The Secret World of Arrietty is a version of the old story of The Borrowers, a book I vaguely remember reading as a child and a story I have at least seen one film or TV version of. In Arrietty I think I have the one that does the best at the telling by making it a rather stripped down affair and focusing on one main character rather than a bigger cast. The plot sees Arrietty allowed to explore the outside world of the humans (which for them is just part of the house they happen to be within) and being spotted by the young boy who lives there. This spotting triggers a series of events which are the whole film and this tight focus means that it doesn't have to cram too much in to the 90 minute running time.
This means that the film does have room to breathe for the characters and also has the time to let us experience the world through Arrietty. It is a good call to do this early and quickly and, although the film opens with Shô, we do move to join the "little people" very quickly. The sequence where Arrietty and her father go out together is really well done – the ordinary is well presented as thrilling and dangerous, with deep caverns made out of furniture. The way it is directed and animated doesn't mean it is just small characters filmed against normal stuff made to look big (as is the case in the film) but rather than it feels like an adventure and is delivered with a sense of wonder to it. This really helped me get into the film and fall for Arrietty early and this stayed with me throughout.
The plot is simple enough and could have been overly sentimental and all tied up nicely but I really like that it wasn't – the film's ending surprised me and delighted me in equal measure as I am used to thinks like this being all closed out in a neat way. The voice cast seem to be different depending on where you watch it – for some reason it was even dubbed into English using different people for the US and UK markets. The UK voices were mostly good but I did find whoever did Shô to be a bit lacking, but Arrietty was very good, full of a wonder and trust that matched her animated expressions and actions.
The Secret World of Arrietty may not quite be as good as one could expect from Studio Ghibli and it isn't as open to adult subjects as sometimes you see, but it is still a great family film. It captures a sense of childlike wonder at the world and translates it well to the viewer. The friendship, bravery and trust that comes out of this is also nicely done and I found the whole film to be wonderfully charming and enjoyable.
This means that the film does have room to breathe for the characters and also has the time to let us experience the world through Arrietty. It is a good call to do this early and quickly and, although the film opens with Shô, we do move to join the "little people" very quickly. The sequence where Arrietty and her father go out together is really well done – the ordinary is well presented as thrilling and dangerous, with deep caverns made out of furniture. The way it is directed and animated doesn't mean it is just small characters filmed against normal stuff made to look big (as is the case in the film) but rather than it feels like an adventure and is delivered with a sense of wonder to it. This really helped me get into the film and fall for Arrietty early and this stayed with me throughout.
The plot is simple enough and could have been overly sentimental and all tied up nicely but I really like that it wasn't – the film's ending surprised me and delighted me in equal measure as I am used to thinks like this being all closed out in a neat way. The voice cast seem to be different depending on where you watch it – for some reason it was even dubbed into English using different people for the US and UK markets. The UK voices were mostly good but I did find whoever did Shô to be a bit lacking, but Arrietty was very good, full of a wonder and trust that matched her animated expressions and actions.
The Secret World of Arrietty may not quite be as good as one could expect from Studio Ghibli and it isn't as open to adult subjects as sometimes you see, but it is still a great family film. It captures a sense of childlike wonder at the world and translates it well to the viewer. The friendship, bravery and trust that comes out of this is also nicely done and I found the whole film to be wonderfully charming and enjoyable.