Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as Totoro, but better than 99% of other kid vids
Review: Kiki's Delivery Service takes place in a world where witches exist. It looks like a Europe in the 1950's. In it, Kiki is the daughter of a witch, whose special ability is pharmacy/alchemy. At the ripe age of 13, Kiki has to go out and find her place in the world. To train for one year and find what she is good at.Famed Director Hiyao Mizasaki does give Kiki any hidden talents, any grand abilities...actually Kiki is can't do anything other than the typical flying on a broomstick (a standard ability among witches). But she takes her negative and makes it a positive, when she realizes that the pictureque seaside village she arrives in needs a delivery service. Her days are fairly lonely, having only her sidekick black cat JiJi to confide in (played with wicked sarcastic wit by Phil Hartman), but as she grows as a witch and a person, more and more people begin entering her life. The theme of this movie is feminist in nature, but can be applied to all people. This movie reminds me a little of Ruby in Paradise, a live action adult drama, starring Ashley Judd. It is about females who begin with uncertainty on their own, but develop more and more confidence as they adapt to their new surroundings, without the need of a male father figure. It is a movie with surprising intelligence and a cellulose character who seems more real than children playing children in Hollywood's vision of childhood cinema. The best scenes in the movie are at the end credits, where Kiki finally "fits" in and is seen less as a witch with special powers and more an independent young woman living a day to day existence, balancing out a job, friends, and family. Rating: B
Rating: 
Summary: What's a young Witch to do?
Review: I watched this recently in the Auckland Film Festival, and was absolutely charmed. I couldn't get over the lovely illustration - the characters are drawn single line, but move in an almost painterly background of a cobble-stoned European-inspired city. And the painting done by Ursula looks like a Roger la Borde. The story is of a young witch who at thirteen has to leave her family to find her way in the world. Hayao Miyazaki, who has brought the story to the screen, has likened it to a parable of the young Japanese girl's search for independence in Japan today. This is a slightly more serious interpretation of the original story written by Eiko Kadono (as far as I know only available so far in Japanese, she's looking for a publisher for the translation into English). The original supposedly was more episodic and light-hearted, just little incidents happening ot Kiki while she delivers things. This comes through in the film as well, but the film is more thematic, and more serious setbacks happen to Kiki, like losing her magic, and there are more action segments as well when Kiki has to come to the rescue. Its just the way films are constructed and understood at the moment (a.k.a Mission Impossible). However, Miyazaki is an old hand at taking great children's stories and adapting them - he's done Heidi and Anne of Green Gables for example (Anne is also an episodic tale in some ways). Not to mention he is the creator of that big deal Princess Mononoke (which is not too bad as well). I watched Heidi - in Mandarin I think! Its always a mission to get a translation in the right language, so we are really lucky with Kiki and that Disney has bought it over and brought in some really big voice talents. However, I do worry a little ... Disney, much as I love it, tends to polish things up too much, and anime's charm is really its edginess (although Miyazaki's stuff is harldy cutting edge in the genre). I mean like, they added a line for Jiji, whe he says "Kiki, can you hear me?" which subtly changes our understanding of what happens to Kiki in the end. Anyway, its a really charming tale. The narrative is a little strange, mainly beacause of trying to be both episodic and filmically conventional at the same time, but its easy to overlook. And keep an eye out for Jiji the wonder cat. He gets some fabulously caustic lines - and gets a girlfriend as well!
Rating:
Summary: A witch who do delivery services
Review: This is one of the best film I've ever seen yet. Hayao Miyazaki has done it again! He uses the reality of our world and history, combine with few imaginary fantasy characters to get things interesting. Kiki's Delivery Service is one of the best anime film you will ever experience. Mr. Miyazaki uses the point of view from a young witch who needs to live independly for one year to proof her ability, it is a witch tradition. However, she encounters struggle, loneliness, and depression during her adventure. Later, she makes new friends, meets new pals, and even gain the attention from the whole city. She realizes that life is full of struggle, but there are friends and families that will lift you up. The film is for all ages! I strongly suggest everyone to see this film. Even if your friends or families are not an anime fan, after watching the film THEY WILL BE.
Rating:
Summary: A cute story worth buying.
Review: A nice movie for anime fans. a refeshing relief from violence and other content of typical anime. Beautifully animated
Rating:
Summary: Kikis Delivery Service is great , esp. for girls.
Review: My five year old daughter was so taken by this video that we have rented it six times! Now I am buying it for her sixth b-day. She really related to Kiki and is firmly convinced that she too has magic powers and will fly away on a broomstick when she turns 13;) This is one that my husband and I really enjoy watching with them. (Good music, too. That closing song is addictive.)
