Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

A thirteen‑year‑old witch, a borrowed broom, and a city that doesn’t owe you anything—that’s the quiet magic that makes Kiki’s Delivery Service unforgettable. We dive into why this story still hits hard: the sweetness of small kindnesses, the sting of indifference, and the way work can both drain you and define you. From the bakery’s warm light to the wind over red rooftops, we trace how Miyazaki builds a world that feels lived‑in without overexplaining its rules, letting emotion and texture do the heavy lifting.

We compare first impressions, highlight the European inspirations behind the seaside city, and talk about how Osono’s simple act of hospitality becomes the turning point for Kiki’s sense of belonging. Then we tackle the big question: why does Gigi stop talking? We explore it as both a magical bond loosening and a metaphor for leaving childhood behind, and how that silence reframes Kiki’s isolation and resilience. The blimp set piece gets a close read too—why the battered street broom matters, how action restores purpose, and what it says about skill versus heart.

Along the way, we have fun with dubs and voice casting, swap Disney pin‑trading lore, and debate Tombow’s friend group in a world suddenly obsessed with flight. If you love Studio Ghibli, coming‑of‑age stories, or just want to feel the wind in your face for an hour, this one’s for you. Hit play, then tell us your take: is Kiki Miyazaki’s most rewatchable film, and what do you think really happened to Gigi’s voice? Subscribe, share with a friend, and drop a rating to help more listeners find the show.

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Transcript

Hosts Kick Off And Intros

SPEAKER_06 0:00

Alright, alright, alright. Let's do this. Welcome back to Project Geekology. This is episode 153. I am one of many hosts here on Project Gecology. It's hard to keep track of all four of us. But yeah, my name is Dakota. We are covering something very special to at least three of us, and that is Kiki's Delivery Service. And we can't wait to talk to you about it.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

We're joined as always with Anthony, and I I thought you were going to introduce yourself as uh Matthew McConaughey after that uh introduction.

SPEAKER_06 0:34

Um I got the same thing. I like to keep you guys on my toes.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

I I see that, but yes, Kiki's delivery service. Um I'm excited to cover that. But before we do that, I'm going to shoot that over to one of our other hosts.

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Rich. You may know me from popular podcasts like PW Pondering's Newscast or Rich and Runs Run and Wild on Wrestling. Uh, but today I'm just here as plain old Rich. And I'm gonna kick it over to our fourth host.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Hey, I'm Jen, uh Dakota's wife, and I really like Kiki's delivery service, so I'm happy to talk about it.

Predator, Alien, And Pop Culture Tangents

SPEAKER_06 1:14

That's my wife. Um, yeah, as I as I mentioned, we have several of us who have enjoyed Kiki's delivery service for a while, and maybe a fourth person who has enjoyed Kiki's delivery service this week. I guess we'll find out, folks. Why did you sound exactly like David Lynch there? I guess we'll find out, folks. I should just do a podcast in David Lynch's voice. Dirty bearded men. Um, yeah, anyway. Yeah, we're we're covering Kiki's delivery service. It's one of uh Hayao Miyazaki's classics from the Studio Ghibli collection. Yeah, before we jump into that, I want to talk to you guys a little bit because you covered a podcast uh last week and I listened to it. It's amazing. Um it's uh Predator Badlands. Uh you you really you really covered that film well uh while I was away. I was I was away. We'll talk about that later. But how how was your experience recording together?

SPEAKER_03 2:18

Well th this was our second time doing it, right? We did The Last of Us season one and the first game. So, you know, this this was just us. Honestly, like that this was like the second thing that we've covered that like we we have like kind of extensive knowledge on because him and I we've both seen well I I mean you've seen all the Predator movies. I don't uh or I think you said you missed out some, right, Rich?

SPEAKER_04 2:44

Yeah, there were the the Brody one I didn't see.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

Okay, yeah, yeah. Whereas like I had seen them all, so and I think Dakota, you've only seen I've only seen Badlands, so that that was uh that was my introduction to the Predator movies.

SPEAKER_06 3:01

Um I I also have seen the AVP like Alien vs. Predator films, but I don't really consider that Predator films, even though I think um You've never seen Predator the like Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger. You had never seen Alien with Sigourney Weaver, like a couple months ago, so you have like no foot to stand on, sir.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Yeah, the they're they're they're br they both like hold the same standing.

SPEAKER_04 3:28

Was she a governor of California? I'm not really sure. Did she contact Frank the Tank, the New York Met fan, who's very overweight, and get him on an Arnold training regimen and check in with him all the time recently? Because that that's been an amazing journey to watch. Alright. I don't see Sigourney Weaver doing any of that business. We're gonna have to rectify this in the future, sir.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Yeah, but but she's gonna be in um how but have we seen Arnold Schwarzenegger in Star Wars yet? We have Sigourney Weaver about to join the or wait, has she already been in?

SPEAKER_06 4:02

No, this is this is her.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Okay, yeah, so yeah, she's about to to join Star Wars and um the Mandalorian and Grogu.

SPEAKER_04 4:09

Mandalorian and Grogu has already an old connection.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_04 4:13

Uh, what's his name? Reef Carga. Okay, but that's He's in the movie Predator. You understand? His performance is more dislikable when you've seen Predator. You're like, wow, he look what he brought from Predator to this role. See, I see him as Apollo Creed. I stand down. Sorry. Let's move on. I apologize. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

And that really funny scene from uh Arrested or that Arrested Development episode where he was teaching um Tobias how to make a stew.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

He's teaching Tobias how to act. Oh yeah. Tobias was like giving up his savings, learn how to act. He's like actually stew going.

SPEAKER_04 4:54

$11,000. What are you throwing out there, man?

Disney Trip Stories And Pin Trading Deep Dive

SPEAKER_06 4:58

Um, all right, let's let's let's keep this show on the road. Uh we were gone last week, Janet and I, uh, because we went down to Florida for a vacation with uh my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. And yeah, we we did the the Disney World thing. We visited uh my grandmother in Orlando. And yeah, it was it was a good time. What why are you why are you smiling like that?

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I just smiled.

SPEAKER_06 5:27

It's it's an unsettling smile.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

I'm sorry you feel that.

SPEAKER_06 5:31

How was your week last week?

SPEAKER_01 5:32

It was very nice. We uh you really stuck to the pin trading game. The pin the traders didn't know. They didn't know we were coming to wreak havoc on their lands, and we pillaged, I would say.

SPEAKER_06 5:45

You know, we're we're pretty big pin traders, but there are much bigger pin traders out there. We're we we are uh guppies among sharks, my friends. But these guppies did perform well at trading pens. Um we we got some really cool ones, so uh excited to add that to our pinboards.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Do you lament the loss of the pin you traded?

SPEAKER_01 6:06

No, not always. So There's one pin that I regret trading, actually, on this show. Sandwich Man. Yeah, I just I didn't like her vibe after I traded with her. She irritated me.

SPEAKER_06 6:19

Anyway, so pin trading, yeah. It's it's a long uh story, but Disney's been doing pin trading for about 25 years now, where they've been creating enamel pins based on their IPs, their characters, their uh their rides, their locations that they own, different events that they plan, and there are literally I think there are probably well over a hundred thousand pins out there since they began doing the pin trading thing out there. Um there's no way to get them all because some of them are like limited edition to certain amounts and stuff. But what is cool about it is you know you can buy packs of stuff that you want to try to complete. So if there's a pack of say eight pins, um and each pack comes with two, the likelihood that you're gonna get doubles increases the more packs you buy. So you just put that into your trading value, basically. So that's how we have uh been doing our trading. I know a lot of people will like buy like fake pins on eBay and criminals. Um they will like flood the park with savages, with fake pins. Most most pins that you see on pin boards in Disney World are fake pins. You have to like understand what you're looking at to know that like to notice a real one versus a fake one.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

How how how pretty tell does does one is this like uh like an art um evaluator or something?

