This latest gem from Japan’s famous Ghibli animation studios is a beautifully rendered adaptation of the first of Mary Norton’s famed English fantasy novels The Borrowers. As in the novel, the Borrowers or Little People are a vanishing race of fairy-like creatures who live under the kitchen floor of a house in the country. Fourteen-year-old Arrietty helps her father and mother survive by ‘borrowing’ odd bits of food from the spinster upstairs. The family’s peaceful life is dramatically changed when Arrietty accidentally allows herself to be seen by Sho, a sickly but well-intentioned 12-year-old boy. The fledgling friendship between the two lonely children accidentally sets off a chain of events that force the Borrowers family to embark on a dangerous journey in search of a new home.

First developed by Ghibli’s legendary Hayao Miyazaki, who co-wrote the script, Arrietty is more than ably directed by the master’s long-time collaborator, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who uses different styles of animation to capture Arrietty’s magical world. A visually beautiful and charming film.

Director: HIROMASA YONEBAYASHI Details: 94 minutes, Japan, 2010, Subtitled, Colour, D-Cinema

Notes by Ralph E. West