The Secret World of Arrietty

The Secret World of Arrietty, known in Japan as The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ, Kari-gurashi no Arietti) and in the United Kingdom as Arrietty, is a 2010 animated film by Studio Ghibli, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and written by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa.

Based on Mary Norton's juvenile fantasy novel, "The Borrowers", the film tells the story of Arrietty, a young Borrower who lives under the floorboards of a typical household. She eventually befriends Sho, a human boy with a heart condition, who is living with Sadako (Sho's great aunt). When Haru (Sadako's maid) becomes suspicious of the floorboard's disturbance, Arrietty and her family must escape detection, even if it means leaving their beloved home.

Ghibli announced the film in late 2009 with Yonebayashi making his directorial debut as the youngest director of a Ghibli film. Miyazaki supervised the production as a developing planner. The voice actors were approached in April 2010, and Cécile Corbel wrote the film's score as well as its theme song.

Released in Japan on July 17, 2010, "The Secret World of Arrietty" received critical acclaim, all of whom praised the animation and music. It also became the highest grossing Japanese film at the Japanese box office for the year 2010, and has grossed over US$145.6 million worldwide. The film also won the Animation of the Year award at the 34th Japan Academy Prize award ceremony. The film was released on February 17, 2012 in North America by Walt Disney Pictures. On August 10, 2010, NHK broadcast "The Secret of Ghibli Creation: Hayao Miyazaki and the New Director: 400 Days of Conflict", a behind-the-scenes documentary about the film.

Our House Below
The story takes place in 2010 in Koganei, western Tokyo and like the novel revolves around a group of "tiny people" who are 10-cm tall and live under the floorboards of a typical human household.

A boy named Sho arrives at the house his mother lived in as a child, to live with his great aunt Sadako. When Shawn leaves the car, he sees a cat trying to attack something in the bushes, but the cat leaves after being attacked by a crow. Shawn goes to see what the cat was trying to attack. He then sees a Borrower named Arrietty.

That night Arrietty's father Pod takes Arrietty above the floorboards to Shawn her how he gets sugar. Their first stop is the kitchen, then they walk within a wall to reach a dollhouse in Shawn's bedroom, to get tissue. Before Arrietty and Pod can leave, Arrietty notices Shawn is awake, and accidentally drops the sugar cube they got. Shawn tells them not to be afraid of him.

The Doll House
The next day, Shawn leaves the dropped sugar cube beside an underground air vent where he first saw Arrietty, but Arrietty's mother Homily warns them not to take it because their existence must be kept secret from humans. Still, Arrietty sneaks out to visit Shawn in his bedroom, and the two become friends. On her return, Arrietty is intercepted by her father. Pod and Homily realize they have been discovered, and decide the family must move out of the house.

Shawn learns from Sadako that his ancestors have seen Borrowers in this house, and they had the dollhouse made especially for the Borrowers, with working electric lights and ovens. However, the Borrowers had not been seen since, and the dollhouse stayed in Shawn's room. Shawn uncovers the floorboards above the Borrower household, uproots their kitchen and replaces it with the kitchen from the dollhouse.

An Uneasy Feeling
Pod returns injured from a borrowing mission, helped by Spiller, a Borrower boy he met on the way. Spiller suggests some places the Borrowers can move to, and, after he recovers, Pod goes to check them out. Arrietty goes to say goodbye to Shawn. During their subsequent conversation, Shawn theorizes that the Borrowers are becoming extinct, which hurts Arrietty. Apologizing, Shawn reveals he has had a heart condition since birth, and will have an operation in a few days. The operation does not have a good chance of success.

