A sweet tale of young friendship centered around a precocious female protagonist (another recurring theme in Miyazaki’s oeuvre), “Kiki’s Delivery Service” presents its young heroine with a very gentle challenge: Far from home and somewhat uncertain of her abilities, Kiki discovers that her powers seem to be fading, just one of the movie’s clever metaphors for growing up.
Years before J.K. Rowling started writing her Harry Potter novels, Japanese author Eiko Kadono published her story of an apprentice witch, who uses her flying ability to find work in the big city. After Totoro, Miyazaki’s next most recognizable character is almost certainly Jiji, the wide-eyed black kitten who accompanies the 13-year-old trainee to Koriko, where she attracts the attention of an aeronautics-obsessed teen boy, Tombo. Miyazaki may have seen a younger version of himself in Tombo, considering his own lifelong interest in aviation — a theme which features prominently in all of his films, with their floating cities and flying contraptions. A sweet tale of young friendship centered around a precocious female protagonist (another recurring theme in Miyazaki’s oeuvre), “Kiki’s Delivery Service” presents its young heroine with a very gentle challenge: Far from home and somewhat uncertain of her abilities, Kiki discovers that her powers seem to be fading, just one of the movie’s clever metaphors for growing up. Once again, simplicity serves Miyazaki best as he invites audiences to identify with a girl who can soar through the skies on her rickety broom. (It would take live-action movies more than a decade to catch up with this very simple special effect.)