Arrietty is a Borrower. The Borrowers are any species of tiny, 10cm tall people, who hide in houses, borrowing the supplies they have to survive. If they are ever seen by human eyes- they should flee. When Arrietty is caught by way of a sickly boy named Shawn, who's staying at his or her aunt's country home whilst awaiting a heart operation- the girl befriends the boy, even though antics connected with his nosey housekeeper may perhaps endanger her family.
THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY is the latest offering from Studio Ghibli, and the brainchild associated with animator Hayao Miyazaki, widely considered the greatest talent currently getting work done in animation. My exposure to Miyazaki's production is pretty limited, as I haven't seen any of his films- despite their own unanimous acclaim. ARRIETTY (which he didn't direct) is my first experience of the Ghibli universe, and I quite preferred my first taste.
ARRIETTY is actually in line with the same series of textbooks that gave us the 1998 British comedy THIS BORROWERS, which starred Jim Broadbent along with John Goodman. ARRIETTY is a much less manic film, with it really like a thoughtful story about the particular unlikely friendship that blooms involving the two lonely teens in its core. Arrietty is all on it's own with her parents, with The Borrowers regarded as a nearly extinct varieties. Meanwhile, in his own technique, Shawn is just as isolated, with his heart condition leading to his being treated together with kid gloves by his / her only companions, his thoughtful aunt, and her nosy, crazy housekeeper- voiced by Carol Burnett coming from all people.
Unlike most American cartoon films, ARRIETTY is a silent, slowly paced film- more worried about emotion, and atmosphere than anything else. The animation style can be traditional, and a beautiful substitute for the CG animated films that dominate industry place. It's really a charming piece of content, although I would have preferred to find out the original Japanese version compared to the American dub, which includes a number of celebrity voices- including Burnett, and real-life couple Amy Poehler and may Arnett as Arrietty's mother and father.
As her protective, heroic father, I thought Arnett did an incredibly subtle, reserved job- which truly suits Miyazaki's approach, although Poehler is a bit zanier. That said- the means her character is animated suggests that her approach is faithful to the original intents of the particular filmmakers, so I suppose which can't be chalked up being a fault of the United states dubbers.
In the two prospects, we get two unknowns- eschewing this gimmicky voice casting's most studios appear to go for these nights. This anonymity is an advantage to a film in this way as some teeny-bopper pop star inside lead would have already been extremely distracting, and in poor taste with the artful approach Miyazaki takes.
All in all, I quite enjoyed my first outing into your Miyazaki/ Ghibili universe, and I'm certainly prepared to take catching up with some of their more acclaimed games, such as SPIRITED OUT and PRINCESS MONOKE. If you're a fan of their output, I'm sure ARRIETTY might be a treat, but even if you're somewhat ignorant of their work, it's still a trip worth taking. It's rare to view a children's film as polite as this, and it's a breath of fresh air.