SPEAKER_06 7:47

It is actually it does become it does become that way, yes. I could probably do a whole podcast, or yeah, I could probably do a whole podcast on pin trading actually, just because it's it is there's a weight difference to certain pins that are fake. Like they they don't feel like the proper material. Like they they cheaped out on certain like metals or enamel. The enamel is never like a flat surface, it's always kind of like grooved in a certain way. The colors are usually off, and the scrapper pins, as they're called, or the fake pins, tend to be time a dozen. You know, you'll see them thousand or like a hundred times on on different boards, you know, like it's just they they mass print random ugly ones so that you can trade those away without feeling any guilt and uh try to find a real one.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

But then when you find a real one, it's really exciting because you're like, oh man, and then like you know like like people are cool and they'll like put some good pins on the board to support the love of the game.

SPEAKER_06 8:43

If you know what the the new pins are in the the current release boxes and uh sets, you can kind of tell what those are when you get to the pin boards if they are on the pit boards, you know what I'm saying? So it's it's not always easy, especially like when you first start pin trading. Um I'm sure we have some like fake pins from like when we first started pin trading, but at this point they've just been part of our collection for a while now, so we wouldn't trade those. But like the new pins, we're we're pretty confident we we have you know figured out what's a real and what's a what's a fake thing.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Really cool. And Disney's now adding like little diamonds to the back. Yes, it's like they're not like real diamonds, obviously, but like little Mickey shaped like gems, little little cubic zirconium on the back of the pen. To make it harder to like fake them. So that like nowadays, like when you go, some some traders will be like, I'm only doing diamond for diamond, and then you like you you have to have the little diamonds on the back of yours or they won't trade with you. Sounds cutthroat.

SPEAKER_04 9:41

It's a good time. I will tell you guys, if you guys want to do any kind of pin stuff locally, um, there is actually a thriving pin community uh before Met Games. There is a gentleman who really cool pins. Like uh he made a Captain America David Wright hybrid because he was on Team USA. So uh I don't know, you know, you might catch it at a ball game. Uh get some more pins.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

If only we had a Mets.

SPEAKER_04 10:08

Imagine you had a starter Mets pin that actually would kind of bridge collections. That would be crazy.

SPEAKER_06 10:13

Yeah, that would be really crazy. Um, all right, yeah. So anyway, we had a good time at Disney World. We we we did a lot of pen trading. We we rode not many rides because Jen is currently uh pregonante and specially it turns into a pregnancy announcement. Uh not just a pregnancy announcement, but a pregnancy denouncement because you know we couldn't ride all the good rides. Basically, all the the the most thrilling ride that we were allowed to like go on, you know, with a with a pregnant wife was uh probably pirates.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

I mean, pirates is a fantastic ride.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

So I mean you gotta watch out for that that steep drop at the beginning.

SPEAKER_06 10:53

I know that that like 10-15 feet drop.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Did I like curl into a ball and hold my stomach for the drop? Yes. And it's literally like two feet.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

It's I looked it up in advance, it's completely safe, but I was still really scared. Yeah.

Long Live The Timeline Project

SPEAKER_06 11:09

Anyway, that's that's what we've been up to. Uh, we've been watching a little bit of X-Files, a little bit of Smallville, just um working on that. And uh my Long Live the Timeline project has been going pretty strong. Um, I am almost at 400 entries, not not videos, but like 400 individual event entries uh that are dated. And yeah, we're we're doing we're doing pretty good with uh Long Live the Timeline, uh my my side project that I've been doing for a couple weeks. And I I know that you guys have seen uh me posting about pretty much every day at this point. So uh yeah, I'm excited about that project. Uh Rich, I appreciate all the uh retweets and reposts. I you're doing your part.

SPEAKER_04 11:53

I uh I enjoy it. I like knowing what day it is. Uh especially like you think I'm joking, and people out there might be, oh, Rich is exaggerating so that we will go listen to the videos and watch the videos. No, I'm not. When I'm on vacation, I have no idea what day it is, right? Like the date or the day. So I was waking up, having my coffee, and then boom, on my timeline within like five or six minutes, right? So it's like literally he's getting you ready for the day. And he's like, this is what day it is. Here's what important information. Like, you know, Aragon passed by, you know, uh I can't remember their names, the two giant statues, uh the the Argonoth, yeah. Just the other day, you know, and uh I was like, look, I know that now. So um I don't I don't miss an episode. Glad to hear it.

SPEAKER_06 12:41

Glad to hear it. And yesterday, speaking of uh important days, was uh Twin Peaks Day. Um so that was that was really fun just sending uh memes over to you guys. Everyone loves Twin Peaks Day. It's it's just except Rich. Except Rich. He hates it. Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 12:54

Rich was celebrating it also. Like no, he was. He was like he was sending the the Audrey thing in the chat. Dude, I was I was loving it. Like everything that came out, it was just it was hilarious. I saw this post of like somebody dressing up their cat as log lady, and it said Twin Peaks Day. Oh, that's cool. Um I think it might have been like from like a like an older Twin Peaks Day, but like you know, it was making its rounds again. And it it was just yeah, it was awesome. Yeah, we we were posting and send like I s I send Jen um Twin Peaks stuff all the time. That's pretty awesome. I sent it to Rich too.

SPEAKER_04 13:35

That that commercial from the for the coffee can.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah. That was awesome. Yeah, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_04 13:40

I thought it was like I thought it was fake. I thought it was some sort of AI. I was like, this can't be a real thing.

SPEAKER_06 13:46

It was a real thing. Yep. Um, and I believe it's actually directed by David Lynch, those those commercials.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Um compilations of David Lynch commercials, and they're like the best. Like they're super weird.

SPEAKER_06 14:00

The PlayStation the PlayStation 2 commercial has nothing to do with PlayStation. Has nothing to do with video games in general. It it looks it looks like it belongs in a racerhead. It doesn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

He did like some perfume ones. Yeah, it it it was uh it was a cutscene from from uh Twin Peaks.

One Piece Binge And Anime News

SPEAKER_06 14:20

Yeah. So what what have you guys been up to? Let's uh throw it over to Anthony.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

So I I have been prepping for season two of the live action one piece, so I've been watching through that again. Yeah, man, I've been like on another stent and like watching one piece, like I've been watching it like crazy. I always like will watch a bunch and then I take breaks to watch other stuff. So now I'm back in like a one piece stent and now I am Yeah I'm I'm over 500 episodes in now into into One Piece, so I'm like past the time skip and everything. So yeah, I mean there there's some really really good arcs that happened. Oh well the the last arc that that I watched and I I watched was Impel Down and then I stopped right before one called Marine Ford and then I watched through all of Marine Ford up through the time skip and beyond that. So yeah, man, it's I'm I'm I'm on it like crazy again now. We we gotta get you back on the One Piece, but you haven't you haven't hit the halfway point though. No, no. The I I think they're I think I'll be able to catch up now because I think One Piece is becoming seasonal. So there's slowing the product.

SPEAKER_06 15:38

They're slowing down production, yeah. Which is good for um Achito Oda, but uh bad for fans who are like used to the you know getting an episode a week every week for like 20 years.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, the thing is is that I think he's you know, obviously he's trying to slow it down a bit um to help with writing the manga. And then also, I mean we're in the last saga, so like this is after that, then we're gonna get two-piece, you know? So um well, I mean they are doing that. I don't know how far they're gonna go into it, but there is I know that they are reanimating at least the first few the few first several arcs.

SPEAKER_06 16:31

The ones that are like Yeah, it's a new it's a new show, right? But I forget who the who the animation group mappa or animation that's that's the new show.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Yeah, the animation group. So they're the ones that are behind Um Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen.

SPEAKER_06 16:48

Alright, so yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be strong.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Yeah. That's cool. So yeah, I've been just gung-ho on that, man.

SPEAKER_06 16:55

Plugging away. Yeah. Um we should do a recap episode of One Piece Season 1 before we jump into One Piece Season 2.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

Oh, yeah, that yeah, that'd be awesome, man. Yeah, I'm excited. Let's do it. I'm excited. I don't know if you've seen the channel. The live action show, right?

SPEAKER_06 17:10

The live action, yes. Okay, so it's only six episodes you have to deal with. Okay, I can do that. All right.

SPEAKER_04 17:15

Got a little worried.

SPEAKER_03 17:16

You got scourge. Rich, you have to watch 500 episodes um within the next month. And was it knowing you, Rich, you could do it.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

I've got another you have that power.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

I mean you would you let me say you you would be able to blow through 500 episodes way faster than me.

Gaming Updates And Giant Open Worlds

SPEAKER_04 17:33

So just so you know, the other day when we were pitching the idea of possibly doing Fallout Season 2, uh Dakota over here said that uh, you know, they'd need more time that uh Jen hadn't watched it. And just uh prove him wrong, I watched eight, I watched the full season that day. Like I I didn't I didn't text you guys, but I was just like this can be done. And I said and I literally watched the entire season in one day.

SPEAKER_06 17:58

I I know that it can be done, but I know I also know that if we're having Jen on board, we need to I I need more time to you know actually sit and watch because you fall asleep for like an episode of television, you just pass out.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

I guess sleepy sometimes. Is it a crime? It is, yeah. Is it a crime to be sleepy?

SPEAKER_06 18:19

Actually, my house it is. Rich, let's jump, let's jump over to you. What have you been up to this past week besides Fallout?

SPEAKER_04 18:26

Uh I've been trying a couple new games. What did I pick up? Uh I picked up Hollow Knight. Uh just tried that because it was I think it was free on on PlayStation, and I picked up Echoes of the End. I haven't yet started. It's uh it's an RPG. I I really don't know if I'm gonna get too into it. There's this new game coming out, um, Crimson Desert, I think it's called. It comes out March 19th. I've heard of that, yeah. They're saying it would take you like six hours to walk across the map. And I don't know why that makes me so happy. Like I hate walking in real life, but the the scope I'll never walk. I'll run. I'll I I almost will run or jog, you know, like just down the hallway, whatever. Like, I don't I'm ridiculous.

SPEAKER_06 19:14

That's a huge map. I'm excited, actually. Yeah, just just hearing that is is tantalizing. I'm I'm ready for a new open world game. So that one looks good.

SPEAKER_04 19:22

Um, I don't know. Yeah, um, and I uh started playing randomly Mario Golf and 64 uh 64. Uh I just I love that game. I it kind of in that and happy Gilmore coming out at about the same time, like inspired me and my friends to go golfing. Like at 13 years old, we suddenly were like kids in Queens were like, hey, golf's cool, man. And we went golfing. And I I remember uh I got a hat like the character in the game, Sonny, because he obnoxiously would say, It's a sunny day. So I got the same hat and I would say the same I I and Lauren walked in, my wife, and she's like, What really terrible looking game are you playing right now? I'm like, hey, hey, hey, this is the height. Like 1998, this was fantastic. So I think it's just because I'm waiting for this new game. I don't want to buy anything, and baseball's coming out, and uh that that means that my last edition is basically a brick. So and uh shoveling, just shoveling, shoveling, and more shoveling. Uh really spending my days obsessing putting tarps down on my stairs so I could just pull off uh the snow, uh just trying everything to get out away from this. I I'm a guy who said he liked snow, but there's there's a point, ladies and gentlemen. And that's too much snow here. I think New York has reached that point.

Smooth Segue Into Kiki

SPEAKER_06 20:46

Wait, Rich, what year did that game come out that you that you said that you were playing?

SPEAKER_04 20:50

I'm gonna go with like 98, but it might even be earlier.

SPEAKER_06 20:53

1998. Alright, well, if we rearrange those numbers, we get 1989, which is the year that Kiki's delivery service came out. So what a segue, folks! Let's jump in to Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's delivery service.

First Impressions And Accessibility

SPEAKER_03 21:11

We are going to start with Rich. This is his second Miyazaki film. We we actually threw him kind of in a deep end with the first one. Where what are your thoughts on this one?

SPEAKER_04 21:24

Much easier uh to understand and accept. Uh, there were no birds coming out of people's mouths. Uh I I I this was a so the only thing that I mean at the beginning I was a little I guess it threw me into the world, and I don't know. I my wife said that I had to refocus myself when watching it. She's like, just put everything down. She's like, just look at the damn screen. He does things that you need to see, like that are silent, like you need. To pay attention. So I kind of dove back in with more attention. And it was really a sweet little story. I I was waiting for it to get really weird and unlike be something that I would not be able to understand and repeat to you guys. And I was I was waiting for it to happen. I'm like, oh, they're gonna get me. I know these g I know these three. They're planning something, you know. Uh they didn't just suggest this out of nowhere. I'm like, we just did Twin Peaks, like, and they confused me with the last movie. So this was uh like I I think I have to like re like kind of collect my thoughts again, but I think it's this like you could teach I could teach this. Like I I could see my class watching it and seeing themes that would be important for like high school kids to to observe.

Worldbuilding And European City Vibes

SPEAKER_06 22:53

I like that bar metric that you're using. Basically, like if I can teach it uh as part of an English curriculum, it works for me. And that's that's that's kind of cool. Uh because there's a lot that you can use in with with that in mind. So Miyazaki Um I would say most of him most of his films are fairly easy to wrap your mind around. Um we we just happened to throw you into the deep end literature. Oh wait, really? So I thought this was like that's what he did. I thought this was like the David Lynch of uh of you know not necessarily. I mean that he has like Lynchian moments, especially with that last film that we we covered, where it it does follow dream logic a little bit more. But uh I think for the most part uh the weirdest it gets is probably Spirited Away.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

Yeah, I was gonna say Spirited Away gets a bit weird.

SPEAKER_06 23:51

But you you still understand it, and there's still a like a very easy to grasp uh moral structure and everything in that. So like even that isn't anywhere near like David Lynch levels of craziness.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

And then Princess Mononoke has some weird visuals too.

SPEAKER_06 24:08

Weird visuals, but I would say um very easy to understand sim uh symbolism, I guess. You know, like if you if you're watching, you get but uh yeah, so uh sorry that we made you feel that Miyazaki was this uh crazy autour. Um but he really he's just uh he's just a Japanese guy who happens to be one of the foremost animators ever. Yeah. So uh I'm I'm I'm happy you liked Kiki's delivery service, or at least enjoyed it enough where you could teach it to a classroom.

SPEAKER_04 24:44

Yeah, I think there just are a lot of entry points. I you know I had a question. So I watched the American dub or whatever, the American release. The uh the text on like the cans and signs and stuff um is in English.

SPEAKER_06 25:06

Is it English? Or it's it's uh it's our alphabet. It's in our alphabet, yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

So it's it's kind of But isn't that because of like where the town is supposed to be? Yeah, it's supposed to be like a European town, it's not supposed to be a Japanese town.

SPEAKER_06 25:21

So one thing in uh Miyazaki's like um works, he he's really fascinated by European towns. Um Italy, Sweden, you get a lot of towns in his works. Um I'm thinking of we we covered Castle in the Sky, Anthony, uh a little bit before Rich showed up. Um that's another one where you have very quaint little towns quite like this. And I think this one was probably uh mirrored after Italy somewhere, you know, it just it just has that um coastal Italian city vibe.

Community, Osono, And Kindness

SPEAKER_04 25:57

I like the uh the the dirigible? Let me think the dirigible, yeah. I'd uh which is you know it's actually the the exact same word in Spanish. I remember I think I looked up like blimp one time and I was like dirigible and I was like, come on, like what are you talking about? So uh that was and I mean, you know, I love the idea that hey guys, you know, helium's really, really probably dangerous. We should use it to fly. I like that idea too. So it kind of definitely gives me like European, like the Lindenburg vibes and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_06 26:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

So I looked it up and the town that Miyazaki and his team traveled to, um, some of them were in Sweden, like Visby, Sweden. I don't know if I'm saying that right, was like one of the places that they went to research landscape, and they were looking at like Stockholm and some place called Got Gotland Island in Sweden to get the architecture.

SPEAKER_06 26:55

I did say Italy and Sweden, so I was half correct. But uh Rich, I had a question. Um and then we'll jump over to Anthony. But you mentioned that when you first started watching, you didn't get it until uh your wife Lauren told you to just watch. What what do you what didn't you get, or like what were you missing before that point?

SPEAKER_04 27:18

Well, if I have to be honest here, I did speak about Mario Golf. So I've been playing a little bit of Mario Golf on my TV. I had it on the iPad in front of me. And I felt like she got to the city and I and I kind of was like, whoa, uh I was a little I didn't I I didn't kind of get the transition, what was going on, why she was being accepted. You know, like I kind of was asking too many questions without kind of having like I looked at her and I think I was like, why is everyone just accepting of this witch? You know, I th I thought I was a little confused by that at first, but then I kind of went back into it and just said, okay, everyone here seems to be fine with witches overall, so I'm just gonna accept it. I kind of Macbeth it, you know, I was like, alright, everyone else is accepting it, so I guess I gotta accept it.

SPEAKER_06 28:09

That's an important role, just in general, when you're doing anything fantastical. And I kind of like the setting of this story, because it it just assumes that witches are real, that when witches turn 13, they have to go to a city or town and be that sound that town's uh witch for a year, and that's their that's that's their Hogwarts experience in this in this universe, you know, like that's their their their training to uh become a full-fledged witch. Um, Anthony, what are your thoughts on like the world building of this film and Kiki's actual like departure from home and like going into the new city?

Why Gigi Stops Talking

SPEAKER_03 28:53

So I was actually thinking about that when I was watching it, especially with the art style. The thing that I that I love with uh that Miyazaki will do is that he'll make his landscapes very Bob Ross like sometimes where like you know what it is but it's not highly detailed. But then like when when he wants to detail the world, then he does and it looks amazing. Um but with the world building I I liked, yeah, like it's it puts you like pretty much like right right there where you know she's turning 13. It's time for her to go off and you know be the town witch somewhere. Her mom did that same thing, and she meets another girl on the on the way that to where you know she was kind of going aimlessly. She meets another girl in the in the sky that was in the middle of hers. So it's something that that's a normal experience, and I like that he explains a good bit without having to over-explain it, you know.

SPEAKER_06 30:11

Yeah, yeah, it's it's more like you're connecting the dots based on what is being told and like what's happening on screen, that this is just how the world works, you know, like this is an aspect of this world that uh you're just gonna have to you know appreciate by by watching the film. So I I I like that. I I also the the girl that they that she like sees in the sky is kind of snooty, you know, like she's what a snob. What a snob. Uh she is um she's a member of or like she's she's the witch of a large town. Um and Kiki actually comments, like, oh wow, that's such a big place. But when she actually gets to her city, it's significantly larger. Like it's by by orders of magnitude. It's it's just a much it's an actual city, not just a uh a large town. Um and she has a hard time actually getting situated, you know. It takes her, I mean it doesn't really take her that long, but it it takes her long enough where um she's been disillusioned by her role in in this whole thing. And I kind of like that she just kind of plops down in the middle of some street and talks to two random ladies saying, I'd like to be the witch of this city, and they're just like, Well, that's nice, and they walk away.

SPEAKER_04 31:34

Yeah, I that that I think that's I was getting confused, right? Because when she like I'm supposed to accept it, and then she gets to the city, but then like they're like, What are you talking about? You know, and like there's nowhere for her to go. And I was like, Where is this going? And I I think you know, that's when I needed to kind of uh put my uh my blinders on and just kind of really pay attention.

SPEAKER_06 31:56

You need to take you need to take the Mario putts and put them in the corner. And Wario is a tough opponent. Warriors okay. Um, what did you think of the I'll bring it over to Jen now. What did you think of the the bakery lady? Uh I forget what the name of Sonora or Osono. Osono, yeah. Osono. Um what did you think of her and like her accepting uh Kiki in um after she does her a favor?

Voice Cast, Dubs, And Audio Oddities

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Um, well, as a pregnant person, I I've never watched this movie pregnant before, and I was like, oh, she's actually like such a cool character. I mean, like, obviously in general, she's a cool character, but it's also like the fact that you know, I think pregnancy is a time where people can be kind of selfish and just be like, I'm tired, I'm in pain, I'm exhausted all the time. But she was like, let me help this like young lady like get on her feet in the town. And I thought that was really sweet. And I just think it's so cool how like Miyazaki highlights the importance of community and how if you see someone in need, you you could just tell them, like, oh, like I hope that works out for you, or you could actually give them an opportunity and help them. Yeah, and as a teacher as well, like seeing someone just be like kind to the youngsters is always really encouraging. For me, this movie is like really special because my mom bought me the VHS of this when I was like a little kid. So I had this uh Kiki's Delivery Service and I had Totoro, but we all called him Totoro because there's there was like a community of Puerto Rican moms that like all bought this these movies for their kids in the Bronx for some reason. I don't know why we had access to Iazaki films, but like Kiki's Delivery Service was one of my absolute like it was in there with like the Little Mermaid and the Disney movies, like this was one of the heavy rotation VHS films, but then like going back and watching it as an adult like reframes the way that I viewed some of the characters. Like oh Sonora I just was like kind old lady when I was a kid, like, but now I'm watching it and I'm like, oh, it's actually a very different situation.

SPEAKER_06 34:08

Yeah, so um what's funny actually, you mentioned uh Totoro. Uh my neighbor Totoro is another Miyazaki film, um, and she isn't kidding. Uh, Puerto Ricans and the Bronx grew up on uh a character named Totoro, and they they pronounce it with a Spanish accent, even though in the film the even the the English dub of the film, it's Totoro, you know, like it's very uh Anglicized, but for whatever reason it's Totoro, you know, and they all say it that way, it's so funny. Um oh man, Puerto Ricans in the Bronx. Gotta love them. But let's let's go back to Kiki's delivery service. Uh that that is a cool fact. I know that like you you had uh like memories of like you and your brother like replaying certain scenes because they were funny, like the Yeah, there is this scene where Gigi like Osono brings up porridge when Kiki's sick, and she tells Gigi, be careful, it's hot, or something like that, and he walks over and burns his tongue.

SPEAKER_04 35:12

I really so alright, again, I still have questions though. I uh so like it ends, right? But like I don't understand why Gigi doesn't seem to revert.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

I have a theory about this, and I don't know if it's accurate at all, but I think it partially it was like Kiki was kind of losing her touch with magic because she was getting caught up in like the day-to-day living of like adulting. But I think Gigi also did the same thing because he went and made his own family. Like it's right, she like he Kiki says to like Gigi when he sees that like girl cat or when he's with the girl cat, like he's all yours or something. And I actually think like in that moment she gave him away because it's after that that he never is able to speak to her again. But that's just like a theory that I have. But she like she says something along the lines of like he's all yours, and I wonder if that was like her kind of releasing him to just go be a cat.

Tombow, Nerd Culture, And The Blimp

SPEAKER_06 36:16

And that's um that's another cool thing about Miyazaki. You'll find there's actually quite a lot of that in his movies where he'll just introduce a concept or um change a character in a certain way, and he doesn't answer it. He makes you think about why that happened. Um if you choose to think about why that happened, you know what I'm saying? Like he uh I don't want to get into some of the other films, but like there are character changes in other films that just occur um and you just have to roll with it. And I don't think that's like necessarily a failing, I think it's a choice, you know, like um in in the way that he creates these these characters and these roles. But yeah, um, I thought I was very curious about that too. And having watched the film previously, I was very curious about that specific thing. Because I remembered that Gigi um like kind of forgot how to speak, or that she forgot how to hear him. And I was just like, man, am I misremembering, or does he forget how to learn how to speak? And eventually, yeah, he he does um lose that communicative uh aspect of the character. So I I was curious about that.

