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| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
| Contents |
Q: What does "Majo no Takkyuubin" mean?
It means "Witch's Delivery
Service". "Takkyuubin" is actually a word created
by Yamato Unyu (Yamato
Transport, Co., Ltd.) when they started their new service,
door-to-door home delivery. Yamato uses black cats (a mother cat
carrying a kitten in her mouth) as its trademark, and has a catch
phrase, "Black Cat Yamato's Takkyuubin". Yamato
sponsored the movie, though there was a controversy inside the
company at first. Ms. Kadono, the author of the original book,
used the word "Takkyuubin", without permission from
Yamato, and they were unhappy about it. However, people loved the
movie, and it helped Yamato's company image, so everybody was
happy in the end.
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Q: Is it based on a manga or a book?
It is based on a children's book, "Majo no Takkyuubin", by KADONO Eiko, illustrated by HAYASHI Akiko, ISBN 4-8340-0119-9, 1290 yen. It is written in fairly simple Japanese, since it's a children's book. So it might be a good book to read if you are studying Japanese.
There is also a sequel to the book, "Majo no Takkyuubin sono 2: Kiki to Atarashii Mahou." (Kiki and Her New Magic), by KADONO Eiko, illustrated by HIRONO Takako, ISBN 4-8340-1174-7, 1500 yen. It was written after the movie, probably because the movie was so popular. Kiki delivers a magician's magic bag, a hippopotamus, and so on. A spoiler: the "new magic" of the title is that near the end, Kiki goes home for a visit (her year is over) and learns how to make her mother's medicine. She then returns to Koriko.
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Q: Is it true that the author of the original book didn't like the movie?
Ms. Kadono was not particularly happy with the changes Miyazaki made. The book is episodic, consisting of small stories about people and incidents Kiki encounters while delivering things. Nothing really bad or dramatic happens to Kiki. She never loses her powers, and there is no blimp accident in the book. Miyazaki made these changes since he needed a story that would hold up a film, and he wanted to tell a story about the process of growing up. Miyazaki writes, "As movies always create a more realistic feeling, Kiki will suffer stronger setbacks and loneliness than in the original." Only after overcoming such setbacks and loneliness could she grow up.
It is said that Ms. Kadono was so unhappy
with these changes that the project was almost scrapped at the
screenplay stage. Miyazaki and Suzuki, the producer of Ghibli,
went to Ms. Kadono's house, then invited her to the studio, and
finally persuaded her to give her consent to the movie.
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Q: Where is Kiki's town, Koriko?
According to Miyazaki, it's "a mishmash of various locales, like Napoli, Lisbon, Stockholm, Paris, and even San Francisco. Therefore, one side is like the shores of the Mediterranean sea, but another side seems to border on the Baltic sea." Miyazaki and his main staff visited Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, and they also visited Stockholm. They shot 80 rolls of film in Stockholm and Visby, gathering location images as inspiration for the scenes in Koriko. For the most part, Koriko is composed of images of Stockholm. A side street in Stockholm's old city, Gamla Stan, is one model.
Sweden was the first foreign country
Miyazaki ever visited. It was for the "Pippi Longstockings"
project, back in the 1970s. The trip didn't achieve its purpose
(getting permission from the author of "Pippi"), but
Visby apparently left a strong impression on him, so he later
used its images in "Kiki".
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It is said that it was set in an alternate
Europe in the 50s where World War II never occurred.
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Q: There were bells put on the trees near Kiki's home. Why?
In the book, it was explained that Kiki's
mom put bells on the top of every tall tree in town. The reason
for this was that Kiki would sometimes get lost in thought and
start to lose altitude without noticing. The bells went up after
she had a head-on collision with a telephone pole, totalling her
broom and bruising herself. It was the only wish of Ms. Kadono,
the author of the original book, that these bells be rung when
Kiki leaves her hometown.
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Q: Why was it so important for Kiki to know that there was no witch in the town?
Because that's the requirement. A witch
girl has to leave her home at 13, and has to live a year in a
town with no witch to establish herself as a full witch. Witches
are now rare and weak, compared to ancient times. This custom of
leaving home at 13 was established to make sure that witches
wouldn't become extinct. By doing so, the "survival of the
species", or the "continuation of witches" will be
ensured. It seems that this "one witch" rule was to
spread witches as far as possible.
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Q: Why did the radio speak in English?
There are many theories. The radio may have been picking up short-wave programs. Or Kiki might have been listening to the programs for American troops stationed there (there are such radio stations in Europe and Japan).
It was probably to show the audience how
lonely and isolated Kiki felt at her new town (In the beginning
of the film, the radio spoke in Japanese). At the beginning of
her journey to independence, Kiki was still surrounded by
familiar things: her father's radio, her mother's broom, and her
closest existence, her "other self", Jiji. But one by
one, she loses these. The radio speaks in a foreign language (to
Kiki and the Japanese audience), she breaks the broom, and Jiji
no longer speaks to her. Only after that does she gain her true
independence. She now has her own broom (rather, deck brush), has
a new relationship with Jiji (and his family), and has her own
friends in her town.
