This past weekend we headed to Seattle for a much-needed family day. The first stop was to go see a pre-screening of The Secret World of Arrietty, the new movie based off of one of my favorite childhood stories, The Borrowers. If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about a family of “little people” who secretly live under the floor boards of an old garden home and only come out to “borrow” what they need to survive.
If you read here frequently, you know how much I love things that are the wrong size, so tiny people living in the floorboards and repurposing everyday items into usable miniatures is just about as cool as it gets. I will admit I wasn’t super excited when I found out that the movie was drawn in Japanese style animation, but I loved The Borrowers story so much that I couldn’t resist seeing the movie. And, surprisingly, I found I really loved the movie and enjoyed the animation throughout the film.
Here’s a blurb about the film: Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty (AIR-ee-ett-ee) remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to “borrow” scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts. But when 12-year-old Shawn (David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty’s family from the home and straight into danger.
The movie starts out with Shaun, a 12-year-old human boy, arriving at his mother’s childhood home to stay before he undergoes heart surgery. One night, Shaun meets Arrietty, the 14-year-old “borrower” who lives in the house, and over time the two form a secret friendship. Even though Arrietty’s parents forbade them to see each other out of fear that the family’s hiding spot would be compromised and they would have to flee, Arrietty grows to trust Shaun. I love the theme of the movie and showing kids that “different” doesn’t have to mean scary, and I think it’s a great message for kids of all ages.
As much as I loved the whole film, I particularly liked the scenes that showed the borrowers home as I intend to create our own version of one for our “fairy house” but my favorite part of the film centered around the most exquisite borrower house ever – a real working dollhouse. Over dinner one night, Shaun’s aunt tells the story of her sister and dad {Shaun’s mother and grandfather} who always believed the “little people” were real and how they built a special home for the little people to live in together. When Arrietty sees the dollhouse for the first time and then when Shaun is shown it by his aunt, you can’t help but hope they all end up living happily ever after – the little people in their borrower home and the humans watching over them.
The movie as a whole was really entertaining and kept the entire audience glued to the screen the whole time. For more information about the movie, the story, and the cast, check out their Facebook page.
The Secret World of Arrietty opens in theaters today, February 17th.
This post was written for Walt Disney Studios who provided the Arrietty tickets in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.