Rating:
Summary: Utterly Charming! (And not just for kids)
Review: I watched this video with my twelve year old daughter (who adores anime), and within minutes the two of us were laughing out loud at Kiki and her infectious enthusiasm for finding her place in the world as a young witch-in-training. Although Kiki does not use much magic except to fly on her broom, the animator, Miyazaki (The Castle of Cagliostro, Princess Mononoke) uses all the magic available to him. You must see the way the wind ruffles Kiki's hair, the expressiveness of Jiji the cat's saucer eyes, the attack of the angry crows/magpies. There is motion in every frame, and all it of rings true. The true magic lies in the characters, however. Every one is well drawn (and not just visually), with distinctive characteristics and roles in the plot. The best of all is Kiki, with her fresh-faced energy and her longing to fit into her new town. So much is conveyed here with a well-timed blink of Kiki's eyes that it's hard to believe her part is not acted but drawn onto a cel. You MUST get this video. It puts Disney to shame. It's appropriate for young children and adults alike, unlike much of the anime available today.
Rating: 
Summary: what is wrong with Buena Vista?
Review: 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).
Rating:
Summary: Three Cheers for Kiki!
Review: Most people who are fans of Japanese master story teller and animator, Hayao Miyazaki, are already familiar with Kiki's Delivery Service and his other wonderful films like Nausicaa, Laputa, Cagliostro's Castle, and his latest, Princess Mononoke. I was understandably nervous when I heart that Disney had optioned all of his animated films for distribution here in North America. A part of me was even sure Disney was doing so just to keep them out of circulation here, thereby eliminating competition for their own animated films. I was also worried that they would a rotten job of translating it into English by hiring second-rate actors as so many other companies do. Case in point, Streamline's dubbing of the Nadia Secret of Blue Water was so bad, I couldn't even watch the entire half-hour episode, because not only did the voice acting stink, but they had changed major portions of dialog. When I was given the chance to watch Kiki's Delivery Service at a friends place, the fear of watching one of my personal favorite anime movies ruined took over. But, I wasn't disappointed, Disney had done an excellent job in their selection of actors for the voices, including Kiki. That is, except, Phil Hartman who performs the voice for Kiki's familiar cat, Jiji. In the original, Jiji is a male cat with the voice of a young, often nervous girl and the voice is high pitched for a reason. Phil Hartman? Can he do that? No, what he does is a sort of snide, lippy New Jersey style voice, and BOOM! The character is ruined. However, once I was past all of that I sat down to enjoy one of the most endearing and charming films ever made. Set in the 1940's, Kiki is a young witch, who at the age of thirteen, is now old enough to strike out on her own and lay down roots in a new city. She says good-bye to her mom and dad, grabs her broom, Jiji and a radio and takes off into the night. There are some beautiful flying sequences over Italian villages and vistas, (which would later inspire an episode of the animated Superman cartoon show), but like many Miyazaki films, this isn't quite our earth. Kiki arrives in a beautiful sea-side city where she sets herself delivery goods for a local bakery where she befriends Ohsono and Barsa, who take her in and practically adopt the little witch (Witches are often good people in Kiki's). She also meets a boy her own age named Tombo, who is as smitten with her as he is with the fact that she can fly on her own. However, Kiki's inexperience with people, especially the opposite sex causes her behave in ways she isn't used to-suffice it to say she doesn't treat Tombo very well. Two things that will strike anyone watching this film; first, there is no villain who has a massive plot to do something nefarious and second, there is no violence-no guns, no people getting killed, and instead the film relies on a zeppelin accident as the focus of the story and the trigger for Kiki's return. One of the film's overriding themes is being true to oneself, which Kiki fails to do as she rebuffs Tombo's boyish advances, and as a result she loses her magical powers after she comes down with a cold. And when Tombo goes to see the zeppelin and becomes ensnared in a tether when it breaks free of its moorings, Kiki must overcome her fears-both of others and of the feelings she has for him to get her magic back. Like all Miyazaki films there is much within the movie that I haven't mentioned, because I don't want to spoil all of the fun. It is the sort of film that everyone can watch, can marvel at and enjoy. The interplay between Kiki and Jiji is endearing, the other characters, such as Ursula and Ohsono the artist, are charming and memorable. The world in which they live is rich-lavishly depicted in stunning detail as only Miyazaki can while the music has a melodic and playful feel to it. Kiki herself is every bit a strong female character who grows and changes and I found her similar to Nadia (Secret of Blue Water). If you have no time to read the subtitles, then get the dubbed version-this is an ideal children's film, visually stunning and sure to please.
Rating:
Summary: Great! And i haven't seen the whole thing yet!
Review: I have recently become a big Miyazaki fan (shortly after viewing his masterpiece, Princess Mononoke) and this movie has recently caught my attention... It was kinda wierd, after I discovered that Miyazaki had made Kiki, I could not escape it... It has been on in Blockbuster video when was there (when i was thinking of renting it, kinda creepy) and yesterday it was on Disney... Sadly I hae not seen the whle thing yet... But what I have seen has captivated me, I was just standing in Blockbuster watching it, and yesterday I was pondering calling into work in order to see the rest of it. As in every Miyazaki film, it is simple a great movie... Great for kids.
Rating:
Summary: Kiki
Review: Good video, and Kiki must be able to find her way into a new town, and along the way she makes friends in the baker Osono, and painter Usrala. She gets to prove herself towards the end of the moive and makes friends with the town.
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