Who wasn't anticipating this video release, besides for all you smeggers who think that foreign films (I'm coming from an American stand point) shouldn't be dubbed. Sure the voice cast did a lot to draw me in, but I really wanted to see one of Miyazaki's films. This one lives up to my expectations. Kiki's Delivery Service is a fun family film with decent animation, a good story, and for a dub, it's great. This kinda surprises me that this was a successful family film when I immediately think of Miyazaki/Princess Moninoke (possible misspelling). No matter how old you are you'll enjoy this film. For the 18 to 30 years old age group, simply having the voice of Janaene Garofalo should clinch this purchase (especially when your older sister pays for it^_^).
So far, I don't see any Phil Hartman we hardly knew the stuff. I got a bad feeling about this review being more about the voice cast than the film. In case of that, here is a midi of the theme as a peace offering.
The first full moon after Kiki's thirteenth birthday has come, and her parents allow her to go out on the witch's rite of passage. This would be finding a town of her own to perfect her skills as a service to the town. Despite her cat's, Jiji, objections she decides to find her place in one of the bigger cities. Her experiences don't start out well, but she eventually meets up with a baker who is trying to reach a customer who has left her baby's pacifier. As a favor she flies to deliver the pacifier to the customer and as a reward, the baker, Osono, allows Kiki to stay at her house. After this experience gives her the idea to start her own, well you already know the rest. The rest of the film is about her experiences with friends like Tombo and Ursula.
When I said the animation was only decent, I may not have been giving it the credit it deserves. It's pretty good, but you can tell the age of the film by it. The character design does make you look pass this though. When it comes to the story, it seems it would work better as a series, but it still works rather well even if it can seem sort of long. I believe the U.S./Canada soundtrack was changed from the original, but it still is pretty good. There could be upgrades, but there are really no flaws with the film, and probably Miyazaki's next U.S. release (Castle in the Sky) should be as good if not better depending on the year its of original release. There is no way you can be disappointed with this film, its pretty much a masterpiece. Also it's has another great voice performance by Phil Hartman, may he RIP.
