Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

Date: Author: Category: 1980's, 1989, Adventure, Animation, Fantasy, Globe worthy, MovieRob Premiere viewing

kiki's delivery service “You’d think they’d never seen a girl and a cat on a broom before. ” – Jiji

Number of Times Seen – 1  (26 Jan 2015)

Brief Synopsis – A 13 year old witch and her cat following the witch custom and leave home in order to live in a new town and figure out her purpose in life.

My Take on it – My good friend table9mutant over at Cinema Parrot Disco is currently running a series this month devoted to the movies of Studio Ghibli (check out her reviews here) and since I had never seen any of them (or heard of them for that matter), she suggested that I should watch this one and perhaps even enjoy it.

I must admit that I didn’t love this movie, but I also didn’t hate it.

I found the premise to be good in general, but it still had its ups and downs.  This led me to parts where I felt completely engrossed, but others where I just wanted it to end already.

This might have been better had it been shortened a bit.

Since I watched the English dubbed version, I was pleasantly surprised to recognize the distinctive voice of Phil Hartman as Jiji.  I love him when he was on SNL and in everything else he did.  Unfortunately, not long after the English version was made in ’98, he was tragically murdered by his wife in a murder-suicide that shocked the world.  There is even a dedication to him before the end credits.

Regardless of the fact that I didn’t love it and I probably wont become a Studio Ghibli convert, thanks to T9M for recommending this to me.

Bottom Line – Interesting storyline, but I didn’t find the story always so engrossing to watch. Loved that I immediately recognized the voice of the late great Phil Hartman as Jiji the cat.  Feels too long in certain parts and probably should have been shortened a bit. Recommended!

Rating – Globe Worthy

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13 thoughts on “Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)”

  1. Glad you gave it a try! Wasn’t expecting you to be a Ghibli fan. 😉 This is the least Ghibli of the Ghiblis. Lol. I actually reeeeeaaaally don’t like the dubbed version, though. Especially Hartman as the cat. Lol. He was fun on SNL, though. Thanks for the mention as always! 🙂

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  2. Have you seen Princess Monoake (or however the hell you spell it)? or The Wind Rises? Those movies are absolutely fantastic (in my view, and I don’t really like anime at all). They might sell you a bit more on Studio Ghibli, though I’ve never even heard of this one. Good review though Mr. Rob1

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  4. I think a lot of the Studio Ghibli films have really different ‘vibes’. You might prefer another one over this. My boyfriend loves all of them but some of them I don’t like as much as others.

    I’d always recommend Spirited Away as the one Studio Ghibli film you MUST watch. I still remember the first time I saw it, years ago and it blew me away! And I’m not even a big fan of kids movies or animated movies.

    I also love the Cat Returns and Porco Rosso which both have really good humour in. Or try Grave of the Fireflies. It’s such a sad, poignant movie and it’s very, very good. It’s about two children pretty much abandoned after world war 2, trying to make their way in the world. It’s not very ‘Studio Ghibli’ in the obvious way.

    I guess it’s a bit like Disney movies! Some you’ll love, some not so much.

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  5. I really enjoy the movie but it is probably the most conventionap Ghibli film. I like to suggest it to people new to the genre as a first step. The studios other films are a lot more creative and beautiful

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