Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to “borrow” scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts. But when 12-year-old Shawn (David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty’s family from the home and straight into danger.
I LOVE Studio Ghibli films. I have seen them all and personally own a majority of them. My personal favorites are Howl’s Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service. From the first moment I heard about The Secret World of Arrietty, I knew I would be going.
This movie was fantastic and definitely lived up to my expectations. I am a fan of traditional hand-drawn animation. I love the new developed computer animation but I prefer the traditional 2D animation. This is an area that Studion Ghibli excels in. The animation is literally a work of art and it is a joy to watch. It is amazing to me how talented some people in the world are.
The story is a familiar one that has been told before. This movie is based on the story The Borrowers. It is about little people that live in regular houses and ‘borrow’ small objects that the bigger people ‘beings’ won’t miss. It was fun to see Hayao Miyazaki’s (the ‘brain’ behind Studio Ghibli and the screenwriter of this film) version of the story. I love how creative they were in the tools that the Borrowers use to get the things they are going after.
The voice-over performances were fabulous in this film. All of the cast did a great job. My favorite was Amy Poehler’s performance as Homily (the mother of the Borrower family). Her performance was hilarious and added so much more to her character. Bridget Mendler (she is on Disney’s Good Luck Charlie, which I love) was great as the title character of Arrietty. She brought depth and personality to the title character. You really connected with her.
I loved The Secret World of Arrietty. The animation alone is enough to see it but it is a fabulous movie in all aspects. Do not miss this movie!
