This movie was good. Even thought I gave it a B , know this grade is more reflective of comparing it to other Studio Ghibli movies. Thought its good its not at the level of Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away. Not bad just not a masterpiece when compared to these other works.
This film was also the first movie by Hiromasa Yonebayashi who was previously just in charge of Key Animation. He definitely brought his A game to the production and I sincerely hope he has no difficulty finding projects in the future.
Sadly, the movie didn't perform well enough to save studio Ghibli. Shame as it was a good film. It just didn't get enough attention in either America or Japan. Why? No idea really? When this film opened it didn't have any competition for the animated features at the box office. It's not like Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance took that much of its audience.
I did forget to mention the English voice cast in the review. They really did a great job, especially Bridgit Mendler as Arriety. It would be great if she was able to come back to voice other Studio Ghibli movies in the future except for right now there are no other film coming from the studio.
An interesting piece. I remember an old live action series of 'The Borrowers' from when I was little, but haven't read the book so I've no idea if it's a solid adaption or not. – mattdoylemedia9 years ago