The Secret World of Arrietty - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Secret World of Arrietty

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
As of this year Studio Ghibli has officially cut ties with Disney proper for their releases and have moved over to Shout Factory as their new distributor. Over this last month they have released 8 of their original titles that were given to Disney, and are in the works to redistribute just about all the rest of their titles (minus the ones licensed to Universal and Up on Poppy Hill and Grave of the Fireflies), INCLUDING the single title that even Disney couldn’t get. My Neighbors, the Yamadas. I missed the opportunity to review for you all 8 titles that were released on the 17th of October, but over the course of the next month or so there will be another set of batches that are coming over via Shout, and I’ll be putting those out for you. Disney did some great stuff with their Studio Ghibli releases, but there were a small handful of titles (such as Princess Monnonoke) that had subpar subtitles as Disney used “Dubtitles” (translations of the English dub) vs. traditional direct translations from the Japanese language tracks that REALLY frustrated purists (myself included). With these new releases, Shout Factory and Studio Ghibli have worked together to rectify those small issues and re-release their lineup on Blu-ray once more at a substantially lower price than Disney was able to.

The Secret World of Arrietty is first and foremost, a tale of simplicity. It acts both as a sweet tale about enjoying the simple things in life, as well as just BEING a simple story at heart as well. If I had to look back over the long line of Studio Ghibli films that I’ve viewed, I would have to say that Arrietty is the most simplistic and airy film of the whole series. Now, that’s not meant as a negative connotation to the film. In fact, it’s one of my very favorite ones of the series, simply because its so much fun and fully spunk and spirit. It’s not nearly as epic as Princess Monnonoke or as dark and brooding as Castle in the Sky or The Wind Rises, but rather focuses in on the enjoyment of those simple things in life. Surprisingly, The Secret World of Arrietty is not taken from a Japanese tale, or from an adapted Japanese tale, but rather an American set of novels titled The Borrowers, which gives it a much more mainstream feel that your average American can resonate with a bit more than some of the other films in the Ghibli series. While it’s not one of the award winning Ghibli films, Arrietty is still a great film in its own right.

Adapted from the books by Mary Norton, Arrietty begins with a sickly child named Sho stumbling upon a secret inside his summer home. Beneath the boards and foundations of the house life a family of “little” people called Borrowers. This family “borrows” those little, unneeded and cast aside, things that humanity looks over in order to survive in their world of giant leaves and even more giant people above. Arrietty lives with her mother, Homily, and father, Pod, under Sho’s house and has just gotten to that stage where Pod is going to teach her the finer points of “borrowing”. On her first mission out into the real world, Arrietty bungles the whole thing by getting caught by Sho and revealing their existence to the outside world. Sho agrees to keep their secret, as he and Arrietty form an unlikely friendship that helps mature her, and bring healing to the invalid boy’s soul.

As with all these adventures, where we have heroes, we also have villains. The villain in this case happens to be a grumpy old housekeeper by the name of Haru. Haru has been suspicious of the existence of the borrowers for many years, but has hitherto been unable to actually finalize her suspicious nature. She has always thought of them as pests and thieves, and once she finds out about the little people, the small truce that Arrietty has formed with Sho comes to a crashing end, as the old woman does her best to destroy their little world. Through the mistakes of Sho, and the terror of Haru, one thing remains constant. The need to protect your friends, even if they’re just a fraction of your size.

The Secret World of Arrietty is a tale of magic and adventure, told from the point of view of someone much younger and more fragile than you or I. The film brings me back to that child like awe and sense of adventure when we were watching movies for the very first time, and the film’s vantage point allows for an encompassing feeling of excitement and awe. Arrietty is so small that a simple cat chasing her through a garden like a demon attacking, or a crow flying above is seen as a Pterodactyl about to tear our heroine limb from limb. A trickle of water down the way is like a roaring river, ready to swallow all of those who dare venture in, and a little invalid boy is like the giant from Jack and the Bean stalk. Fans of the Ghibli films may find Arrietty to be a little more confined and less sweeping in scope than other films in the Ghibli world, but that’s where Arrietty gains much of its charm. I have watched EVERY Ghibli film to date, and this one left me with that warm happy sensation from head to two and a gentle smile on the face. Something that is like the warm comfort food of your youth, rather than a delicately balanced 5 course gourmet meal.




Rating:

Rated G for General Audiences




Video:

Being that these were taken from the same masters, the Shout Factory releases look every bit as stunning as the 2012 Disney Blu-ray did. And like back then, I have to give this one a perfect score. If you look REALLY closely, the Shout Factory release actually has a higher bitrate, and if you do some close up screen grabs can see minute improvements in the encode. In actual motion, though, it will pretty much appear identical to your eyes. Colors are warm and bright, with LUSCIOUS greens surrounding the home of Pod and Arrietty. Animated lines are sharp as a tack and show no signs of digital artifacting or even the obligatory color banding. It isn’t as sleek and “shiny” as a digital film, but the hand painted artwork is magnificent nonethelesss, with a texture to it that feels organic as much as it does lovely. The backgrounds look like a gorgeous watercolor in contrast with the softer animation done for the characters and the foreground closeups. It’s rare that I give a perfect 5/5 for picture quality, but Arrietty did, and still does, deserve that distinction.






Audio:

Like Porco Rosso, the audio tracks for Arrietty are exact duplicates of the ones Studio Ghibli supplied Disney back in 2012. This includes the 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks in both English and Japanese, along with the French Dolby Digital track as well. Subtitles for Arriety were the original exact translations on the Disney disc, so no need to correct the “dubtitle” mistakes of other films in the Disney released series. The audio is simply superb in both English and Japanese, but I naturally lean towards the original audio as a purist. Vocals are crisp and clean in both versions, and the the ambiance of the surround mix is nothing short of stunning. You can hear background noises such as doors closing and a person’s feet thumping down a hallway perfectly. The bass isn’t wild, but it does add to the thumping sounds of little feet across wood floors, and it does accentuate the score a good bit. There is a beautiful sense of directionality to the film, with the rain storm sounding eerily accurate to a real rainstorm beating beating down on our own roof. Overall, a fantastic 5.1 mix.





Extras:

• Feature Length storyboards
• Interview with Hiromasa Yonebayashi
• Interview with Hayao Miyazaki
• Music Video
• Original Theatrical Trailers
• Exclusive Booklet

Final Score: ​

As small and “tiny” (heh heh) as it is, The Secret World of Arriety goes all the way for a big blast. It’s sweet, light, airy and yet still mature and thoughtful at the same time. It doesn’t have the giant frightening scenes of films like Monnonoke or Spirited Away, which makes it more accessible to really young children, as well as the more mature ones in your household. Arriety feels the most comfortable (in my opinion) out of all the Ghibli lineup to American audiences, which makes sense considering it was adapted from The Borrower books. Audio and video are spot on magnificent and look just as good as the older Disney release, and the extras are slightly tweaked to be a bit more appealing to collectors. If you have the older Disney release, I would say it’s a tough one to upgrade on, as the small extras that wasn’t in the Disney release are nice, but the audio and video being so similar keeps it from being a “duh, go ahead and upgrade” recommendation. HOWEVER, if you haven’t bought the film before (or just have the DVD), then the Shout Factory release is just what the doctor ordered and the best version out so far.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett
Directed by: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Written by: Hayao Miyazaki, Mary Norton (book)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DD 5.1
Studio: Shout Factory/Studio Ghibli
Rated: G
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 21st, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. This is a great movie to own.

 

[Michael Scott]

agreed, it's one of my Ghibli favorites