A Witch Watches Kiki's Delivery Service

What Kiki Taught me about Life and Magick 

The very first character I think about when it comes to little witches is Kiki.  Kiki’s Delivery Service has had a fantastic influence on my life and the lives of many others.  With themes of growing up, being the Other in a new community, and struggling with creative forces, it’s no wonder Kiki has inspired so many to do their best for the things they love.  In fact, Kiki was one of the reasons I became enamored with witchcraft in the first place. She’s also the inspiration for this Witch Watches series.

There have already been countless meta written on how Kiki’s story demonstrates the artist’s struggle and the obstacles we encounter when growing up, but most of these pieces I’ve seen have been drawn from the conversation between Ursula and Kiki when Kiki temporarily loses her powers.  Don’t get me wrong, Ursula’s advice is an extremely pivotal scene and an inspiring one at that.  Still, when it comes to magick and maneuvering through the changes in life, an exchange towards the beginning of the movie stuck with me the last time I recently watched it.

Kiki’s Mother: It’s not really important what color your dress is.  What matters is the heart inside.

Kiki: Well, I’m gonna be the very best witch that I can be, Mom! And I know that having a good heart is important.

Kiki’s Mother: Just follow your heart and keep smiling.

The exchange is about being a good person, having a good heart, and being able to follow your heart with confidence.  It’s a short conversation, but I’d argue that it’s just as important as the later one with Ursula, as her advice on “trusting your spirit” comes from the same place. Though Kiki doesn’t have the experience yet to truly understand her mother’s words, as someone who has watched this movie more times than I can remember, the notion of a good heart and what that entails intrigued me during my last re-watch of the movie.  Having a good heart, striving to be even better, and confidently following your heart with a smile are important and often difficult things to learn, but once they are learnt, they are keys to living a happy and fulfilling life.

It doesn’t matter what color your dress is on the outside.  What matters is the heart inside…

Though Kiki says that she doesn’t have any special skills other than flying, her greatest skill lays in her creativity.  It is assumed that most witches can fly in this universe since Kiki’s mother has a flying broom and the witch from the big city is first shown while flying.  It is a commonplace skill, but the way Kiki uses her skill to make a living for herself and to connect with others is her greatest gift.

In a city where there are no witches, Kiki stands out when she first appears while flying over the busy streets.  Even though Kiki does not like standing out in this way, it gains attention from the people around her.  When she starts her delivery service, Kiki’s clients are familiar with her ability to fly because of this reason.

The delivery service and flying are also how she meets new people despite the fact Kiki struggles with it when her own two feet are on the ground.  She makes friends with her customers and wouldn’t have met Ursula, one of her most important friends in the movie, had she not crash landed while flying.  Kiki also uses flying as a means of befriending Tombo because they both have an interest in it.  He asks her to meet with his flying club friends several times and at one point Kiki accidentally helps Tombo’s prototype flying machine lift off the ground.

Kiki’s creativity when it comes to flying culminates when she saves Tombo from the out of control dirigible at the end of the movie.  Though she is not even sure she can fly yet, she finds a street cleaner with a broom and uses this to fly.  In the movie, as with magickal objects in real life, its shown that brooms tend to have a personality of their own like when Kiki’s mother says her broom is dependable and broken in.  For Kiki to think to take a completely foreign broom, let alone a broom which was not made for flying in the first place and especially when her powers aren’t working properly, shows improvisational creativity to use things on hand and in order to get the job done.  And though it takes her a few tries to get the broom to listen to her, Kiki is able to pull though in the end to save Tombo.

Kiki makes the best of her situation when she doesn’t have a wide range of skills to choose from.  She has a creative soul and uses her skills of creative thinking and flying to her advantage.  She shows that if you can learn to think on your toes and out of the box, you too can make a better situation for yourself using magick or just positive thinking.

I’m going to be the best witch that I can be… And I know that having a good heart is important.

When it comes to having a good heart, Kiki is already there.  She is adventurous and selfless, often going above and beyond for others throughout the movie.  The first time we see Kiki help others is when she returns a pacifier to one of Osono’s customers.  Kiki helps out at Osono’s bakery despite also acting as a delivery girl for herself and for the bakery.  Later on, Kiki goes above and beyond again when helping the Madame whose oven could not cook the casserole which Kiki was supposed to deliver.

This is one of the turning points in the movie where Kiki’s good heart is tested.  She spends time cleaning and fixing the Madame’s oven and helps out around the house when she has a limited amount of time to complete the delivery.  Not only is a storm on the way, she had made plans to meet with Tombo and his friends at a party that evening.

