This is a nice story for small girls but even an old man like me could appreciate the fabulous colors in here. Man, this is one of the prettiest animated films I've seen. Hundreds of shots in here reminded me of beautiful paintings, from the pastel-colored roofs on the city houses to the great rural scenes.
The story is a simple one: a 13-year-old witch takes off on her broom for a year of training. We follow her as she learns the ropes and goes to several towns where people befriend her, and she learns the importance of friendships herself, particular with a young boy who has a crush on her. Like I said, it's young girl stuff, but there are no villains, no scary parts, no language problems.....just a nice story, and there's nothing wrong with that! The only major change I would have made would be to make Kiki a more likable kid. She's downright cold and nasty, for no reason, to the boy, until the end. I didn't find her to be a character you could really care about, and that shouldn't have been.
Which version to use: Japanese with English subtitles, or the dubbed American Disney version?
I went back-and-forth with this and wound up with the dubbed. The major difference was Phil Hartman was much more effective as the cat and made that character much funnier. Both little girls' voices were almost like chalk on a blackboard for me, tough to take. Also, I've never liked Jeneane Garofolo or her voice. Nonetheless, I think most North Americans will pick the dubbed version, and that's okay.
The story is a simple one: a 13-year-old witch takes off on her broom for a year of training. We follow her as she learns the ropes and goes to several towns where people befriend her, and she learns the importance of friendships herself, particular with a young boy who has a crush on her. Like I said, it's young girl stuff, but there are no villains, no scary parts, no language problems.....just a nice story, and there's nothing wrong with that! The only major change I would have made would be to make Kiki a more likable kid. She's downright cold and nasty, for no reason, to the boy, until the end. I didn't find her to be a character you could really care about, and that shouldn't have been.
Which version to use: Japanese with English subtitles, or the dubbed American Disney version?
I went back-and-forth with this and wound up with the dubbed. The major difference was Phil Hartman was much more effective as the cat and made that character much funnier. Both little girls' voices were almost like chalk on a blackboard for me, tough to take. Also, I've never liked Jeneane Garofolo or her voice. Nonetheless, I think most North Americans will pick the dubbed version, and that's okay.