Hayao Miyazaki Retrospective Kiki’s Delivery Service Review

Hey, this is Greg burger, and you are listening

to the geek cast radio network another episode

of The Sudo Geeks as we continue our Heio Miyazaki

retrospective. Today we are looking and reviewing

Kiki's delivery service. Joining me on today's

adventure as always is Kevin, Optimus Solo. How's

it going man? It's going well and I'm excited

to get into another Miyazaki film, see how everybody

reacts to this one. Yeah, this one's gonna be

interesting. I gotta say, I'm really curious

how we go with this one, because it can go a

lot of different ways. It can go a lot of different

ways. For sure. Also joining us on today's adventure

is Hard Candy Manny. How's it going? What's up,

Dan? It is, it is not much. Not much. Kiki, cause

she flies and unbroomed, and there's a bad dad

joke of the day. But we're not gonna explain

it, so. No. He did, he said she's unbroomed.

He said like Kiki, cause she flies. We're terrible

at these joke things. Yeah, I'm not bad with

how jokes work. But here to join in on the bad

joke madness is Matt Fridley -Settman. How's

it going? Good. I thought better jokes involving

blimps, because blimps are up too. They are up.

That is very true. There are a lot of things

up. Like up dog. Oh. Yeah, anyways. But yes,

today we'll... Weird introduction to the world

of Kiki to the delivery service, but hey, what

you gonna do? But yes, we are going through all

of Heyo Miyazaki's films. We last ended with

My Neighbor Totoro. Now, we are journeying into

the world of Kiki's delivery service. If you've

not listened to the past episodes, definitely

go back and do that. And we are all coming at

this with different experiences, different backgrounds.

Myself, I've watched a good amount of Miyazaki's

films before we got into this. Kevin's brand

new. Amanda's watched a few and I think Matt's

probably the most experienced one out of all

of us. But Kiki's Delivery Service is an interesting

film and the plot itself is rather basic. It's

basically about Kiki and a teenage witch who

helps create a delivery service and it's kind

of a coming -of -age movie. I'm really curious

to see what we all thought of this and I felt

like Maybe the best person to start with because

I remember when we were talking about our experiences

with Miyazaki in our intro episode I think Amanda

you brought up this movie and I think you talked

about Your initial thoughts of it when you first

saw it way back when so I'm curious to hear now

that you've watched it again Most recently, what

are your overall thoughts of Kiki's delivery

service? I don't think my opinion changed whatsoever

um that's not a bad thing either either it's

definitely staying positive for me i i saw it

at the right age and um it really struck home

for me enough to where those feelings have stayed

with me even into adulthood and watching it and

i just you know was able to Really enjoy like

the nostalgia of this and really enjoy, you know

Kiki's journey here So I was glad we got to get

to this one. Finally. This is the one I was looking

forward to the most and I think that this is

definitely the only studio Ghibli film of like

my childhood and I'm totally okay with this being

you know my glimpse in into that because I loved

it Awesome interesting. All right, Matt your

overall thoughts on Kiki's delivery service Um,

I think like Amanda my opinion didn't change

But I would also say that until I had seen it.

There was a couple I hadn't seen So of the ones

I had originally seen it's probably my least

favorite Studio Ghibli movie or that makes me

freakin sad Matt Well, no, but here's the thing

studio Ghibli movies run the gamut of being like

an eight out of ten to a ten out of ten so like

Being the worst of the best type of movies is

not that too bad of a place to be. I just don't

know why it's the worst for you. Maybe it works

just as strong. The least greatest. Is that the

better? Yeah. It's the least greatest. Yeah.

This is what the Studio Ghibli podcast are going

to become, is just arguing over which word I

used. Don't use heartwarming because that doesn't

work. I'm not going to ever again. Well, Kevin,

I know your opinion had to change because you

have not seen this movie before so I would assume

unless you're like, nope, I still haven't seen

it even though I watched it. So what are your

thoughts on Kiki's Delivery Service? All right.

I would much rather watch Kiki the Teenage Witch

than Sabrina the Teenage Witch, so I'll give

it that. I do like black hats, so fan of the

character of Gigi. And I think it's a cute film.

Think I'm getting an evil eye here before I even

said anything, but I can feel it But I think

if I'm okay since we just talked about my neighbor

Totoro I mean if I'm gonna compare it to that

film both films are fairly straightforward fairly

simple as far as following the story and You

know probably about the same number of characters,

etc I just feel like that film was tackling some

themes and some, um, some aspects of life that

I find way more engaging than I did with Kikis.

I don't know - Kikis isn't about some like -

crazy, hard tragedy that she's going through.

This is a finding herself situation. So I'm drawn

more to something that's dealing more with something

that I can chew on and kind of dissect a little

bit more. Even though, how many times have you

said that you love coming of age stories? What

the fuck is this? Coming of age story, Kevin.

