Kari-gurashi no Arietti (2010)

Director:

Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Writers:

Mary Norton (novel)
Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 February 2012 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Ningen ni mirare te wa ikenai. Sore ga yukashita no kodomo-tachi no okite datta. (Do not be seen by humans. That's been the law of children of the underfloor.)

Plot:

The Clock family are four-inch-tall people who live anonymously in another family's residence, borrowing simple items to make their home. Life changes for the Clocks when their daughter, Arrietty, is discovered.

Plot Keywords:

Anime | Japan | Little People | Modern Day | Foreign Language Adaptation

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Saoirse Ronan	...	Arrietty (voice: UK version)
Mark Strong	...	Pod (voice: UK version)
Will Arnett	...	Pod (voice: US version)
David Henrie	...	Shawn (voice: US version)
Bridgit Mendler	...	Arrietty (voice: US version)
Amy Poehler	...	Homily (voice: US version)
Moises Arias	...	Spiller (voice: US version)
Carol Burnett	...	Hara (voice: US version)
Olivia Colman	...	Homily (voice: UK version)
Geraldine McEwan	...	Haru (voice: UK version)
Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Spiller (voice)
Peter Jason	...	Additional Voices (voice: US version)
Phyllida Law	...	Sadako (voice: UK version)
Frank Marshall	...	Additional Voices (voice: US version)
Karey Kirkpatrick	...	Additional Voices (voice: US version)
Luke Allen-Gale	...	Spiller (voice: UK version)
Tom Holland	...	Shô (voice: UK version)
Mirai Shida	...	Arrietty (voice)
Ryûnosuke Kamiki	...	Shou (voice)
Kirin Kiki	...	Haru (voice)
Tomokazu Miura	...	Pod (voice)
Ray Gillon	...	(voice: UK version)
Shin'ichi Hatori	...	TV Announcer (voice)
Shinobu Ohtake	...	Homily (voice)
Gracie Poletti	...	Aunt Jessica (voice: US version)
Keiko Takeshita	...	Sadako (voice)
Steve Alpert	...	Additional Voices (voice: US version)
Dale Sison	...	Harachi (voice: US version)

Directed by
Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Writing credits
Mary Norton		(novel "The Borrowers")
Hayao Miyazaki		(screenplay) &
Keiko Niwa		(screenplay)

Produced by
Soledad Gatti-Pascual	....	producer (UK Version)
Kathleen Kennedy	....	executive producer (English language version)
Frank Marshall	....	executive producer (English language version)
Hayao Miyazaki	....	executive producer
Toshio Suzuki	....	producer

Original Music by
Cécile Corbel

Cinematography by
Atsushi Okui		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Rie Matsuhara		(as Rie Matsubara)

Art Direction by
Yôji Takeshige
Noboru Yoshida

Production Management
Hannah Cook	....	production manager: UK

Art Department
Hiromasa Yonebayashi	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Courtney Bishop	....	adr recordist
James Glenton	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Koji Kasamatsu	....	sound designer
Eriko Kimura	....	foley recordist

Animation Department
Shigeo Akahori	....	key animator
Yuuko Azuma	....	key animator
Ryouma Ebata	....	key animator
Kaori Fujii	....	inbetween checker
Hiroki Fujiwara	....	key animator
Shôgo Furuya	....	key animator
Makiko Futaki	....	key animator
Hideki Hamazu	....	key animator (as Hideki Hamasu)
Shunsuke Hirota	....	assistant animation director
Takeshi Imamura	....	key animator
Asami Ishikado	....	key animator
Megumi Kagawa	....	animation director
Emi Kamiishi	....	key animator
Keiko Kato	....	key animator
Takashi Kawaguchi	....	key animator
Katsuya Kondô	....	key animator
Fumie Konno	....	key animator
Masahiko Kubo	....	key animator
Ryoji Masuyama	....	key animator
Mariko Matsuo	....	key animator
Tomoko Miura	....	key animator
Yasuo Muroi	....	key animator
Satoshi Nagura	....	key animator
Katsutoshi Nakamura	....	assistant animation director
Manabu Nakatake	....	key animator
Rie Nishino	....	key animator
Reiko Nozaki	....	key animator
Minoru Ohashi	....	key animator
Kazuyoshi Onoda	....	assistant animation director
Kiyotaka Oshiyama	....	key animator
Shinji Otsuka	....	key animator
Miwa Sasaki	....	key animator
Masako Sato	....	key animator
Yoshiharu Sato	....	key animator
Emiko Shimura	....	key animator
Makiko Suzuki	....	key animator
Mariko Suzuki	....	assistant inbetween checker
Moyo Takahashi	....	key animator
Atsushi Tamura	....	key animator
Atsuko Tanaka	....	key animator
Kôichi Usami	....	key animator
Ken'ichi Yamada	....	key animator
Shinichiro Yamada	....	key animator
Atsushi Yamagata	....	assistant animation director
Eiji Yamamori	....	key animator
Akihiko Yamashita	....	animation director
Masafumi Yokota	....	assistant animation director
Hideaki Yoshio	....	key animator

