Good Morning Everyone!
Coming to you live fromSeattle: where it is not as rainy as people think. Thinking is dangerous. Especially when the thought made is based purely on false perceptions. Some folks decide that they could never live inSeattlebecause they think that it rains inSeattleevery day. But if it were to rain so much, wouldn’t the city suffer from constant floods? Yes! The city would become inundated with unwarranted opinions from passerby travelers. Thus, based on a single belief, appreciation is null. That’s the problem with thinking. When people think with a clear mind there is minimal to no problems. But when certain individuals think with clouded thoughts, trouble ensues. Tension breeds, leaving the thinker numb and blind.
Instead she pretended she was blind
An affliction brought on by a witch’s curse
Dorothy made me laugh
I felt much better so I went back
2 the violent room
Let me tell U what I did
I took another bubble bath with my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I’ll do it sooner
This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker
Rain or shine whether you may be shining, tonight we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.
Disc 8: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Majo no Takkyūbin, 魔女の宅急便
Writer, Producer and Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date: July 29, 1989
If you follow all that is oflittleimportance, then you have already read the untitledincandide movie-night piece. Though a full synopsis was not provided there, a series of questions was provided by the Hands of that affair. Though my “floating flower” of a friend’s questions were left unanswered, they were asked. So let’s attempt to answer…with a little twang of course.
Kiki is a witch in-training. Nice opening scene, Kiki wants to wear her favorite purple dress, but her mother tells her that she must wear a black dress. Kiki rocks the purple. As a part of her training she needs to live alone in the big city by the ocean. Her black cat, Jiji, does provide company however, as nobody wants to live alone. (Well…not nobody, bur people are so much fun. Wouldn’t you agree?) Kiki flies to the town ofKoriko, which does not have a resident witch. Flying through traffic, love-tapping a bus, Kiki lands, introduces herself and Jiji to the stunned crowd, hoping to live there. She was accosted by a police officer for reckless flying, but in the crowd someone yells “thief” to distract the office, leaving Kiki free to roam. While roaming Kiki meets Tombo, who immediately enthralled with her flying abilities, who insists on trying to start a conversation with Kiki. Kiki rejects his attempts.
Shockadelica
The girl must be a witch
She got your mind, body, and soul hitched
As with otherMiyazaki movies, a struggle with adolescence and adulthood rears itself fully. (In most movies, we are presented with little girls, growing up.) Struggling in the city at first, Kiki finds her bearings and conquers her setbacks. She first found a place to stay, not allowed to rent a hotel room, Kiki encounters Osono, the baker. Kiki offers to deliver a pacifier that a customer of Osono has left behind. Kiki delivers the pacifier to the customer who in turns hands Kiki a letter. Kiki returns to Osono, where she offers Kiki a place to stay.
Shockadelica
You need a second opinion
But she never wears a stitch
So you can’t take her home
The next morning, Kiki helps out at the bakery in exchange Osono would give Kiki free room and board. Kiki and Jiji go shopping for items for their new home. They encounter Tombo, who receives Kiki’s second rejection. As they return to the bakery, Osono tells Kiki and Maki wants to hire Kiki to deliver a birthday present to her nephew. Seeing Tombo, Kiki flies off, heading for Maki’s nephew’s home. Having a little run in with a few birds, a part of the gift (a cat doll) goes missing. Kiki substitutes the doll with Jiji, deliver the gift, returns to retrieve the doll. In her search, Kiki sees the doll in a window of a cabin. Here, we are introduced to Ursula, who gives Kiki the doll, which has been thorn by crows. Ursula says she will fix just as long as Kiki models for Ursula. They agree the doll and Jiji are switched. Tension begins to build between Jiji and Kiki.
She got you tied with a golden rope
She won’t let you play your guitar
And when you’ve cried enough
Maybe she’ll let you up
For a nasty ride in her shockadeli-car
The next day at the bakery, Tombo purchases a pastry and invites Kiki to attend a formal gathering of the Aviation Club that he is a part of. Tombo is ignored, as Kiki helps another customer. She then talks with Osono who tells her that she should attend. Upon their conversation, Kiki is reminded of a delivery that she needs to make and is off running. Kiki arrives at a mansion and meets the madam of the house, who wants a pie delivered to her granddaughter but her oven is not working. Kiki offers to help and in so doing: finishes the pie, delivers it through a storm, the pie was not well received, Kiki becomes drenched and decides not to go to the formal event. Rejection!
Shockadelica
You need a second opinion
But you just can’t leave her alone
As though you got no mind of your own
After a day of rest and ignoring Tombo, Osono tells Kiki that she has another delivery. Lost, she runs into Tombo, who is the recipient of the delivery. They converse, he shows off his flying bike, they take flight, they go to the beach, he meets his friends, Kiki leaves upset, rejecting Tombo’s invitation to join them. The next day, Kiki finds that her powers are gone and that Jiji can no longer communicate with her. Another rejection of Tombo ensues and after, Kiki spends a day with Ursula, who much like Kiki has lost her “gifts”: becoming bored with imitating other artists thus needing to define her own style.
Shockadelica
She must be witch
She got your mind, body, and soul hitched
The next day, the Madam wants Kiki to stop by the mansion; she does. While watching television, at the “Spirit of Freedom” event, Kiki sees Tombo in peril. She rushes over with her powers still weak and saves Tombo from falling. The movie ends with Kiki’s parents reading a letter saying, “Father. Mother. How are you?” Jiji and I are both very well. My work is on the right track and I am confident. It’s been hard sometimes, but I love this town.”
A decent movie in a golden run. I enjoy the innocence and experience theme (thank you romantics). As for Wash Your Hands questions (I once said this): …So at this point, I think both Kiki and Jiji are becoming more and more like a regular person and cat than a witch and her black-witchy cat. It’s similar to the idea of assimilation. For example, some students want to become a doctor to change the field of medicine from what it is to something else. In order to do this they have first become assimilated into the field. But if they are too far assimilated, they eventually forget their original “intentions” and become the doctor that they once wanted to change. All in all, Kiki is struggling to find balance between childhood and independence. Because of the struggle in trying to find balance, there is a loss of focus…Here, you have the concept of in with the new and out with the old. The method that Kiki tried was one she new from her past, but it failed to given a desired result. Being a part of the town was a part of her witch training. To be a part of the town has had to become more like a normal person. The assimilation idea works here nicely actually. She’s not living with other witches, she living with normal folk.
And that would do it! …Until next time! Keep watching!
oflittleimportance 