Kiki's Delivery Service

Well, I don't think it was too bad as an early movie, but ... it left a bit to be desired. The fickle, lonely thriteen year-old girl here has troubles and typical teen problems, especially moving into a new city alone. The theme of discovering what makes you, you ... good, but mired with other complexities. It played a bit like a Tarot reading, while you thought a Queen would show, oddly the 8 of hearts would be flipped. Of course, for Tarot reading, you disclude many of the cards of the deck for meaning.

It has some rewatchability, with era-specific music, but pre-teen and early teen girls might find it watchable. Most other characters in the story are walls, windows, and doors in a room. They confine the main character, some allowing limited movement and growth. There is no strong violence in the movie, though injuries and deaths are implied (accidents in climatic wreck, leading to rescue).

The diector uses a range of animation and drawing techniques, including flat backdrops and animated backgrounds. The sound is good, but mixed on English, lacking some fluent ambient noise for more realism. The version (re-release) I saw marked at the end as a dedication to Phil Hartman who voiced the black cat familiar of Kiki the witch.