It just did not do much for me as far as... I

just didn't feel like there was a... Like the

film it's it's got funny moments. It's got Great,

you know musical things great visuals I like

the character of Kiki and some of the other characters

that we come across But in the end when I'm like

trying to reflect back in it and only in the

mode of comparing it against some of the other

films we've seen I just didn't feel like there

was as much for me to really like chew on or

dissect or really like come away with yes it's

a coming -of -age film and I do like those but

For some reason it just didn't quite resonate

as much with me, even though I did still enjoy

the film and I still had fun with it. I'm not

really satisfied with that answer. If it means

anything, the first comment he made on the 100

films, 80 to 70, was that if any film could touch

his cold, numb heart, then that film gets a super

bonus. So Totoro can touch even the coldest,

numbest of hearts. There we go. I pay attention.

I don't even listen in that carefully. I think

it's like it is interesting the compared to having

my neighbor torturo and kiki back -to -back not

just because in their filmography of Haya Miyazaki,

but they are like there's a lot of similarities

to them and it's interesting because I do feel

like Looking at people's opinions that there

seems to be a kind of a dividing line So people

kind of go one way or the other which one they

like more and they both are very similar and

they're kind of limited plot but I like you Kevin

like There's a lot of things I enjoy with Kiki's

delivery service. Kiki is an interesting, fun

character. The world is, you know, it's more

true to life, I would say, than most of the Miyazaki

films that we've seen so far. Obviously, it's

a world about witches, but it doesn't necessarily

have the crazy designs, which was almost an interesting

change to begin with. But I guess, ultimately,

too, it is very much coming of age. I do like

coming of age movies, but there's something that

was... Not necessarily missing but not there

to the level it was with my neighbor torture

or the other movies that I was able to Appreciate

it as much and maybe it's because I just can't

relate to the character of Kiki as much as I

should because I'm a 31 year old man and Lady

to teenage girls not something I'm capable of

doing as much as I try but I think ultimately

it's because the dilemma that she's faced with

is In a way there isn't one into nearly the very

end and unlike with meet my neighbor tortura

where you have that always in the background

where you're there dealing with The the sickness

of their mother and even when they're not when

she's not there, you know that issue is always

present But with this it's really just her trying

to discover the world which is fine But I think

what ends up happening is when we get into like

that final third act, which is almost like the

second act Part two or like it's almost like

tacked on near the end where she is faced with

a dilemma of kind of having to Discover herself

or she's losing these powers and I thought like,

okay, there's something there that they can explore

But it ends up basically kind of resolving itself

rather quickly It manifests itself really quickly

and then like it's resolved almost immediately

in it I felt like in a way it almost needed like

20 more minutes or something like that or maybe

bring have that consistently throughout like

To me like watching it was like watching almost

like it might have been better as a television

program where you're You know where it could

kind of continue that story long term But so

because of that it just I didn't really have

the same feeling at the end of it I was like

it kind of just ended and it didn't like I was

like wow That was a little bit abrupt. It didn't

have it just seemed a little bit like the final

climax almost I think did the film with the service

rather than a the service that almost felt like

it was just kind of thrown in there because we

need something to end the movie with and then

we're then we move on but And again, you can

kind of look at tortor other did the same thing

But I guess I felt like it tied in with the dilemma.

They were facing a little bit more. So I feel

like You know Amanda, you know both me and Kevin

are not appreciating this nearly as much as we

should so I guess I'm curious like this to see

what is it you mentioned like You know a big

part of this isn't the fact that this has been

one of your favorite films going into this What

is it about Kiki's delivery service that you

feel like we aren't simply not understanding?

I was more I was enjoying myself a little bit

more because it was a little bit of a lighter

situation than what we've been getting you know

up until now and I didn't feel like the stakes

were as high but that wasn't a bad thing I think

it was kind of a breath of fresh air from some

of the super serious you know subject matter

that we were getting up until this point and

Not saying that I didn't have problems with the

movie uh it's really hard to keep track of her

emotions in this because like a teenage girl

she is everywhere emotionally and really not

rational when it comes to some of her you know

um choices to be upset or whatever like i was

never really sure why she was upset at tombo

or whatever like why is she so mad at this guy

but um what i really really did like about it

was um lot of like the relationships that she

built in this and I Definitely wanted to see

more of like her family dynamic because I thought

that was a really cool Little blip into her life.

I think that in the beginning I do appreciate

that we just kind of like jump into it then we're

not questioning like, you know, witches are real

You're just you're jumped into the story. So

you just accept it and you're not questioning

like You know, she's got powers. Like, what is

this? It's right into it, and you can accept

it. But I would have liked to see a little bit

more of what her life in, like, her town was

before she left as a witch, to see what witches

kind of meant, you know, what it really meant

more to be like a witch, because when we get

to, you know, Kiki, her skill is flying, which

we don't really get a lot of her development,

even though she's supposed to be training. I

don't know what she's supposed to be training

when nobody's teaching her anything. But I think

that her story of finding herself is really accented

by how she reacts to people in these situations.

with the people that she finds herself in. And

I think that, you know, her witch customs are

pretty cool, a little antiquated, but I think

it makes an interesting, you know, start to some

of these relationships, definitely, and to see

how people react to her actually being a witch.

