Kiki's Delivery Service: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Kiki's delivery service ghibli hills.png|link=Ghibli Hills|frame|It's made by a company called "Studio Ghibli". Of course it's going to have [[Ghibli Hills]].]]

* [[Adorkable]]: Tombo.

* [[All Witches Have Cats]]: All witches have a cat as a guide and mentor. Kiki's personal cat is the usual black variety. Played with in the sense that the ability to talk to cats represents childhood immaturity, and once Kiki has come of age, she loses the ability to talk to Jiji, as she no longer needs a helping hand while navigating the world.

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Some things from the book--like why Kiki's mother hung bells in the trees around their house--are never explained in the film.

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* [[Babies Ever After]]: The ending of the film shows that Osono and her husband finally had her baby - and so did Jiji and his mate Lily.

* [[Be Yourself]]: [[Stock Aesops|One of the central messages]] of the film. Kiki learns that her only talent (flying) is valuable, and can be used to the benefit of those around her. Although other witches may specalise in fortune telling or potion making, Kiki's talent of flying makes her special.

* [[Blush Sticker]]: Kiki has them throughout the film.

* [[Book Ends]]: The story begins and ends with a scene in Kiki's parents' kitchen, and them receiving a message from Kiki. In the beginning, Kiki rushes into the kitchen and announces that she will be leaving for her [[Coming of Age]] journey. In the end, Kiki's dad receives a letter from Kiki, and reads it aloud.

* [[Bowdlerise]]: Kiki's frustrated "I'll chop you to bits" got turned into "be a good broom."

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* [[Bratty Teenage Daughter]]: Madame's granddaughter, who Kiki delivers a homemade pie to. She did not appreciate it very much, opting to complain about how it's wet and dripping as a result of Kiki rushing through the rain, before slamming the door shut in the face of a rather disappointed Kiki. Later, we do see her open up, as she comments that Kiki is impressive for working at her age.

* [[Brick Joke]]: Kiki's mother is mixing a potion in the opening scene, which she neglects to watch and it explodes. At the end of the film, she's so distracted by Kiki's letter that the same thing happens.

* [[Bumbling Dad]]: Kiki's father is a lovable version. When Kiki announces that she is leaving, he trips over a string and makes carefully packed bags on top of his car tumble down.

* [[Captain Crash]]: Kiki's piloting leaves something to desire when she first leaves home (see [[Cute Clumsy Girl]]). By the end of the film, she's become an expert flyer.

* [[Cast of Snowflakes]]: All background characters look different from one another, the only exception being if they are so far away from the camera it's difficult to make out their facial features. Especially impressive in the scene where Kiki first arrives in Koriko, as well as during the climax, due to the sheer number of people which needs to be drawn. As a bonus, these people all go about their day to day lives instead of standing there for a shot. Although most extras are just walking, we can see some people shopping, and another closing a window.

* [[Cats Are Snarkers]]: Jiji. His sarcasm is turned up in the 1998 Disney dub. When Disney revisited the dub and released a more faithful version, some of this sarcasm is toned down.

* [[Cats Hate Water]]

* [[Coming of Age Story]]: The entire plot of the film, mirrored in Kiki's daily life and {{spoiler|especially her struggle to regain her powers after she loses them.}}

* [[Creator Cameo]]: Miyazaki himself appears as an extra in the crowd near the end of the film, in the scene where the man who lent Kiki his broom points her out on TV. Because he's in the extreme [https://web.archive.org/web/20170401132701/http://uhatt.vcimg.com/201110/18/5219754_1318922301MdDm.png top right corner], full-frame cropped releases have him chopped out.

* [[Cute Clumsy Girl]]: Kiki.

* [[Cute Witch]]: A rather mild version of it (though Kiki's still cute).

* [[Daddy's Girl]]: Kiki, although she also takes after her mother.

* [[Dawson Casting]]: Kiki was voiced by ''41-year-old'' Lisa Michelson in the Streamline version. Oddly, her voice sounds identical to 16-year-old Kirsten Dunst, who played Kiki in the Disney version.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Jiji. [[Little Miss Snarker|Kiki can occasionally shoot back, too.]]

* [[Death Glare]]: When Kiki first meets Tombo and finds him annoying. Later on, she and he become good friends.

* [[Determinator]]: Kiki, especially in the climax of the film. She gets a borrowed broom to lift off simply by focusing hard and telling it to fly.

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: Tombo, who combines this with [[Extroverted Nerd]]. It takes a while, but eventually Kiki warms up to him.

* [[Don't Think, Feel]]: The advice Ursula gives Kiki, which allows her to save the day at the end.

* [[Drives Like Crazy]]: Or in Kiki's case, flies like crazy. (She gets better.)

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* [[Foreign Looking Font]]: All of the signage in Koriko is in a Germanic-looking font that resembles blackletter, complete with tons of umlauts. It's not a real language, but the town is based on Stockholm, Sweden.

* [[Free-Range Children]]: It's a [[Studio Ghibli]] film, so of course, and [[Exaggerated]]. When a witch turns thirteen, it is tradition that they leave their parents' house to settle in a new town for a year, using their magic to help the people around them. This means that a thirteen year old can fly hundreds of kilometers away from their own parents, and live unsupervised for extended periods of time.

* [[GASP]]: Kiki does this once she realises she is about to be late for Tombo's party. The clock in Madame's house runs about ten minutes slow, and when she is informed of this, she GASPs and rushes to deliver the baked pie and to go the party.

* [[Ghibli Hills]]: You know how the first thing in the film is the blue [[Vanity Plate]] with the [[My Neighbor Totoro|Totoro]] and words that say "STUDIO GHIBLI"? Well, that's the very [[Trope Namer]]! Of course it's going to make it in one way or another. Prominent right outside the town of Koriko, starring ornate blades of grass and vast rolling hills.