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Q: Did Kiki regain all her powers in the end?
Yes. Jiji doesn't speak (in human words, at least) to Kiki anymore, because they grew up, not because she lost a power. In the original book, it is explained that a witch girl and a black cat are raised together from infancy, and that's why they can "talk" to each other (notice that Kiki's mom never talks with Jiji directly). They are able to talk to each other because of their close relationship, rather than magic itself (a cat being able to live so long could be magic, though). Miyazaki made Jiji not be able to talk to Kiki even after she regained her power to show that Kiki has grown, and doesn't need her "other self" anymore. Miyazaki says, "The most important thing for Kiki is [...] whether she can meet various people on her own. As long as she is flying on the broom with her cat, she is free. But, to live in a town, to get training means that she has to be able to walk the town alone and talk to people, without her broom or her cat." Kiki and Jiji can start a new relationship as independent personalities. They remain friends, with other meaningful relationships (such as Lily and the kittens for Jiji) added on.
In the Disney dub, Jiji says "Kiki,
can you hear me?" before he jumps on Kiki's shoulder, but
this line is not in the original.
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Q: Who painted Ursula's painting?
It was painted by the students at a special
school for challenged children, and Miyazaki added Kiki's face
and Oga, one of the art staff members, also did some touch-ups.
It is titled "The Ship Flying over the Rainbow".
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Q: Are there in-jokes in Kiki?
In the scene in Kiki's bedroom
where she says good-bye to her father, there is a small toy house
in her bookshelf. Mei and Chibi-totoro are painted into the
windows. Also, there is a stuffed animal that looks somewhat like
Totoro on her bed. In the scene where Kiki was almost hit by a
bus when she first came to Koriko, "Studio Ghibli" is
written on the side of the bus. The "Ghibli bus" also
passes behind Kiki while she is questioned by a policeman. In the
scene at the end where the street-sweeper is pointing at the TV
and saying "that's my broom she used", Miyazaki is in
the upper-right corner of the picture looking on.
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Q: I heard that the name of the bakery was supposed to be a joke. Is it?
The bakery is "Guchokipanya" (or
Gutiokipanja as spelled in the movie). It's taken from the game
of Janken. Rock (Gu) is stronger than Scissors (Choki), Scissors
are stronger than Paper (Pa), and Paper is stronger than Rock.
Therefore, it is also called the game of Guchokipa.
"Bakery" in Japanese is "Panya", so, the name
"Guchokipanya" was supposed to be a joke. The name was
thought up by the author of the book, not by Miyazaki.
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Q: I heard that Miyazaki was not supposed to direct "Kiki". Is it true?
No, he wasn't. At first, Miyazaki was going
to just produce the movie, since it was supposed to be a project
for Ghibli's younger staff members. However, Miyazaki didn't like
the script a young scriptwriter wrote, so he wrote it himself (at
first, he thought about using a pen-name, "Oaza
Takesato", which can be read "O Ghibli" :) . Then,
the young director got intimidated, so Miyazaki ended up
directing it himself.
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In the Japanese version, TAKAYAMA, Minami. Amazingly, she also did the voice of Ursula. Ursula is a grown-up Kiki, who now knows her way and is a bit more sure of herself. Takayama Minami also did the voice of Kousaka Sensei, the health room teacher at Shizuku's school in "Mimi". To know more about her, see Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu (Voice Actor) page .
In the Disney English dub, Kiki was played
by Kirsten Dunst
(Jumanji, Little Women, Interview with the Vampire).
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Q: I heard that there is a dub of "Kiki". Is it true? Where can I get it?
Kiki has been dubbed into English by Carl Macek and shown on JAL trans-Pacific flights. It's a fairly good dub, some say better than Totoro. The dub is included in the Ghibli LD Box set.
Disney has redubbed it, with Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, Phil Hartman as Jiji, Janeane Garofalo as Ursula, and Debbi Reinolds as the old lady. It is said to be a very good dub. Disney has been showing it in various film festivals in the US, and will release it on video and Laserdisc in North America on September 1st, 1998. (The Laserdics from Iamge Entertainment is said to also have the original Japanese track.)
Disney is also releasing a subbed version, sometime before the end of 1998.
For more information, see the Availability page.
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Q: Why does the English dub say "Oh, the humanity!" when the airship is in distress?
This line is in the old JAL dub, not in the
Disney dub. This is a reference to a news report about the
explosion of the Hindenburg airship early in this century. The
line was not in the original, though.
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Q: Who did the opening and the ending song?
In the Japanese version, the opening song, "Rouge no Dengon (Message in Rouge)" and the ending song, "Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta Nara (If I've Been Enveloped by Tenderness)" are actually old songs from the 70s, written and sung by ARAI Yumi, (or MATSUTOYA Yumi after her marriage). Yuming, as she is usually called, has been one of the most popular female singer/songwriters in Japan.
To know more about her, visit her Official Home Page (in Japanese).
In the Disney dub, the opening song
"Soaring" and the ending song "I'm
Gonna Fly" are written and
performed by Sydney Forest. (The
subbed version will feature the original Japanese songs by Yumi
Arai.)
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