This may not be the most famous movie of the Studio Ghibli collection, however Kiki's Delivery Service is a brilliant film in it's own right and in my opinion is often over shadowed and under appreciated because of its more famous cousins such as Spirited Away.
Kiki's Delivery Service has a very simple storyline. Based off a book of the same name. Following the life of the young witch Kiki and her cat Jijii, we follow her adventures as she goes out into the world to make a life for herself as a witch in the modern world where witches are not as commonly known as they once were, with her only real witches skill being her ability to fly on a broom. This as the title suggests brings her to create a delivery service in which she uses her flying skills to help people deliver various things.
The book for the most part just followed her various adventures on her deliveries from start to finish with no real focus on any particular character other than Kiki and Jiji, however the film adaptation has taken a few of these adventures and expanded upon them, as well as developed the characters associated with these to create a slightly deeper and more enjoyable film.
And well that is about it, we simply see how she struggles to find a place in a new town and make a life for herself and follow as she struggles through various situations and problems, meeting friends along the way. Very simple compared to many other Studio Ghibli titles but this is not a bad thing.
I feel the appeal of this movie is its simplicity and its just overall feel. Kiki's Delivery Service is a very light hearted movie that will make you smile throughout.
The art as always with Studio Ghibli is fantastic as is the music and sound and the characters are appealing and well developed. I think this movie is a good example of showing that you don't need the most complex story for something to be enjoyable.
I have watched both the subtitled Japanese and English dubbed versions and both are well done. Disney for the most part have done well with the dubbing, although there is some controversy to some edits from the original to the dub, which I won't go into. However I feel they do not really effect the overall story and personally prefer the way the dub comes across in the end.
So if you like a story that is light hearted and sweet with a simple but effective story I would highly recommend this movie. If you however want a movie with a more deep or complex story then perhaps try else ware.
