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In celebration of the Walt Disney Studios and the legendary Studio Ghibli release of THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY on Blu-ray & DVD Combo Pack we present you with clips from the film and bonus material.
Classic anime style, beautiful scenery and music, a strong female character, loss & friendship—this is everything you want your children to watch.
“”The Secret World of Arrietty,” as fans of “The Borrowers“ will have sussed out, is based on the first of five books Mary Norton wrote about tiny people who primarily live off what they appropriate from human beings (or “beans,” as they call them). … Part of the charm of the Borrowers books, a quality shared by the movie, is the theme of the tiny making wonderfully do in a world inhabited by, and made for, the big (like parents). … [W]hile she’s 14 going on 15, and three or so inches going on four, Arrietty seems bigger because her courage, along with her fluid form and softly dappled world, come by way of the famed Japanese company Studio Ghibli, where little girls rule, if not necessarily as princesses. … Studio Ghibli and Arrietty have a way of taking you where you may not expect, whether you’re scrambling through rooms as large as canyons or clambering into the safety of an outstretched hand, a simple gesture that says it all.” — Manohla Dargis via The New York Times
“Just as there are those who look forward to every new Pixar animated film, there are also those who cannot wait for the new releases from Japan’s Studio Ghibli. … The Secret World of Arrietty, based on Mary Norton’s children’s book series The Borrowers, is about a tiny family who are part of a secret world of four-inch people who live underneath the floorboards of homes, “borrowing” things they need from human “beans” that won’t be missed. … As with all Ghibli films, whether it is tiny people in Arrietty, a goldfish princess in Ponyo, or forest spirits in Totoro, the fantastical living in tandem with normal humans never feels weird or questionable. And though you never know where it’s going and how it’s going to end up, the ride is always interesting because nothing ever feels contrived or predictable. Rather there is a quiet gentleness and a deep beauty that resonates no matter if you’re a child or an adult. It speaks to all without needing to be labeled a particular genre—other than animation.” — Zorianna Kit via Huffington Post
Have you ever come back as an adult to a book you thought was wonderful as a child but hadn't re-read since then?
I can remember one such book that shall remain nameless, which I came across and excitedly purchased to share with my girls when they were young, only to discover it was poorly written and the characters annoying.
Not so with The Borrowers by Mary Norton, thank goodness! Deservedly the winner of the 1952 Carnegie medal for children's literature.
I'm quite excited to see the new animated adaptation, The Secret World of Arrietty, but I gather that like other film versions it departs quite a bit from the original. I wanted to renew my acquaintance with the book first, so I ordered it up from my local library, and it came in this lovely edition illustrated by Michael Hague. What a treat!
Borrowers of course are 'little people' who live in the various behind-the-scenes nooks and crannies of houses, 'borrowing' small items from the big people for their own uses, such as blotting paper for carpets and matchboxes for dresser drawers. Such uses are a familiar conceit in children's picture books featuring anthropomorphic mice and the like, but they are only part of the charm of Norton's book. Her portrayal of the world from a viewpoint a few inches high is masterful, as in this passage where the adventurous young Arrietty visits the out-of-doors for the first time:
"Cautiously she moved toward the bank and climbed a little nervously in amongst the green blades. As she parted them gently with her bare hands, drops of water plopped on her skirt and she felt the red shoes become damp. But on she went, pulling herself up now and again by rooty stems into this jungle of moss and wood-violet and creeping leaves of clover. The sharp-seeming grass blades, waist high, were tender to the touch and sprang back lightly behind her as she passed..."
But one of the most interesting aspects of the book to me was the way the characters interacted. It is almost a truism in children's literature that parents, of course, stop adventures from happening. That's been so from long before the Grimms and Perreault, and you'll find it these days in any Disney movie too-- usually the mother is dead, Dad is tiny and absent-minded or just plain absent, or the family gets separated by some disaster.
0 Comments on Borrow some Refreshment! as of 1/1/1900
Looking for some spooky good reads this Halloween? Below is our family’s list of all-time favorites. Have a Happy Halloween!
