Kiki's Delivery Service

Do they think that american audience cannot watch a movie inits whole integrity without modification and alteration to it? Thejapanese do not do that to american movies so why should we? Do weneed to exerce our american imperialism on everything (it was awful years ago when they truncated some of Nausicaa's scenes)? They may tell that it is because it is aimed at children, but that is not true at all, it is for all the generations. My two star-rating is justified by the fact that KDS is my favorite movie and anime (because sometimes we are Kiki, look at the different angles used, we have some scenes from her point of view)and I cannot stand the american english dubbing. For me, a masterpiece stays a masterpiece when it stays true to its original. In my opinion the american version does not respect the aura of the original. I watched it yesterday while babysitting five kids and boy, it was torture. Having seen the original hundreds of time, I could not recognize the characters I grew to admire. I do not need famous actors to dub a movie, I need actors competent enough to give me a felling of "deja-vu". Kiki, in the original version, does not act japanese, she acts like a european countryside young girl of the mid-50's: respectful, naive, unsecure and still cheerful. The Kiki voiced by Dunstan acts american (the script is at some point typically modern american: do you need to use the word "cop" instead of "policeman"?)and speaks the way american teenagers speak today. I am just like where is "dulce y gentil" Kiki? Furthermore, the choice of Hartman (excuse my spelling) for the part of Jiji is inadequate. ... the character of Jiji completely changed and there I was, watching another movie or let's say a TV sitcom: Sabrina the witch. Jiji and Sabrina' s black cat have nearly the same sarcastic attitude and mature voice. KDS' silent moments filled with artificial music (some being similar to the magic and spell music effect of STW) put me off. They have put Hisaishi's music to the second rank. First of all I could not hear it well so much it was lowered. In the original, it is played loud enough so that it sets the mood for a specific scene (Fox did the same with my neighbor Totoro: compare the versions of the scene of the growing tree). Imagine the impact on me: the emotion I felt was different. All in all, I gave two stars to the american english dubbed version because I think: 1)it is good that we have now the opportunity to let our children dream and be aware of such a marvellous piece of animation, 2) Buena Vista had the courtesy to release it in its original and true version, well subtitled. Please Buena Vista, for Laputa and Porco Rosso, stay true to the original, I do not need to feel at home in a movie, quite on the contrary, I want to be transported in another time, another place, another magic world, I need to feel all the culture difference. I can only get all of these when I watch a movie in the original spirit it was conceived (Even Miramax did a better job with Princess Mononoke).

Face it: any kids' video you buy will be watched over and over, mostly in your presence. You want to choose carefully, since you will be spending so much quality time with this video. Kiki's Delivery Service won't disappoint you. This sweet, gentle movie is a coming-of-age story about Kiki, a 13-year-old witch-in-training. As part of said training, she is required to spend a year away from home practicing her craft. Her subsequent adventures are the subject of this endearing film by Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki. The animation is splendid, the casting mostly inspired (Kirsten Dunst, Janeane Garofalo, Debbie Reynolds, and even the late Phil Hartman as the voice of Kiki's companion cat). Unlike the standard Disney fare, this movie has no violence, no sex, no profanity, and not even a dysfunctional family.

The themes of Kiki's Delivery Service are noble ones. There are far worse ways to spend a few hours (or a few dozen) than watching a young girl make friends and gain self-confidence, especially one as appealing as Kiki. Buy yourself an extra copy of this video. When you wear the first one out watching it by yourself, you'll need the spare to placate the kids.

i got this movie for my son becouse he LOVES ponyo and i know miuzaki is a god of film and i was not disapointed. this is one of the pest animated movies ive seen and i was raised on the age of the lion king
please if you love movies get this and ponyo you wont regret it