And of course, I love Gigi, the little cat. He

looks just like Mad Martigan. And I imagine my

cat to have a deep dude voice and be really sassy.

and funny all the time and sarcastic anyways

so that fit but um I think also there was this

like sense of you know innocence to her and I

could really relate to that because you're you

trying to hold on to your innocence and you're

trying to come into your own at the same time

and you find yourself thrust into into you know

situations where you have to decide how to be

you in that situation and I thought that was

pretty cool seeing how she you know stacked up

um to some of the the smaller challenges that

she she did face and and how she actually treated

people and how people responded to her too. See,

I agree with the fact that it's a breath of fresh

air and that it's light and that if you're going

through the filmography like we are, you know,

maybe it's a good thing to have after some of

these other films that have been tackling some

deeper situations. I'm not saying, I'm not disagreeing

with any of that. So I don't want it to come

across wrong. I'm agreeing with like what Matt

was saying that regardless of what I'm saying

as far as Details about it. I still think it's

a good film I'm just saying then if I was to

take it outside of just this kind of fun light

airy You know whimsical coming of age tale if

I'm then comparing it to some of these other

films I'm gonna gravitate a little bit more towards

those other films because I just think they have

more to More to discuss more to think about more

to stick with you after the fact this one's just

kind of like a fun You know watch it and it's

to me. It's not really gonna stick With me that

much. Why do you have to be punched in the face

with some big epic life -changing event or something?

That's you know, so, you know heavy on What the

movie's trying to say? As this as its own movie

Okay, would you feel that same way because all

you're doing is looking at the other ones now

all you're doing is comparing Well, no, I think

even if you just look at it as a standalone film

you're like Dan was saying you're gonna come

across with not maybe something's missing but

something that it just Could there have been

just a tiny bit more? involved with something

like like we're talking about she doesn't necessarily

come across not that you don't need a an antagonist

or you don't need necessarily like a you know

a battle or anything like that, but it could

have had something else to kind of elevate some

of the emotions she was going through outside

of just you know somebody coming of age and dealing

with those random regular emotions i guess i

don't i mean really deep down she's just a teenager

you know what i mean and this is a story of a

young girl trying to find her own as a teenager

as a young woman in a situation where she's on

her own now i do agree also with you about the

the way that people it was interesting to see

the way people react to witches and it's nice

to kind of see them in a different light than

what a lot of times what we get depicted to us

and Films and TV etc. Etc. Like I like that.

It wasn't just like this automatic Negative or

scared or any of those types of connotations?

It was just kind of like oh, you know, these

are just witches and that's what they do and

they're kind of rare but there wasn't just like

this Prejudice against them or anything like

that So I thought that was added to the breath

of fresh air aspect that you've been talking

about and I agree Maybe it's unfair to conditionally

compare it to what came before because it is

trying to be its own thing so definitely should

be judged on you know what what it's attempting

to accomplish and i and similar with my neighbor

torturo which i like but again i didn't necessarily

put it on the same level of some of the miyazaki

films we've gotten to so far i guess the ultimately

when i was watching it i enjoyed it but i wasn't

necessarily compelled by it It may be just a

personal preference Aspect of it and I can I

and I I think Amanda you said you brought up

a lot of good points about what is doing really

Well, you know how it does bring you into this

world and how you know Kiki at the heart of it

Her story is you know is with a heartwarming.

She is going through a lot. It is tackling some

fresh ideas here But ultimately like as a character

I like Kiki, but she wasn't necessarily someone

that I felt Was nearly as compelling as other

characters we've dealt with or one that even

on it on it on her own that I was I don't know

like I felt like I was getting bits and pieces

here and there but I like I Wanted to guess a

little bit more is what I was saying and I guess

like it like Like Kevin, I feel like maybe I'm

coming overly negative and that's not my intention.

