"The Secret World of Arrietty" Review

They've done it again!

Studio Ghibli needs no introduction by this point. The films of Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and their protege are some of the most acclaimed animated films of their time. The films are filled with stunning originality and ingenious fantasy of their own design- but for the first film of director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Ghibli decided to go an alternate route and adapt an existing tale: the classic children's novel The Borrowers.

Arrietty is a tiny girl living under the floorboards of a modern Japanese house, along with her parents, Homily and Pod. Arrietty is a Borrower, a little humanoid creature that takes small, easy-to-miss objects from the big, bad human world in order to survive. Unfortunately, on the night of her very first Borrowing, Arrietty makes a fatal mistake: she's seen by Sho, an ill 12-year-old boy who is staying in the house that the Borrowers take from.

Arrietty's parents insist that, now that they have been seen, they have to move out of their home and find another. Defiantly, Arrietty begins to communicate with Sho and the other humans, and manages to strike up a friendship.

Arrietty does have a plot, with a beginning, middle and end, but it's quite remarkable how calm and easygoing the ride is. There's no hurry to get along to the next plot point, and really, it's quite a simple story in the first place. The film is mostly content with showing off its lovable characters and breathtaking animation (par for the course for Ghibli), which isn't a bad thing at all.

Arrietty has some of the most lovable characters I've seen in any film for a long time now. Arrietty herself is an adorable little thing, from her voice to her personality to her mannerisms, and it's impossible not to utterly fall in love with her. Homily and Pod are polar opposites- Homily being panicky and loud, Pod reserved and stoic- but each are well-developed in their own right, and their love for one another shows loud and clear on screen. Sho is a quietly tragic character; he has a bad heart condition, and though he will soon go into surgery, he is quite confident that he will die. You really pity and sympathize with the poor boy's plight.

I have yet to see the original Japanese version of the film, so I can't comment on that version's voice cast, but the English dub is mostly excellent. Voice actors include Amy Poehler (Homily), Will Arnett (Pod), Carol Burnett (Haru, the housekeeper), Davide Henrie (Sho), and Bridgit Mendler (Arrietty). All fit the characters quite nicely, and deliver their lines with lots of emotion and dramatic flair.

Did I already mention that the animation is beautiful? Yes? Well, I'll say it again. The animation is beautiful. The world of the Borrowers is filled with intricate detail, from a wide variety of animals to highly detailed plants and raindrops, all rendered solely with human hands. There is not a single dull frame in the entire film.

The Secret World of Arrietty isn't Ghibli's best work, but considering that they've yet to release a film that could even be called "mediocre", that's faint damnation indeed. It's still a brilliant film, and Yonebayashi (who's expected to take over the studio from Miyazaki and Takahata) is more than capable of directing dozens more.

Awesome