Imagine that tiny people were living in your walls and under the floorboards of your house. Would you want them gone or would you think that it’s pretty cool? The Secret World of Arrietty is a wonderful movie about just that – it’s based on the classic book by Mary Norton called The Borrowers.
I remember watching the movie The Borrowers a while ago featuring John Goodman, our whole family loved it. We were excited to see the Studio Ghibli Films (Ponyo and Spirited Away) take on the TINY people with BIG adventures. We were not disappointed.
The setting for The Secret World of Arrietty is in Japanwith a teenage boy going to stay with his Grandmother prior to a surgery. The plan is that he will get plenty of needed rest. Well as you can guess, that’s not exactly what happens and it’s all for the best.
The boy, Shawn (voice of David Henrie) discovers the family of borrowers that are tiny (about four inches tall) and secretly living under the floorboards! They are called borrowers because they borrower the things they need from the “beans”, as in human beings. Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler) is the name of the only child living with her parents. Her mother (voice of Amy Poehler) is a hyper worry wart, while the father (voice of Will Arnett) is the strong silent type. Her father is trying to teach her the trade – much to mother’s dismay. They venture up to the beans living quarters from time to time to gather what they need. A sugar cube is huge to them and will last a very long time. They must be very careful not to be seen, if they are seen they must move. The borrowers are fearful of the beans and try to be very careful not to be discovered. Once Shawn makes his discovery he tries not to blow their cover – the house keeper (voice of Carol Burnett) is not fond of “borrowers”.
The animation in this movie is beautiful and I really liked the music that accompanied. I love how they capture a frog on a leaf from underneath – allowing us to only seeing the shadow. Don’t miss the footage that can be seen at the very end when the credits are rolling. There was nothing objectionable in this Disney movie that is rated G and has a running time of 94 minutes. We really enjoyed this movie. For more information please visit: Disney’s website.
Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets to attend the premier of this movie at the Birmingham Palladium. All opinions and comments are honest and my own.