A friend of mine with two young boys about the same age as my two girls has been pestering me to get some decent videos for my kids. The Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki is one of her favorites, and finally, around the holidays, she gave the girls a copy of Kiki’s Delivery Service.
What a hit!
The girls love it. It makes me cry a little. What could be better?
The story is pretty simple: Kiki is a young witch who must at the age of thirteen leave her family to train for one year. Kiki flies away on her mother’s broom, along with her wisecracking black cat Jiji. She finds a gorgeous city by the water, befriends a local baker, and, realizing her flying skills could be very useful, establishes a delivery service.
Along the way she encounters several interesting characters: an elderly woman whom she helps bake a herring-shaped pie, a young boy and his dog, to whom she delivers a stuffed cat (well, at first she has to bring Jiji, who pretends to be the toy, because she has lost the gift in the forest), a young artist, and a teenage boy who’s got a crush on her.
As she goes through these adventures, Kiki learns about belief, and why it’s important to have a lot in yourself. Her first impression is not entirely favorable, and a policeman wants to give her a ticket! Some of her peers are incredibly snobbish. And in her simple, traditional black witch’s dress, she is uncomfortable around some of the boy’s friends.
These self doubts create the film’s most important crisis: Kiki begins to lose her ability to fly. But she takes comfort in the advice of her artist-friend, and when a near-disaster strikes, Kiki is up to the task, and her place in the city is secure.
The technical achievements here are fairly impressive, but to be honest, on the smaller screen it’s hard to judge. There are some very cool traveling sequences as Kiki flies, and mother nature provides some challenges for her. I don’t see an especially deep vision here in what is essentially a young children’s story.
But it is a wonderful story, and in an age where so few such stories are about females and appeal to girls, this is encouraging. The film is G-rated and family-friendly. The only violence is really that caused by nature — a strong gust of wind, some angry, over-protective crows. There is also a scene of a dirigible crashing into the town’s largest building, its clock tower: such a scene might evoke the tragedy of September 11 for those old enough to remember (my kids are not), but no one is really harmed in the film. It’s just a wonderful little tale.
But kids, be prepared: have a hanky ready for that moment when Kiki leaves. Your parents will need it. It’s amazing to watch a film like this with your kids, and to think, someday they, too will fly away.
I’m so lucky they are still with me now, and I hope they are inspired by Kiki as by anyone.