where Jiji approaches Lily along the top of the wall). Jiji's personality is notably different between the two versions, showing a more cynical and sarcastic attitude in the 1998 English version, as opposed to cautious and conscience-like in the original Japanese.

Behind the Scenes
According to Hayao Miyazaki, "After hearing Jiji's voice, I realized how odd he appears when he's assertive. It's because he's not very independent. He's part of Kiki. He represents an immature part of her."

Relationships

 * Kiki (owner)
 * Lily (mate)
 * Kittens (children)

Trivia

 * While Jiji is depicted as young in terms of being a familiar cat, he is 13 years old and is an elderly cat in terms of normal cat.
 * In the original Japanese version, Kiki loses her ability to communicate with Jiji permanently but in the American dub a line is added which implies she is once again able to understand him. Miyazaki has said that Jiji represents the childish side of Kiki, and the reason why she loses her ability to communicate with him is because she has grown up.
 * In the Disney dub at 1998/2010 version, Jiji was Phil Hartman's last role before his death in 1998.

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Jiji 魔女の宅急便 吉吉