Get Your Reps In: Defy Gravity With “Kiki’s Delivery Service”

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

Even once you make it past the consensus classics of Hayao Miyazaki’s incomparable animation career—Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke—utterly lovable characters still abound. Take Kiki. She is a child witch and thrilled for everyone to know it. “And this is my black cat, Jiji!” goes the next part of her joyous self-introduction. The protagonist of Kiki’s Delivery Service uses her powers to start an airborne courier service, delivering mostly toys and pies via broomstick. As if that premise weren’t charming enough, all the little unassailable touches of Miyazaki’s world-building enrich the experience: Jiji the black cat likes oatmeal; they meet an old hound dog whose every creaky movement is scored by quarter-time sousaphone music; and joining the flying V of a hand-drawn goose flock has never looked so exhilarating.

Kiki’s Delivery Service plays five times at Cinemagic in the coming week. The English dubbed version screens Nov. 29 and 30 and Dec. 3. The Japanese version with subtitles plays Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: Trust (1990), Nov. 29 and 30. Academy: Straight Time (1978), Nov. 26. The Green Mile (1999) and The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Nov. 26 and 27. The Godfather (1972), The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Shrek (2001), Nov. 28–Dec. 4. Cinema 21: Jurassic Park (1993), Nov. 28 and 29. Remember the Night (1940), Nov. 29. Cinemagic: Rififi (1955), The Italian Job (1969) and Thanksgiving (2023), Nov. 26. Pom Poko (1994), Nov. 29, Dec. 2 and 3. My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Nov. 28 and 29 and Dec. 1 and 4. Spirited Away (2000), Nov. 28–Dec. 1 and Dec. 4. Clinton: The Snow Queen (1986), Nov. 26. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Nov. 29. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Dec. 1. Halloween (1978), Dec. 2. Hollywood: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Nov. 26. Blood Rage (1987), Nov. 28. RRR (2022), Annie Hall (1977) and Stop Making Sense (1984), Nov. 29. The Donn of Tiki (2024), Nov. 30. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Dec. 1. Angel Terminators 2 (1992), Dec. 2. Tomorrow: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Nov. 28. The Muppet Movie (1979), Nov. 29.