Why Ghibli Succeeds Where Disney Fails

When we think about kids films or films that children should watch, we often think of Disney films. And there's a strong likelihood that most of you watching this video grew up with some level of Disney films in your childhood. But while they're often really fun and enjoyable, there is one major beef that I have with them. They never present a good picture of what the world should look like. Oftentimes these films are loaded with lessons and morals for children to learn from, about being kind or being empathetic or heroic. But still, the eventual worldview they portray is always a negative one. It's always good versus evil, heroes versus villains, and the message they send to children is that the world is a hostile place to be feared. And I'll elaborate more in this video about what I mean. But that's why I want to talk to you about a film that deviates from all of that. A film so powerful that I truly believe it has the potential to change the world and how all of us view it. The Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece Kiki's Delivery Service. The reason I want to talk to you about this film is because it does something that I think so few films do. It shows us what a good and kind world would look like. We often reject the idea of a fundamentally nice world as naive, unrealistic. That's understandable, but I also think it's wrong. I think the reason we think like this is that we struggle to imagine what that world would look like. Ultimately, we see so few representations of it on our screens. In fact, we're more quick to accept pictures of broken, dystopian worlds where everyone is horrible than we are in accepting a world where everyone is just trying to be a good person. So I want to change all of that by talking to you about Kiki's Delivery Service, the Studio Ghibli film that shows us what the world might be like if we were all just a little bit nicer. Kiki's Delivery Service follows the journey of a young witch named Kiki, who's reached an age of maturity where it is customary for witches like her to set off on a sort of pilgrimage. In this journey, witches are supposed to leave home and find a new town or village to settle in and provide some sort of benefit or service to their new community. After deciding to settle in a bustling city, Kiki experiences various highs and lows, makes new friends, struggles, loses her magic and then rediscovers it along with a renewed sense of self. The film's climax sees her save her friend in a daring rescue, much to the joy of the entire town, who are watching this dramatic event unfold and marvel at what an amazing person Kiki is. Now I want to get right into analyzing the film, so I'll just set out that there are four distinct points I want to make about Kiki's Delivery Service that are the reasons why I think it's so wonderful and also show what we can learn from the film, both as viewers, but also what filmmakers and storytellers can learn. The first point is a simple one, a loving supportive community. At this point I want to acknowledge something that a lot of you may be thinking right now, hey I've seen kind worlds in kids shows and animated films and indeed children's media exists, like Paw Patrol, shows targeted at little kids below the age of 10 and then there's also what we might call family films, like what Disney produces, which are meant to be light-hearted positive experiences for the whole family. But even these things fall into traps, using stereotypes and tropes, that still portray the world as a hostile place where good and evil battle it out. And I'll be talking throughout the video about what these tropes are. Let's talk first about families and support systems. In Disney princess stories, for example, almost all our heroines come from a somewhat broken home. They almost never have mothers present, with most of them being long dead, and although they always say they love their fathers, their dads are almost always a huge source of friction in their life that inevitably causes them to run away from home. Jasmine runs away from the palace, which is when she meets Aladdin, Ariel and Pocahontas defy their fathers to fall in love with foreign men, Moana runs away in defiance of both her parents to set off on her journey, and so on. While the familial systems in these films are often meant to be seen as loving, they are very rarely supportive and more than anything they are oppressive forces for our main characters, trying to make them something they're just not. Now that's not to say that broken homes don't exist, or that all parents are always loving and supportive at all times. But remember we're talking about kind worlds, and it's hardly a great message to send to little kids that they should expect their parents to be completely oblivious to their personal desires, and in fact make them harder to achieve. I find it to be a very outdated image of what a parent is or should be. Someone who's more concerned about fulfilling their own desires vicariously through their children, rather than caring about what their child actually wants. Now let's take a look at Kiki's delivery service by contrast. We start the film with Kiki listening to a radio broadcast about the upcoming good weather, and deciding that tonight will be the best night for her to set off on her journey. Her parents are not yes-men or passive agents. When she comes to them with this proposal, they don't just take Kiki's words at complete face value and blindly accept everything that she's saying. Both parents are in fact initially not so sure about this idea. Kiki's mother feels the decision is sudden, and she's not sure if tonight is really the best night. Kiki's father had planned a camping trip with the family, and is disappointed at the idea of cancelling the bonding experience. But here's the key difference. They