The Secret World of Arrietty poster & wallpaper
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Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Carol Burnett, David Henrie ... see more see more... , Moises Arias , Mirai Shida , Ryunosuke Kamiki , Tomokazu Miura , Kirin Kiki , Shinobu Ôtake

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 hous... read more read more...ekeeper (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. -- (C) Disney

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87% liked it

48,016 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

116 critics

G, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Release Date: February 17, 2012

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DVD Release Date: May 22, 2012

Stats: 1,797 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,797)

  • hobster1
    May 9, 2012
    hobster1
    There's a elegance in the narrative's simplicity. Part of the story focuses on the missions that these "borrowers" go on to obtain articles like sugar and tissue for the family to use. The point of view of the little people is perfectly captured. There's beauty in how these chara... read morecters accomplish their objectives. Arrietty's father's use of double stick tape and mittens to scale a wall is quaintly beautiful. But where is the excitement? Not a whole lot happens. There's a storyline involving a sickly 12 year old boy named Shawn who comes to stay at the place while awaiting heart surgery. His friendship with Arrietty is a dramatic subplot and although it's poignant, it never develops into anything particularly exciting. Then there's Hara, an older female caretaker of the home. She provides some conflict, but she ends up becoming more of a nuisance than an actual threat. Nevertheless this is a welcome addition to the Studio Ghibli cannon. The details are what makes this so captivating. Despite the somewhat listless plot, The Secret World of Arrietty is an enchanting delight.
  • 366weirdmovies
    April 13, 2012
    366weirdmovies
    A sickly boy makes friends with one of the two-inch tall "borrowers" who live underneath the floors and live by foraging for crumbs in human households. Very solid and sweet adaptation of a minor children's classic; should delight kids and nostalgic adults.
  • fb1672039553
    March 29, 2012
    fb1672039553
    Heart-achingly tender and sweet. Thoughtful art direction includes clever and charming details that made me smile throughout. For example, hanging on the house walls of the 4-inch-tall family are framed stamps as decorative paintings - stamps that are tarnished with wavy post-mar... read morek ink, reinforcing the principled scavenging history of our Borrowers and inviting us to imagine their previous adventures.
  • skeletonking101
    March 5, 2012
    skeletonking101
    The stories of the little people was originally conceived in the book series "The Borrowers" about a group of tiny people who would "Borrow" small things from people that they need. 50 years after the novel was written, Director Hayao Miyazaki decided to do his take on this story... read more.

    The story is about a young boy with medical problems named Shawn (David Henrie) being sent to his moms childhood house where she was told stories of small people who lived under the floor. He sees a strange creature when he is outside when he first arrives and thinks it looks like a little person. This creature ends up actually being a little person, a 14 year old girl named Arriety (Bridgit Mendler) who lives with her two parents (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) who are borrowers who are small people who "Borrow things such as soap, cookies, and other small things that humans don't need when they disappear. Shawn ends up seeing Arriety on her first night of "Borrowing" and his curiosity was picked very far when she drops sugar in his room and he drops it off in the hole near her house. Arriety questioning this is told not to take the sugar because her father thinks its a trap but she sneaks out and ends up becoming friends with Shawn.

    Like many of Ghiblis movies as I said before, usually get heavily Disney associated actors such as David Henrie from Wizards of Waverly Place and Moises Arias who was on Hannah Montana. But this movie also like Ghiblis other movies get moderately big actors or much older actors, such as in this film they got Carol Burnett, and Amy Poelher and Will Arnett. All of them do regular great jobs and one actor I think does the best job overall is surprisingly David Henrie as Shawn. He has such an innocent and monotone voice that it is impossible not to feel sorry for him when you find out about what is wrong with him and you feel horrible for all the things that are happening to him. He's both a sympathetic character and a very emotional character, and Henrie pulls this off flawlessly well. Bridget Mendler does a good job as Arriety, being sweet and pulls off the teenage girl getting to figure out the big world very well. Arnett and Poelher both do good as Arriety's parents and it shows due to these two being married in real life and you believe they do care for Arriety and are both believable as these two characters. Carol Burnett is shockingly not that memorable in this movie, she plays the character of Hara, a woman who takes care of Shawn but is obsessed with catching the little people. Maybe its because the character is really not developed that well, but Burnett doesn't really have much to work with with this character in the film, unlike the other elderly actresses that Miyazaki has chosen before such as Suzanne Pleshette in Spirited Away or Lauren Bacall in Howl's Moving Castle.

