Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Studio Ghibli (Walt Disney Home Video)

Film released 1989 (Rereleased by Disney in 1998)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki

Based on the book by Eiko Kadono

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Debbie Reynolds, Phil Hartman, Matthew Lawrence, and lots of Japanese voice actors (for the Japanese version, obvi)

Rated: G

Grade: 4.5/5 (only because there are no openly LGBTQ characters)

We’re going to JAPAN this week!

Miyazaki is HANDS DOWN one of the best animated storytellers of our time. Period. While I love Spirited Away and fell back in love with him with Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki will always hold a special place in my heart as my childhood favourite.

I'll have what he's having

Confession: Before last night, I hadn’t watched this movie in eons. And boy was I missing out. 
This movie is a feminist masterpiece. It’s one of those hidden gems, buried under years of watching male-driven animated features, but I am here to resurrect your worn VHS of yesteryear.  Press stop, rewind, wait for an hour, annnnnnd let’s play!

Quick recap for those who forgot the plot (like me a mere 24 hours ago). For those of you who have yet to discover this glorious piece of Japanese cinema GET ON THAT SHIT! If I could find it on the internet, so can you.

We start by meeting Kiki, our thirteen year-old female protagonist (how many times do I get to say that? Too few, that’s how many) who is a witch, which is a totally normal thing in this world! Here, witches leave home to train for a year in a foreign city on their thirteenth birthday. So Kiki jets off on her mom’s broom with her best sassy feline friend, Jiji. They find a pretty coastal city (the animation was inspired by a bunch of European cities like Stockholm, Lisbon, Paris, and Milan) where they are initially put off by big city life. They eventually find a friendly pregnant woman, Osono, who let’s them stay in her spare attic room in return for keeping an eye on the shop and then Kiki decides to start her own delivery service! She basically just flies around on her broom like a one-woman postal service, making lots of friends along the way. The film follows the trials and tribulations of a young witch just trying to find her place in the world. And the animation is gorgeous, btw.

I am Kiki! Watch me flyyyyyy!

First, let’s talk about how the characters in the film are basically ALL women. There are only four. I REPEAT ONLY FOUR! Recurring male characters. ONE OF THEM IS A CAT AND ANOTHER BARELY SPEAKS! Holy guacamole. No wonder I liked this movie as a closeted seven year-old.

Next, Kiki is a witch! I’ve already talked a bit about how entangled witches are in lesbian cultural symbols, history, the whole she-bang (did you enjoy that pun as much as I did? Maybe not…moving on). Modern example: Willow in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, historical example: all that horrible stuff that went down in Salem, Mass way back when (and all the witch burning in Europe). Maybe I'll do a separate post on that...

Kiki’s world treats witches in a really interesting way. At first, we are in a world of witches. Kiki’s a burgeoning witch, her mom is a witch who whips up a damn good potion, and witch traditions are well-known facts. Being a witch who does witchy things is totally normal. But then Kiki takes off and leaves home, she finds a place where she is the only witch. Being a witch isn’t so normal anymore. She has to adjust to her newfound isolation. What interests me is the witch cultural adage here that this year of training (read: isolation) is a necessary part of becoming a full-fledged witch. (How many times can I say witch in one post?) When I think of someone who must undergo a year of training for whatever skill they are trying to cultivate, the narrative is that they go off to train with someone, usually an older and wiser mentor figure. But not in Kiki’s world. Her teacher is her isolation. Her teacher is her queerness in an unfamiliar world. She must learn to survive and thrive as the only one of her kind. And boy does she struggle, but she comes out stronger for it. How fucking prolific is that?

I also think it’s really cool that she, a THIRTEEN YEAR-OLD GIRL is allowed to leave home by herself for a full year. Now, this is just totally unheard of in our modern world. Young people are rarely given any kind of agency over their own lives, let alone a young girl. It’s refreshing to see a young strong willed and totally independent young person take control over her life and thrive.

She’s also an ENTREPRENEUR! She starts her own delivery business and she makes money doing it! That’s a huge feat in itself. And the fact that young girls can watch another young girl take the initiative and start her own relatively profitable business is HUGE.  

That'll be five cents please

Now here comes the lesbian speculation (you knew it was coming). Kiki meets a lot of interesting people on her deliveries. Three people stood out to me. 

There are the two older women who live in a fancy house. The house’s owner, only known as Madame, calls on Kiki’s services to deliver a herring pie (I guess that’s a thing?) to her niece for her birthday. Madame lives with her “friend” Barsa who runs around helping them make the pie and the reason for her presence is never discussed. I guess you’re supposed to think she’s a maid of some sort? All I know is that they are definitely big ‘ol homos. Dispute me, I dare ya. These two are lovely little old ladies living out their days together in their big fancy house away from judgmental prying eyes.  

This is my man-swatting broom

And there’s Ursula, the kick-ass artist who lives with the crows (yeah, she’s a bird lady) in the middle of the forest who ends up becoming a close friend to Kiki and gives her important advice when she’s down in the dumps and (spoilers!) loses her flying powers for a hot sec. Ursula is the coolest. And rewatching the movie now, it is refreshing to see a representation of a young queer twentysomething being a friend to her young compatriot. Ursula lives alone in the wilderness with no man in sight. She’s a free artistic spirit in touch with nature. And she’s not afraid to talk about her struggles, both personal and artistic. She tells Kiki about her art and her self-doubt and reveals her complexities as another vulnerable and complicated woman. What a good role model.

Paint me like one of your french women

You might have noticed I’ve barely talked about the boys in the movie. The mere four male representations include: a cat, Osono’s (the pregnant baker’s) muscley husband who barely speaks and pretty much just makes bread the whole movie, Kiki’s father who is a lovely human who is only in the first scene and the epilogue, and Kiki’s “romantic” interest (they’re only thirteen so he’s more of a friend interest), Tombo, whose advances she totally brushes off. Although his relentless pursuit of Kiki is a little creepy, he actually ends up being a good friend to her, he’s got these cute little glasses (I’ll always dole out some extra points for my fellow glasses-wearers), and he’s the damsel in distress during the climactic moment of the movie! Kiki pulls a superhero move and saves his life, literally catching him mid-air as he falls to his death from a rogue blimp. Pause to appreciate the brilliant gender role reversal. All hail Miyazaki, the secret feminist genius.

Kiki my love, Kiki my love, Kiki my loo-oooove

Also, Jiji, the cat, is the sassiest BFF ever.

Black cats are the masters of throwing shade

Fun fact courtesy of IMDB: The film takes place in an alternate reality version of the 1950s Europe where WWI and WWII never happened! Talk about utopic!

MVQ: Osono, the pregnant baker, is the story’s unsung hero, supporting Kiki and her business ventures, taking care of her when she’s sick, and putting a roof over her head.

OTP: Ursula and the pretty lady down the street who frequents the bakery. My theory is that they had a nasty breakup over Ursula’s need to move to the forest to commune with nature and the pretty lady didn’t want to sacrifice her career in fashion.  Just a theory.

Favorite moment: Kiki’s superhero moment saving Tombo. Epic. So epic. 

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a girl!