Meanwhile, Hara, Sadako's maid, notices the floorboards have been disturbed. While Sadako is out, Hara locks Shawn in his room, unearths the Borrowers' house and puts Homily in a jar in the kitchen. Hara calls a pest removal company to smoke out the Borrowers and bring them to her alive. When Arrietty returns to find Homily missing and their house disturbed, she goes to Shawn for help. Arrietty helps Shawn break out of his locked room, Shawn then carries Arrietty to the kitchen and distracts Hara while Arrietty rescues Homily. Sadako returns soon after the pest removal company comes, and tells them to leave. Hara tries to prove to Sadako the Borrowers really exist, but Homily has escaped, and there is nothing below the floorboards: The Borrowers have already set off on their move, and Shawn has destroyed the remains. Hara does nothing but throws a fit when she realizes her proof has escaped, trying to tell the pest control company that she is not crazy.

Goodbye My Friend
The Borrowers stop for dinner during their move and Shawn's cat spots Arrietty where the cat brings Shawn to Arrietty. He gives her a sugar cube as a parting gift, and tells her the Borrowers' fight for survival has given him hope to live through the operation, which will happen in two days' time. In return, Arrietty gives Shawn her hairclip. The Borrowers then go into a teapot, which Spiller steers down a river.

There is a final monologue in the Disney dub, where Shawn states that he never saw Arrietty again and returned to the home a year later, indicating that the operation had been successful. He is happy to hear rumors of objects disappearing in his neighbors' homes. In the Japanese dub, there is no monologue and Shawn stares in silent as the sun rises.

Characters
Arrietty (アリエッティ Arietti): A 14-year old borrower who lives with her parents under the floorboards of Shawn's house.

Sho (翔?, known as Shawn in the United States version): A 12-year old human boy who becomes Arrietty's friend. He meets Arrietty in the house his mother was raised in, while awaiting heart surgery. Shawn is based on "The Boy".

Homily (ホミリー Homirī): Arrietty's mother who has a liking for luxury.

Sadako Maki (牧 貞子 Maki Sadako, known as Jessica in the United States version): The younger sister of Shawn's grandmother. Sadako is based on Great Aunt Sophy.

Spiller (スピラー Supirā): A tiny bow-wielding boy who helps Arrietty's family move.

Pod (ポッド Poddo): Arrietty's father who often borrows in order to provide for the family.

Haru (ハル, known as Hara in the United States version): Sadako's maid who is determined to find the truth behind "little people". Haru is based on Mrs. Driver.

Development
In early summer 2008, producer Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki were at a standoff on what would be Studio Ghibli's next film (They had just completed "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea", which was scheduled for release on July 19, 2008). In the end, Toshio Suzuki ended up losing to his elder collegue: “At the time, I was planning another project and we discussed which one should be chosen several times. Many of us would not have backed down, but in the end, I had to give in to my elder brother and the project was adopted."

This work they had chosen would be based on "The Borrowers" by the British writer Mary Norton. The novel won the Carnegie Medal in 1953, and had already been adapted into three English animated films. However, Miyazaki had already been planning to adapt the novel "The Borrowers" for much longer than that summer of 2008. In fact, he already had desires of adapting it nearly forty years ago, when he was twenty years old. “At that time, this project had already been taken into consideration by both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata,” adds Suzuki. “Miya-san suddenly remembered this and recommended that I read the book. So why are you digging up The Borrowers today? To this question, Miya-san replied, “The situation of the karigurashi (Borrowers) is very pleasant. They just fit into our present day. The age of mass consumption is now coming to an end and the idea of ​​"borrowing" proves the advent of it with the crisis."

Immediately after the decision to adapt this work, on July 30, 2008, Miyazaki wrote the note of intent relating to the film's project in which he explained that the action took place, no longer in England in the 1950's, but in the Japan of the 2000's. According to French fan site Buta Connection, the story takes place in the vicinity of Koganei, city where the Studio Ghibli is located. He also specifies the purpose of the film: "to comfort and encourage people who live in this chaotic and worrying time." " About the statement of intent, the producer Suzuki was keen to add:

“As you can see, the original title Miya-san intended was Chiisana Arietti (Little Arrietty), a brave change from the title of the original novel. I asked him why and he told me that he liked the sound of "Arietti" and that he had remembered it for a long time. He also used to tell me about "the life of the borrowers", but his title did not refer to it. When I pointed it out, he instantly changed his title to the current one of Karigurashi no Arietti ("The Borrower Arrietty").

