Oh man, Studio Ghibli. I missed out on Ponyo in theaters, so I knew I was going to see this right away. They're widely considered one of the best animated movie companies in the world. And rightfully so. The aforementioned Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are all wonderful films which should been seen by all in my opinion. And The Secret World of Arrietty is no different. It follows the story of, you guessed it, Arrietty (Mendler) and her mother and father, Homily and Pod (Pohler and Arnett). They are tiny people who live under the floorboards of a house in Tokyo, avoiding contact with humans ("Beings" as they call them). They only venture out when they need to borrow a necessity. Such as a cube of sugar or a tissue. One day a kid, Shawn (Henrie), arrives at the house because his parents want him to have a bit of rest from the city life. He sees Arrietty and the story of "The Borrowers" begins.
First off, this is Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, so I almost don't even need to say it but I do. The art in this movie is FANTASTIC. The colors are vibrant from the opening scene, the characters are drawn so well and the environment (especially for the little people scenes) are just fun to watch. The story is also very good. Obviously cause Miyazaki part-did the screenplay. Haha. But I've never read The Borrowers, but if I were a book reader I go back for this. The characters, both large and small, were easy to identify with and I felt myself drawn to Shawn's character for some reason. Like there was this thought connection we both share. The English voice acting was done well too. Bridgit Mendler and David Henrie were very good as Arrietty and Shawn. Pohler and Arnett were also solid as Arrietty's parents. Even Carol Burnett had me and the audience chuckling at some parts. But if I were to have a gripe with this film, it's that Arnett didn't seem like he was into the voice over. But as the movie wore on, he filled the dad role quite nicely. Another thing, which I have to praise Disney for, is leaving this movie alone. They didn't add or take anything away. They just facilitated the dubbing in English and produced and made available to everyone in the US this wonderful film. One last thing I like to mention, the movie never felt long. It started and I was into it the whole time, not caring about how long I'd been there or checking my phone to see what time it was. I love when a movie can captivate me, yet keep me from being aware of the time or how long its been on. All in all, at least for me, The Secret World of Arrietty was a damn near perfect movie. Great adapted story, great characters and great animation. What more could you want out of a movie experience?
"My heart is stronger now, because you're in it."
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