Kiki's Delivery Service
Movie, 1989, The '80s, Set in Koriko
Kiki's Delivery Service is #5 of 25 in release order and #5 of 25 in chronological order in the Studio Ghibli.
The story
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.
Kiki's Delivery Service recap
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) follows a 13-year-old witch who leaves home, as young witches must, and starts a flying courier business in a seaside city. Hayao Miyazaki wrote, produced and directed this adaptation of Eiko Kadono's novel, Ghibli's first hit on release. Kiki (Minami Takayama) flies off on her mother's broom with her talking black cat Jiji (Rei Sakuma) and lands in Koriko, a port city with no witch. Osono (Keiko Toda), the pregnant owner of a bakery, gives her a room, and Kiki starts delivering by broomstick. An early job goes wrong when she drops a toy cat in a forest, leaving Jiji to pose as the toy until the young painter Ursula helps. Tombo (Kappei Yamaguchi), an aviation-mad local boy, keeps trying to befriend her. Then Kiki falls into a slump and finds she can no longer fly or understand Jiji.
Kiki's Delivery Service ending explained
Kiki's Delivery Service ends with Tombo dangling from the mooring rope of a runaway airship. Kiki borrows a deck brush from a bystander, recovers her flight in the panic and catches him as the airship hits a clock tower, in front of a crowd watching on live television. She resumes her deliveries and writes home that she is happy, though Jiji still only meows. The airship rescue does not appear in Kadono's novel; Miyazaki added it.
Post-credits scenes
No. Kiki's Delivery Service has no post-credits scene; the credits show Kiki settling into life in Koriko.
Where to watch Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki's Delivery Service is streaming on HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.8/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after Grave of the Fireflies, before Only Yesterday.
- Chronological order: after Grave of the Fireflies, before Only Yesterday.
Cast
- Minami Takayama as Kiki / Ursula (voice)
- Rei Sakuma as Jiji (voice)
- Kappei Yamaguchi as Tombo (voice)
- Keiko Toda as Osono (voice)
- Mieko Nobusawa as Kokiri (voice)
- Koichi Miura as Okino (voice)
- Haruko Katō as Old Lady (voice)
- Hiroko Seki as Bertha (voice)
- Yuriko Fuchizaki as Ketto (voice)
- Koichi Yamadera as Bakery Worker / Policeman (voice)
- Kikuko Inoue as Maki (voice)
- Yuko Kobayashi as Young Senpai Witch (voice)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki.