The Secret World of Arrietty
Rent/Purchase
14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.
What critics thought
Arrietty earned strong praise for its hand-drawn animation, meticulous world-building details, and quiet emotional warmth — critics found it a gentle, unhurried entry in the Studio Ghibli catalogue. The main fault line was scale: several reviewers noted that its modest, intimate story falls short of the epic ambition and adult depth of the studio's best-known works, and at least one dissenter found it a minor, humourless effort that barely rises above the slight.
“threatens to devolve into the sappy, the preachy, and the slapsticky”
Mark Schilling·The Japan Times
“doesn't match previous hits such as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke in terms of epic scale or adult appeal”
Steve Rose·The Guardian
“a very slender, minor work.”
Don Groves·Special Broadcasting Service
“dreamy, soft-edge hybrid, equally interested in observing raindrops and the worries of a race of minuscule beings.”
Lisa Schwarzbaum·Entertainment Weekly
“old school, mostly in a good way.”
Leslie Felperin·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorHiromasa Yonebayashi
StarringMirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Tomokazu Miura, Keiko Takeshita, Kirin Kiki
ComposerCécile Corbel
The Secret World of Arrietty
14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.
What critics thought
Arrietty earned strong praise for its hand-drawn animation, meticulous world-building details, and quiet emotional warmth — critics found it a gentle, unhurried entry in the Studio Ghibli catalogue. The main fault line was scale: several reviewers noted that its modest, intimate story falls short of the epic ambition and adult depth of the studio's best-known works, and at least one dissenter found it a minor, humourless effort that barely rises above the slight.
“threatens to devolve into the sappy, the preachy, and the slapsticky”
Mark Schilling·The Japan Times
“doesn't match previous hits such as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke in terms of epic scale or adult appeal”
Steve Rose·The Guardian
“a very slender, minor work.”
Don Groves·Special Broadcasting Service
“dreamy, soft-edge hybrid, equally interested in observing raindrops and the worries of a race of minuscule beings.”
Lisa Schwarzbaum·Entertainment Weekly
“old school, mostly in a good way.”
Leslie Felperin·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorHiromasa Yonebayashi
StarringMirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Tomokazu Miura, Keiko Takeshita, Kirin Kiki
ComposerCécile Corbel
Rent/Purchase