I do think it's it's well toward film It's there's

a lot. There's a lot about it. That's really

to appreciate from again It's probably a broken

record But the animation is amazing because it

always is because it's a Miyazaki film and the

flying sequences are great and there's even the

animation on the On on gg running. I thought

was phenomenal Like the cat running down the

street just looks so perfect to me. I guess it's

for me It just felt like it tackled like little

things here and there And it just like all the

sums that it come up like it all the sums didn't

kind of come together to to What is it that's

saying and I lost it all the you know, although

the parts don't match this I don't yeah, I'm

butchering it basically I enjoyed the the the

the individual parts of it, but as a whole I

didn't seem to really come together as much as

in like it just felt like like I mentioned I

think really what hurts it for me is that Enjoy

a lot of it and it's just like the last 15 minutes

where I feel a little bit let down and in the

sense of where it just something it just feels

forced and Like that the last it was enjoyable

to see but it almost seems like it wasn't necessary

for this movie where you have this acting sequence

and yeah, we do see growth of the character of

Kiki, but it almost felt like a like You know,

they're like I mentioned previously that they

they presented a dilemma Just to immediately

solve it to justify this situation that was going

on and and up to that point that didn't happen

everything else felt rather organic and The her

relationship with all these characters and the

way it was built it all felt very really well

put together Except for that last bit and then

that just seems like it was the one thing kind

of missing Something weird about that last little

sequence is the kids hanging, you know in the

same location for a long time and You know, she

has to come in and save the day so to speak Why

wasn't that inflatable bullseye for the landing

already under him? What They have one bulls -eye

per city and Now it comes over here even though

he's been hanging in that spot for the last 10

minutes me up on this movie a little bit, even

though I know it's not your favorite. Actually,

I am, I guess. I've been hearing you guys talk

about how you think it came out of nowhere and

it felt a little rushed. But the blimp And the

weather that could affect the blimp is mentioned

in the first 20 seconds of this movie. The blimp

comes up no less than seven or eight times before

you visually see it. And every time they're talking

about how the weather is going to affect it and

how it might go off course and what towns it's

going to visit to. So like they promise the viewer

you're going to see this blimp and whether it's

going to affect it. And so when it happens, it

was it was fulfilling to me, honestly. And I

get that it's convenient. But I mean, that's

kind of movies at their core is convenience because

they don't happen like real life because real

life isn't like the movies. And so when the blimp

goes off course, I've heard a lot of people complain

about it. But to me, it seems like the natural

course for this movie. And you can nitpick little

things about it. I don't have a single problem

with it I guess my issue necessarily isn't as

much with the blimp sequence cuz like that that's

fine in a certain sense it was more so how you

they you know, they present this dilemma of her

like losing her powers and like, you know that

I think that makes a lot of sense you like we

have this which where she Like it's this conflict

is gonna ensue where you're kind of leaving leaving

the life that you once knew as you're kind of

growing older into this New world, even though

she's only 13, but whatever that's you know,

it's Japan. They have different standards but

but like I really like that idea of like, you

know how the the metaphorical Aspects of that

and how that kind of relates to just the coming

of age in general and I guess like how it like

they I get like you're saying that was you know,

it was foreshadowed throughout But I guess I

wish that the dilemma was a little bit more peppered

through a little bit more And maybe that I think

it would have just I think solidified what they

were going for By the end of the film a little

bit better. I I could I could see that. Um I

almost feel like more people's problem is that

the blimp happens, the biggest climax happens,

and then the movie immediately ends. Because

she saves the kid and then you have 30 seconds

before those credits are going. But that's a

classic Japanese storytelling style to have no

resolution or very little resolution. I do think

there are a bunch of tiny conflicts that slowly

build towards that though. Even if they aren't

necessarily like, I've got to fly. No, they are

very fly based. From the very first thing. The

very first delivery all the way down to where

she can no longer deliver and then gets over

that It does slowly build all around her character

I don't know I think this movie is very well

crafted and I get that you guys are being a little

negative But not saying it's terrible or the

worst ever But I think there's a lot of really

subtle things that are not getting mentioned

yet Like the fact that like Kiki and Gigi have

like the exact same storyline Where like they

bolt like from the very first conflict They both

go through very different versions of I'm meeting

a new friend to help me get over this tough time

Like they both do that in the very first delivery

all the way to like we're both trying to start

our own love stories But one goes differently

than the other like like they're having the exact

same story on just a different scale because

we're following Kiki instead of Gigi And I think

that that's a masterfully done thing that just

gets blown right over No, I agree. I like that.

I I agree with everything I didn't necessarily

have a problem with the blimp aspect. That wasn't

one of the things that Brings me down a tiny

tiny bit on this film. I I do I do like the GG

storyline and I do Like how that kind of parallels

in ways and kind of in the different ways that

it does divert from Kiki's story. I I find interesting

too that apparently one of the difference Because

between the Japanese, you know, the original

version and the Disney fight version is Obviously

at one point we see that they can no longer communicate

with each other And I guess in the original version

that is like that for the rest of the film and

then the Disney version We see that they are

somewhat able to communicate again once she's

found her confidence again What are you guys

thoughts on that? Do you think that it would

have been better like it did in the original

version where that was just kind of an aspect

of her kind of growing up into this other person?

Is that she loses the ability to do it because

now she is more mature or you know a different

person that's passed that stage in her life?

