Arrietty – Review

Title: Arrietty
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand)
Directed By: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Produced By: Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay By: Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa
Studio: Studio Ghibli
Based on: Based on Mary Norton’s novel “The Borrowers”
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Audio: English (UK) Dub / Japanese Dub
Subtitles: English (For Japanese Dub version)
Aspect Ratio: Theatrical Release
Runtime: 94 minutes
Classification: This title has been classified as G  for General Exhibition
Special Thanks: A ticket to see the movie was purchased out of my own pocket.

After many months of teasing the series to us as well as many more months between the teasing and the original announcement of the series, Madman Entertainment has released their theatrical release of Studio Ghibli’s latest English dubbed film Arrietty to a number of cinemas around Australia. While I haven’t actually read Mary Norton’s novel The Borrowers which acts as the source material for this films plot, it is similar to that of Howl’s Moving Castle in that they both share British authors and both have their plots adapted to suit the time in which they have to present the storyline – so regardless of if you have read the book or not it should provide you with a completely unique storyline with some of the lovable characters from the original novelized version. As I know there are different versions of the movie released and to be released (English UK Dub and Japanese Dub with English subtitles over here in Australia and UK while there is also a Disney English dub due for release in the US next month), I would just like to make it clear that this review was conducted on the English release within Australia and I have not as of writing this review watched any other version. Do note that this review will only remain valid until the DVD/Blu-ray release is released by Madman Entertainment later on in the year – which will allow me to expand with analysis of all included dubs, extras and go into more detail being able to watch it a second and third time around. Without further ado, let me describe to you the world of Arrietty – where humans and the “little people” called Borrowers live together – perhaps not in the greatest of harmony.

Storyline

This is a story about the little people known as Borrowers, who make their living hiding out in the areas of resided homes that you mightn’t always or ever look and having over the years built quite a nice living for themselves. They are known as Borrowers because while they shan’t be seen during the day, at night they make use of the quiet and dark house to borrow items one would never ever miss – a cube of sugar, a drawing pin to use a weapon or a tissue to use as cloth. While they live a peaceful life for many a decade without ever being caught, they have a rule that if they are ever seen and it poses a threat to their livelihood, they would have to pack up and leave which none of them want to do. One day, a young sickly boy named Sho goes to stay at the house which is owned by his great aunt in order to rest up before going for an operation… in this house lives three of these Borrowers with the youngest being Arrietty who on her first ever borrowing is spotted by Sho…. and so begins the tale of Arrietty.

Without a doubt the biggest aspect to this plot is the relationship between Arrietty and Sho, both of who have their curiosities and problems. While Sho who heard of these people from his mother wants to learn more about them does so with a pure heart and inquisitive mind while Arrietty out of youthful curiosity wants to learn more about the humans as well, they are constantly drawn back at every turn by the forceful and stern word of Arrietty’s father who has over the years become even more distrusting of humans. There are several incidents that bring them together through the plot and it instilled that extra bit of innocent charm that I have not seen in a Ghibli film since the original 2001 release of Spirited Away. There are also other subplots such as the existence of other Borrowers and another hint of romance between Arrietty and a fourth “little person” by the name of Spiller however neither of these amounted to much and were not concluded or really built upon during the course of the movie. Depending on your preference of film, you may find the original half an hour to first half of the movie considerably slow as they attempt to introduce the unique lifestyle of the Borrowers and the characters themselves, but to me I found it enjoyable from start to finish.

The story has a small number of characters with some playing more important roles than others. As I have no doubt alluded to above, the main characters are Arrietty and Sho whose personalities fit their intended roles to the story well and provide a good sense of emotion and seriousness as to not get you balling your eyes out over the events that happen but at the same time giving you that “chill running down your spine” sensation as you watch. The other two members of Arrietty’s family Homily and Pod provide two personalities that are opposite to Arrietty’s in many ways, with her mother being the series official “scardy cat” and Pod being the strict and unwavering “man” of the house – both who in their efforts to protect her cause issues. Finally we have what could be an “antagonist” of the series who is hinted early on in the plot, who tries to find the little people for her own selfish reasons. This provides a simple to remember yet well implemented cast of main characters that contribute well to the main story. A couple of other characters do appear in the story however unlike the cast mentioned above they do not contribute much to the main storyline and are there to be what I would consider supporting characters to further along the plot.

While the story was not fully concluded and left several minor elements open, I found it to be a heartwarming but slightly melancholic tale which should appeal to those of all ages who have enjoyed previous Ghibli works. I would not go as far as saying it is my favorite Studio Ghibli title as lets be honest… all of their storylines prove good for a reason, however if you were to go to the cinema tomorrow and watch it, there is a high chance you will enjoy it all the way through.

Design

With any Studio Ghibli title, design is one of those aspects you cannot pass up discussing as every release proves to get better and better, evidently with the budget and resources to work on delivering only the best they can offer while not taking away from the intended setting. The house they live in resembles that of a stereotypical British house in the country (At least in my opinion) filled with an endless variety of flowers, a modern yet slightly rustic interior design and filled with wildlife and the nooks and crannys that allow the Borrowers to go about their nightly business. I might even go as far as suggesting they have tried much harder than any previous release in showcasing the detailed environment, taking several opportunities to showcase the landscape – as if the environment is screaming “Look at me! I am beautiful!”. The house that the Borrowers live in is even more creative than anything else in the film. Given that they cannot just simply ask the humans to build them a home, they have spent years borrowing items and built themselves an adorable house underneath the floorboards which you will need to really see to appreciate.

Animation on the other hand is also top notch and is nothing less than what I would have expected from the studio, with the environment moving in a realistic manner, their frequent attempts at showcasing the means that the Borrowers navigate the big world outside of their home and the impressive attention to detail for the little things when it came to animating. Character designs retained what you could call the normal Ghibli style but considering what this style is, it is nothing to be concerned about with all the characters perhaps not being as detailed as other animated series – but also providing some great facial expressions (Spiller is now the official Human Totoro character in my opinion) and good designs as a whole. Overall, this is one of the nicest looking Ghibli films you would have seen to date even if it doesn’t try to toe the line between the natural and supernatural like many of their films have done before (Eg. Spirited Away with spirits and Howl’s Moving Castle with witches, wizards and a moving castle).

Music and Voice Acting

Arrietty comes equipped with a good sized soundtrack for an hour and a half, and considering that I found the series was not so heavily reliant on dialogue as other Ghibli works, it worked well with all other aspects to effectively set the mood intended to be given by the series. The score mostly consisted of classical tracks along with a few lyrical tracks performed in both English and Japanese, with one track in particular I believe is simply titled “Sho’s Song” standing out to me and setting a bit of a suspenseful mood in the occasion it was used. The lyrical tracks were able to effectively represent the tone of the film, with the English song used in the intro instilling a sense of beauty in the world they were previewing while the lyrical song used during the ending being a song that gave a greater sense of emotion to heighten the ending scenes. Musician and composer Cecile Corbel did a great job overall.

Now as I said in the intro to this review, I am reviewing the UK dub for the series which proved to be very enjoyable, suiting the setting and emotions portrayed throughout well. Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) was the voice actress for Arrietty and Tom Holland (Billy Elliot the Musical) was responsible for the voice of Sho and while I took a while to ease into their voice roles, by the end I have to admit they were both perfect for their roles. Other cast members include Olivia Colman as Arrietty’s mother, Mark Strong as Arrietty’s father and Geraldine McEwan as Haru, and while looking at their filmographies none of them really have an extensive experience in providing dub roles – I think they were enjoyable enough to listen to. As I also said previously, I will expand upon this with comparisons between the UK, Japanese and perhaps even US dubs upon the official physical media release by Madman Entertainment later this year.

The Final Word

While I am not going to claim this series will take the title of favourite Ghibli film away from “The Cat Returns” which I found to be a delightful all-ages friendly spin-off of Whisper of the Hearts mascot character “The Baron”, it has definitely come close and shows how much the studio has improved in terms of both design and plot without sacrificing anything else in order to ensure both of these elements are good. I am aware that not every cinema would be showing this movie, heck the cinema I went to watch it at seemed to be one of the last minute additions to the list – however if you have the chance to see it, I could highly recommend it to you – otherwise keep an eye out over the coming months for the official physical media release. Over one and a half hours… I was taken to a world full of beauty and wonder and provided with a heartwarming story… It was a world very few studios and teams would be able to provide in such a way and I am very glad I had the chance to watch it.

Storyline / Character Development: B+
Design: A
Music/Voice Acting: A-
Personal Preference: A
Overall Score: A

“One of the few animated films since Studio Ghibli’s ‘Spirited Away’ to successfully capture that youthful sense of innocence, curiosity and trust between two characters”