The Secret World of Arrietty Reviews

Studio Ghibli have been responsible for some of my favourite animated movies, especially Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies, Castle in the Sky and My Neighbour Totoro. In fact I haven't seen a Ghibli I dislike, even their weakest Tales from Earthsea while problematic is worth a viewing. Arietty is not one of Ghibli's best, but that doesn't stop it from being a truly charming film. As with all Studio Ghibli's work, the visuals are stunning, with the colours especially having such an ethereal quality to them, and the music has a pleasant Celtic lilt making the movie even more beautiful than it already is. The script amused and touched me, and the storytelling doesn't rely on wisecracks and action(not that it's a bad thing as such) but instead it is subtle and gentle with a lot of charm and heart, letting us bond emotionally with the characters and their world. True, the ending is a little bittersweet, but considering the storytelling it worked I felt. The characters, especially Arietty, are likable and engaging, and the voice work is terrific, the standouts being Olivia Colman, Geraldine McEwan, Mark Strong and very talented child actress Saoirse Ronan. Overall, a very charming film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Película sobre personajes sin personalidad que hacen cosas aburridas y mundanas sin algún tipo de elemento interesante.
Animación bonita, como siempre, pero en esta película no sucede absolutamente nada de relevancia.
Mala película de Miyazaki y estudio Ghibli.

Yet again Studio Ghibli only manages to impress me by what it looks like, not the story.

Before watching this I obviously read what it's about, as I could tell straight away it was clearly aimed at children, so I knew it wasn't going to be anything too deep. But what didn't get my expectations so high was the fact that it wasn't directed by Miyazaki, which was kind of a huge let down, but as I've followed the whole of Studio Ghiblis releases I wasn't going to miss this.

After, I was no way blown away, but, I still found it enjoyable, the amount of cruel/harsh films I've seen it's certainly nice to take a break and just watch a nice sweet happy film like this. It wasn't bad or anything, just it's aimed way to much at kids so most adults or older children wont get what they might have got before when watching a Ghibli movie.

Although it was fairly sad that one of the main characters in the movie had a life threatening illness, it still didn't manage to get me at all, but I bet it would the children, so there I rest my case.

Imagine yourself living in a house while some things disappear like a sugar cube that you wouldn’t care for. However you would never know that they are tiny like people who lives on the ground of your house borrowing simple things to survive while living in an very small house full of things they borrowed. That is what today’s topic will be in. The movie is based on the novel “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton which came out in 1952. Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki always wanted an make an adaptation of this novel until they finally got the chance. It is drected by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and writen by Hayao Miyazaki, and Keiko Niwa. And keep in mind I haven’t seen the Japanese version so this is on the dub version.


The plot is about a tiny sized family called the Clocks who live in a human house in Koganei, Western Tokyo. The Clocks are borrowers who borrow simple things from the house to survive everyday. At one night, their daughter Arrietty a 14-year-old gos with her father Pod for her first night of borrowing. Everything went well until a human boy named Shawn who lives at the house to rest due to his heart condition sees her. This is not good because borrowers must never be seen by humans and if they get caught than they have to move out of the house because humans can be dangerous curious. They have other encounters later on that trigger an series of events.

I personally enjoy this movie. The story is well done, characters are likable and the story doesn’t treat the viewers like fools. The voice acting is good and it matches the lips of the characters. The animation is what you expert from Studio Ghibli being really good, very detailed, and really adds to the atmosphere of their world. The soundtrack works well that at times, it feels like you their in the house borrowing things while avoiding some types of danger at the beginning of the movie when she’s out in her first night.

I haven’t seen the Japanese version but I heard that is an change that people may not like, but overall its another great entry to the Studio Ghibli with an good dub, good story, great animation, and great use of the soundtrack. Definitely recommended.

Superb Animation movie with a very powerful story and magical animation. I watched the movie in Japanese with English subtitles and really enjoyed it.

It is the story of the Clock family, who are four-inch-tall people living anonymously in another family's residence, borrowing simple items to make their home. That’s why they are called BORROWERS. Life changes for the Clocks when their daughter, Arrietty, is discovered by an ailing boy who come to this house prior to going for a heart operation. The boy down himself helped the Clock family and got his inspiration from Arrietty.

I must watch movie, especially for animation fans. High FIVE.