No, that would make me super fucking sad if she

never got to talk to Gigi again. Like I was distraught

when she couldn't talk to Gigi anymore like that's

really upsetting and that Bumped up the stakes

for me and that really set You know like the

gravity of that and what was happening to her

in for me because he GD is such a big part of

her life and They really need each other so much

especially in this situation that it was really

heartbreaking to see her not be able to communicate

with him and him not be able to communicate with

her because you can see how much they care about

each other and I think that them being able to

communicate is super valuable to both of them

and it really puts heart in into their relationship

to and like what you see in the film. So I was

really upset that they couldn't communicate and

if they wouldn't be able to by the end I would

I would be more upset. I wouldn't be able to

accept that. I want to agree and disagree. Like,

I agree that it's important that she does get

that back, just because we don't have a lot of

precedent for witches and witch powers. But we

do know that her mom talks to the cat at the

beginning, so an adult witch that still has her

powers can talk to cats, is what we've established

in the beginning. And so at the end of the movie,

if we're saying, no, Kiki's fine and she's got

her powers back, if she can't talk to the cat...

then I'm going to question whether she has her

powers back, what happened. We don't have enough

precedent for that option. I usually hate when

an American company brings a foreign movie over

here and changes the ending even a little bit.

That would be a terrible thing to do, but I think,

honestly, it's a better story to have that roundness

of, no, she's got her powers back, or she doesn't,

because they don't have enough time to explain

why she's got some of them back and not some

of the others. Yeah, I agree with what Matt's

saying because it's like it would seem kind of

like convenient if it's like now she can fly

but she can't talk to animals and yeah, I Wouldn't

want to getting into the idea of her kind of

coming be being able to kind of balance both

worlds I think if that's gonna be a key element

if that she can Maintains that because that has

been kind of her linchpin to her life since she

got to this new location So I think it's important

that she That they we get a little bit of an

establishment plus I'm always you know, I want

more Phil Harmon whenever I can get it Yeah,

that voice sure throws you off the first time

you hear it. Yeah Luckily the lines that are

coming out of it are so good that you stick with

it for a while and that kind of builds on you

I was also a couple other parts that we haven't

really talked about obviously, you know She has

goes on all these different deliveries and one

of the main ones that is revisited is her visit

to the elderly lady and Well, the two elderly

ladies who are sending a delivery to her granddaughter

How did you guys take that and was anybody bothered

by the fact that we didn't really necessarily

get much of a, not necessarily resolution, I

don't know if that's the right word to use, but

it didn't seem like it tied off anything as far

as that went. I don't think any of her relationships

were tied off because it was a story about beginnings.

None of her relationships were closed off. This

was all showing beginnings of relationships.

Same thing with the lady she met in the woods.

You know what I mean? I was talking about more

so, not necessarily with the ladies, I was talking

about more so the point of introducing this bratty

little ungrateful... It's to show the contrast

between how Kiki is acting and how... other kids

are acting also that kid does come up again yeah

she's in the car when they go see the blimp the

first time she's one of tombo's friends yeah

right right i was just saying that it didn't

ever seem to there was no interaction between

them or no it was just i'm observing uh someone

that's much different than me i guess i guess

i was just hoping for like one more scene with

those two that had something to do with what

kiki got out of it maybe but I felt like we got

that just based upon her reaction. I mean I want

to be against it if we got an additional scene,

but I I was fine with the way it was handled

because I felt like that that element was kind

of already told and they kind of maybe gone back

to it, but I felt like that's when they were

starting to move into the other aspects of you

know her development and like like we mentioned

previously as she was kind of getting into her

dilemma of trying to Regain her powers and things

like that what did you guys think of where's

waldo i'm sorry he's wearing the exact same outfit

as waldo and his face almost looks like like

he could have been where's waldo's son but he's

a freaking lawrence brother okay so yes voiced

by matthew lawrence but uh what did you guys

think of that aspect of it of the of the love

angle and tombo as a character and kind of his

interaction with kiki and kind of how it played

into the bigger part i don't think it was necessarily

like a love thing I think it was more like a

friendship and like a mutual Interest in one

another it doesn't have to be exactly romantic.

You know what I mean? I think I think maybe It

kind of played into that because of her age and

you know, they they bring up Oh boys, you know

what I mean? And how she acts when boys are mentioned,

you know what I mean? But I think that What I

took away from that mostly wasn't like a love

story It was more like a fascination on his part

and her being interested in him as well And because

I mean, he's just a normal boy, too. You know

what I mean? She's a witch. I think that there

was some definite Learning from each other and

it was cool I don't think I wasn't cliche and

how it was handled and like You can read into

it a few ways is it Is it a friendship? Is it

just that natural awkwardness when you have you

know two people of that age kind of coming together

and as they're dealing with all the different

new emotions that they deal with as you enter

into your preteen teen years, so I thought it

was cute it was you know it I You know, I don't

I don't necessarily know if we know it was something

that is the most compelling part of the movie

for me, but I do think At least approached their

relationship in an interesting way and I did

like the characters together in their dynamic

It was at least fun to watch I Don't matter if

you've had anything else you wanted to add to

that I Know I kind of mentioned it as a love

story, but I mean it is it isn't on its face

a love story It's very innocent and that's kind

of a good play for it Um, but but it almost I

like if this was a hollywood movie It probably

would have developed into a love story, especially

if it went on another 20 minutes or 10 minutes

Um, but I like it where it where it ends and

I like it how it develops like they do a good

job with it I do like the fact that she's the

one saving him at the end. You know, that's how

it's good. You know Yeah for sure We mentioned

a little bit of the voice cast already, you know,

Phil Hartman, of course, and Kirsten Dunst and

the Lawrence Brothers as well. But we brought

it up the previous voice cast in the other films.

