Kiki's Delivery Service: A Refreshing Take on Witches
The old horror movie tropes still stand today. Going out on Halloween always reminds you of that. The ghosts are always imagined as floating white sheets, the Vampires are wearing black with a widows peak, mummies are wrapped in paper towels and walk slow, and witches cackle and have warts on their faces. Cliche's like that.
Being as it is, it's always nice to see a new take on these entities. Not so much Twilight with Vampires, but for me it was Kiki's Delivery Service with Witches.
In Kiki's world, witches exist and are seen as helpful, giving people who choose a town to settle at and aid. Kiki's mother is a witch, as is she. Turning 13, her search for a village of her own is about to begin as she prepares to leave home.
I enjoy the normalcy of the world she lives in, her mother isn't this spooky otherworldly being with gross things around. She's a loving mother who lives quite a plain looking life in a small house with her family. The father is a normal human, and acts like any goofy dad would.
She embarks on a rite of passage journey to find her own city, on her way it's exciting and adventurous, seeing new places and meeting new people. In doing so, she embarks on a separate, personal journey to adulthood.
This adaptation isn't without it's cliche witch homages, her companion is a black cat named Jiji, she wears a black dress and flies on a broomstick. It also covers themes of tradition vs contemporary, as Kiki sports her own personal style, yet uses her Mother's old broomstick. Another example would be Kiki moving from her rural home to a big city.
The biggest theme is about finding yourself, and I think the creator, Miyazaki, intended to use a female witch as a juxtaposition with a story about gaining confidence in yourself and being capable, as the history that follows witches portrays them in such a negative way. It's a refreshing take and is a classic that is withstanding the test of time.
Being as it is, it's always nice to see a new take on these entities. Not so much Twilight with Vampires, but for me it was Kiki's Delivery Service with Witches.
In Kiki's world, witches exist and are seen as helpful, giving people who choose a town to settle at and aid. Kiki's mother is a witch, as is she. Turning 13, her search for a village of her own is about to begin as she prepares to leave home.
I enjoy the normalcy of the world she lives in, her mother isn't this spooky otherworldly being with gross things around. She's a loving mother who lives quite a plain looking life in a small house with her family. The father is a normal human, and acts like any goofy dad would.
She embarks on a rite of passage journey to find her own city, on her way it's exciting and adventurous, seeing new places and meeting new people. In doing so, she embarks on a separate, personal journey to adulthood.
This adaptation isn't without it's cliche witch homages, her companion is a black cat named Jiji, she wears a black dress and flies on a broomstick. It also covers themes of tradition vs contemporary, as Kiki sports her own personal style, yet uses her Mother's old broomstick. Another example would be Kiki moving from her rural home to a big city.
The biggest theme is about finding yourself, and I think the creator, Miyazaki, intended to use a female witch as a juxtaposition with a story about gaining confidence in yourself and being capable, as the history that follows witches portrays them in such a negative way. It's a refreshing take and is a classic that is withstanding the test of time.
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