However, the director will not be Miyazaki himself. The choice finally falls on Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a young 36-year-old animator who has been working for the studio for 12 years. By Suzuki's own admission, there was no particular reason for this appointment, “When Miya-san and I made the decision to do Arrietty, the Little Borrower's World, we were discussing directions for the story and suddenly Miya-san asked me who should be doing it. be the director. Now that I know him better, I know he's still waiting for concrete answers, so an idea popped into my mind and on a whim I said, “Maro”, Yonebayashi's nickname at the studio. Hearing my response, Miya-san seemed to be a little surprised and scowled and I knew why: for his own upcoming film project, he was planning to use her as the lead host as well. If Maro were to become a director, Miya-san would have to do without him.

We asked Maro to join us and told him about it. Of course, he was very surprised. At the time, my idea was just thoughtless, but now I can explain the reason behind it. Hiromasa Yonebayashi is an extremely skilled and talented animator. Plus, since he started working on the production, I also came to know that he had enough talent as a director. Besides, he is a good person and is loved by everyone at the studio. When I informed everyone about his appointment as the head of the project, the studio was initially surprised. However, everyone now agrees on this choice. While there are plenty of veteran and older animators at the studio, they don't hesitate to help him out."

Producer Suzuki reported that this was a promotion he hadn't expected. "I thought it was stupid," Yonebayashi explained, laughing after the end of production. I had no experience with e-konte (storyboard), at first I thought something was wrong with Mr. Miyazaki and Mr. Suzuki's heads (laughs). I think a person who chooses to direct a movie has to have a message and principles, but I don't. So I declined the request. So, they said to me in unison: “don't worry, it's all in the original book” (laughs). So I got into it first and foremost because I thought they would stop me if my job was bad."

Production
On December 16, 2009, Studio Ghibli announced "Karigurashi no Arrietty" as their film for next year. The script was ready. Briefly written by Hayao Miyazaki, the latter then joined the collaboration of a co-writer, Keiko Niwa, who had already worked on "Tales from Earthsea". The director of the film was announced as the animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi on the same day. Yonebayashi was one of the animators for the Studio Ghibli films "Howl's Moving Castle", "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea", and "Spirited Away". He was also the reserve director for the film "Tales from Earthsea". Miyazaki was announced as the production planner for the film.

Toshio Suzuki confessed that Miyazaki wrote the screenplay without even re-reading the novel and he relied only on his memories. According to him, the director has a 'good memory' but he nevertheless often makes reading mistakes and reinterprets things or gives importance to negligible details. For example, if there is a lovely garden in the book, as there is in "The Borrowers", he will instantly love it. “He really loves gardens,” he explains. “And those who are abandoned have even more his favors. So much so that he first made a plan of the garden before embarking on Arrietty's screenplay. Eastern and Western elements were combined when designing the mansion and gardens, with Seibi-en from Aomori Prefecture Hirakawa used as inspiration.

For his part, at the same time, Hiromasa Yonebayashi had completely completed the e-konte based on the scenario of Miyazaki. One of his very first difficulties as a director was the development of this document, which then guides the entire production of the film. “It's the first time I've drawn a storyboard, ” he explains. “Even though I felt a bit lost, I started to draw, telling myself that I could always ask to be in control of my work. When I wanted to show it to Mr. Miyazaki, he replied that he did not want to. It scared me because if he had agreed to control it then, the film would have been even better."

During the final interview between Miyazaki, Suzuki and the young director, preceding the start of production of the animation, Yonebayashi ultimately does not bring his work to the master because "it would have finally taken twice as long and, at the end of the day. in the end, that would only have impacted the production itself. In the end, it was a good thing to have had complete freedom." Miyazaki does not upset and instead congratulated him for his firmness. According to Buta Connection, in total, Yonebayashi will have spent five months alone drawing 996 plans on his own.