Kiki does not ask for anything in return throughout the movie, but she deeply appreciates validation. She is congratulated each time she completes a task for someone else.  She is rewarded by the woman who lost the pacifier with another delivery job. She is given room and board at Osono’s for watching the bakery.  The Madame gushes over what a bright and polite young woman Kiki is when she helps her with chores.  When Kiki is met with a curt greeting by the girl when she delivers the Madame’s casserole, this is the first time Kiki is not thanked by someone she showed kindness to. Not only that, Kiki had traveled in the rain and sacrificed going to Tombo’s party in order to deliver the casserole, and for the acts of kindness from herself and the Madame not to be appreciated, Kiki is shaken.  After this point, Kiki’s powers begin to wane.

It is important to mention that Kiki’s selflessness comes with a lack of asking for help from others. Kiki feels as if she needs to work for everything she has.  Though Osono treats Kiki almost as a daughter, she never asks Osono for new clothes or food even when she has but one dress and one meal she can afford: pancakes.  When she falls ill after the delivery in the rain, she doesn’t ask Osono for help. Instead, Osono comes to Kiki because she had not seen her all day.  She nurses Kiki back to health without Kiki asking.

I, like many others tend to do, have worked harder than I normally would on projects and favors for others while putting my needs on the backburner, but what I’ve learned from Kiki’s story is that outside validation is not always needed.  I am the only one who needs to be proud of my work. Others’ validation of whether or not they believe I’m a good person is nice once in a while, but I’m the only one whose opinion of my heart matters in the long run.  Be a good person only because you choose to and because you think it is right.  Having a good heart also means taking care of oneself so that you can continue to try to be the best you can be.  Others’ opinions should not matter, but those close to you want to help you, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for that help when you need it.

Just follow your heart and keep smiling…

When Kiki’s mother says this, she isn’t necessarily telling her daughter to force herself to keep smiling, though Kiki might have interpreted this as such in the way that she does so much for others but rarely discusses her problems with them.  The statement is more about being optimistic and confident in your choices and intuition.

Intuition in magick as in life is an important aspect of human nature that cannot fully be ignored. Your gut feelings are usually right in some way or another and it shows in Kiki’s case.  Kiki knows that the city she stops in is the right place for her immediately.  She senses that Osono and Ursula are kind and trustworthy people as soon as she meets them. It isn’t until Kiki’s emotional state and confidence are shaken that her intuition is affected.  She wants to make friends her age, but is self-concious around them because of how she looks and how she is different.  Kiki even has trouble with talking to Tombo, who becomes one of her closest friends at the end of the movie, and tries to avoid him during their first few meetings.

The perfect metaphor for Kiki’s negative thoughts is Jiji the cat, who is not only Kiki’s best friend, but a conduit for Kiki’s negative thoughts to be delivered to the audience. Jiji thinks the city witch they meet is snooty and mean.  He questions the safety of such a large city.  He continually asks how he and Kiki are going to eat before Kiki starts her delivery service.  For the most part, Kiki is happy or smiling and Jiji is the one who is complaining or worrying. When Jiji is not around or completely silent, Kiki voices negativity on her own, as when she loses her magic.

“I’m still in training to become a witch,” she tells Osono, “If I lose my magic, it means I’ve lost everything!”  Kiki’s entire identity is wrapped up in her magic, but her mother’s advice is lost at this point.  She can no longer follow her heart because of the emotional turmoil she feels.  When Jiji can no longer speak for her, Kiki internalizes her struggles.  It’s only after she speaks with Ursula that she’s able to find peace with herself. When Ursula reminds Kiki about “trusting your spirit” and to “find our own inspiration” she’s really restating the mother’s advice from the beginning:  have confidence in your passions and in your own intuition and you can make magic.

Kiki’s story is relatable because of the struggles she goes through.  They’re struggles that everyone has encountered at some point of their lives. She only has one specialized skill which she must depend on in a new place.  She is kind and often puts herself before others.  She encounters obstacles which cause her to lose confidence in herself and to lose her passion.  Kiki’s story is the story of anyone who has started a new venture or started over again in a new place, but she shows how to get though situations which might feel scary at first.  If you believe you only have a few skills you’re truly good at, try to think creatively to master them and use them to your advantage.  When you act in kindness for others, know that your kindnesses do not need repayment and that eventually those who care for you will return the favor. If life gets tough and you can no longer focus on your passions, take a break from them or think about why you do them and trust that your abilities will return.  Sometimes life gets hard, but finding your own happiness through trusting that you can make it through all of it is magical in its own right.

(Screencaps by Animation Screencaps)