SPEAKER_04 37:29

And it's not just him communicating, right? Because I I think what Jen said like seems a little bit closer because he becomes for lack of dumber. Like he he no longer is exhibiting them like even the movements, right? Like he doesn't seem to recognize her, he he reacts to her like a cat. She actually, I think, at one point says, like, why you know why are you talking like a cat? But then like, even I think Gigi's interactions from then on are more cat-like and less anthropomorphic. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

He also like loses his ability to be self-aware. Like, that's one thing that the movie highlights several times is that he can look at other black cats and be like, hey, this looks like me. Like that shows that he has a level of like self-perception and awareness that is human-like. And then after that point where she kind of gives him to the other cat and he goes to start his family, he just becomes a regular cat. And he still obviously like loves her and cares for her like he's like she's his owner, but not like there were best friends at the beginning of the film. And you could say it's just like a like a lot, like a loss of innocence or whatever, like it's it could be symbolic of this like loss of childhood, um, like loss of that imagination. But I think it's also like I think there is like a magic, like what do you like a magic system in a way? Yeah, there's definitely a magic. I think the words that she says gives him away.

SPEAKER_06 39:01

Yeah. Uh Anthony, you left for a moment. We we're talking about Gigi losing his ability to communicate. Jen's theory is that when she tells the other cat that she's all he's all yours, she literally like uh actual actually gave him away, you know, and that's why the the the connection kind of broke between them past that point.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Um I don't know if that's the exact phrase that she says. She does say something it's something along those lines, yeah. Like where it's literally a with like it's like a release. Yeah.

unknown 39:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

And I wonder if it was like her mom did some kind of magic to get them to be attached and she undid it by accident.

SPEAKER_06 39:40

Now, was she experiencing um the loss of her magic prior to that? Or did it happen after that? I forget. Uh the chron the chronology there.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

I don't know if it's super clear. I'd have to like go back and re-watch it looking for that. I don't know. But I think isn't she flying before that point? Well yeah, she's obviously flying before that, but No, I'm like like right before that. I don't recall. Because that isn't that like right after she gets sick?

SPEAKER_06 40:11

Mm-hmm.

Coming‑Of‑Age Themes And Kiki’s Agency

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Yeah, it's like right after she gets sick. So I don't know if the sickness has something. I think like the sickness though, like, it might not be about the sickness, but also about that idea of like she went to the old lady's house and she worked super hard, and then she was met with such like a lack of gratitude from that young girl at the birthday party that it just like ruined her self-esteem and made her feel like it was.

SPEAKER_04 40:32

It happened right after they're at the beach. They're at the beach, and a car or a car comes by uh with the girl from the party who didn't like the uh the pie. Uh yeah. And then she says, I'm not gonna go with you, and she goes home, and kind of like after that point it's she enters a depression of sorts, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:58

Yeah, um, it's it's definitely an interesting character uh study for you know uh a teen girl uh trying to make her way in the city, um, trying to find herself um when she's been one way her whole life and now she's experiencing boys and love and uh job and uh people who don't necessarily care or like her, you know?

SPEAKER_03 41:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 41:26

Um it's an I I really love this film. I think it's just really, really quaint. But uh but yeah. What do we think of Tombow?

SPEAKER_04 41:37

Oh, you mean one of the uh Perry brothers? Wait, um not Perry. Lawrence brothers? He's voiced by Matthew Lawrence, the the middle Lawrence brother.

SPEAKER_01 41:48

I don't I know who I don't know who the Lawrence is.

SPEAKER_04 41:50

Oh my goodness. This is I'm unfortunate. Is it Lawrence with a W or so yes? So there is uh Joey Lawrence was on Blossom and he was he had a famous uh catchphrase, but why don't I know any of these people?

SPEAKER_01 42:05

Oh, wait, I know this one. He was in this is uh he's not actually that, he's like a different person. He's not a Lawrence brother. I don't know. Eric von Diet Lytton, he was in I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 42:18

Sorry, sorry, Amigo, that was before our time.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

This happened to Rich like multiple times with me today that he like referenced something and I had no idea what he was talking about.

SPEAKER_04 42:26

I mentioned a hockey player earlier today, Gordie Howe. I was like laughed out of the building. Uh who else did I? Hank Aaron.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

Do you know who Hank Aaron is? Because they talked to me like I was an absolute invalid for not knowing who Hank Aaron is. Greg was like, you don't know Hank Aaron, and I was like, wow.

SPEAKER_06 42:44

If it's a sports player, no, I don't. Oh my goodness. Well, the good thing is that the city is. You know some sports player.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

Anthony, do you know Hank Aaron? Anthony, you know who Hank Aaron is, right?

SPEAKER_01 42:56

No? Oh, you don't know Hank Aaron? Oh. I don't you're a piece of crap.

Parenting, Plans, And The 13‑Year Leap

SPEAKER_04 43:01

That means I mean he broke Babe Ruth's home run record, and he he was uh uh African American who did so in in the 19, I believe, like 60s. Uh it was a kind of a monumental thing to happen uh at the right at the same time that African Americans were fighting for their rights. This this uh trailblazer uh took over Babe Ruth's record. I mean, you know? So if you know Babe Ruth, uh you don't know Hank Aaron, then you're racist. I mean, the first person ever. You know who Roger Clark is, right? Roger Clark from New York One uh News. He's the side he's the side reporter, no?

SPEAKER_03 43:39

No, Roger Clark. Bro, you play Red Dead Redemption 2 all day. You don't know who R Roger Clark is?

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Makes me sick, really.

SPEAKER_03 43:47

Oh the voice of Arthur Morgan.

SPEAKER_04 43:49

Oh, the voice I that's Arthur Morgan. He doesn't have a real life. He just lives in my video game. Play every year. Hold on, wait, wait, wait. You have no honor, Anthony, because yes, I didn't say it on the show because I didn't want to admit it to everybody, but I've actually been playing a boatload of Red Dead Redemption. I almost have all of the garment sets. I've been hunting like a mofo. It's been fantastic.

SPEAKER_06 44:18

I'm happy for you. Rich, how did we get to this point? You mentioned one of the Lawrence brothers, but I have no idea what I've got to do. I was just mentioning his sambo as a Lawrence brother.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

So like I immediately recognized his voice. He oh, I see. I think he's also done voice acting like in other. I think he's he's not just so there were three brothers who were actors. I don't know, they came up like in the 90s, girls loved them. Uh Joey would go, Whoa, and like, I don't know, that was he was on the cover of like a lot of magazines. I'm serious. He sounds awesome. His catchphrase on the show was like, he'd be like, Whoa, you know, and they would like it was I mean, look it up. If you look up Joey Lawrence, whoa, I I believe you, I do. My cousins had like posters of him all over the place, and then you know, his brother came out like, Oh, look at him! And I was so I was this, you know, the he was very annoying in my life, so I I know who he is, but I uh the uh I immediately recognized so I I just thought that the casting that's really what I was getting to. The casting was really good. Like you uh randomly had Kristen Dunst, I think is the is the lead. Like uh you have Phil Hartman, uh you have you uh like you just said uh Lauren I actually did not look at the cast of the American. Oh, there were a couple people that I was excited about. Like when I saw Phil Hartman, I was like, Phil well, I heard his voice. I was like, Phil Hartman. Like he's I mean, it was such a tragedy when he uh was murdered by his wife. But yeah, there's a there's a couple I mean I'm old, so I'm a little older. I think this helps with some of the voice with some of the actors because like Phil Hartman was on Saturday Night Live for a very long time, and I was a big fan.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Yeah, I didn't even know that that was uh Kirsten Dunce, to be honest. Yeah, that's pretty cool. I had no idea that that was too much.

SPEAKER_06 46:01

I feel like I need to rewatch that.

