Children's DVD Review: Arrietty

As a child I loved Mary Norton's book The Borrowers, about tiny people who lived under the floorboards and came up to borrow things that the human folk may not need, such as sugar lumps and tissues.  So hearing it had been made into a modern film was exciting news. Arrietty is an animated family feature film which runs for approximately 90 minutes.  Made by the Ghibli studio that produced Spirited Away and Ponyo, it is the tale of a young boy called Sho who is seriously ill and comes to stay in a mansion in the leafy outskirts of Tokyo whilst he awaits treatment.  During his time there Sho meets a tiny little girl called Arrietty who lives in the depths of the house in her own diddy house with her parents. Sadly once her parents realise that a human has seen her they need to move away to keep themselves safe but before this we get a delightful story of an unlikely friendship and a slightly kooky housekeeper!

This is a beautiful film, which was enjoyed by all the family from my 4 year old girls through to my husband and I. The animation is just lovely, I commented to dh that it is not at all garish like some children's films.  It is muted and very realistic and the story unfolds in a very touching and captivating way.  This film has provided a couple of happy afternoons viewing for us so far.

Arrietty will be available to buy from all good retailers from 9th January 2012.  I would happily recommend it as a good investment to add to your family films library.  You can pre-order on Amazon for £11.99 for a DVD at the moment.

Take a peek at the trailor -



Certificate : U
Run Time:  90 minutes
Language:  English or Japanese with English subtitles
Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Coleman, Mark Strong, Tom Holland
Directors: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Disclaimer:  This is a  review post, I received the DVD free of charge. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.