As Suzuki explains, in Studio Ghibli films, everything is driven by this production document and everything depends on it. The e-konte was fully finalized before the start of the work on the animation, therefore, the production of Arrietty already contrasts radically with the previous productions directed by Miyazaki (particularly "Ponyo", who prefers to work on a story of which he does not yet know the end.

“At Ghibli, we have two ways of making films,” Suzuki explains. “The first is that a director directs everything, the other is that the project takes precedence. In this case, it is a producer who is directing and the "Arrietty" project must prevail, especially since we can hardly recommend Miyazaki's way of working to a beginning director."

Very early on, at Studio Ghibli, everyone felt that the deadlines would be tight. From the press conference in December 2009, the question of production deadlines was already put to Suzuki: "To be frank, I don't prefer that this question be asked", he explains then. “No doubt the film will move slowly and Maro will have to be fast. When the new year arrives, we will already be running out of time." The pressure and doubt about the capabilities of the young director was such that producers saw fit to add: “Now I know you are wondering why Mr. Yonebayashi is not attending this press conference. Well, that's because Mr. Miyazaki advised him not to appear in public. According to him, there are two basic directions for making a film: either to be produced successfully or to end up being put on hold. Sometimes even it can also be purely canceled halfway. Let’s not forget that he’s just a beginner as a director. If the production is unsuccessful, he risks being publicly humiliated. It is best for him not to speak about it in public just yet."

The release date is approaching day by day and the tension is more and more felt on the morale and the health of the team. Everyone is tired and in particular the directors of animation Megumi Kagawa and Akihiko Yamashita but also Yôji Takeshige, the artistic director. However, Arrietty's release date is already set for July 17, 2010, so pushing it back is unthinkable.

As of February 18, 2010, of the 995 shots planned for the entire film, only 332 shots had been ready.

On March 10 and 15, two new production video diaries were release that announced that two months from the deadline, the design team were severely overloaded. Despite Kagawa's best efforts, there are a lot of things that she unfortunately has to give up, including the drawing corrections made by the animation director. Many animators get sick or hurt themselves (according to Megumi Kagawa, one of the main reasons is the aging of the animators in the studio). However, when it comes to the quality of the animation, Yonebayashi can luckily count on his second animation director. Kagawa has worked as an animator for Studio Ghibli, even before its creation, from "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. With more than 25 years of experience, she knows precisely the works of the studio, which makes her a specialist in the Ghibli graphic style.

The news posted a little over a month later is intended to be more reassuring. On March 20, 2010, the studio now has 45 minutes, 5 seconds of finalized animation, which corresponds to about half of the film (490 shots filmed or 49.2% of the entire film). Nishioka is rather confident, because in comparison with the production of "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" at the same time, this figure is miraculously higher. He thinks that if the team keeps moving forward like this, the film will be ready on time.

Finally, after a final video dedicated to the progress of the production, on April 18, announcing that 634 shots were now filmed (63.7% of the entire film), Junichi Nishioka announced on the blog that the production of Arrietty's animation was completed on May 29, 2010. Over a period of one year, 74,761 sheets of drawings will have been drawn and blackened by the joint effort of the studio' s animators so that the film is in theaters on the scheduled date. By this date, the voice recording had already been completed and the finalization of the soundtrack was scheduled for the end of June.

Casting
The Japanese voice cast of the film was announced on April 13, 2010. Actress Mirai Shida was cast as the voice of Arrietty. Arrietty was Shida's first voice acting role. In addition, Ryūnosuke Kamiki, who has voiced characters in other Studio Ghibli films like "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle", was cast as Sho. His most recent voice role was in the 2009 film "Summer Wars". Kamiki said that he "was very happy to meet up with the staff" he previously knew when he worked on other Studio Ghibli films.

Besides them, the film's cast includes Tomokazu Miura, Shinobu Otake, Keiko Takeshita, and Kirin Kiki. The four actors have previous voice acting experience, but none of them have been in a Studio Ghibli film before. Miura and Otake were respectively cast as Arrietty's parents Pod and Homily. In addition, Takeshita voiced Shawn's aunt and Kiki voiced one of the helpers in the human family.