Broom Logic, Finale Stakes, And Symbolism

SPEAKER_01 46:03

And yeah, uh now that I I find like the the microphone quality on Kirsten Dunce's like voice irritates me in this movie for some reason because it's like very like mom, like it's very like scratchy at times. Maybe she was just And I don't remember it being like that when I was a kid, and I think they like redid the voices too at a certain point because I know the same for May. These are I don't think this is the original I don't think it's the original cast because it like and now you I don't remember who did like the cast from when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_04 46:37

Um, there was a redo.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

Oh yeah, Disney and Buonavista redid it in '98. I I think the one that I had was potentially the streamline pictures from 1989. I was reading about that. Okay. Yeah, and so like that's another thing for Totoro, they did the same thing where it's I think it's like Dakota Fanning's voice. I think, or maybe her sister. Yeah, and like the voice quality irritates me because it's like very the sound quality is very scratchy where I don't remember the voices sounding like that. And that's something when I re-watch Kiki's, like especially, especially at the beginning, where she's like calling for her dad when he's like, can we also talk about that? Like how her dad had a whole camping trip planned and packed.

SPEAKER_06 47:20

No, her poor father.

SPEAKER_01 47:21

I always feel so bad for the dad in that. Like he was so excited to go on this camping, this last camping trip before his daughter leaves for a year. But her voice when she like calls down, Dad, it's like, why do you sound like that? Like, it's very scratchy. Disney kind of I don't know what was going on with their microphones. Like, maybe they needed better lapel mics, maybe they were using the mics from their laptops. I don't know what was going on, but the sound quality is not as good. Yeah, maybe they had like a really old Blue Yeti from like 10 years ago. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 47:53

Yeah, to solve those problems, they just need to use one of these two-in-one headset mics? Yeah, headset mics. That's just like an NFL code.

SPEAKER_01 48:01

If only they had gotten that for baby Kirsten Dunce. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 48:04

Oh, by the way, now I know how you guys will know Matthew Lawrence. He's the son in Mrs. Doubtfire.

SPEAKER_01 48:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 48:10

You've seen Mrs. Doubtfire.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

Yeah, I've seen Mrs. Doubtfire, but like I'm not super attached to the son. Well, wasn't he? Like, I mean, Robin Williams kind of steals the show.

SPEAKER_04 48:18

Yes, he was also, I would he's also the a hunter brother.

SPEAKER_03 48:23

He's um Yeah, I was gonna say like that that's probably like one of like the bigger things that that you would like notice him in. I mean, yeah, Mrs. Doubtfire, but like Boy Mate's World was big in that time. But let's proceed. Let's proceed.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

Um, and speaking of like Kiki's parents, though, another thing I have to say, I have to get this off my chest, especially as somebody who like wants to be a parent, an aspiring parent, if you will. Um, okay, so you knew that your daughter was going to at 13 years old have to go and live in another city on her own. Insane. Absolutely insane at 13. She has zero skills. Why doesn't she know like like the other girl knows like divination and like the mom knows potions? Like, why didn't she give her kids some kind of training? She just sent her off the only skill she has is flying, and she's really bad at it.

Miyazaki Catalog And Future Picks

SPEAKER_06 49:14

They she did say in that scene um with the girl that has been training for divination that she started learning divination while she was in that new town, and that Kiki was gonna have to learn a skill when she was at her town or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

So But the mom says at the beginning, like, I've hardly had time to teach her potions. Like, I think her mom could have taught her something. Not and I know everybody blames the mom. We all blame the mom all the time. Everything's mom's fault. However, the dad, I don't know if he has any magical abilities. So I think the mom this was kind of a bit on her. I think the dad's a bum. Dad was gonna teach her camping skills, like that's all he knew. I get it.

SPEAKER_03 49:57

She would have needed them.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

And even then he waited till the last minute. Like, they how do you send your kid, your 13-year-old daughter, to a new city skillless?

SPEAKER_06 50:04

My my question here is why she didn't know where she was going. Like she had no plan as to where you know where she was gonna stake out. She had no sh she was just gonna float around until she found something. What if what if she just died? Kept floating and never found anything. Like what what happened? What would what would she do?

SPEAKER_01 50:27

My anxiety as a pregnant person watching the beginning was high. As a kid, it was always like grand adventure. Look, she's sleeping in a train. That's awesome. As an adult, I was like, oh my god, like 13 years old, just out there.

SPEAKER_06 50:40

Like But but you know, there are like really charming details too at the same time. Like the idea that she would want to bring her radio.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:50

You know, and and just just the animated like radio swinging on the broom, and like the detail of her not wanting to like turn it off or like change the channel because she didn't want to lose uh you know, she wanna take her hands off the broom. Um, I it's little stuff like that that really puts you into it because you can feel that, you know, like if you're not on bikes all the time, taking your hands off the handle is gonna be a mess, you know. So it I I love I love little things like that that Miyazaki does to really put you into the story.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

Or even just like her counting her money into being like, we're gonna eat pancakes for the rest of the month, and we're gonna get fat, fat, fat.

SPEAKER_04 51:34

Very relatable for me. I'm not sure if I got confused, but I some I feel like the the pie was called something different. I thought at one point it was like chicken pot pie, and then suddenly it had fish. But I I wanna ask Anthony. I know that we didn't get to see anybody eat it because that girl was so, so the granddaughter was so disrespectful, you know, and not ungrateful. Really ungrateful. It was terrible. And what I if we were able to see somebody eat it, do you think that would be juicy?

SPEAKER_03 52:05

I would hope so. You know, it was um it was in that oven for a while, you know, it had little little little like bit, you know, it was a little burnt at the top, right? So I mean it might have been juicy, but then it also might have been a little crunchy.

SPEAKER_04 52:20

Whoa! We get a double crazy.

SPEAKER_03 52:26

What else could be juicy and crunchy, do you think? Yeah, what do you think, Dakota?

Personal Anecdotes And Wrap‑Up

SPEAKER_06 52:30

I'm gonna cut the crap. I want you to give us a five-star juicy review right now. Stop what you're doing. Go on your podcast app, give us a juicy review right now. Right now. Uh, all right, let's go back to the show, shall we?

SPEAKER_00 52:46

I'm gonna cut the crap.

SPEAKER_04 52:55

Sorry. I was getting worried. I was like, we don't have any there's no juice reference here. What are we gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 53:01

He's really caught me up garbage.

SPEAKER_06 53:05

Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 53:06

I mean he like leaned forward to say it too.

SPEAKER_06 53:10

Uh sometimes you just have to give us a five-star review, a juicy one. And uh sometimes that does include crunchy reviews, you know, so you gotta do what you gotta do. Um, I'm not I'm not ashamed to beg, but I don't feel like I am begging. I feel like I'm demanding, and I think that's different, you know? I think there's a little bit more pride there. Um anyway, let's let's head back to our discussion of Tiki's delivery service because we haven't really talked about Tombow. We we've talked around Tombow, we've talked about Tombow's actor. Um but we haven't really given the character much thought. Uh do we like Tombow? Is Tombow trustworthy? I I know that Tombow's friends aren't the best people, because one of his friends is the ungrateful snob who didn't like uh the her grandmother's uh birthday present. But uh what about Tombow? What what are we thought? What are we thoughts? Anthony?

SPEAKER_03 54:12

He's kind of nerdy, man. Like really, really nerdy. It's kind of like like off-putting, like his it could it's been a while since since I've seen seen this movie, but like his group of friends is I guess off-putting because normally characters that look like him are picked on by those characters.

Next Week Tease And Sign‑Off

SPEAKER_06 54:34

Yeah, he seems to be a popular character, right? But he does exceptionally he's the he's the kid who makes robots in his garage.

SPEAKER_03 54:44

Right, right. And y that's usually like kids usually pick on that, right? I mean to me that would be cool. I'd be like, oh man, it's like I I I know this kid, he he's building all sorts of weird stuff in his in his home, but it's pretty cool. But usually especially especially back in those times, like when you're a nerd, yeah, like you're not you're not cool.

