Magsi Rover (magsirover) Watching this film was like a package of everything that I loved from Alice and wonderland, The Borrowers (A movie) and Thumbalina adaptations. It was indeed a welcome surprise, surreal to the taste and a spectacular amount of visual content. The cinamatic approach of the animation was amazing. Music selection, and structure all of which was definitely carefully laid out in order to make this animation. I commend Ghibli Studios for another job well done and will continue to root for all of their works in the future. If you're curious on what this animation movie has to offer, I suggest that you watch it without expecting anything from it and focus on the visuals and story in general. Character developments were simple and yet, without making it difficult for the viewers was indeed able to project the depth of their roles. please do watch The Secret World of Arriety. One of the amazing films made by these wonderful animators of our time.

sol- Studio Ghibli place their own unique spin on Mary Norton's 'The Borrowers' in this animated big screen adaptation. Norton's tale of tiny human beings who live beneath the floorboards and "borrow" various items (explaining how little things always seem to disappear forever) may be quite well known, however, the Ghibli team still manage to achieve a sense of awe and wonderment with the way their minute female protagonist copes in the gigantic world around her wherein bugs are as large as pets (and make good bouncy balls!) and sugar cubes are as large as backpacks. There is also a lot to like in the non-romantic friendship and camaraderie that develops between Arrietty and a seriously ill boy she finds living in her house. What does not quite work so well is the way the film turns the boy's caregiver/housekeeper into an evil antagonist. There is almost something darkly comical with the way she tries to hire pest exterminators to get rid of the borrowers, but we never quite discover why she despises them so much - - and then she changes her mind and decides that she would rather capture them and store them in jars instead (again, it is not clear why). Shaky as the antagonist's motives may be, they admittedly lead to some exciting moments, as Arrietty and the boy have to elude her, as well as funny moments, as she keeps failing to convince the boy's grandmother that borrowers really do exist. The film also looks great as per Ghibli par, with the interiors of the borrowers' house a particular wonder, especially with buttons and odd bits and ends used for wall decorations.

Python Hyena The Secret World of Arrietty (2010): Dir: Hiromasa Yonebayashi / Voices: Bridgit Mendler, David Henrie, Will Arnett, Amy Pohler, Carol Burnett: Gloriously beautiful Japanese animation about the overwhelming world inhabited by little people known as borrowers. Shawn is a teenager with a heart condition sent to live with his great aunt and her scheming housekeeper. He knows about the borrowers and establishes a friendship with teenage Arrietty who is anxious for her first borrowing experience. When the people are asleep, her father leads the mission that involves high staking climbs for sugar cubes and tissue. They struggle to avoid being seen by humans because it threatens their existence and that is the one problem with the film. Its conclusion leaves the impression that these borrowers cannot co-exist with humans but one gets the impression that things could have worked reasonably with Shawn and his aunt. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and released in Japan in 2010 before making a UK transfer in 2011. Finally it receives an American release complete with new voice overs that work. Bridgit Mendler voices the heroic Arrietty who braves the impossible. David Henrie voices Shawn whom she comes to understand and connect with. Will Arnett and Amy Pohler voice the parents who worry about their daughter. Even Carol Burnett lends her voice to the American dubbing of this film. Strong theme regarding family and friendship but its best element is the stunning animation full of gorgeous detail that heightens Arrietty's world in full blown awe. Score: 9 / 10

Neil Welch 14-year old Arietty is a Borrower: small people who live in the secret spaces of houses and "borrow" things necessary to survive, which the huge humans will never miss. Cautioned by her father to never be seen by humans, Arietty encounters Sho, a boy with a heart condition, who wants to be friends.This animated film from Studio Ghibli takes the very English kids' books by Mary Norton (previously given live-action life in a BBC series and a Hollywood movie) and transplants it to Japan as well as giving it a unique Studio Ghibli visual sensibility.It is delightfully done. Visually lush, with action bridging normal and miniature scales, a gorgeous score of celtic flavoured waltzes, and first rate voice casting in the UK edition, it is genuinely involving and, finally, bittersweet in how it resolves.I loved it.