Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki, accompanied with Jiji the Cat, is waiting in the bakery. At the top is the film's title and credits.
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji魔女の宅急便
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnMajo no Takkyūbin
Directed byHayao Miyazaki
Screenplay byHayao Miyazaki
Based onKiki's Delivery Service
by Eiko Kadono
Produced byHayao Miyazaki
Starring
CinematographyShigeo Sugimura
Edited byTakeshi Seyama
Music byJoe Hisaishi
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • July 29, 1989 (1989-07-29)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥800 million ($6.9 million)
Box office$41.8 million[note 1]

Kiki's Delivery Service (Japanese: 魔女の宅急便, Hepburn: Majo no Takkyūbin, lit.'Witch's Express Home Delivery') is a 1989 Japanese animated fantasy film written, produced, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Eiko Kadono. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Yamato Transport and the Nippon Television Network, and stars the voices of Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma and Kappei Yamaguchi. The story follows Kiki, a young witch who moves to the port city of Koriko with her cat Jiji and starts a flying courier service.

In 1987, Group Fudosha asked Kadono's publishers for the rights to the novel to be made into a film by either Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. Production began near the release of My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Miyazaki initially worked as producer, but took over directing from Sunao Katabuchi as he became more involved in the project. As the novel is based on a fictional northern European country, Miyazaki and his team traveled to locations such as Visby, Sweden, to research its landscape. Miyazaki altered the story, adding new scenes to emphasize the theme of independence and growing up. According to Miyazaki, the film portrays the gulf between independence and reliance among teenage Japanese girls.[1]

Kiki's Delivery Service was released in Japan on July 29, 1989, by the Toei Company.[2] It was the first Studio Ghibli film to be successful on initial release, grossing a total of ¥4.3 billion ($31 million). It received critical acclaim and multiple awards.

An English dub was produced by Streamline Pictures for Japan Airlines international flights in 1989. Walt Disney Pictures produced an English dub in 1997, which became the first film under a deal between Tokuma and Disney to be released in English. It was released to home media in 1998.


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Nausicaa.net The Hayao MIYAZAKI Web. Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine The Hopes and Spirit of Contemporary Japanese Girls By Hayao Miyazaki 1989. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
  2. ^ "Majo no takkyūbin". Japanese Cinema Database. Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2014.