SPEAKER_01 55:06

Back then So I think like the like the aviation bug was sweeping the popular groups because of the the blimp. Like it was like yeah, I feel like he is like he would have been weird and nerdy, but because the blimp showed up, everybody's like, oh man, this is like awesome. We all want to fly. I don't know, I could be wrong. I also think they're younger, like they're like around the age of 13. And like I feel like being nerdy is kind of cool at that age, or it was that just me. But I thought that was.

SPEAKER_04 55:37

I don't know. They're driving the Jalopi around town, and I I was I was wondering if he was a little older. Uh at least, I don't know, I don't know all the driving laws in Sweden. But um I knew that she was 13, so I was like, how old at least one of his friends has to be uh a little bit older. Uh but yeah, no, it does it does seem like yeah, he's a nerd, but he's like like he's caught the right time, you know? Just like, oh like just got really lucky that that that that blimp showed up.

SPEAKER_03 56:08

So I think it seemed like a less disastrous uh Hindenburg, like the way that that played out.

SPEAKER_06 56:15

Slightly less, slightly less disastrous. Yeah, there was no there was no explosion and no fire, so if the Hindenburg and this dirigible and the Nikki's delivery service tell us anything, it's um not to ride dirigibles, you know, like bad way to go, bad, bad way to travel.

SPEAKER_04 56:35

Would never uh like just really easy to pop. Like people back then who got on that, like were the same people that got in those like underwater things that uh got crushed by like the water.

SPEAKER_06 56:46

You know, I saw the Goodyear blimp recently. I don't remember where I saw it.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

It was when they drive down to Florida.

SPEAKER_06 56:51

Yeah, we were driving down to Florida, we saw a Goodyear blimp, and I thought, I haven't seen a Goodyear blimp in a while.

SPEAKER_03 56:56

Yeah, another time.

SPEAKER_06 56:57

And then I thought, what are they doing? What are you what this isn't gonna make me want to buy your tires. What are you doing, sir? I I have no problem with Goodyear tires. I just I'm just like, what what is the purpose of the Goodyear blimp? I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 57:11

I think some people would see that and be like, I'm gonna go get those tires.

SPEAKER_06 57:15

It's when like my dad.

SPEAKER_03 57:16

It's when you're on the the side of the road, like you know, fixing a flat and you look up. You're like, oh, there's there's a Goodyear blimp. You know what? Let me go get me some Goodyear tires.

SPEAKER_01 57:27

If their rubber can make a blimp, man, can they make a tire?

SPEAKER_04 57:31

I I am a Michelin man through and through. I will not touch a Goodyear tire. A Goodyear tire will never touch my my car.

SPEAKER_03 57:37

Yeah, but where's the Michelin man blimp, huh? Where's the Michelin man? Unless you get run out of the room.

SPEAKER_04 57:42

When I was a little kid, the only way I knew how to get home was that Michelin man sign was on the corner of my block and Northern Boulevard. So if I was driving home, I could say, just look for the Michelin man. That's where I live. Because I'm too dumb to know my address. What's your address? I don't know, but look for the Michelin man, and that's how you can get me home.

SPEAKER_06 58:03

Red door.

SPEAKER_04 58:06

But I I it was just Dougie.

SPEAKER_00 58:08

I was actually kind of Dougie energy, not knowing your address. Red door, Michelin man.

unknown 58:14

Oh no, that's terrible.

SPEAKER_04 58:17

No, but I uh I was actually kind of disappointed that there was no explosion. I I know that sounds terrible. I knew that Tombo, I didn't think that Tombow was gonna die. Like, so I also I loved the detail of and I think it's such a little thing where you could throw it away, but the car falls in the water and like the animation of the uh the ripples was was like really detailed and beautiful. Like I was like, wow, like you could have just like and just moved on, but there was really like a nice ripple effect. But I thought uh there was gonna be an explosion at least, like it's helium, right? I was like, I know what happens to helium, right? Like it just got punctured and just kind of fell. I it was it was kind of weird, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 59:00

Uh it was it was interesting. I I I I do like that sequence though of just Tombow being um completely at the mercy of this blimp that's floating like uh prostrate across town. You know, it's it's a really fun visual and it's a really great catalyst for Kiki to get her powers back or to just like snap back out of her funk, you know. I I like the idea uh specifically of Kiki just borrowing some random broom and that also being able to because like I don't think regular brooms in the Harry Potter universe can just be made to fly. At least we haven't been shown that. But in Kiki's universe, that is a possibility. You know, this is just a normal sweeping broom, you know.

SPEAKER_01 59:50

She also like doesn't give it back and she continues to fly with that in the ending sequence. Yeah. That guy just lost his broom.

SPEAKER_04 59:57

That guy's that guy does not get his broom back. Well, he's like proud though. He gets to like your brag. He's like, you know, that was my broom once, you know. So yeah, that's true. Like I think if he got it back, it would actually devalue it. Because then like people would be like, Alright, so like fly with it, and then you know, it wouldn't work, and then it wouldn't be as cool. But now like his broom forever is a flying broom.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:19

It's the town witch's broom. Yeah, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:22

Yeah, when she's flying by, he's like, Yeah, that's my broom.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

My question is like, if you are a huge success at 13, like Kiki was, like, clearly her business took off after that. Everything's going great. She's the town witch, she's super famous now. Does she go home still or does she stay in the town?

SPEAKER_06 1:00:42

For the year. She has she has to be in the town for the year.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:45

Yeah, but then like I think everything went quite well for her.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:47

Like, she has a booming business. Like, yeah, it's no longer necessarily like an internship. She's made a job of it. I think she could choose to stay if if she wanted to.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

I think that's what her mom did. Like at the like at her home, like she stayed there.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:03

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:03

Oh, that's true. Cause yeah, she messed up.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:05

She's the potion maker, yeah. So that's that's possible, that's a possible way of doing it.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:09

So it's like the it's like the Israeli military. Like you just gotta like serve one year and then you're out, right? Like ever no matter what, everyone's gotta serve.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

What a what a connection.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:18

What what a what a what a sideboy. I'm just uh I'm just thinking like because that's what it sounds, right? Like you could completely be you don't you don't have to dedicate your life to this. You just have to dedicate you just gotta put in one year work and then boom, pension hits.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:33

And that's up. Yeah, or or it's I guess it's kind of like Mormons. They they preach for two years, that's their college paid, and then they stop preaching.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_06 1:01:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:44

Can they choose to keep going?

SPEAKER_06 1:01:45

They can choose, yeah, but you never really see older Mormons preaching. It's always uh it's I didn't know if they paid for their college. Yeah, it's uh it's a program.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:54

I don't know. Oh, all right. You learn something new every day, you know.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:58

I didn't know that uh Israeli uh defense force thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:02

So that's that's isn't that what Galvadot did?

SPEAKER_06 1:02:04

It's uh it's an exchange of knowledge here on Project Ecology, you know, and I I appreciate the exchange of knowledge that um I share with my fellow scholars here, uh my three fellow scholars. Um guys, what are our thoughts on Kiki's Delivery Service overall? And um does this uh excite us to try out future Miyazaki films in the future? Uh let's jump over to Anthony first and foremost.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:34

Well, I mean, you know, you know, I would cover other Miyazaki films. Definitely. Um, I mean there there's some there's still some bangers that we haven't covered. How's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, there's several others, man. Uh we did Castle in the Sky. So actually this is our third one.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:56

Oh, you guys did Princess? Did you do this? Oh no, we didn't do that.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:01

This is our fourth, right? Yeah. Have we done uh we did Princess Boy and the Heron. This is uh Kiki's delivery service, obviously. We've done Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoka. Princess Monaroka. Did we also do Nausica, the Valley of the Wind, or have we? No, no, we haven't done that one yet. Okay, that's a good one. That's that's uh El Classico.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:25

But yeah, no, I I I like Kiki's delivery service. It is easy to watch. It's not you know, it's nothing like crazy that you're not you're not doing mental gymnastics like we were doing for several weeks. So I know that I know that uh you know Rich needed to uh rest his brain for a little while. So I was really scared, I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:50

