The Secret World of Arrietty Review
Typically people go to the grocery store to buy sugar and other items they need but not Arrietty. Arrietty (a teenage girl) and her parents are borrowers. Borrowers are very tiny people who borrow things from beans’ (humans) houses in order to survive. They live beneath the floors of people’s homes until spotted by a bean (human). Then it’s time for the borrowers to move because humans can be dangerous! So when Arrietty was discovered by a bean, things dramatically changed for her and her parents. The Secret World of Arrietty is based on a children’s book called The Borrowers. This is a sci-fi, animated drama for kids.
Rating:3 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: May 22, 2012
MPAA Rating: G
Best Age Group: Any age
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Check out my review here, along with “This Means War.”
Talking Points:
I loved the friendship that Arrietty developed with Shawn, (the human teenage boy that spotted her). He was so sweet to Arrietty, and only wanted to protect her and her parents. Arrietty helped Shawn as well. He had a heart conditition and she taught him to be brave, and to fight for things you believe in. Great messages for kids.
Arrietty had a wonderful relationship with her parents. When she and her father first went out on their borrowing endeavor, Arrietty made a mistake when she dropped the sugar cube. Instead of getting angry and upset, her father said, “We all mistakes, I am very proud of you.”
The animation was very colorful and beautiful. I read that the book was set in Victorian England, and the film was set in modern day Japan.The Japanese garden’s were amazing and seemed so real.
The film was slow moving, and initially there was not much dialogue. I noticed that the little kids in the theater were getting antsy during the movie.
Sexual Content: None
Violent Content: Mild
- A scary cat snapped at Arrietty and a crow tried to attack her. The crow scene may scare younters.
- Arrietty’s mom was captured by a bean, and put in a glass jar. This was a creepy scene.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- Name calling, “idiot,” was said once.
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- We saw bottles of wine in a character’s pantry.
The Secret World of Arrietty was a very sweet tale about family, friendship and love. I’m not sure the youngsters in the theater will understand all the wonderful messages; but my friend and I did, and we really enjoyed the film. This movie is appropriate for kids of all ages!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.