are both supportive. They trust Kiki enough to feel that if she's making a decision, she's making it for a reason. They have faith in their daughter's mind and her abilities, and ultimately, they trust that if she's been raised correctly, she will make wise choices. So to that end, Kiki's mother begins to sew and prepare Kiki's outfit and suitcase. Kiki's father immediately calls around the neighborhood to organize a going-away party for her that very night. They show their daughter affection, and verbally tell her how much they cherish and love her, and will miss her dearly. And it doesn't just stop with her family. When that going-away party begins, Kiki's entire community is there to support her. They all reminisce on seeing her grow up, and how they'll miss her presence in the village. Kiki's friends are all incredibly excited for her, and even joke about how much fun they think she'll have. Not a single person in the entire party is a naysayer. Or to put it more directly, no one is a hater. It's not uncommon for a scene like this, even in a kid's movie, to feature at least one or two characters who are fundamentally not looking out for the protagonist's best interest. Someone who is jealous, or someone who's just a bit miserable and casts serious doubt on our hero's capability. Are you sure? I don't think you'll be able to handle it. Going away on your own is scary. They would put in the protagonist's mind some sort of existential fear that they would dwell on and would make them doubt themselves and worry if they're good enough. But no, this is not a place or a film where hatefulness is a factor in people's minds or hearts. It's a loving, supportive community where everyone's first thought is, how can I help and support the people around me? Now, I'm not saying that you're not going to have people who dislike you. People who might even wish for your downfall. But those people shouldn't be a part of your regular community. Those are not the people who you should be choosing to surround yourself with. And I also want to emphasize that this doesn't mean that no one around Kiki has any doubts or disagreements with her. Kiki's mother, for example, questions the broom that Kiki wants to fly on. Kiki made the broom herself and is clearly very proud of it, but it's far too small. So her mother gently tells her that while the broom is really cute, Kiki should start on a bigger broom. Kiki protests at this idea, but then the old lady, who we saw earlier being helped by Kiki's mother, convinces her that Kiki can always make her own broom once she finds a new town, but should use this one for the important journey tonight. To this, Kiki begrudgingly agrees and takes the broom before her parents set her off on her journey. So as a foundation point, when I think of a kind world, this is what I would want to see. Communities where there is mutual trust and respect. Kiki's parents trust her decisions and give her the space to decide her own life. In turn, she respects that if they're insistent on something, it must be for good reason and she listens to the wiser, more experienced people around her when appropriate. Now I can already imagine some people are thinking, well this just isn't realistic. But again, I'd like to remind you about what I said at the start of the video. We struggle to accept things that we don't have a clear mental image of or things that feel foreign to us. We more readily accept a world where every family is broken and kids frequently run away from home, like they do in Disney movies. Now these things exist, but what percentage of children in the real world actually run away from home? Very few. And yet we never doubt that as an unrealistic image. But so many people are blessed with loving, supportive communities, where mutual trust is the order of the day. And yet when we think about it as something that could become the norm, our gut instinct is to reject it as unrealistic even when it's not. Even when we know in fact it is very real. Because we're so conditioned by media to view the world as operating via hostility, via an us versus them mentality. We'll talk more about that in our third section, but first I want to stick more on the theme of positivity as we discuss our next point of how kindness brings about more kindness. Now we've just spoken about how great it would be to strive for all to have loving, supportive communities. But what about strangers and people who don't know you? Well Kiki's Delivery Service has a great picture for us here too, and it can be summed up with the following sentiment. Kindness begets kindness. It's not uncommon to view strangers as people to be viewed with suspicion, and if not active mistrust, then at least guardedness. This is understandable for many reasons, but Kiki shows us that even within that framework, we can still be kind to those we've just met. And when we are, it creates a kinder world in turn. There are countless interactions in the film that Kiki has with strangers, where either she or they initiate with kindness. And there are even a few where a negative interaction becomes positive because of Kiki's kindness. Let's start first with just the nice people. Perhaps the most significant of these is Osano, the sweet pregnant baker who gives Kiki a place to stay and acts like a mother figure for her, enabling her delivery business and guiding her through various challenges. It'd be easy to point to Osano and say that there's no reason for her to be this nice, or to attribute her favours for Kiki to a maternal instinct, saying that her pregnancy makes her want to look out for this kid. But I think there's a much deeper reason than that. I think it comes down to a sort of karmic instinct in the world of Kiki's Delivery Service. When Kiki first meets Osano, she's walking past the bakery and watches an interaction take place where a customer leaves her baby's pacifier at the shop. She notices that Osano, a stranger, is trying and failing to return the pacifier to this customer, whose baby will no doubt be upset when it wakes up. This is a key moment, and to borrow a term from another great animated film, we can call it a canon event. If Kiki was not herself a kind person, she could ignore what's happening before her. After all, it's none of her business. She could choose to do nothing here. But altruistically, Kiki offers to deliver the pacifier to the customer. When Osano agrees, she takes the pacifier and flies it down to the woman, impressing Osano with both her kindness and her magical powers in the process. Kiki returns with a note from the customer, who in turn thanks Osano. And we can see how this one little interaction creates a ripple effect. One choice from Kiki to help a stranger for no reason other than just to be nice results in more kindness being created as a consequence. The customer is happier, her baby is safe from crying and in return, Osano wants to repay Kiki for her help. The two of them sit down for some coffee and after their conversation, Osano offers to take Kiki in and help her start her business. What's really powerful about this interaction as well is that it comes at a time when Kiki is actually struggling and feeling very low. She's just gotten to the city recently and had a fair few negative encounters. She nearly causes a car crash, gets told off by a police officer and then she gets refused by a hotel when she wants to rent a room. We'll talk about all these things in the next section. But the overall effect is that the enthusiasm Kiki has for her journey is quickly washed away. She loses her appetite and wanders the city dejected, causing Gigi to suggest that they find a different city, somewhere nicer. That's when Osano enters the scene and this little incident plays out. Afterwards, Osano shows Kiki to her new room, dusty and dingy, but finally a place to call home. As she settles in, Gigi's still unconvinced and wants to find another town. But Kiki says the following, I've decided to stay a while. Maybe I can find others like Osano who will like me and accept me for what I am. This is a theme throughout the film. Sometimes Kiki has kindness done to her, sometimes she initiates it for others. But the overall message of the movie remains the same. That each time you do good, the world becomes a slightly kinder, softer place. One person's kindness passes on to another person, who in turn passes it to a third, until before you realize it, you've molded the world in a positive way. Your actions as an individual can and do make the world better for everyone. This rule applies everywhere in the film. For example, Kiki's first customer, who's a fashionable woman that Kiki has been admiring from afar, and we'll talk more about her in her final section. When she asks Kiki how much she'll charge for her delivery, Kiki doesn't know because she hasn't planned it out yet. But rather than take advantage of this and try to lowball Kiki, the fashionable lady gives her a very generous fee, which Kiki remarks is beyond good enough for the job. This in turn motivates Kiki to work even harder for this lady, whose kindness she doesn't want to betray. Of course, this is the delivery that goes wrong, and Kiki ends up losing the toy she was meant to deliver. So she has to switch Gigi in as a decoy while she buys time to recover the real toy. But even here, and even with animals, the kindness that Kiki puts out earlier finds its way back to her. Jeff, the dog, catches on to what's happening, that Gigi is a real cat and not a toy. But while Gigi is initially nervous that the dog might eat or hurt him, it eventually comes to be that Jeff, the kindly old canine, protects him. He takes Gigi for himself to protect him from the reckless kid who he's meant to be a pet for. The child's family even remarks that Jeff has taken a shine to the toy and they let him keep it, and only when Jeff senses Kiki is nearby, does he quietly sneak Gigi out and return him to Kiki. Gigi remarks that he was saved by this noble dog and Kiki thanks him, hands him the real toy, and he quietly returns back inside, with the family being none the wiser about what's just happened. Again, he has no reason to do this for Gigi, who is a complete stranger to him, but the instinct of kindness is universal. Everything in the world of Kiki's has a karmic force to it, even the animals. When Kiki is nice, she brings more niceness back to her from the entire world around her. The other strongest example of this happening comes with a character who we'll call The Madam. This is a wealthy elderly woman who initially calls on Kiki to deliver a pie for her, but when Kiki arrives at her house, the woman informs her that, regrettably, she can't get her oven working, so she won't be able to bake the pie she meant for Kiki to deliver. Again, this brings us to an impasse. In a different movie, this could just be the end of this interaction, but the old lady being as sweet as she is, instructs her maid, Bertha, to pay Kiki in full for having dragged her all the way down here for nothing. Kiki now has a choice. She could easily take this money and go about her day. After all, she's broke and busy, but feeling a sense of justice and moral responsibility, she says that she would like to pay The Madam back in some way. So, she starts by doing a bunch of chores around the house that the aging maid Bertha was struggling with, and then after that, Kiki helps The Madam make her olden-style oven work, feeding it with some wood and lighting the fire to have it bake the old fashioned way. Kindness once more in this film brings about more kindness in turn. Both Kiki and The Madam create a system where they're constantly extending a hand of love out to each other, and later on in the film, The Madam bakes Kiki a lovely cake in thanks for all she's done In essence, she and her maid Bertha become fans of Kiki, and later on, we even see them rooting for her as they watch her daring rescue on television. Because they, like so many other people in this town, can't help but be drawn to and want the best for someone who is at their core, trying their best to be a kind person. The final incident I want to bring up in this section is one that actually starts off negative. When Kiki first sets off on her journey, she runs into another young witch who is nearing the end of her pilgrimage. Right off the bat, we can tell this girl is a bit stuck up and full of herself, treating Kiki quite coldly. She tells Kiki to turn off her music while she brags about her own skills as a witch. But rather than let this be a negative interaction, Kiki treats this witch with kindness and respect. She could have chosen to be snarky back to create an atmosphere of hostility, but she asks the witch for advice and expresses her own worries candidly. In return, the other witch changes how she responds as well and shares her own feelings more candidly about the town she lives in. Then, as she's heading off, she actually wishes Kiki the best of luck on her adventures. And what could have been an interaction where both girls come away with distaste for each other, ends with both of them wishing each other well. This is a message that's as important as what we spoke about earlier. Being kind to each other is vitally important, and it can and does create a better world. But we should extend that kindness even when the other person doesn't start off showing it. It's easy to be nice to nice people. But true courage comes in the ability to change the hearts of those who approach us with skepticism, by showing them that kindness is an option. Very few people should be written off as evil and unreachable. And this leads us well to what I want to talk about in our next section, which is another thing that Kiki's delivery service does so well. It avoids portraying people as evil. Now at this point, I don't think I'll need to convince you very strongly on, because we all know that almost every film out there, and especially family friendly films, love relying on the idea of good versus evil. There's almost always some awful villainous figure who is scheming and plotting against the hero, who by contrast is largely an innocent angel, undeserving of such treatment. The plot of such a film generally involves our hero struggling against the various minions and machinations that the villain sends after them, until they finally face down the big bad guy, defeat them, and everything becomes perfect. Now Disney is notorious for this, but even media meant for little kids uses tropes like this. Take Paw Patrol for example, which despite being about cute puppies, features the antagonist of Mayor Humdinger. A moustache twirling bad guy, who our heroes have to overcome repeatedly. Even toddlers are taught from a very early age that there are people out there we should hate, because they're villains. When my six-year-old niece who loves the show wants to play, one of her parents will become Mayor Humdinger and tell her that they're gonna catch her, and she would delight in bringing down the evil mayor. Especially in western media, we're almost incapable of telling stories without someone being evil, or at the very least being bad or at fault. Someone always needs to take the blame for why our hero is suffering, and it's only when we shift the misery onto that person, can we finally be happy. If they are defeated, banished, killed, only then can the rest of us be happy. That's pretty messed up, and ironically quite unrealistic. While yes, there are people in the world who are evil and doing harm to others, and we live in a time where people like this are more visible than ever, they are the exception to the rule. Most people are not like this. Most people are not villains out for evil, they're just normal people going about their lives who sometimes make mistakes and sometimes get in the way of each other. And that's why I love how Kiki's Delivery Service handles conflict. There are no villains in Kiki's Delivery Service, there isn't even anyone you could say was malicious. All the negative things that happen to Kiki, and there are still plenty, are either chance events or things that no one can really be blamed for. The elements are a hindrance quite a few times, like when Kiki starts her journey and the weather gets so rough that she's forced to take shelter in a train. Another time a gust of wind throws her off track en route to her first job, causing her to lose the toy she was meant to deliver. The toy then gets stuck with some crows, who think Kiki is trying to steal their eggs, and shoo her away. And then the rain gets her another time when she's delivering the pie for the kind old lady. Now that's not the film saying that the weather is frequently going to ruin our lives, although as someone who lives in grey and rainy England, it certainly isn't my best friend either. The elements and nature are just metaphors for things happening that send us off the path we thought we'd be on. It represents unexpected circumstances that cause us challenges in life. And truthfully, this is what we battle so often in our lives. Things just not going our way and making things extra difficult for us, rather than direct conflict with evil people. Now there are still moments when Kiki's conflicts are interpersonal, which is to say, it's other people causing her trouble. And I really want to break these down because I think they're done in such a beautiful, human way. And that's because in all these occasions we'll talk about, no one in this situation is unjustified in their behavior. Let's start with Kiki's first entrance to the city that she eventually comes to call home. Kiki, flying in, unused to the traffic and crowded streets, nearly causes an accident and catches the attention of a police officer. As she lands, she tries to talk to a few people on a street corner, who are visibly confused by her. Kiki introduces herself and very optimistically tells them that they have a lovely town that she looks forward to living in. But most of everyone ignores her and walks on, except for one older woman who wishes her well. Moments later, the police officer from earlier catches up to her and is angry with her, telling her that he needs to go talk to her parents about her reckless behavior. This encounter is overall a disheartening one for Kiki and it's what leads up to that scene where she first meets Osano that I've already spoken about. But honestly, none of these people are wrong for behaving how they do. The onlookers on the street, while they're understandably a bit unsure about this strange flying girl having never seen a witch before. And plus, it's a busy city. We all know how rushed that environment is and how you just don't have the time to stop and make pleasantries with strangers. We'll talk more about that in a second. Then there's the police officer who, rightly, is upset with Kiki who nearly caused an accident. From his perspective, she's just a reckless kid fooling around where she shouldn't be. What's actually happening here is that Kiki is having her first encounter with life in the big city. It's big, overwhelming, and it's a complete change from the small, contained community she's been a part of until now. It acts as a culture shock for her and is part of the journey of growing up. You get placed in unfamiliar environments and face challenges you've never faced before. But as we'll see and talk about more in this video, the journey of the film is of Kiki learning to overcome all of these natural human struggles and, in a sense, find her place as a grown-up in the world. By the end, she's won over the whole town just by being who she is. Even the big city is not immune from becoming a kinder place. Next, let's talk about what is probably the most negative interaction Kiki has with anyone in the film, the girl who we'll call the granddaughter. As we spoke about in the previous section, one of the nicest relationships Kiki has is with the madam. But as Kiki sets off to deliver the pie for this sweet old grandma, everything starts to go wrong. Firstly, she's running late for a party that she's been invited to. Then on the way over, it starts raining incredibly hard, which not only makes it harder for her to fly, but also threatens to ruin the pie if Kiki doesn't protect it under her own dress. So, struggling and hurrying, Kiki arrives at this lavish home where she's to deliver the pie for the granddaughter's birthday party. But as soon as the doors open, we can sense a mood shift. The granddaughter is far from thrilled at the sight of Kiki and when she explains that she's going to delivery from the madam, the granddaughter expresses her annoyance that she doesn't like these crummy pies her grandmother makes. She's curt as she takes the pie from Kiki and then slams the door shut in her face. The interaction visibly shakes Kiki, who stands there for a while in disbelief. Gigi remarks that this girl couldn't possibly be the granddaughter of that kind old woman they've just met. Visibly dejected, Kiki flies home, skips the party, and goes straight to bed and comes down with a fever overnight. Now, obviously getting soaked in the rain is going to fast track you on the road to illness, but I also think that Kiki's illness is a manifestation of her emotional state, the shock of what she's just dealt with. Seeing the granddaughter be so ungrateful really upsets Kiki, partly because she really likes the madam and saw how much effort she put into making that pie, but I think Kiki also feels, for the first time, someone being ungrateful for her own work and effort. Kiki also really had to work hard to get that pie made and then struggle even more to get it there safely. So to have someone being so visibly ungrateful for all of that really upsets her. It's a complete shift from the kindly madam in Osuno who she's come to know and love. But if we look at this interaction now from the perspective of the granddaughter, her behavior is quite understandable. We all know that as loving and sweet as grandmothers can be, sometimes they can be a bit overbearing, and when you're a kid, you don't always see the effort your elders make for you, you only think about the outcome. And if you've told your grandmother that you hate fish pies, and I mean who doesn't, and yet she keeps sending you some, you're probably right to feel annoyed. You're gonna feel like your grandmother doesn't actually listen to you or understand you, but just projects whatever she wants onto you. It would be pretty easy for Kiki's delivery service to portray this granddaughter as an evil person, but one of the subplots in the film is of Kiki actually learning to become friends with her. Later in the film, Kiki goes on an outing with Tombo, which is fun and full of laughter. But as they're sitting by the water discussing life, a group of kids pull up and flag down Tombo. They tell him that they've got permission to explore inside the dirigible that's docked nearby, and with air travel being such a huge fascination of Tombo's, he happily agrees to go with them. But Kiki spots amongst the girls in the car, that same granddaughter, the one who she feels is a mean person. Seeing her, Kiki suddenly changes her mood and demeanor, and she storms off angrily. Getting rather irrational herself, she doesn't even explain to Tombo why she suddenly changed from enjoying his company to being mad at him, and leaves him standing there thoroughly confused. But importantly, the film isn't about Kiki