Arrietty

Titled ‘Arrietty The Borrower’ in Japan & ‘The Secret World of Arrietty’ in North America, is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi as his feature film debut as a director.

The screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki & Keiko Niwa was based on the 1952 novel ‘The Borrowers by Mary Norton, an English author of children’s books. It is about a family of tiny people wholive secretly in the walls & floors of a typical household, borrowing items from humans to survive.

The film stars the voices of Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki & others. It tells the story of a young Borrower ( Arrietty) befriending a human boy ( Sho ) while trying to avoid being detected by the other humans. 

Made on a budget of $ 23 million it was a big box office hit with $ 146 millions! It became the highest grossing Japanese film at the Japanese box office for the year 2010. It won the Animation of the year award at 34th Japan Academy Prize award ceremony. Two English language versions of the film were produced.

LA Times described it as ‘ beautiful, gentle & pure’. Rotten Tomatoes averages it at 7.7 /10. ‘Visually lush, refreshingly free of family-friendly clatter & anchored with soulful depth’.

The film is absolutely wonderful! We have been fascinated by ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ & films like ‘Honey, I shrunk the kids!” Also fantasy dramas where we visit the small people’s kingdom.’Thumbelina’ bedtime fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen is about a tiny girl & her adventures. Or the concept of a Leaf man. The army that protects the forest.

This film is a treat you need to give, to yourself. A must watch.