And considering now this is the English dub of

the Miyazaki films, overall, how did you guys

feel about the voice cast and how well they fit

the characters that they were portraying? Think

if we're you know, specifically obviously talking

about the 1998 Disney version here I think it's

a I was impressed with the number of Professional

voice actors that are involved in this and I

didn't look beforehand to see who was voice and

who I just kind of watched the movie and listened

but There was a reason probably that none of

them stood out necessarily as distracting or

whatever because of the number of Super famous

voice actors that are involved in this from trust

McNeil to casusi Jeff Bennett Debbie Derryberry

These are people that are just real good at their

craft. I was like I said, I was I still am a

little on the fence at Phil Hartman as GG I I

don't know if that would have been my choice

I get like I'm not saying that there's anything

wrong with having it a deep male, you know Character

or whatever, but I was a little thrown off because

of the fact that it was Phil Artman and it's

such a recognizable voice Yeah, but I don't think

necessarily he did a bad job with that. I thought

I'm not saying it from a kid standpoint. I'm

just saying it from my Reactions as I watched

it. It actually kind of reminds me a movie. We'll

get to in the future of the house with the castle

with Who do they have which is Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal's voice? Yeah, I know exactly what

you're talking about Yeah, we're just like they're

just two people I know so well from other things

that seeing them in like a character like a cat

or a talking fire It's just weird to watch But

yeah overall I was impressed by them by the Majority

of them like a little on the fence with Phil

Harman, but the rest I was pretty impressed You

liked it. Yeah big fan Matthew Lawrence So that,

that, you know, rekindled the fire, just like

with Freddy Prince. You guys are talking about

Wing Commander. Oh, Wing Commander. That's something

that movie often does. Matt, any thoughts on

the voice cast or anything else you wanted to

bring up that we didn't touch upon yet? No, no.

Like, I don't know. Like, voice actors don't,

like, they don't bring me out of a thing. Like,

they have to be really bad to break that for

me. I can show you some. Yeah, you have got me

covered on that but like I don't know like it's

very rare that I'm gonna be like that I know

that voice and that brings me out of it and it's

some some instances that actually brings me more

into it because like I watch a lot of anime and

anime like in America there isn't a lot of voice

actors that do it like you know you got these

Disney brought -over movies that'll have like

you know a massive cast or whatever but like

if you're watching say the gundam tv shows like

i've mentioned a number of times the voice actor

that does duo and gundam wing appears in every

single one and so it's like we're pointing out

hey it's that guy hey it's that guy um and so

like it like though it might briefly be like

i know that voice like if the story is not terrible

i'm gonna just lose the voice actor and i don't

think about it and so yeah it doesn't really

happen here yeah and i agree and Like Phil Hartman

was a little bit weird to hear but once you kind

of get into it, it's fine though I did feel like

a few of his comments did seem like I don't know

I had a place in the movie and like I couldn't

imagine that Like it would be something Miyazaki

would write or you know, it's not the naked painting

line. Yeah, I was the most awkward moment of

the entire film and I just was like Speechless

staring at Amanda. Like did they just really

say that? Is that is that Disney putting that

in there or was that in the original version?

Well looking at some I guess some of the trivia

like from the Lot of that was like him kind of

ad -libbing adding his own humor to it Which

is you know voice actors are known to do and

I love it. I mean unfortunately, you know, he's

late Phil Harmon, but some of them I think were

Worked more than others or that ones like you

mentioned like the that line just seemed I don't

know at a place or like just from a different

movie altogether But overall I was I was me Titanic

Except from a different movie altogether like

Titanic. Yeah, exactly exactly probably would

have made more sense in there But overall like

it like like Matt was saying no one really took

me out I really honestly didn't realize there

was Pearson Dunst until After I looked at the

cast the movie was completed. So it took us a

little while It took us probably a third or halfway

through the movie before we we mentioned that

one Is there is it a theme or is this the first

time? I can't remember looking back at the other

films. Has there been something in the movie

or in the background that says Ghibli or or studio

Ghibli or something in all the films or is this

the first time that's popped up? Because the

bus said it right across the top or on the side

or something. I think well it was this is this

what second Ghibli film with Yeah, the third

sorry now third because castle in the sky is

the first so I not that I can remember I don't

remember anything and I was looking for seeing

that too I didn't see anything in my neighbor

torture unless I missed it and I didn't see anything

in castle in the sky so I'm interested to see

if that's something that comes up again or not

not that it matters one way or the other is just

kind of something interesting to see and be like

oh I don't know what that means. And apparently

Meizaki himself has a cameo, I guess you'd call

it a cameo in an anime movie, at one point as

well. Nice. Which is cool to see. But yeah. He

sounds like a cute little old man. Like the cutest

Asian little old man I've ever seen in my life.