conquering this girl or getting one over her. In a more traditional western film, we could see this as a schoolyard dynamic, where Kiki wins by eventually getting to humiliate the popular pretty girl and show everyone that she is really better. But while their dynamic is not explicitly explored in the rest of the film, we see during the end credits that they've actually become friends. After rescuing Tombo at the climax of the film and dealing with her own insecurities, something we'll talk about soon, Kiki is shown to be happily hanging out with her granddaughter and all the other people she previously viewed with contempt and skepticism. I mean this is the person Kiki is seen disliking the most in the film, though even that is a strong word, and we finish by seeing them be friends. This is the ultimate message of Kiki's delivery service. In real life, we can't literally be everyone's friend, that's not possible. And nor does everyone deserve your friendship. Some people suck, but most people can be understood a lot better and will probably prove to be a lot more amiable than you might think. We don't need to categorize people as good or evil. People are not obstacles to overcome, they're just people, like you and me. They can be reached out to, and most of them can be reasoned with. Now again, this doesn't mean you'll never have problems with other people, or for that matter that we can create a world without problems, but neither of those things need to be true for us to create a kind world. Often the demons we're fighting are our own, and that leads me to discuss our next section, the internal struggles of Kiki, and the lessons we can take from the film. Now I've spoken a lot in this video already about the nice and sweet things about Kiki's delivery service that I really like, but do you know what my favorite line in the film is? It's the absolute last line of the film. In a letter that Kiki is writing to her parents, she finally tells them about the town she's chosen to live in and what her experiences have been, and then she signs off the letter and the film with the following, I still get sad, but I love this town. To me this sums up not only what is beautiful about the film, but also why I think we can learn so much from it, both as viewers and also for any filmmakers. Bear in mind that just before this scene, we see Kiki rescue her friend and become the hero of the whole town, who watch on TV screens and in person with rapt attention as they see this young witch pull off this incredible act. They celebrate her and laud her as a hero, and yet the final sentiment of the film is Kiki acknowledging that she still gets sad, and that despite her struggles and sadness, she still loves this town and her life in it. So many films we consume, especially family films, rely on the idea of a happily ever after. Again, this is a concept I won't have to sell you on or explain to you, we are thoroughly used to films doing this, and sometimes they even literally end with the line, and they lived happily ever after. The message of these films is that, the pain, the sadness, the struggle, any of those things that our characters go through, are all confined to the contents of the film. That having resolved all these issues and triumphed over the big bad evil haunting the film, the characters will now live in some perpetual state of happiness. There will be no more challenges, no more difficulties to overcome, they have solved all their worries and will now be forever happy. This is deeply unrealistic, much more so than the idea of a kind world. Sadness and struggle is an inevitable part of life. It is sadness that makes us appreciate the better times. It is in sadness that our loved ones show us just how important they are to us. It is sadness that makes us human, as much as happiness does. Pretending that there can be a happily ever after is deluded at best, and flat out a harmful ideology to spread at worst. A kind world is not one that is devoid of sadness. It is in fact all the more important to recognize each other's sadness and help others in their low periods whenever we can, in order to create a kinder world. So for that reason, I want to explore some of the internal struggles that Kiki goes through during the film, and what they can teach us about happiness. First and perhaps most significant, is the loss of her magic. In a different film, Kiki losing her powers would have been down to some external force. Some evil witch for example, who takes her powers away, and who Kiki has to beat to get them back. But it's very clear in Kiki's that the loss of her magic is caused by an internal struggle. Something about her has changed, and causes her to not be able to access that special something inside that gives her her powers. What exactly this comes down to is something the film leaves completely up to interpretation. And I actually love hearing people's various theories for it. So if you've a theory, I'd love to hear about it in the comment section. And while you're at it, if you've enjoyed this video so far, please do consider supporting me directly via Patreon. Support from patrons is what allows me to keep making video essays like this, and is the best way to help the channel, especially as I'm trying to avoid adding advertisements and plugging weird unethical brands that I don't want to have to sell to you to make a living. The link for Patreon is in the video description, and I would be eternally grateful for your help. Now, from my part, I think Kiki's loss of powers come from her losing her sense of self and her confidence. Her magic comes from inside, and when Kiki is unable to tap into what makes her her, she also loses the ability to tap into her magic. In the scene before she loses her powers, when she's hanging out with Tombow, she explicitly tells him that, I don't enjoy flying. It's a