The Secret World of Arrietty, which is exclusively previewed above and out in America at last on Feb. 17, filters British novelist Mary Norton’s The Borrowers franchise through the lush, patient film language of Japanese animation auteur Hayao Miyazaki ( Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away), who co-wrote the script.
Unlike Ponyo, Miyazaki did not helm The Secret World of Arrietty. Instead, the torch was passed to first-timer Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who became thereafter the youngest director of a Studio Ghibli release.
Oscar-winning sound designer and Pixar pro Gary Rydstrom tackled the stateside translation of Arrietty, with the help of voiceover talent like Amy Poehler, Will Arnett and Carol Burnett.
It’s unlikely that Disney’s import will own 2012’s American box office as convincingly as its forebear owned 2011’s Japanese market, especially since the film has debuted theatrically and on DVD almost everywhere else already. But it’s a lock that The Secret World of Arrietty ‘s meditative exploration of life, death and the tiny people who live off the scraps of oblivious humans can enlighten an America embroiled in Occupy protests, class warfare and permissive militarism, if given the chance.
Let us know in the comments section below if you plan on seeing it, and which Studio Ghibli releases you feel are must-see for newcomers and loyalists alike.
