Ciao

During the end credits, we see that Kiki has kept the pushbroom. It's such a vital part of her now that it's reflected in the shop sign. Even the little girl who dresses like Kiki has a pushbroom, just like her idol.

When Kiki gets her magic back, she does so by grabbing a broom and making it her own, saving the day by forging her own identity.

At the beginning of the movie, Kiki also takes a totem from her mother -- a broom. Later on her quest of self-discovery, Kiki's broom fails in part because it isn't really hers.

At first, Kiki loves her dad's radio, using it to set background music for her grand voyage away from home. But later, when she's feeling dejected, she turns it on only to turn it off again -- it doesn't comfort her anymore.

The most prominent sign of Kiki's loss of innocence is her sudden inability to talk to her cat, but there are a couple other little hints I didn't notice until rewatches. When Kiki leaves home, she takes two special items from her parents -- the first is her dad's radio.

In one crowd scene near the end of Kiki's Delivery Service, you can see a man who looks suspiciously like a young Hayao Miyazaki.

This is one I missed for years -- Kiki is cooking using "Jiburi No Hot Keki" mix, aka Ghibli's hot cakes.

Years before Pixar crammed their movies full of self-referential easter eggs, Kiki's Delivery Service hid a neat cameo from Mei and Little Totoro.

Kiki has lots of little Ghibli in-jokes, too. You might have caught the giant STUDIO GHIBLI sign emblazoned on the side of this bus.

The fictional town in Kiki's Delivery Service is a dreamy mishmash of Europe and America, with Nordic architecture and San Francisco cable cars. And if you look closely at the map, you'll see all the locations are named after places in Hawaii.

Here you can see Kiki knotted up her dress so that she could keep dry while washing the floor. She wears this dress every day, and the animators have thought that through. These little realistic quirks make a movie about a witch feel grounded and lived-in.

The timeless Kiki's Delivery Service turns 30 years old today. There are so many little details in this movie that have kept it close to my heart, so I want to share a few of them. Many are just tiny little things, like how Kiki pins her sleeves back cooking with the oven.