Barnes & Noble

Before Harry Potter ever went to Hogwarts, Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki spun a charming tale about a young witch-in-training in his 1989 feature Kiki's Delivery Service. Thirteen-year-old Kiki leaves her home for one year to become an apprentice witch and learn how to live on her own. Moving into a coastal town with her talking cat, Jiji, Kiki struggles to fit into her new environment and opens her own delivery business courtesy of the only magical power she's good at: flying on her broomstick. Along the way, she makes new friends, struggles with the temporary loss of her magical abilities, and finally gains much in the way of self-confidence. A gentle coming-of-age story closer in tone to Miyazaki's Academy Award-winning Spirited Away than to his adventure film Castle in the Sky, Kiki is a movie that is low on conflict but high in subdued grace notes. Audiences can expect all the usual from a good Miyazaki film: strong storytelling, a child's sense of wonder, and gorgeous animation. Disney's fine English dub features voice stars Kirsten Dunst (as Kiki), Matthew Lawrence, Janeane Garofalo, Debbie Reynolds, and, in one of his last performances, Phil Hartman (as Jiji). Volk Lindsay

All Movie Guide

Veteran animator Hayao Miyazaki directs this buoyant children's adventure yarn about a young witch striking out on her own. At her mother's behest, 13-year-old Kiki sets out on a year-long apprenticeship with her black cat in tow. With a shaky command of her broom, she ends up in a charming little coastal town that looks like a cross between the French provincial and San Francisco. Unfortunately, the local hotels have a strict "no witches" policy and the police have taken a dim view of her recent aerial mischief making. She's saved from the street by a kindly baker's wife who offers her room and board in exchange for her delivering by broom the baker's wares. Soon she befriends a college-aged artist, an old women who fusses over her, and a boy her same age who is nursing a massive crush. All is well until she wakes up one day and realizes that she can't make her broom levitate nor can she talk to her cat. What will Kiki do? Jonathan Crow

Product Details

• UPC: 786936175226
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Japanese, Español
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:45:00
• Sales Rank: 1,086

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