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You've gotta love the Japanese for their penchant for taking obscure British fantasy novels and turning them into lyrical animated films. They did it wiith Howl's Moving Castle (by Dianna Wynne Jones) and now they've done it with The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I'm not exactly sure how but a studio in Japan has teamed up with Disney to bring the movie to a broader audience. I remember reading the novel and seeing a Hallmark TV Movie when I was much younger--but honestly I don't remember much about either. I guess that means I have no preconcieved notions about the movie. Still, I didn't find myself being surprised by the plot so I guess the plots are basically the same.
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The story is a fairly simple one: the last family of Borrowers--tiny people who live inside the walls and under the floorboards of a ramshakle old country home, make their living by taking just what they need by the gigantic "human beans" who reside above. Young Arietty (voiced by Bridgid Mendler) is on her first "borrowing" and is "seen" by sickly young "bean" Shawn. (Being "seen" is the ultimate disaster for Borrowers since human curiosity eventually causes calamity). Plucky Arietty and Shawn form a tentative friendship over the objections of her parents Pod (voiced by a surprisingly low-key Will Arnett) and Homily (Amy Poehler--in full hysterical mode). They also attract the attention of housekeeper Hara (voiced by Carol Burnett--bringing the crazy). What happens afterward? Read the book or see the movie!'
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A couple of things really struck me about The Secret World Of Arietty: the hand-drawn images are nothing less than utterly gorgeous. There's a sweet, old-fashioned quality in the movie that Robyn and I really enjoyed (but younger folks might find a bit too slow). Still, the scenes, mostly drawn from a tiny person's point of view, are a joy to behold. I loved the depth of rendering and the soft, subtle, dare I say romantic? coloring. (See this movie on as large a screen as possible to appreciate all the details.) Some may find the celtic-inspired soundtrack a bit sicky-sweet but we both liked it (even if we didnt remember anything but the general tone after we left the theater). I'm not a huge "anime" fan so I wasn't completely surprised by the nods to Japanes culture in a quintisentially "English" movie (eating with chopsticks, reading from right to left and removing shoes in the house) but to me this just added to the quirk charm that infused the entire experience.
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The Secret World Of Arietty probably moves too slow for younger kids but older childern (and more importantly their parents and grandparents) will enjoy. Fans of fast paced action-packed cartoons won't like this movie but it would appeal to general audiences and sci-fi and fantsy fans in particular. Go see it on the big screen if you can--rent it when it comes out if you can't.
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FINAL GRADE: A
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NOTE: checking IMDB for info I found there was a UK and US version with different voice casts. I don't know why: needless to say I reviewed the US version.
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