When when I was I was like, why, why, why were we watching Miyazaki? I'm like, I thought we were not doing this to Rich.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:57

Dakota asked me which one we should do, and I was like, can we pick the one with like the simplest, most linear plot for Rich? Because we can't break the man. Like, right? Dakota, I literally said that. Yeah, I was like, what is the simplest one? It was between the most linear.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:12

It was between this and my neighbor Totoro, but there are some like fantastical elements that of to my neighbor Totoro that kind of stretch the imagination a little bit. Oh yeah. So we thought we thought that might be too much for uh the fragility that is our our listen.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:28

I don't I don't I didn't want to break his mind with the cat bus. I don't as the kids say, I don't want to I wouldn't want to crash out, but I I d wouldn't mind falling out.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:37

Oh. What a transition.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:40

Oh speaking of which, uh Anthony, I think uh we were gonna redo our discussion of uh Castle in the Sky. Remember the the girl falls out of the sky?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:52

Uh oh yeah, we were.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:54

Because we wanted uh Rich on it. Yeah, no, we're just kidding, Rich.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:59

Uh we're gonna be covering of Laputa also.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:02

Yeah, Lapita Castle in the Sky.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:04

Alright, yeah. I'm thinking of the Castle.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:08

The the the Jap um the Japanese title for Castle in the Sky is Lapita. So anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:13

Or as my Puerto Rican cousins would say, Laputa.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:17

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:19

I mean it's spelled like that.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:21

L-A-L-T-P-T-P-T-A-T-C-T-A-L-A-P-U-T-A. Whoa. But it's Laputa. Anyway. Um Rich, did you like the movie? Did uh oh, did you did you get to watch it with your son? Did he look?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:34

No, uh no. Uh he had lots of plans this week and uh that just kept her.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:42

You were like the dad like with the camping gear set up. And Charlie's like, see ya.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:47

Yeah, I'm the actually the amount of times that has happened where I've literally been like, Okay, kid, you want to go play baseball? Throw you know, wanna throw the old throw the old ball around with your old man in the backyard? And then I, you know. He begrudgingly gets up off the couch because we've got one of those like storage couches. And then like he like grabs the gloves, he's not happy, and I feel terrible. And then the doorbell rings and his friend shows up. And he's like, Okay, I'm gonna go play with my friend Dad. Bye. And I'm I literally just sat on the couch like and so when I saw that when I saw that father, I was like, I I get it, man. Like I I liked I you you guys could put me it it's not fair almost. I'm not even sure if I can tell you that I I liked this movie because one, it was not the boy and the heron, right? Like I was waiting for you guys to boy and heron me on this one. I was waiting for you know a Twin Peaks like swerve, you know, like Dougie, right? And and no, I I got a delightful little story that the thing is, it's not a type of movie that I would ever search out on my own and watch. It's just like if I read the description or if I saw like a trailer, I don't think I'd be like, oh, that looks cute, and let me watch it. I I I wouldn't, but I actually enjoyed watching it.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:05

Wait, Dakota, did you hear that? That some dads like want to throw a ball with their kids. I asked Dakota the other day, I'm like, so with our son, are you gonna like throw baseball in the yard or the football? And he's like, nobody actually does that. And I was like, I think dads actually do that because like my dad did it with my brother, and he's like, Why would I do that? Okay, I'll tell you. Can I can I tell you right now, Dakota, why? Can I tell you why?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:27

Anthony, can you picture my dad throwing a baseball around with me?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:31

Like, we just like helped him with it. So we had to play outside, like when we played outside, your dad would like kick us out, but like stay inside.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:42

But the issue is it's Florida, it's hot. You don't want to be outside. Like we it was the worst experience ever. Like, we were you know, we'd be in air conditioning, we'd be playing PlayStation 2, Kingdom Hearts, whatever we were, whatever was on, and and my dad'd be like, Alright, go outside. Don't come back for two hours.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:00

Oh, yeah, he would put like time time constraints, and we would be we would like ride the ride bikes or like skateboards around the neighborhood.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:10

Yeah. So yeah, Rich, I've I've never had that experience.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:14

So I'll tell I'll tell you, I'll tell you why. And I'm not gonna tell you that I am a baseball superstar, I'm not, but I I will say that one of the reasons you might want to consider it, okay, is just you know, especially young boys, they form relationships through the sports, whether even if it's pickup and recess, and I just want him to be serviceable. I want him to be able to participate, you know. Like, I want him to know like if he's playing second base, the ball goes to him and he throws it to first base. He doesn't throw it to third base and embarrass the family, you know. I would love to play dodgeball with my son. That's the one I'm not allowed to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:51

If you could dodge Rench. But um, I let's see Rich's argument was much better than mine. I was like, I think it's like good for their hand eye coordination or something.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:00

I mean, that that is that is Rich's um that that's his point, you know, like being able to teach your kid that lesson will will make him like more serviceable.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:09

Him riding a bike is what is honestly could right now, if I die tomorrow, like on like in my obituaries, like, you know, the lead is taught Charlie to ride a bike. Like that's my I'm not even sure if it's because I'm a good dad. It just me I'm proud of myself for teaching him to ride a bike.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:28

Okay. Yeah, no, I I I was always gonna do that as a as a parent. But yeah, it was it that's just I think it's just kind of funny that my dad never threw the ball uh around with me.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:38

Your dad did teach you how to push a car through a blizzard, though, I learned this weekend.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:42

Oh yeah. Actually, remember when uh we were going down to Florida in the Prius? Like, what was it? It must have been 2010, 2011.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:53

Dakota dropped this lore on me like super casually on the road trip.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:57

Yeah, dude, dude, that was that was crazy though. That was driving it, and remember like trees were like falling?

SPEAKER_06 1:10:04

Trees were falling, like four-wheel uh pickup trucks were just like swerving into the ditches on either side. The the Prius somehow made it through, and like every now and then like we'd we'd be stuck because we'd we'd be moving like five miles an hour until like there was some sort of traffic, and then we'd stop and we'd have to jump out of the car and push again. Um yeah, that was that was a that was uh a life-changing experience.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:28

Uh yeah, Dakota was telling that story to my brother, and he was like, Yeah, my childhood friend and I had to jump out of the car and just start pushing, and I was like, Anthony? And he was like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:40

Yeah, I remember that. I think I think I I brought that story up before on the podcast at some point. But yeah, no, I'll I'll always remember that. And like, yeah, the the cut is dad was like he would like you know, you guess it enough. I mean, obviously, to not like spin the tires, but like we would have to like kind of rock the car a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:01

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:02

So yeah, I remember that's insane. And then like you're stepping on like packed down snow, so you're kind of slipping at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:10

Oh man, it's the worst. And Mike definitely viewed it as like all character building. Yeah. Like, yeah, get out there, be men.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:17

Like I mean, w w when Dakota was down here, I mean there were there's literally like periods of time where I was I was like the unofficial like fourth child. I would be over there all the time.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:30

My parents were like, they would they would always say like he was the fourth child. Where the heck is this guy?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:37

Should I just run down really quick?

SPEAKER_05 1:11:40

Should we should we close it without him? No. Let's give him another minute. Can you wait a minute?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:53

That's the only downside of drinking tea during the podcast.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:06

Yeah, I know. But it shouldn't have taken him that long to jump on. Maybe he's actually having like technical issues.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:13

Maybe he will just internet. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:20

Um just say you're good. And I'll edit it in two hours.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:36

Alright guys, thank you so much for listening to us here for our our 153rd episode of Project Ecology. Next week we're covering season two of Fallout, the Amazon Prime series uh that follows the Fallout games. We're we're very excited to jump into that world again, and uh we will hear or you will hear from us uh next week. Again, please be sure to give us a five star juicy review. And uh if you want to check out any of our socials, be sure to click down into the show notes below. Uh and um yeah, have a good one, guys. Bye. Bye. Bye The Wolverine.