It’s been a long journey for Arrietty to make it to the United States, especially for a girl as small as she is. But after debuting in 1952 in a series of children’s books called The Borrowers by British author Mary Norton, then being adapted for the screen by highly influential manga artist Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, The Secret World of Arrietty became one of the biggest Japanese films of 2010 (and of all time, for that matter). Leave it to the magic of Disney to bring the Hiromasa Yonebayashi-directed animated fantasy to America.
Arrietty (voiced by pop singer Bridgit Mendler) and her family of Borrowers live in a little brick house in a Tokyo suburb. Their house is so small, in fact, that it exists under the floorboards of another house occupied by Beings. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the Borrowers are fairy-like creatures (small, but without wings or magical powers) whose world must be kept secret from the Beings (regular-sized human beings), but whose survival depends on “borrowing” what they need from the humans while the humans aren’t looking. Just before she is to accompany her father (a man of few words voiced by the gruff-sounding Will Arnett) on her first borrow (a rite of passage for a Borrower of her age), a human boy (voiced by How I Met Your Mother‘s David Henrie) catches a glimpse of Arrietty in the bushes of his aunt’s yard.
The borrow itself is one of the film’s many adventures, as Arrietty and her father traverse through the inner walls of the house, rappelling up and down cupboards in order to retrieve necessities (in amounts that will last the Borrowers weeks but are too small to even be noticed by the humans). After Arrietty inadvertently drops a sugar cube while returning from the borrow, the interaction between her and her human counterpart progresses into a friendship. Though she tries to keep this new friendship a secret from her parents (especially her neurotic mother, voiced by Amy Poehler), they soon find out. And even though she is confident that the Borrowers’ secret is safe with the boy, especially since he is terminally ill, her parents insist that they must move. History has proven that once humans learn of their tiny cohabitants, it never ends well for the Borrowers.
The human housekeeper (Carol Burnett) eventually catches on and proves just why Borrowers and Beings cannot coexist. Sadly she is the bad apple that spoils the bunch, since we also learn that the boy’s family has tried to befriend the Borrowers before, going so far as to build an elaborate dollhouse in hopes that the Borrowers would take up residence.
In the tradition of Miyazaki films like My Neighbor Totoro and Sprited Away, The Secret World of Arrietty takes the viewer into a world of childlike innocence that is threatened by the ignorance of an adult. And through such thoughtful details and accuracies as the way liquids pour in what appear to be large globs in the Borrowers’ world (they’d only be tiny drops to us), Arrietty offers a sense of authenticity despite its fantastical premise. And thanks to the resourcefulness of the two children, not even the crotchety housekeeper is able to fully expose the Borrowers as they prepare to move on to new adventures.
The Secret World of Arrietty. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Starring Bridget Mindler, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett and David Henrie. Rated G. www.disney.com/arrietty.
Review by Jonathan Williams