Kiki's Delivery Service: Good Boy, Jeff.
Cartoonin' In
English - February 07, 2019 17:00 - 1 hour - 122 MB - ★★★★ - 5 ratingsTV & Film Comedy Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Ready for another Ghibli adventure? We know we are!
This week we're watching and discussing Kiki's Delivery Service, from 1989.
Aly of course fills us in on the series of children's books that the movie is adapted from, as well as their amazing author Eiko Kadono. As per usual, we'll learn more specific differences between the film and novels as we hit our walk-through. Aly also does a brief summary of witchcraft in Japanese culture and history.
Sarrah chimes in with the path this movie took to become a movie, including how Miyzaki went from just producer to director and producer to get the final product he wanted.
Together we discuss voice actors, reviews and release information, and where we can find all the good Kiki stuff today!
So grab your familiar and your broom, and let us take off with Kiki's Delivery Service!
What’s this? Another Studio Ghibli gem? Are you as excited as we are?
This week we watch and discuss the least well known of the well known Studio Ghibli films: Kiki’s Delivery Service from 1989!
Aly of course brings us up to date on the series of children’s books this film was adapted from, all written by Eiko Kadono who is definitely a woman that should get more credit and love. Thankfully, she was honoured with the Hans Christian Andersen award for Children’s Literature!
Author Eiko Kadono
Aly also discusses some alterations from book to film and then takes us on an interesting ride where we learn about witchcraft in Japanese culture.
Sarrah discusses the making of Kiki at Studio Ghibli, including how Miyazaki ended up as director for this project.
Together we discuss the voice cast (and how this was actor Phil Hartman’s last project), release and reviews (this movie won a lot of awards!), and where we can find Kiki these days (not many places unless you’re looking in Hot Topic).
Actor Phil Hartman
And if you’re wondering about those little hidden easter eggs we mentioned! Here you go, the Tangled-esq sun on the clock tower (that we know has nothing to do with Tangled), and the Totoro-esq monster on the Tv!
So find your familiar and let’s head out on an adventure with Kiki’s Delivery Service!
Star Rating for Kiki’s Delivery Service: 4 Stars
Voice Acting: Half Star- While the cast generally does a great job, we weren’t won over by Phil Hartman’s interpretation of Jiji, we both found it jarring. The casting otherwise was nice, but there were no stand out performances.
Music/Songs: Half Star - The music was it’s usual Studio Ghibli awesome. But Sarrah had some moments that she didn’t feel it fit the action, and while it supported the movie it wasn’t very memorable.
Script/Story: Full Star - This was a lovely adaptation of a very beautiful book. They added just enough new plot to make it unique, but kept a lot of elements and the feel of the story.
Animation - Full Star - It’s Ghibli. It’s amazing.
Style -Full Star - What we love about Ghibli is that every movie has a unique style and sense to it. Kiki is no different. The city she moves to is such a cool take on European cities, and the colour scheme was really unique to other Ghibli films.
Our Sources:
IMDb page for Kiki’s Delivery Service
Wikipedia Article for Kiki’s Delivery Service (novel)
Wikipedia Article for Kiki’s Delivery Service (movie)
BooksFromJapan.jp article on Eiko Kadono
BBC.com article on Eiko Kadono
Wikipedia Article on Eiko Kadono
Wikipedia Article on Witchcraft in Japan
Broadly.Vice.com article on Female Ghosts and Demons of Japan
Cavernacosmica.com article on Witchcraft in Japan
Kiki’s Delivery Service. Eiko Kadono. Annick Press: Toronto. (2003).