The Secret World of Arrietty (Movie)

Click to enlarge

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Name: The Secret World of Arrietty
Type: Animation

Official Rating: G

Director: Mitsubishi Toho
Genre: Adventure, fantasy, family

Age Rating: n/a

Review:

A retelling of the bestselling novel: "The Borrowers." Arrietty and full-size human Sho become unlikely friends in this tale of adventure and mystery.

This is such an endearing movie, I loved every minute of it! Not only were the characters sweet and well-developed, the art on a whole was absolutely breathtaking. It isn't very often anymore that you see a movie that uses actual hand-illustrated art in the place of computer animation. The sound effects were easily the best part: the ticking clock, the rain on the roof, their footsteps, doors opening and closing...the sound in this movie was a masterpiece in-and-of-itself, and deserves critical praise.

Apart from being a great stand-alone movie, "The Secret World of Arrietty" follows its inspiration, "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton, surprisingly well. I would say that it is a better representation of the book than the live action movie. That being said, this was my first time seeing an animated movie that is based on a book apart from manga. The character development was rich, and the dialogue was simple and sweet. It was a slow-paced movie, but what it lacked in action, it made up for in plot.

This film can be enjoyed together as a family, and has no offensive content giving it a specific age rating. I saw this with my friend and my younger brother, and we were all on the edge of our seats at the beginning when Arrietty and her father were out for sugar and tissue, and were very worried about Sho and his heart whenever he ran. I like to think he went on to live a great life after his surgery. I'll definitely be watching this with my kids!

Mature Content:

• n/a

Personal Note: 

If you are looking for an animated movie with great filmography, check out any of Studio Ghibli's flicks.