The Secret World of Arrietty

I am back and I am reviewing The Secret World of Arrietty. It is based on the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Well it is time to start the review.

Beetle vs Borrower

The movie starts with a sick boy named Shawn (David Henrie) who is staying the summer in his Mother's childhood home with his great aunt Jessica (Gracie Poletti). On the way to the house, Shawn thinks he sees a one inch tall girl. The tiny girl makes it to her house after escaping the cat. The girl's name is Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler); she is one of The Borrowers who are one inch high people who live in the walls of the house and steal "Borrow" things that people won't notice missing. Arrietty returns to her mother Homily (Amy Poehler) and father Pod (Will Arnett). That night she goes borrowing with her father to get some sugar and tissue paper. They get the sugar but when they get the tissue paper Shawn sees them. They make it home as fast as they can.

The Dollhouse

The next day they tell Homily and they decide that have to move in fear of getting squashed like a bug. Shawn gives Arietty the sugar cube that she dropped while escaping Shawn the other night. She is afraid of Shawn and doesn't take the sugar cube. Her parents are making preparations for moving. Arriety goes to Shawn's room; she gives the sugar cube back and tells him that she and her family are moving. But Arriety attracts the attention of a crow who tries to eat her. Luckily the maid Hara (Carol Burnett) shoos the crow away. However Hara does get a bit suspicious of why a crow tried to attack Shawn. That night Shawn tells his aunt of the incident and she tells him that his grandfather thought that little people lived in the house. He even built a dollhouse for them to live in. With working lights, running water, and even a working stove. Meanwhile Pod comes home with another Borrower named Spiller (Moises Arias) who helped him home after he broke a leg. Spiller says that there are more Borrowers and then leaves.

                ***SPOILER ALERTER STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

Arriety Tells Shawn that she is leaving because he saw The Borrowers. He tells Arriety that he is getting an operation soon and he may not live. But Shawn feel bad for The Borrowers so he takes the kitchen out of the dollhouse and puts it in the Borrower's house. But Hara is still Suspicious so she traps Homily in a jar and calls pest control. Arriety finds out that Homily has been kidnapped so she gets help from Shawn to find her. They find Homily and put the kitchen from the dollhouse back in the dollhouse. So now Hara has no proof that the borrowers exist and Jessica and the exterminator think she is crazy. Later that night The Borrowers leave the house; Arriety say goodbye to Shawn. Arriety and her Family Get on a boat with Spiller and Shawn gives a quick Epilogue narration. The End


                        ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***


This is an amazing movie. The story is simple yet it works to the movie's advantage and let me just say this has amazing animation. Especially the backgrounds, it looks like a painting. However some questions do go unanswered like "Are there more Borrowers?" or "Why does the villain even want to catch The Borrowers?". Other then that, this is a pretty good movie; check it out some time.

Changes From Original: It is a house in the country instead of a house in the city.  The villain in the original instead of an evil maid is an evil business man named Mr. Potter.....not the one from It's a Wonderful Life. Changing the villain was a good idea because evil business men are so cliched. In the original there was a character named Peagreen who was removed in this version.

Which is Better: Personally, I like the remake better. Of course it depends if you prefer drama for comedy. I never found the original to be that funny and this version takes the idea of tiny people who live in your house more seriously. So this time I think the remake wins.

THE SHUFFLER WORLD: CREEPIEST CARTOON CHARACTER