job. I feel my confidence slipping. The joy that Kiki is supposed to feel from flying, a form of her magic, is no longer there, representing how she's lost a sense of internal happiness. And of course, she explicitly mentions her confidence slipping, which comes from the various setbacks she's had that we've already spoken about in this video. Not long before this scene is the part of the film where Kiki encounters the granddaughter and her perspective on people has been shaken. Not only does seeing the granddaughter's behavior make Kiki worry about people's kindness, or sometimes lack thereof, she also feels a bit humiliated. She's just a dowdy delivery girl, standing in front of a well-dressed and popular teen. It taps into a greater fear that serves as a really subtle subplot throughout the entire film. It's never spoken about very explicitly in Kiki's delivery service, but from very early on, Kiki expresses her deep-rooted sense of not feeling feminine enough. She doesn't feel beautiful, she doesn't feel fashionable, and she doesn't feel like she matches up to many of the other women she encounters in the film. Right from the early scene where Kiki is getting ready to depart, she complains to her mother that she doesn't like her black dress. Her mother tells her that it's not the color of the dress that's important, but what's inside your heart, to which Kiki replies that she knows having a good heart is ultimately what matters. Later, Kiki again complains to Osano that she doesn't know about what to wear to this upcoming party that she's been invited to by Tombo. She's clearly worried again about the inadequacy of her black dress, but Osano tells her that it makes her look beautiful and mysterious, which Kiki is surprised by. At various points in the film, we see Kiki compare herself to other women more directly. At one point, she seems jealous of a group of girls walking down the street, and then after they pass, she stares at a reflection in a shop window and says that she wishes she had something pretty to wear. A few moments later, she spots a pair of beautiful red shoes in a shop window that she's clearly smitten with, only for it to be interrupted when Tombo arrives in a car with his friends. Tombo tells his friends, see, I told you, she only wears black, which upsets Kiki, who's already angry from the moment they arrive because, presumably, she already felt judged by them. What I love about all these moments is that they're so subtle. These doubts and fears are easily missed if you're watching the film for the first time. So many films handle struggles like these with a metaphorical sledgehammer, bashing you over the head with exposition about how the character is feeling, till all power and emotion is gone from the point. These are not A-plot fears that Kiki has that debilitate her life. They're just passive, day-to-day thoughts that she wrestles with. Around halfway through the film, Kiki is tending to the shop when she spots a young couple riding away on a motorcycle, and she sighs wistfully at the sight. You can sense that she wishes that was her. A few moments later, she spots the fashionable lady again, walking by the storefront as she waves at Kiki. Kiki remarks that that woman is so beautiful, and then we see again a few seconds later that she looks a bit melancholy, as if she was comparing herself to the woman right now. All of this culminates in that moment I mentioned earlier, when Kiki, despite having a fun time with Tombo, storms away from him after seeing the granddaughter is his friend. After walking the long road back home, she dejectedly falls under her bed, clearly downbeat. There's no doubt in my mind that she's once again comparing herself to this fashionable, spoiled girl, and also making judgements about Tombo's association with her. When Gigi arrives, she tells him, Gigi, I think there's something wrong with me. I make friends, then suddenly I can't bear to be with any of them. That other me, the cheerful and honest one, went away somewhere. It's not a coincidence then that after this, Kiki realizes that she can't understand Gigi anymore, that he seems to be behaving and meowing like a normal cat, and that triggers her to realize that she's lost her magic. That line really speaks to me, because I think it's an instinct that almost all of us have. We've all had moments in our life when we really don't feel like ourselves. When we look back at a previous version and think, I was so happy, so cheerful. Where did that version of me go? Sometimes we go through long periods of feeling this way. But Kiki's journey from this point on in the film is of learning to recapture her sense of self, her sense of happiness, and regain her confidence. She goes on a trip to the woods to stay with her artist friend Ursula, who she met during the toy delivery. It's this time with Ursula that helps Kiki realize things not just about her magic, but also about herself. Upon arriving, one of the first things that Kiki sees is a beautiful painting that Ursula is working on. Ursula tells her that she hasn't been able to get the girl's face right, and she was waiting for Kiki to return to do it. Kiki is shocked when she realizes that the girl in the painting is her, and when Ursula asks her to model for the painting, Kiki's first response is, but I'm not beautiful. Ursula simply laughs at this and tells her that she's got a great face, and that she's only gotten prettier since they last met, probably referencing the fact that Kiki's becoming a woman, and we know she's clearly struggling with that. Later, as Ursula begins her sketching, she tells Kiki that magic and painting are a lot alike. Sometimes, she can't paint a thing. Kiki asks Ursula what she does when that happens, because she used to be able to fly without any effort, but now she can't even begin to remember how she ever did it. This