Promotions
From May 8, 2010, super-panoramic posters made of tent fabric (with a length of 1.8m and a width of 10.5m) were displayed at about twenty theaters nationwide. Promotion regarding the film intensified on July 1st in Japan. A concert by Cécile Corbel is held iin a music festival in August of that year.

From July 17th to October 3rd, 2010, "The Secret World of Arrietty and Yohei Taneda" was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. Yohei Taneda is a famous production designer and art director, known for "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (2003), "The Hateful Eight" (2015), and would later work on other Studio Ghibli productions such as "When Marnie Was There" (2014). A huge diaorama was assembled in the main exhibition room that spanned over 1,200 m2. By August 17, the exhibit proved extremely popular as the number of visitors exceeded 100,000. This art exhibition has since traveled nationwide to the Ehime Prefectural Museum of Art (located at the grounds of Matsuyama Castle in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture), Kobe (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art), and Niigata (Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art).

Studio Ghibli created a 1 / 12ᵉ scale replica of the dollhouse that appears in the film. You can even see a figurine representing Hayao Miyazaki himself, sitting in the house. The house toured Japan, also participating in the promotional campaign around the film. Finally, a film layout exhibition was held at the Sapporo Museum of Contemporary Art.

Release
According to Buta Connection, the premiere of the film production team also took place at the end of June and a press screening took place on 1st July to Tokyo International Forum Hall. Miyazaki didn't see anything of the film until the premiere. It was his way of supporting the team. “So I don't want to intervene, even though he's younger than me."

“I think he did his job well despite such a young career,” comments Kagawa. “As we do not necessarily communicate a lot in our profession, we are not very good at choosing the exact words to explain things. Yet Maro has made a lot of effort despite his brief career. So I congratulate him!"

The pre-sale of tickets for the film began on April 17, 2010 in Japan. A special promotional booklet containing concept and character art was offered for every reservation (two booklets were originally planned, hence the "1" noted on the one offered). The presale was a great success: 50,000 tickets were sold 30 days before the premiere, which was three times more than for "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea".

"The Secret World of Arrietty" was first released in Japanese cinemas on July 17, 2010, by Japanese film distributor Toho. The film was officially released at a ceremony attended by the film's cast and Yonebayashi. Corbel performed the film's theme song at the event. In addition, Yonebayashi hinted that he wanted the film to beat the record of over 12 million audiences set by previous Studio Ghibli film, "Ponyo". The film was screened in 447 theaters throughout Japan during its debut weekend.

It was later dubbed into French and was released in France as "Arrietty, le petit monde des chapardeurs", on January 12, 2011. In the United Kingdom, the film was released on July 29, 2011 by Optimum Releasing. It is also scheduled to be released in the United States on February 17, 2012, by Walt Disney Pictures. The North American version of "The Secret World of Arrietty" was directed by Gary Rydstrom, produced by Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy and written by Karey Kirkpatrick. The English trailer was shown with "Puss in Boots", "Tower Heist", "In Time", "The Muppets, New Year's Eve", "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows", "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I", "The Adventures of Tintin", "The Darkest Hour", "The Artist", and "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol".

Home media
"The Secret World of Arrietty" was released in both Blu-Ray and DVD formats within Japan. The DVD version of the film consists of two discs in the region 2 format.[22] The Blu-ray version consists of a single disc in the Region A format. Both versions were released in Japan on June 17, 2011, and both contains English and Japanese subtitles.

Box office
"The Secret World of Arrietty" debuted at the first position in the Japanese box office. More than 1 million people went to see the film during its opening weekend. It also grossed around 1.35 billion yen that weekend. In comparison, this film's opening week gross is 85.6％ of Ghibli's previous film Ponyo's total gross and 82.9% of Ponyo's total ticket sales. Distributor Toho announced that as of 5 August 2010, the film managed to gross more than 3.5 billion yen and attracted more than 3.7 million viewers. According to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, "The Secret World of Arrietty" is the top grossing Japanese film in their box office for the year for 2010; it grossed approximately 9.25 billion yen.