    The animation, again like all of Miyazaki's other animated pictures is incredible, and for a movie with perspectives of smaller people to much larger people and animals leads to some very good eye candy to see in a Miyazaki movie. But other than that there isn't much really to talk about in terms of the animation.

    One thing I will say about this movie is that is quite possibly one of the emotional films that I've seen in a while, and one of those reasons is because of the music, the music in this movie are brilliantly done and the film has little to none of it, but they know when to use it to the films advantage, and it works incredibly well when it is used. Using piano music about 80% of the time also helps.

    Overall this is so far the best film that I've seen this year and it is definitely a wonderful film to go see, and it is one of the few movies to make me cry at the end, and it is quite possibly Studio Ghiblis most well told story out of all their films. My only problem I have with this movie is that the film does have a somewhat slow pace for a animated movie especially for a 90 minute animated film, but everything is all done extremely well and it is definitely one of Ghiblis best.
  • paulkoh110
    March 4, 2012
    paulkoh110
    If only I didn't have Will Arnett and Amy Pohler have serious voice roles...
  • DrZeek
    March 2, 2012
    DrZeek
    Arietty: Human beings are dangerous. If we're seen, we have to leave. My parents said so.

    The Secret World of Arrietty is a charming and wonderfully detailed animated film. This is an anime that has come out of Studio Ghibli, which is way more focused on delivering a relaxed ... read morestory and providing plenty of details through its wonderful hand-drawn animation, than flooding the eyes of its viewers with non-stop wackiness and forced jokes. Now that isn't to say that this is some sort of animated prestige picture, but it is a film that differs from most mainstream fare. In any case, it is a fine, low-key, but wonderfully made animated feature that is fortunately a part of a fairly-wide theatrical release.

    read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    February 27, 2012
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    If you need further proof as to why computer generated animation can never replace the beauty and charm of the classic two-dimensional, hand crafted kind; see "The Secret World of Arrietty."

    Studio Ghibli's latest is simple, sweet, and heartwarming fun that will enamor both adu... read morelts and children alike. From it's fully realized characters, to it's soothing, breezy tone; and all the way up to it's bittersweet conclusion... "Arrietty" never misses a beat.
  • mrbungle7821
    February 26, 2012
    mrbungle7821
    This adaptation of Mary Norton's classic book, The Borrowers, is colorful, imaginative, and the antithesis of what has become the modern-day family film. It's less antic with its pacing, it has a more somber mood, and the ending is essentially anticlimactic. While commendable on ... read moreone hand, The Secret World of Arrietty is also a minor work under the tutelage of the brilliant Hayao Miyazaki. Like other Miyazaki works, the film immerses you into an imaginative world where all the details fit. The story itself within that world is a bit low-key. Arrietty is a 13-year-old tiny person, a Borrower, living with her mother and father inside a human being's home (they refer to people phonetically as "beans"). Her friendship with one of those "beans," a boy named Shawn, is pleasant and gradual, as she feels she cannot trust the enormous human. I kept waiting for something larger and more significant to happen, but it didn't. The story feels too slight to justify being the introduction, and likely final, chapter of these characters. The world of Arrietty is beautiful to watch but after a while you're just watching pretty pictures.

