Animated / Family
2012 / 94 minutes
RATING: 8/10

This is a Japanese animated adaptation of the much loved English book series, The Borrowers. Arrietty is one of the Borrowers – the tiny people, just inches high, who live in our houses, in between the walls, under the floorboards, and in the ceilings. Now that she’s 14, she’s old enough to accompany her father on his “borrowing” expeditions.

It’s vital that these little people are never discovered, so even as they are creative sorts, turning leaves into umbrellas, sewing needles into swords, and clothespins into hairclips, they can’t make their own goods. To create factories or farms would risk being discovered by the big people, the “beans.” That possibility so scares the Borrowers that if a human ever sees them, then they will leave that house, never to return.

But on Arrietty’s first expedition, to get a single sugar cube, a young boy in the house discovers her. Shawn is a nice boy, newly arrived to the house because he is sick and needs care that his parents can’t seem to provide. While he would never hurt Arrietty, or share the secret of her existence with others, the same isn’t true of the housekeeper when she also discovers the tiny people, and hires an exterminator to help track them down.

CAUTION

The only caution relates to the “borrowing” that goes on. What do we call it when someone borrows without asking, and with no intention of ever giving it back? Stealing. In defense of these fictional thieves, they can’t ask for permission because then they will be discovered, and they can’t make these goods on their own for the same reason. Also, what they take is so negligible as to never be noticed.

Still, this “borrowing” is a point parents should raise. In the Curious George TV shows it’s noted that George is a monkey so he sometimes does things that we shouldn’t. That seems a good warning about the Borrowers too.

CONCLUSION

While The Secret World of Arrietty was originally done in Japanese, Disney was so entranced by the film they took charge of the English release and did a wonderful job with the dubbing. It is a gorgeous film that many a parent will absolutely love too, especially if they read the Borrowers books in their childhood.

And the slower pacing is perfect for any children who find other films too frantic or scary. Yes, there are some tense moments, but there is a lot of beauty and calm in-between as we explore the world as it looks through a set of tiny eyes.