Studio Ghibli's "The Secret World of Arrietty" Would Make Mary Norton Proud

As someone who did read Mary Norton's The Borrowers book series as a child, I was extremely interested in seeing the Disney film The Secret World of Arrietty.  Although neither my husband nor myself are fans of anime in general, we both thought that the past Studio Ghibli films, Ponyo and Castle in the Sky, were very well done.  The whole family was very excited to have the chance to attend an advanced screening of this new Studio Ghibli production in Boston last weekend.

This film is about bravery, friendship, and dreams coming true.  It also brings up the subject of mortality, and more specifically, mortality in children.  This movie depicts the Borrowers to be as charming and endearing as I remember them to be from the books.  These tiny people, who call human beings "human beans" and use postage stamps as wall art, have successfully won over my children as well.  One thing that made this film a huge success is the magnifying of everyday noises, even the smallest.  The audience heard all these sounds as a Borrower would living in a human size world.


This clip explains what a Borrower is very simply . . .



Our heroine, the 14 year old Borrower named Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler of Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie and Lemonade Mouth) had been taught to live in fear her whole life.  She eventually proved to her parents that there are exceptions to the rule, by befriending a 12 year old human boy named Shawn (voice by David Henrie of Wizards of Waverly Place) and eventually the cat, two beings she had been trained to avoid.

This film occurs all in a matter of days, which started with Arrietty's first borrowing . . . a rite of passage for any young Borrower.  Her overprotective mother Homily (voice by Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live) is always anxious, especially when her husband Pod (voice by Will Arnett of Arrested Development) is off borrowing.

My children's favorite parts of this film are the humorous ones, something not seen in all Studio Ghibli films.  It was interesting to hear the audience, the majority of which were adults, laughing out loud at both the subtle and obvious humor.  The rogue Borrower Spinner and the scene with our villain Hara the housekeeper (voice by comedienne Carol Burnett) and the crow made the top of our children's favorite things about the movie.  In the end, I am extremely pleased that the movie sparked enough interest for my 8 year old son to want to read The Borrowers book series.

We have covered the bravery and the friendship, but what about the realization of dreams?  Well, you will just have to watch the film to find out.  The Secret World of Arrietty opens in theaters today!  After you watch the film, I would love to know if you think there will be a sequel coming our way from Studio Ghibli.


My family attended an advanced screening of this film to facilitate this review.

Review: Disney Studio Ghibli's "Castle in the Sky" (DVD)

As part of the foursome of DVDs recently released by Disney's Studio Ghibli in early March of 2010, Castle in the Sky is another excellent animated film from award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki. This movie is geared towards older children. On top of being 125 minutes long, there were guns, fistfights, explosions, and other mild violence. I also think the storyline would be extremely difficult to follow for children under the age of six.

The cast of this film included James Van Der Beek (The Storm), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Cloris Leachman (also in Ponyo), Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds), and Mark Hamill (Star Wars). Any Star Wars fan could easily identify Hamill as the voice of the movie's villain Muska. Leachman plays Dola, the leader of a family of pirates, which turned out to be my 6yr old son's favorite part of the move. With pirates, mines, robots, and floating kingdoms, how could this movie miss?

Visit Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment for Video Clips from Castle in the Sky.

You can find the Castle in the Sky Special Edition DVD at the Disney Store and at other retailers of Disney movies.

Thank you to Click-Communications for providing us with a sample DVD free of charge to base this review upon.

Review: Disney's "Ponyo" Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale, Disney's Ponyo is a modern-day Studio Ghibli adaption of The Little Mermaid. Released at the beginning of March 2010 on Blu-ray and DVD, this film left quite an impression on our children. It had three things going for it that ensured its success . . . an Academy Award-winning director (Hayao Miyazaki), an all-star cast, and a talented team of animators.

The cast of Ponyo included well-known actors and actresses, such as Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Lily Tomlin, Betty White, Cloris Leachman, plus Frankie Jonas (the younger brother to the members of the musical group the Jonas Brothers) and Noah Cyrus (the youngest daughter to Billy Ray Cyrus). None of the characters played by these actors were expendable to this story.

To summarize, this young boy named Sosuke, who lives by the sea with his mother and father (a ship captain), rescues a goldfish whom he names Ponyo. This goldfish was magical and could do things like heal a cut by licking it. Having tasted human blood, Ponyo started turning into a human girl, something her heart desired very much. As a result the world became increasingly out of balance with the moon nearing the earth and causing tsunami size waves. You will have to watch the movie to find out what happens in the end and how the balance to the world is restored.

Take a minute to watch this clip from the film showing Ponyo on her first day as a girl:

Because this movie was set by the sea, the opportunities to create drama with animation using the waves, underwater creatures, and stormy weather was quite extensive. As you can see from the above video, the characters of Sosuke and Ponyo are so very endearing. Even though our 3yr old twins may not have been able to follow the storyline completely, they were still enthralled right along with our 6yr old son, who could not take his eyes off the screen because of these two characters and the dynamic animation.

You can find Ponyo in a Blu-ray/DVD combo at the Disney Store and at other retailers of Disney movies.

Thank you to Click-Communications for sending us a sample Blu-ray/DVD combo free of charge to base this review upon.