Probably has. He's great. Like anything you see

of him is amazing. He just seems so nice. And

I didn't even hear him talk. I just saw him smiling

at people. I'm like, that guy is super nice.

Like he gives full size Snickers out to Halloween

and stuff. Hopefully not Harry and pumpkin pot

pies. That sounds like the most disgusting thing

ever. What was interesting with though the one

part that was changed for the Disney movie where?

For the Disney version of it where you know they

were delivering coffee But they changed it to

hot chocolate because they didn't think kids

drink coffee But you know back at that were back

in not in the day in 1998 you know kids today

the drinking lattes at the age of 12 so They

also said in the Japanese version that Gigi was

a female voice or a female character and that

it was also much less sarcastic and Humorous

and a little bit more like a cautious sidekick.

Yeah, he still was kind of like her Jiminy cricket

or whatever kind of like hey, I don't think we

should do this Hey, we should just go back and

do this It kind of makes you like it realize

how much you can change a movie like even like

considering, you know You're dealing with the

same eight animated characters, but just changing

things a little bit You can be so it's very different

based upon just the adaptation that we can make

which is kind of scary when you think about it

Yeah An interesting note on that, taking all

of the same animations and changing it entirely.

I know a writer who, like, a comic book got made

and they made the whole comic book and then the

original writer of the thing was like, you're

not paying me enough, I'm not letting you publish

this, whatever, you know, breakdown of communications.

They took it to another writer and they were

like, hey, we've got all of this art done and

all of the bubbles are done. but you need to

rewrite this without seeing the original script

so that it's an original thing that we can put

yarn and then we'll pay you this amount that,

you know, was less than the other guy wanted.

And so what this comic book guy did was he took

all the pages, threw them up into the air and

then just assemble the new thing based on all

these pages and rewrote all of the words. And

it was an entirely different book in the end,

but all the same art. That's kind of fucking

genius. Yes, me. Yeah, I love that guy. He's

great. Well, luckily that didn't happen here.

So overall, let's get final thoughts and your

overall grade for Kiki's Delivery Service. Amanda,

we started with you, so let's start with you

here too. Overall grade and anything else you

would like to mention regarding Kiki? Man, I

think my biggest issue was the witch training.

Like, I don't get how she's supposed to be training.

Like, she's supposed to teach herself stuff.

Out of thin air? Oh, you know, what was she supposed

to be learning? How can you learn your witch

power if nobody's like trying to teach you? I

kept thinking that some of the people she was

going to run into were going to be secretly or

going to be revealing themselves to be witches

afterwards, like whether it was the home that

she stayed in, whether it be the other, I guess

it was just the older girl that she hung out

with there and kind of went on the trip with

or whatever, spent the night at her house. Yeah,

just kept expecting some of these people to...

to be teaching her something or showing that

they were witches but it never quite went that

way. I mean all in all though I was fine with

it because there was all this other stuff happening

and she was getting better at flying and that

was kind of what her niche was just like fucking

Harry Potter like he's not super great at magic

but he can fly fucking broom like nobody's business

but that aside I really loved her willingness

to help other people and I thought she was super

genuine and her Her really, like, cute, gregarious

nature really kind of made her interactions with

all these honestly really kind people that she

was meeting besides, like, the tiny kids. It

made the relationship super heartfelt and I appreciated

it. And I don't know, I think I'm gonna give

this movie a frickin' eight. I'm gonna give it

an eight. Eight out of 10, very nice. Matt, final

thoughts and overall grade for Kiki's Olivia

Service? Though I think we can all agree it could

have been done better Part of me always just

assumed that this isn't so much a part of her

training as like witches training But ever training

as a witch to go live with non witches for a

year because I said it's only gonna last a year

and Then I assumed she'd go right back to her

witch studies afterwards But I we know we don't

get that resolution. We don't get any more discussion

on it So it could have been done better if that's

what they wanted Don't know I love this movie.