    Nate's Grade: B
  • sanjurosamurai
    February 25, 2012
    sanjurosamurai
    another excellent ghibli film and proof miyazaki doesnt need to direct for this studio for their films to be great. the story was touching and well told, the characters interesting, and as usual the animation was wonderful.
  • FrizzDrop
    February 25, 2012
    FrizzDrop
    Another instance of Disney's distribution contributing to worldwide release of a hand drawn masterpiece, Arrietty is a beautiful film, based on more than it's tender animation. The story is based on the book "The Borrowers" which has already been adapted to live action version fi... read morelms, most notably one starring John Goodman and Jim Broadbent. The English version of this Japanese treasure features the vocal talents of some hard hitting celebrities, including legendary Carol Burnett and the married comedy couple Amy Poehler and Will Arnett. Everyone is so wonderfully cast in this film, and beside that they are directed splendidly in their vocal performances by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. They would have to be to pull off some very subtle and yet so well dubbed dialogue. The animation is good, just as you would expect for a film about small people living in a large person's house. The best aspect of the Borrower's world is seeing them use everyday items as stairs, pulleys, grappling hooks, and other clever inventions. That spectrum of invention, survival, and family is always a prevalent theme in children's books and films, working well in this film as well as coupling with the grandiose size of everything, including cubes of sugar, facial tissue having to be pulled by two people, and the many secret passages behind light switches and paneling in the walls. That aspect I found magical and intricate, yet there's something off about this story as well. It feels like the story is being jammed together to accommodate an hour and a half runtime. Instead of really focusing on the plight of the family this looks more towards the history of the Borrowers, the mythology of the people, and weirdly enough death. The child of the house has an unexplained heart condition, and is inadvertently abandoned by his mother. He speaks calmly of the afterlife and how no one should fear death. I and the people with me were really surprised that they viewed death in that way in a children's film. I'm sure it unsettled a few kids. Either way, it really was a spirited, gratuitous film for all ages.

View All The Secret World of Arrietty Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
March 23, 2012
Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

As pretty as it is, this Secret World is too Earthbound by far. Full Review

Peter Rainer
February 17, 2012
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

The Secret World of Arrietty is a marvelously captivating animated feature about very tiny people and the full-scale world they inhabit. Full Review

Ian Buckwalter
February 17, 2012
Ian Buckwalter, The Atlantic

Yonebayashi gives Arrietty an excellent sense of balance, with the adventure aspects of the story, which feel legitimately dangerous providing well-paced contrast the film's more placid moments. Full Review

Rafer Guzman
February 17, 2012
Rafer Guzman, Newsday

It's an enjoyable and attractive-looking film, but a little of that "Speed Racer" energy wouldn't have been such a bad thing. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
February 17, 2012
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

The visual details are inventive, and the animation - particularly the colors - is lovely. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
February 17, 2012
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

"The Secret World of Arrietty'' is a feast for the eyes that will engage the entire family. Full Review

Liam Lacey
February 17, 2012
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

The Secret World of Arrietty is sweet fun, an astute match of exquisite style and small content. Full Review

Amy Joyce
February 17, 2012
Amy Joyce, Washington Post

This gorgeous little movie is sure to be beloved by your little people, who may discover what it means to find a magical beauty in the things we can't altogether see. Full Review

Tom Long
February 17, 2012
Tom Long, Detroit News

"The Secret World of Arrietty" is a sweet world indeed. Full Review

Claudia Puig
February 16, 2012
Claudia Puig, USA Today

With its lush colors, imaginative view of ordinary objects and meticulously crafted miniature civilization, it transports viewers to an enchanting alternate storybook reality. Full Review

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    • Shawn (English version): I'm sorry for upsetting you. I'm actually the one who's going to die.
    • Hara (English version): When I saw you, I just wanted to find a way to protect you.
    • Shawn (English version): [his parting words to Arrietty] My heart is stronger now, because you're in it.
    • The Housekeeper (English version): Alright. I'll give it a try.
    • Arrietty (English version): We're borrowers and as long as we have each other to live, for then we'll keep on living.
    • Arrietty (English version): Borrowers aren't supposed to be seen.
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