Arrietty is a strong, brave heroine who faces her challenge (trusting and communicating with someone very different than herself) and triumphs. The aesthetics are at once masterful and inviting, cozily European inspired but bursting with nature.
The movie is absolutely gorgeous to look at, a real visual feast. On the whole, this is an immersive and gentle adventure with just enough plot to stay engaged but no thrills or intensity that children as young as age 5 could enjoy.Īs different as it may seem from other Studio Ghibli films, at its heart is a familiar core. There are only three things I feel discerning parents should be aware of: two startling moments of unexpected loud sounds (one as Arrietty is talking with Sho in the window another when Pod is making a basket) Sho says at one point that he’s dying (although he doesn’t die on-screen) and one frightening moment when Homily is abducted with a lot of screaming. In fact, there’s almost nothing objectionable to mention–no magic, no violence, no blood, no cursing, no smoking or drinking. Yonebayashi would go on to direct two more films for Studio Ghibli before joining Studio Ponoc.Īrrietty is also unique in that there is no magic. Instead, this film was the directorial debut of one of their long-time animators, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who contributed to nine previous Studio Ghibli films including Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. Like Howl’s Moving Castle and in contrast to most Studio Ghibli films, it is an adaptation of a Western children’s fantasy novel in this case, Mary Norton’s The Borrowers.Īnd like The Cat Returns, it was not directed by Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata, the co-founders of Studio Ghibli. How will this unexpected encounter transform them both? The Secret World of Arrietty: Movie InformationĪrrietty is an interesting piece in the Studio Ghibli canon. On her very first borrowing, she is seen and addressed by Sho, an ill young man who has come to his grandmother’s house to convalesce with rumors of the little people his mother claims to have seen.
The Secret World of Arrietty: SummaryĪrrietty is a “borrower”, a tiny human who lives with her parents under the baseboards and borrows what she needs from the humans above.