Casting Department
Shaheen Baig	....	casting: uk

Music Department
Simon Caby	....	composer: theme music
Cécile Corbel	....	composer: theme music
Yôko Ihira	....	lyrics
Dale Sison	....	musician

Other crew
Karey Kirkpatrick	....	english adaptation
Hayao Miyazaki	....	planner
Gary Rydstrom	....	director: English dub
Noriko Takaya	....	harmony process

Production Companies

• Studio Ghibli (animation production)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment
• Dentsu
• Hakuhodo DY Media Partners
• Mitsubishi Shoji
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• Toho Company
• Walt Disney Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (2010) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Atlantis Entertainment (2011) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2011) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2010) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Optimum Releasing (2011) (UK) (theatrical)
• Paradiso Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Paradiso (2011) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2011) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2012) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2012) (USA) (theatrical)
• Aurum Producciones (2011) (Spain) (all media)
• CJ Entertainment (2010) (South Korea) (all media)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2011-2012) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Intercontinental Video (2011) (Hong Kong) (video)
• Madman Entertainment (2012) (Australia) (all media)
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV) (2011) (Japan) (TV)
• StudioCanal (2012) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2011) (Japan) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (video)

Other Companies

• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• DTS  DTS mastering consultant
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Imagica  digital film recording
• Imagica  prints
• MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings  special support (as MS&AD Holdings)
• Tokyo TV Center  post-production sound services

Also Known As:

"The Secret World of Arrietty" - Canada (English title) (imdb display title), Hong Kong (English title) (imdb display title), International (English title) (imdb display title), Ireland (English title) (imdb display title), Japan (English title) (imdb display title), Singapore (English title) (imdb display title), USA (imdb display title)
"Arrietty" - Australia (imdb display title), UK (imdb display title)
"Kari-gurashi" - Japan (promotional abbreviation)
"Karigurashi no Arrietty" - Japan (alternative transliteration)
"The Borrower Arrietty" - International (English title) (literal English title)
"Arrietty: Le petit monde des chapardeurs" - Belgium (French title) (imdb display title), France (imdb display title), Switzerland (French title) (imdb display title)
"Arrietty - Die wundersame Welt der Borger" - Germany (imdb display title), Switzerland (German title) (imdb display title)
"Arrietty y el mundo de los diminutos" - Argentina (imdb display title), Spain (imdb display title)
"The Secret World of Arrietty" - Asia (English title) (imdb display title), Thailand (English title) (imdb display title)
"Arriettas hemmelige verden" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Arrietty - Elvitte a manó" - Hungary
"Arrietty - Il mondo segreto sotto il pavimento" - Italy (imdb display title)
"Arriettys hemmelige verden" - Denmark (imdb display title)
"Asiricilar" - Turkey (Turkish title) (imdb display title)
"Kätkijät" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Lånaren Arrietty" - Sweden (imdb display title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Datasat | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Japan:G | Hong Kong:I | Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:o.Al. | Ireland:G | Netherlands:9 | UK:U | USA:G | Finland:K-3 | Singapore:G | Australia:G | Canada:G (Ontario)

Company:

Studio Ghibli

Trivia:

French singer Cécile Corbel, a big fan of Studio Ghibli's films, had sent the studio her second album as a gift back in 2009. Toshio Suzuki listened to it, was seduced and thus decided to hire her to compose the film's score.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The story takes place some where in western Tokyo. Domestic cars in Japan have their steering wheels on the right side, but Aunt Sadoko's Mercedes is a left hand drive, since it is an imported car. The housekeeper Haru's red car is a right hand drive, as it is a normal, domestic Japanese car.