* [[A Boy and His X|A Girl And Her Cat]]: Kiki and Jiji.

* [[Growing Up Sucks]]: Kiki loses her magic for a while (including the ability to talk to Jiji), as a part of growing up. {{spoiler|While she eventually regains her powers of flight, she no longer can speak to Jiji, though as she has human friends now, she no longer needs Jiji in the same way anymore. The original US Disney dub added a line to the end of the film that showed Jiji talking to Kiki again, but the later re-release of the dub took this line back out to retain the original ending.}}

* [[Hair Decorations]]: The preposterously large red bow Kiki wears, visible in almost every shot that she's in.

* [[The Hecate Sisters]]: Kiki in her new life befriends and learns from a young artist, a mother-to-be, and an elderly lady. Given that Miyazaki studied enough Greek mythology to name a prior heroine [[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind|Nausicaa]], this is probably intentional (even though the trope does not occur in actual, genuine Greek myths, only in modern interpretations of them.)

* [[Hero Stole My Bike]]: Or mop, since Kiki didn't have a broom handy. This occurs at the climax, where {{spoiler|Tombo is hanging from the ''Spirit of Freedom''. She finally finds a reason to fly, and asks for a broom. The owner initially refuses to give it to her, but Kiki takes it anyway. When the news announcement that Kiki saves Tombo comes, he remarks "That's my broom!"}}

* [[I Am Not Pretty]]: Kiki says this when Ursula wants her to model for a painting. Ursula convinces her that it's not true, and Kiki agrees to do it.

* [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]: Averted through most of the film. It's the attention to detail, of things which don't matter but simply add realism, that elevates this past normal animation into a lifelike picture.

** There is a sequence depicting Kiki waking up and having to use the bathroom.

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* [[Motorcycle on the Coast Road]]: A propeller-powered bicycle, actually. Passerbys laugh at the bicycle, but that doesn't stop Tombo from cycling at high speeds.

* [[Nerd Glasses]]; Tombo has them.

* [[Non-Human Sidekick]]: Jiji.

* [[No Antagonist]]: The film has no active antagonist - the source of conflict is Kiki's inner struggles with growing up. The film is also quite laid back until the climax, focusing on [[Slice of Life]] rather than an epic quest, invalidating the need for an antagonist.

* [[Plucky Girl]]: Kiki's a poster child for this trope. She's a Miyazaki heroine, after all. It takes true talent to leave your parents by thirteen and settle into a brand new life.

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{{quote|'''Jiji''': All right, first: don't panic! Second: don't panic! And third: did I mention not to panic?}}

* [[Scenery Porn]]: Wouldn't be Miyazaki without it.

* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: At the hotel, the man behind the desk asks Kiki for identification after the latter says she is a witch. Kiki leaves immediately after.

* [[She's Got Legs]]: When Ursula's friend gives a lift to her and Kiki, he jokes that he almost mistook her for a boy based on her outfit. She replies that boys don't have legs like hers.

* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Kiki, when she [[I Just Want to Have Friends|believes that Tombo's friends don't like her.]] Later on, she grows out of it.

* [[Slice of Life]]: Both the movie and the novel, especially the latter. The movie is quite slow paced, and focuses more on mundane interactions than what would normally be expected from a work featuring witches.

* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: Tombo comes across this way to Kiki intially, so she avoids him as much as possible. (She later realizes that she has misjudged him and becomes his friend.)

* [[Standard Snippet]]: An excerpt from "In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays during the bird chase.

* [[Tactful Translation]]: When Kiki asks Jiji what the birds are saying about her after crashing into their nest, combined with [[You Do NOT Want to Know]].

* [[Take a Third Option]]: When Kiki arrives at Madame's house and her casserole isn't ready because her oven doesn't work. She offers to just pay Kiki for her trouble, but Kiki has the idea of using the woodstove to bake it, and delivers it on time.

* [[Take My Hand]]: When Kiki rescues Tombo from the blimp, combined with [[Catch a Falling Star]].

* [[Talking Animal]]: Jiji, though the movie implies that Jiji actually can't talk, it's just that Kiki can understand and talk to him. {{spoiler|Made more obvious when she loses this power later in the movie.}}

* [[Talking to Themselves]]: Kiki and Ursula are both voiced by [[Minami Takayama]] in the Japanese version.

* [[Title Drop]]: The sign outside the bakery that's put up to advertise Kiki's delivery service.

* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Kiki and Ursula (who even has [[Tomboyish Sidetails]]).

* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: The American trailer showed the climax of the movie wherein Kiki {{spoiler|saves Tombo after getting her powers back}}. But it's a [[Slice of Life]], so is it really a spoiler?

* [[Tsundere]]: Kiki is type B. She only seems to lapse into Tsuntsun mode when Tombo is pestering her, yet when he invites her to a party, she instantly wants to go. Jiji lampshades this mood swing ("I thought you didn't like him!")

* [[Victoria's Secret Compartment]]: Yes, in a kid's film. Kiki keeps things down the front of her dress while flying her broom.

* [[The Voiceless]]: Osono's husband, the baker. The one line he has is to note the blimp outside, which is about to crash.

* [[We Need a Distraction]]: Tombo rescuing Kiki from the traffic cop.

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** There doesn't seem to be any prejudice against witches. Kiki comes in for some catty remarks from muggles, but they're mostly about her unfashionable dress. {{spoiler|In the end credits, a little girl walks by dressed in imitation of the new local heroine.}}

** Witches are honourable and use their abilities to create a positive impact in their community, instead of creatures who would make a [[Deal with the Devil]].

* [[The World Is Just Awesome]]: As Kiki swoops into the main setting.