again, I think, is so relatable. When we're kids, we find fulfillment without trying. The simplest of things makes us happy, without us needing to think about it. But as we get older, finding lasting happiness can be a massive struggle, something we wrestle with for most of our lives. Kiki is feeling, for the first time, a loss of something innate. A total inability to fly, which, really, is an inability to be happy and fulfilled. To be herself. Ursula's advice? Well, when I still can't paint, I just do nothing. I go on walks, look at the scenery, sleep at noon, and then, she says she feels recharged again. The message here is that we all need mental resets. We all need breaks to look after ourselves, to recharge in whatever ways work for us. We do need to be kinder, but not just to others, but sometimes, to ourselves. As they're heading to bed, Kiki and Ursula have a further heart-to-heart. Ursula shares that she's wanted to be an artist since she was a kid, but one day, she found herself unable to paint at all. She realized that she was just imitating other painters, and needed to paint her own pictures. This, of course, is a struggle many an artist would understand, but even on a human level, this is what Kiki is suffering with, too. She's getting caught in the trap of comparison, worried more about being like other girls, than she is about being like herself. Then, Ursula continues that, even after figuring that out, it still hasn't gotten any easier for her to be true to herself. She says that artists, witches, bakers, they all have a spirit inside them that gives them their powers, but that they also suffer for having that same spirit. I think the film here is definitely talking from the perspective of artists, and you can practically hear Hayao Miyazaki's voice saying these words, but this applies in a broader sense to all of us, too. Sometimes, the things that give us joy, that make us human, that make us who we are, are also what cause us to suffer. Kiki thanks Ursula for coming to see her, and the next day, she heads back home, happier for having spent time with her friend. She gets a call from the for another delivery, which turns out to just be a cake she's baked for Kiki. She tells the young witch, would you please deliver this to a girl named Kiki. She was kind, and a tremendous help, and asks her when her next birthday is so that I can make another one for her as a thank you. Kiki is moved by this act, and wants to know the madam's birthday in turn, so that she, too, can return the favor. After this, she learns about Tombo's troubles via the television, and the rest is history. She rediscovers her magic, saves her friend, and wins the hearts of the entire town, in a fearless display of courage and heroism. And I think all of this clearly has a message here about women supporting and uplifting other women, but I also think there's a broader human message, and it brings us back to the very first point I made in this video, about the importance of having a kind, supportive community around us. What Kiki struggles with, is what all of us struggle with, and there's no characters in the film who are immune from the troubles that life brings us. Ursula struggles to paint and find herself, the madam clearly doesn't have the relationship with her granddaughter that she wishes she had, and even the happy-go-lucky Tombo is filled with self-doubt. But it's by having people around us who are considerate and in touch with our emotional needs, that we can fight off these feelings. When she needs them most, when she's at her lowest, it's Kiki's friends who help her learn to love herself again, to see herself the way they see her. Ursula reminds her of her beauty and artistic spirit, the madam reminds her of her kindness, and Tombo's peril helps remind her that she's not the only one struggling. She's able to put all her self-doubt aside, to rush to help another person she cherishes, who is also in need. This is why the message of Kiki's delivery service is so profound to me, because it's so relatable, and yet paints a picture of a world we really don't see enough of, even in Disney films, family films, and children's media. Even as the town folk cheer on Kiki and celebrate her as a hero, the ending sentiment of the film is still that line I mentioned earlier, I still get sad but I love this town. The truth is that we can never fully put aside our fears, our doubts, our problems. To be human is to constantly fight against these things. But to be human is also to love and be loved, to be kind and have kindness done to us, to perpetually seek happiness and find the many joys in life on our way there. That's why for me, Kiki's delivery service is one of the greatest films ever made, and why its message can truly create and shape a better world for us all. As long as we, particularly storytellers and movie makers, are willing to indulge in creating a world that's fundamentally kind, not one where conflict and hostility are the primary drivers for everything. Thank you for watching this video, if you've enjoyed it then please do subscribe to the channel, like, and drop a comment about what you thought of this video and what you'd like to me cover next. As always, I want to truly thank my patrons, without whom I would not be able to make videos like this, and I would be very very grateful to any of you watching who would sign up to support me directly. As I said earlier, I don't want to have to pump my videos full of ads or paywall any of my content, but if I want to keep making video essays like these, then obviously I do need to earn a living, and Patreon is the best way to help me do that. The link is in the video description. That's it for now, I'll be back soon with another video, and I hope I'll see you then. Have a great day, and remember that we can all help create a kinder world. See you soon.