Quotes:

Shô:You came back. Wait, don't go.
Arietty:Please, leave us alone. I wanted to tell you that.
Shô:I want to talk to you.
Arietty:Human beings are dangerous. If we're seen, we have to leave. My parents said so.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Edición Especial Coleccionista: La última noche del Titanic (#4.4)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

Arrietty's Song

The Secret World of Arrietty

The Secret World of Arrietty is based on the novel The Borrowers by Mary Norton. The film is an animated film from Japan that has been dubbed into English for it's North American release. The film focuses on a teenage girl named Arrietty and her parents Pod and Homily. They are like a regular family in most ways except for the fact that they are smaller than average human beings and they live in the crevices and cracks of people's homes trying very hard to be quiet and unseen to avoid any danger. They survive by borrowing items from the house that belongs to the people next to them. They very carefully sneak through the house when nobody is around and borrow things such as food and whatever else they can carry that they may need in their own home. Things get complicated and fearful for Arrietty and her family however, when a young boy about Arrietty's age named Shawn, moves into the house they have been borrowing from and when he catches a glimpse of Arrietty and wants to form a friendship and learn more about her and her ways of life. This is tough for Arrietty, because she does not have any friends of her own age, but at the same time, has always been told to avoid human beings because they are considered dangerous, so she has to decide what will be ultimately best for her and her family's safety and well being. I really liked The Secret World of Arrietty. For one thing it was so nice to have an animated film that was not in 3D (people who have read my past reviews know I am not a big fan of it) and instead we get beautiful hand drawn animation that looks great here. The story is simple enough, but works on a number of different levels. Taking a look into Arrietty's life and seeing how her and her parents live and what they do to survive, I found to be quite interesting. They live a very simple and mostly uncomplicated life. The only time it does get complicated is when and in case they ever run into any trouble while on a mission to borrow anything from the yard outside, or the house next door. The addition of the Shawn character worked quite well also. In the film he is mostly in bed throughout the movie for reasons of ill health that we learn more about throughout the film and because he is lonely and bored we can see why he likes Arrietty, or at least what he knows about her and why he wants to learn more and eventually have her become his friend. The ultimate choices that Arrietty has to make concerning her own welfare as well as that of her family was played out quite interestingly as well and whether, or not they could actually trust Shawn, or the people living next door. The film's story like I said before is quite simple enough, but it's the animation and the feelings that come through from the characters that really make it worthwhile. I found the whole idea about a mysterious yet possibly dangerous and forbidden friendship to be an interesting addition to the story and I like how well developed the characters in this film were. We get to see several sides of their personalities as well and what they would do in certain situations. Even though Arrietty and her family are small and may not be used to regular human behaviour, or interactions they still have so much in common if only they could take the next step. The film is animated and should appeal to children and would actually be quite a good movie for them to see. It has a message about trust and acceptance that is a worthwhile message and value that should hit home not only with kids, but with adults as well. The animation here is beautiful and the film is full of creative ideas and a lot of magic and wonder that will impress children and have their adult parents enjoying it as well. The film plays out great for children with the more fantasy type elements to the story as well as young characters they can relate to and adults should find the animation quite something and should also get a lot out of the film because of it's richly layered characters and how they are developed. The film is not full of tons of action, or in your face gags like most 3D animated movies out there right now, but instead we are treated to a thoughtful and meaningful story that is quite beautiful in it's own way and one that should charm viewers of any age. The Secret World of Arrietty worked really well for me and I hope both younger and older viewers will give it a chance because it really is quite good and a lot different from your regular 3D animated films that I think a lot of people, like myself will find a pleasant and much needed change.