Now that she's 13 years old, it's time for young Kiki to start thinking about her future. So one night, under the shine of a full moon, she grabs her black cat Jiji, hops on her mother's broom and heads off into the night. The next day she alights upon a friendly oceanside city, and this, she tells her loyal and furry companion, is where she'll spend the next year learning how to become a real, honest-to-goodness witch.

Kiki discovers she can't understand a single word her pet cat is saying to her. And later, she forgets how to fly on her magic broom. Can things get any worse for the young witch? Unfortunately, the answer is yes...