In France, the film was well received by the public. More than 100,000 people went to catch the film on its debut week in France, allowing the film to gross more than US$1.4 million that week. Overall, ticket sales for "Arrietty, le petit monde des chapardeurs" in France totaled just shy of 740,000 between its release on January 12, 2011, and March 1, 2011. It also grossed a total of US$7,010,476 at the French box office. "The Secret World of Arrietty" went on to gross a worldwide total of US$126,368,084.

Critical reception
"The Secret World of Arrietty" received universal critical acclaim since its release in 2010. 95% of the 21 reviewers selected by Rotten Tomatoes as of November 2011 have given the film positive reviews, certifying it "Fresh" with an average rating of 7.6/10.

Cristoph Mark of The Daily Yomiuri praised the film, saying that the film is "likely a perennial favorite among children." He particularly liked the film effects, which he described as "Drops of water loom large and drip like syrup; the ticking of a clock reverberates through the floor and the theater's speakers; tissue paper is large and stiff...", adding that these effects gives the audience "a glimpse into their own world, but from a different perspective". Mark Schilling of The Japan Times gave the film a rating of four out of five stars, and said that the film "speaks straight to the heart and imagination of [everyone]." Schilling also praised the film's animation, saying that [Studio Ghibli animators] are past masters at creating the illusion of presence and depth without [3-D effects]. However, he also said that some scenes in the film "threatens to devolve into the sappy, the preachy and the slapsticky" but noted that these scenes were "mercifully brief".

Steve Rose, the reviewer for The Guardian gave the film four out of five stars and praised the film, describing it as "a gentle and entrancing tale, deeper and richer than more instantly gratifying fare.". Rose also described the film as "the slow food of the animation world.". However, he did note that this film "doesn't match previous hits such as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke in terms of epic scale or adult appeal", even though it bears many of their hallmarks: bright, detailed animation..." . Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review of the film. She said that the film "remains essentially a film for children". Young later went on to say that the relationship with Shawn and Arrietty "touches the heartstrings with gentle yearning", and praised Yonebayashi for its direction. In the opening remarks made by David Gritten of The Telegraph, he said that the film was "ravishingly colourful and textured". He also praised the animation, saying that "animation doesn't get better than Arrietty." Gritten gave the film a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Music
Cécile Corbel composed the score and sang the theme song for "Arrietty".

The film score of "The Secret World of Arrietty" was composed by French (Bretonne) musician Cécile Corbel. Corbel also performed the film's theme song, "Arrietty's Song", in Japanese, English, French, German and Italian.

Corbel became known to Ghibli filmmakers when she sent them a fan letter showing her appreciation of their films, together with a copy of her own album. After hearing the album of her music she had sent them, they thought they should collaborate with her for the music of this film. The song made its public debut in a presentation of the song by singer Corbel and percussionist Marco in Apple's store in Shibuya, Tokyo, on 8 August, 2010.

Some of the Japanese theme songs for this film, including "Arrietty’s Song" was first released online through the iTunes Store, mora and Musico on December 19, 2009. Subsequently, the official album containing all of the theme songs of this film was released on July 14, 2010. The album's listing on the Oricon charts peaked at the 31st position. Separately, the song "Arrietty’s Song" was released as a singles album on April 7, 2010. This singles album peaked at the 18th position on the Oricon charts.

Film manga
The Secret World of Arrietty was adapted into a Japanese manga series. This manga adaptation was first published by Tokuma Shawnten Publishing Co., Ltd. within Japan, and was released in four separate volumes. It was also announced that Viz Media will be releasing the English version of this manga adaptation of the film within North America in January 2012.

Accolades
Year Award Category Result Recipient 2010 Animation of the Year 34th Japan Academy Prize Won The Secret World of Arrietty

Additional Voices (US Version)

 * Frank Marshall