It's great. I don't know eight out of ten You

know ten the least greatest hey, I mean Zaki

film at least of the ones I originally saw yeah

Kevin final thoughts and overall grade um final

thoughts let's see I do want to question or call

out the mom here because She is apparently too

busy with her life to teach Kiki anything cuz

it's like she's finally turning this age and

going to be going off for a year. And she's like,

Oh, I haven't taught you anything yet. Like,

what? He just said potions. Well, I just feel

like she should have known to spend a little

bit more time with her daughter and taught her

some more things instead of negligent mom in

a Disney movie. I can't imagine. So maybe that

was just more of the Disney version. Like I said,

this is a fun film. It is like a breath of fresh

air, especially with some of the topics that

we've been tackling with some of the other films.

So I think it hits right if you're going through

the filmography to kind of see this somewhat

in the, you know, after, I don't know if it's

necessarily in the middle, but close to the middle

here. And I think there's a lot of humor in there.

I think Gigi is a great character. That's probably

the one that steals the show for me. I like the

cat better than I like Kiki, which I don't know

if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But overall,

like I said, it's fun, and there's not really

too many things that you can blow a hole in as

far as the film goes, but overall, I can't grade

it as high as I did some of the other ones. And

I gotta go back and actually look at what I gave

all these other ones, because I'm probably being

hypocritical, but I'm gonna sit somewhere in

the six out of 10 range for me. I just don't

get how... I can... I hear what you're saying,

but I just don't understand why you can't just

appreciate this more simple, heartwarming film.

Like, why do you have to have such a deep thing?

So why couldn't you get fulfillment out of this?

Because it's not just, it wasn't just about it

being just fun and whimsical and all the enlightened

and whatever. That's not why I'm grading it a

6 out of 10. It's rated at 6 out of 10 because

even while doing that, I still felt like there

was something missing or something that could

have... elevated it on some level in some way

shape or form. It didn't need something tragic.

It didn't need some big dilemma. No, I just wanted

something and maybe it's cuz like Dan said I'm

not I'm not a 13 year old girl I also didn't

see this when I was a kid So maybe coming at

it as a 30 something year old man in America

There's not enough for me to relate to where

it's gonna just be able to survive just on surface

value at the same time I'm still giving it a

positive score. I still think it's a good movie

so i'm just a little less on it than you guys

are and you're gonna be a little less sleeping

in the bed and sleeping on the couch dan help

me out here sorry uh yeah so i again i'm i'm

i'm along with kevin and it's hard to explain

but Bottom line is, as I'm watching it, I'm enjoying

it, but I'm just not compelled by it, which is

very, I guess it's up to, in the criticism I

know, and it's very, you know, general, but it

is, it's hard to really pinpoint it, and like

I said, I did have some issues with just like

a... structure of it but maybe perhaps I'm just

not giving it enough credit and as Matt and Amanda

both brought up a lot of the subtle things that

it was doing that honestly maybe I missed on

my first go -around so I do think there were

aspects of it that I didn't appreciate because

maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention

and and with Miyazaki there are a lot of you

know things that maybe you almost as a Especially

going through all the films that you take for

granted like the great animation. It's just by

this point It's like you're expect it So when

you're doing it so great all the time when you

get it you almost like just like of course, of

course, that's the norm But I like I said, it's

a solid great. It's an enjoyable film. It's there's

a lot going for it and it's certainly I appreciate

it like not being cliche or forcing in a relationship

angle when it doesn't belong and making an antagonist

that doesn't exactly need to be there and it's

just kind of the story about life. So there I

think there's a lot to learn but for me it's

an overall seven out of ten which is still a

good score just not at the top echelon with some

of the the other films that we've gone through

so far. But next week we are changing things

up. Next time we talk about Miyazaki we'll be

changing a little bit things up as For me, it'll

be a first time watch as we get into Poco Rosso,

which we talked about before we recorded. Sounds

delicious, but apparently is not so much based

upon the actual character. But we'll talk about

that in the world of Miyazaki as we go. But if

you want to interact with us, let us know who's

right, who's wrong. Is six too low? Is... Nine

too high or you know, are we all crazy? You can

do that by going to the episode post at key cast

read a calm You can follow the overall show on

Twitter by following cinema key cast. We are

also all on Twitter Matt. What is your Twitter

name? I am at Fridley sent Amanda our candy Mandy

eyes no wise and Kevin mine's at Optimus solo

Matt be just real quick. You've seen poker also

Okay, so Porco Rosso and I have a thing. I bought

two copies of it originally, a Japanese version

and a used American version, and neither one

would play all the way through. So like, I've

sat down to try to watch Porco Rosso like six

times, I own like four copies now. And I'm not

100 % sure I've seen it from end to end, but

I have spent at least four hours with it. Nice.

Okay. Dan, I didn't mean to cut you off. What's

your Twitter? I am at Movie Revolt. So, this,

so Pokerosa may be the first one that no one

has seen completely through. So, that'll be,

that'll be intriguing to talk about as we get

into further of Miyazaki's retrospective. But,

that'll be it for this week. We'll be back shortly

with more Senne & Kiki's Goodness. Thanks for

listening. I'm free as a bird lost in the stars

and waving down to earth