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 | Talking Cat | 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 Ohtsuka	...	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:
June Angela	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lewis Arquette	...	Additional Voices (voice: English 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)
Scott Menville	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)

Directed by
Hayao Miyazaki

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

Produced by
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

Original Music by
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
Kazuo 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 Kondô	....	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
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
Atsuko Ôtani	....	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
Noriko Takaya	....	harmony process
Tatsumi Yamashita	....	planner

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• Gkids (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• 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" - Australia (imdb display title), International (English title) (imdb display title), UK, USA
"Witch's Special Express Delivery" - International (English title) (literal title)
"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)

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:

The name of Osono's bakery, "Guchokipanya" is a Japanese pun made from the words "guchokipa" (Rock Paper Scissors) and "pan'ya" (bakery).

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The four-engined biplane (more precisely, sesquiplane) that Kiki sees during the opening credits is a real aircraft, the Handley-Page HP42. Eight of these planes - the first four-engined aircraft ever built - were commissioned during the 1930s; later they were converted to military use, and all were destroyed by 1941. But since this movie - according to director Hayao Miyazaki - takes place in a world where World War II never happened, it's plausible that the HP42 would still be in civilian service.

Quotes:

Kiki:If I lose my magic, that means I've lost absolutely everything.

Movie Connections:

References Brewster McCloud (1970)

Beautiful film; Disney version pretty good.

This may seem a rehash of the previous comments, but I only now got to see the Disney dubbed release.

I owned a bootleg copy of Kiki while it was still in Japanese theaters; I fell in love with the movie after first seeing the spectacle of the dirigible crash near the tail end. I learned to worship this movie because of the grandeur, because of the simplicity...

I lost my bootleg copy, and after the American release, began hunting down the laserdisc. A year of searching, I finally found it... was it worth the wait? Yes, with reservations...

I am (overly) familiar with the Japanese version, and did not want to be burdened with the "star" American voices; my wife doesn't like foreign-language film, though, so I needed the English version. With the LD, I got both benefits without having to purchase 2 VHS versions, and got to do some interesting side-by-side comparisons- switching between languages, watching the Japanese language version with the sub-titles for the English version, etc.

First off- this *is* Miyazaki, and *this* is animation. It is utterly beautiful, and the story is a wonderful one for both children and adults. There are very few people who will not be charmed by this... except maybe teenage boys, who don't want to be caught liking something so sweet. Otherwise, I can safely recommend any version to anybody.

Miyazaki films often prefer to paint a scene with pictures and music, not words. The English translation is an egregious offender here; what in the Japanese version are vignettes and scenes that are wordless become in the English version open chances for Phil Hartman and Kirsten Dunst to wisecrack, chat, or what-have-you. I feel that this is due to Disney's belief that children in America must be entertained for every second of a movie, lest their minds wander off.

Just as many people find Japanese dialogue to be grating on the ears, so do I find the English language voice actors to be grating. Actually, mainly just (the late) Phil Hartman. His nasal, loud voice just does not fit JiJi, a cute, diminutive cat. Kirsten does an okay job, although her voice sounds a wee bit older than Kiki's 13.

Already being familiar with the film, I have to admit being disappointed with the English version... it's a necessary evil, and I'm glad that my wife can enjoy the film now; but I feel that no matter how well-intentioned, Miyazaki's vision was dimmed somewhat in the Americanization. If the only version to come out had been an English version, I honestly would have rather imported a copy from Japan than support Disney.

All that being said, though, I would place the English-language Kiki far above most Disney efforts, and especially above Disney's modern efforts. I sincerely recommend that everyone watch Kiki once; if you like it, try the Japanese-language version (Buena Vista has released a VHS, widescreen, sub-titled Japanese version. Thank you, Disney!) And if you are a Disney film fan, you owe it to yourself to see what the Japanese can do.