"Human beings are dangerous. If we're seen, we have to leave."
*This review concerns the English dubbing of the film and thus will reference the US version’s titles, translation, and release dates*
Japan’s Studio Ghibli produces some of the finest films in the world. Since 1985, the studio has been churning out quality picture after quality picture. Their hard work culminated at the 75th Academy Awards where Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the very first time (and one of only two overall) for a non-US film to win. I love the films Ghibli create. I’ve seen them all and, save for one (I’m looking at you Pom Poko), I highly recommend checking out their full catalog. Studio Ghibli’s founder and key player is Hayao Miyazaki who wrote and directed 9 out of 18 of the studio’s films and produced four others (of those, he wrote the screenplays for two of them). The man has a perfect track record and is easily one of my favorite directors. For The Secret World Of Arrietty, Miyazaki serves as a developing planner and the co-writer of the screenplay. Miyazaki’s usual themes of environmentalism and feminism are still interwoven throughout the story (based on Mary Norton’s The Borrowers), but first time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi puts his own touches to this heartwarming and exciting tale.
The plot revolves around Arrietty, voiced by Bridgit Mendler, and her family of “little people” or “borrowers” who live in the cupboards of a human family’s house. They take small things the humans would never notice/miss in order to survive. They range from a single sugar cube or one tissue or the tiniest scraps of fabric. When a young sickly boy, Shawn (voiced by David Henrie), spots Arrietty, her family must make the difficult decision to either stay in the comfort of their home and risk more humans finding them or traverse harsh conditions to find a new one. It’s a fun story that does an excellent job of making you care about the characters.
The voice acting is good, but not amazing. David Henrie in particular seems out of place and lacking. It’s interesting to note that Disney (who distributes all of the Ghibli films outside of Japan) seems to be using their position in casting the English voice actors to use it as a platform for their own Disney channel stars (both the two mentioned earlier are from Wizards of Waverly Place, while 2009’s Ponyo had both Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas in the main roles who’s older siblings were on Disney’s biggest shows at the time). I only mention this because earlier releases saw big names like Christian Bale & Emily Mortimer (2005’s Howl’s Moving Castle), Claire Danes & Billy Bob Thornton (1999’s Princess Mononoke), and Michael Keaton & Cary Elwes (1992’s Porco Rosso). I’m not sure if Disney is getting less and less of a budget to attract big stars or their just choosing young stars from their own roster, but Ponyo and Arrietty both had much weaker voice acting than the previous Ghibli dubs.
What is amazing, however, is the animation and attention to detail. Not since Pixar’s Toy Story have we been able to see such a tiny world seem incredibly massive. From a drop of dew on a leaf, to the heft of a single sugar cube, to the sprawling forest that is the human’s backyard, The Secret World of Arrietty creates a grand narrative out of the smallest details. The animation is bright and fluid, as it always is with Ghibli films. Whether Arrietty is running from the house cat through the grass or a crow on the roof, the animation never rests and is absolutely breathtaking.
Of final note to Ghibli aficionados like myself, The Secret World of Arrietty marks the first major Studio Ghibli release to use a composer other than the veritable Joe Hisaishi. Instead, director Yonebayashi went with French singer Cécile Corbel. Trading Hisaishi’s piano for harp lines, Corbel creates lush atmospheres with tinges of both Celtic and Japanese sounds. Ultimately, I think it works. A new director’s fresh take on a classic story matched with a new composer to give a unique and different feel to anything else Studio Ghibli has released.
The plot revolves around Arrietty, voiced by Bridgit Mendler, and her family of “little people” or “borrowers” who live in the cupboards of a human family’s house. They take small things the humans would never notice/miss in order to survive. They range from a single sugar cube or one tissue or the tiniest scraps of fabric. When a young sickly boy, Shawn (voiced by David Henrie), spots Arrietty, her family must make the difficult decision to either stay in the comfort of their home and risk more humans finding them or traverse harsh conditions to find a new one. It’s a fun story that does an excellent job of making you care about the characters.
The voice acting is good, but not amazing. David Henrie in particular seems out of place and lacking. It’s interesting to note that Disney (who distributes all of the Ghibli films outside of Japan) seems to be using their position in casting the English voice actors to use it as a platform for their own Disney channel stars (both the two mentioned earlier are from Wizards of Waverly Place, while 2009’s Ponyo had both Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas in the main roles who’s older siblings were on Disney’s biggest shows at the time). I only mention this because earlier releases saw big names like Christian Bale & Emily Mortimer (2005’s Howl’s Moving Castle), Claire Danes & Billy Bob Thornton (1999’s Princess Mononoke), and Michael Keaton & Cary Elwes (1992’s Porco Rosso). I’m not sure if Disney is getting less and less of a budget to attract big stars or their just choosing young stars from their own roster, but Ponyo and Arrietty both had much weaker voice acting than the previous Ghibli dubs.
What is amazing, however, is the animation and attention to detail. Not since Pixar’s Toy Story have we been able to see such a tiny world seem incredibly massive. From a drop of dew on a leaf, to the heft of a single sugar cube, to the sprawling forest that is the human’s backyard, The Secret World of Arrietty creates a grand narrative out of the smallest details. The animation is bright and fluid, as it always is with Ghibli films. Whether Arrietty is running from the house cat through the grass or a crow on the roof, the animation never rests and is absolutely breathtaking.
Of final note to Ghibli aficionados like myself, The Secret World of Arrietty marks the first major Studio Ghibli release to use a composer other than the veritable Joe Hisaishi. Instead, director Yonebayashi went with French singer Cécile Corbel. Trading Hisaishi’s piano for harp lines, Corbel creates lush atmospheres with tinges of both Celtic and Japanese sounds. Ultimately, I think it works. A new director’s fresh take on a classic story matched with a new composer to give a unique and different feel to anything else Studio Ghibli has released.
8/10
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