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Kiki's Delivery Service: Special Edition - 2-Disc DVD

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keiko Toda
Studio: Disney Presents Studio Ghibli
Category: DVD

List Price: ~~$29.99~~
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as of 9/5/2010 20:19 MDT details
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New (41) Used (5) Collectible (1) from $13.00

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

360 reviews
Sales Rank: 819

Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: French (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 1
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7

MPN: 786936791655
UPC: 786936791655
EAN: 0786936791655
ASIN: B002ZTQVLG

Theatrical Release Date: 1989
Release Date: March 2, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
When a thirteen-year-old witch leaves home for a year of training, she tries to support herself by starting a flying delivery service.

Amazon.com
In Hayao Miyazaki's magical Kiki's Delivery Service, a 13-year-old girl meets the world head on as she spends her first year soloing as an apprentice witch. Kiki (Kirsten Dunst) is still a little green and plenty headstrong, but also resourceful, imaginative, and determined. With her trusty wisp of a cat Jiji (a gently subdued Phil Hartman) by her side she's ready to take on the world, or at least the quaintly European seaside village she's chosen as her new home. Miyazaki's gentle rhythm and meandering narrative capture the easy pulse of real life (even if his subject is a girl flying high upon a broomstick) and charts the everyday struggles and growing pains of his plucky heroine with sensitivity and understanding. Beautifully detailed animation and the rich designs of the picture-postcard seaside town of red-tiled roofs and cobblestone streets only add to the sense of wonder. This charming animated fantasy is a wholesome, life-affirming picture that doesn't speak down to kids or up to adults. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 360

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Dissapointing... August 21, 2010
Taka-Chan
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This version of the movie is very disappointing to me. I don't have anything against the movie itself because I love the VHS version. One of a few reasons for my lower rating of this is because they've changed a lot of Jiji's lines that were hilarious in English. They did also change and delete some other character's lines too. Not to mention a lot of the music has been altered an then there is lots of added in music that isn't necessary. There are also parts that sound distorted, especially at the beginning. The voices are different too, but only in parts of the movie that they decided to change. Overall I believe the previous version were fine the way they were and there was no need for all the various changes.

3 out of 5 stars

2010 Special Edition Review August 21, 2010
Jose A. Dearmas (Houston Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I should begin by mentioning that this is one of my favorite animated films of all time. That being said, I found this release to be a crushing disappointment.

While the print used for this release seemed to be superior, if you prefer to watch anime in its original language the subtitles will be irritating. They are obviously based on the English dub script which was changed significantly from the original script of the movie. In other words, whether you watch the English or Japanese version on this disc, what the characters are saying is NOT what was originally written!

Also, the bonus features disc is also a letdown. While the subtitles are well done on this disc they insert footage from the English version of the film which is quite jarring when one is listening to the creators speaking in their native Japanese. Also, the interactive "World of Ghibli" feature on my disc was defective and would not play.

So I guess my rating reflects the overall reaction people will have to this release. If you don't care about the film's Japanese origins and just want to watch a beautiful cartoon, this is a must see. If you are an old school anime fan like myself, this release is pretty lousy. In my opinion, Disney has not done right by Miyazaki.

5 out of 5 stars

"You have to find your own inspiration, Kiki" July 9, 2010
z hayes (TX)
Hayao Miyazaki's animated features are simply wondrous. They evoke a sense of magic and the high level of sensitivity portrayed through the various characters make these features endearing to both children and adults, at different levels.

In "Kiki's Delivery Service", a young girl, 13-year-old Kiki (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) is an apprentice witch, and as part of her training, she needs to spend a year away from her family and friends in a coastal town, honing her craft and finding her `voice' as a witch. The rest of the film explores how she achieves this through various adventures and misadventures in an incredibly endearing manner. Kiki is accompanied on said adventures by Jiji, her familiar in the form of a cynical black cat (voiced by Phil Hartman). Though the subject matter deals with witchcraft, it is the theme of adolescence and coming of age that permeates the story and appeals to viewers. Kiki deals with some real conflicts in trying to come into her own and discover her inspiration, proving herself and developing self-esteem in the process. These are universal themes that many youngsters will relate to. My 5-year-old loved it, and so did I. The animation is wonderful, with nice details, vivid colors, and even the setting, i.e. the coastal town is well-rendered. I rented this, but I plan on buying a copy for my home library as I think this merits repeated viewings!

3 out of 5 stars

A Coming of Age Tale for Witches July 5, 2010
Steven Fujita (Long Beach, CA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Kiki is a witch and just turned 13 years old. It's the traditional age when they leave the nest to on their own. Except in today's age, witches wait till they are a little older. Kiki wants to be traditional and thus, she leaves her home with her cat, Jiji. Kiki ends up in a town by the sea, and starts a delivery service.

I watched this DVD in the original Japanese and read the sub-titles. It is a cute, delightful tale, but I wouldn't call it breadth-taking. The animation of Hayao Miyazaki is superb, as usual. This one is a little interesting because the stereotypical anime style is sub-dued and a more "cartoony" style is employed - maybe because the film seems to take place at an unknown city in Europe. But what really stands out visually are the scenes of the town, both the panoramic and the close-ups of the buildings.

My issue has to do with the story. I like the characters; I like the sarcastic attitude of Jiji the cat, Kiki's relationship with customer Madame, and her relationship with the owners of the bakery. However, a big part of the story is her friendship with Tombo. It's easy enough to understand their relationship, but I wish it was developed better - I don't know how, but it just didn't completely click with me.

Given that the plot of her delivery service directly affects the story which involves Tombo - perhaps the tie-in could have been better developed. Again, I don't know how. There just seems to be something missing for me.

All that said, I did enjoy the film, and the story is good, and the animation is fantastic - it's a must see for Miyazaki fans, but if introducing his work to others, I'd choose another one of his films over this one.

5 out of 5 stars

The Japanese cat is a cat, not a man June 29, 2010
kirby art
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

While this is a fine movie in English, it definitely gives a different (lesser) experience because of the cat's voice. In English, he sounds like a loud American cartoon character, even goofy sometimes. In Japanese, he sounds like what an actual cat might talk like -- if it could talk. That gives him an enchanting, charming feel that is lost in Disney's translation. With the English version, you are VIEWING an entertaining story with a cat that sounds like a man, trying to be funny. With the Japanese, you ARE IN a strange, fantastic world that intersects our own, where you listen in on a small, delightful creature chatting with his human companion.

One other criticism of the English version: at the key moment where the artist is encouraging Kiki, the artist says our special abilities mysteriously come from God (as I am told by Japanese friends). That is changed in English to "inspiration." "God" is removed. That is a significant change of an author's writing. What is a suggestive, reflective literary layer in Japanese becomes an almost trite "find your own inspiration" (like "follow your dream"). It is a rare story that can talk about God without sounding preachy or overbearing. Sadly, we lost that distinctive quality in the English version.

I urge others to set the DVD for Japanese language, give the sub-titles a chance, and allow yourself to enter into a foreign experience -- which is the better for being foreign. That is a large part of Miyazaki's charm, a charm that is diminished when we try to make the characters sound like they are Americans. While the Japanese is not always essential in Miyazaki's films, I have found it so in this case (and in the case of Castle in the Sky, where in Japanese the two kids sound more like real kids, a girl and a boy who sound MUCH more intense at crucial, powerful moments in the film, vulnerable kids we care about).

Showing reviews 1-5 of 360

1 2 3 4 5 6 ...72 Next »

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