THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY – The Review

After the often in-your-face flash of CGI, many may find it a pleasure to experience again the elegant, old-school charms of  hand-drawn animation, so from Japan’s Studio Ghibli and their award-winning master animator Hayao Miyazaki comes THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY, a chirpy new adaptation of Mary Norton’s children’s classic The Borrowers. Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but spunky 14-year-old, lives with her parents (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the bowels of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty remains hidden from view under the floorboards and only emerges when the coast is clear to do their “borrowing” of supplies from their human hosts. When 12-year-old Shawn (David Henrie), a human boy with a heart condition who’s staying in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty’s family from the home and straight into danger.

This is apparently the second English-dubbing of THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY. The first featured British actors Saoirse Ronan as Arietty and Mark Strong and Olivia Colman as her parents. For the U.S. release, they’ve gone with Disney Channel tween idols Mendler and Henrie and comics Arnett and Poehler yet they’re saddled with humorless, stilted dialogue  not helped by their monotone delivery. Even Carol Burnett is reined into a bland characterization. THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY is an interestingly imaginative but never quite engaging experience. With beautiful hand- drawn production values, it’s a gentle, heartfelt, G-rated story of friendship but the story is too simple and slow and never opens up. It’s small-scale entertainment in more ways than one. Much of the first 30 minutes are dedicated to fetching a sugar cube, a clever-enough caper that some may find refreshingly simple, but I think today”s young audiences demand more than this film’s old-fashioned charms can offer. The animation is typical Miyazaki: Characters possess  few physical characteristics outside of  mildly Asian features, but objects such as plants and flowers and insects are drawn in affectionate detail with a lush palette. Fans of Ghibli may embrace it despite its lack of imagination and depth in comparison with their best work such – SPIRITED AWAY. Newcomers to the studio’s animation are likely to find its lack of whizbang CGI a liability since the story is nothing new and decidedly un-hip (meaning it won’t play to older kids). While there is dimension to the characters and the themes are multi-faceted, the story itself didn’t grab me the way I thought it should given the richness of the elements that comprise it. Pretty to look at but difficult to get involved in, my inner child was restless by the end of THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY and my outer child started dozing off. Fortunately my oldest child was there to elbow me in the ribs when I started snoring.

2 1/2 of 5 Stars