A cautionary tale from 1829 The Spider and the Fly will capture your children’s imagination. Tony DiTerlizzi spins a masterful retelling of Mary Howitt’s poetic fable with his perversely charming pictures. It’s such fun and best read with a wicked voice… Ba ha ha ha ha! (Ages 6-9)
Humbug Witch is a little witch who can’t quite fly her broom or make her cauldron boil and bubble, but Lorna Balian’s surprise ending will delight your little ones. (Ages 3-8)
Diane Goode’s Book of Scary Stories & Songs is a fabulous collection of old folktales, poems, and songs that will either send a shiver down your spine or make you laugh out loud. Goode’s playful illustrations bring old favorites back to life like “The Ghost of John” and “The Green Ribbon.” (Ages 5-8)
From the creators of The Gruffalo, zoomsRoom on the Broom.Julia Donaldson tells the story of this enterprising witch and cat. Young children will become bewitched by the rhyme and have a silly time. (Ages 4-8)
The Witches’ Supermarket is a terribly clever book for ages 4-8 who will enjoy being one step ahead of the little girl in disguise who shops for all manner of shocking grocery items (like apples with worms and shake n’ bake snake) with her faithful dog. (Ages 5-8)
Ghosts in the House become repurposed by the new owner as lovely curtains, tablecloths and comforters. Decorating her cozy home with Kazuno Kaharo’s simple yet charming illustrations, kids might just want to move in. (Ages 3-6)
You’ll probably have to check your local library for copies of Adrienne Adams classic Halloween books
Ah, Banned Books Week. It only comes but once a year (as opposed to banning books which appears to be a year long occupation). For the one stop shopping round-up everyone needs, bookshelves of doom has compiled just a top notch collection of links for the occasion. One of these is to the blog for ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. They’ve started posting video testimonials from authors. One of them? My man Jay Asher. Tell it like it is, Jay!
Were it not Banned Books Week, of course, I would have begun with what I’m going to far as to declare the Best Book Trailer of the Year. See if you agree:
Seriously. That rocked my socks.
Speaking of sock rocking, I don’t know if you were aware of the creation of the animated take on Mary Norton’s The Borrowers out there, but the film is done and coming out. Doesn’t look half shabby either.
Those of you curious as to how good it is (and how it diverges from the book) may want to visit this review over at Fantastic Reads.
I’m awfully grateful to this next video because it clarifies for me what exactly this new collection of Dr. Seuss stories being promoted right now (The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories) actually is. As you’ll see, they weren’t some stories left in a drawer that Seuss “didn’t think were good enough” for publication. I think that’s an important distinction to make and I love that this tells you a bit of backstory as well.
Thanks to Mary Van Akin for the link.
So I’m in my library the other day and who should just waltz through the door, easy as you please, but none other than Sam McBratney of Guess How Much I Love You?
First, there’s the book and then there’s the movie. Where to encounter the narrative first is always the question! Most of us ‘older’ folk tend to encounter the narrative first in a book, and then later in the movie version. But for today’s children and for me — especially in the case of Japan’s Studio Ghibli movies at any rate — it’s often the movie first. When I first got wind of Studio Ghibli’s movie release, Arietty (it came out in Japan in 2010, DVD release July 2011) I noted quickly that it was based on Mary Norton’s The Borrowers (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953). The directors at Studio Ghibli — notably Hayao Miyazaki and son, Goro Miyazaki — have occasionally gone to British children’s books for inspiration for their movies. Their previously released Howl’s Moving Castlewas based on Diana Wynne Jones’ book of the same title (published in 1986) and it was through that movie, that I was introduced to Wynne Jones’ writing.
Thanks to Studio Ghibli again, my daughter and I have had a chance to experience The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I picked up a hardback edition of the novel at a used book sale in Nishinomiya where I lived and began reading it at night to my daughter. The Borrowers are little people who live under a house in England, and who ‘borrow’ things from the much larger humans that dwell above them. The family in the first series of the Borrowers books is a small one comprising of the father, Pod, the mother, Homily, and their fourteen year old daughter, Arietty (on whom the movie title is based.) My daughter and I got about halfway through the novel before she got to see the movie (we rented the DVD in Japan just before the day we left) and it was clear from the snippets I saw of it that the Studio Ghibli team was well into animating the tiny world of the Borrowers with its signature, detailed and colorful animation for which it is famous. I hope Arietty makes it into the North American viewing market soon, but barring that, The Borrowers still make a great read for parents and children alike.
0 Comments on Mary Norton’s The Borrowers and Studio Ghibli’s Arietty as of 1/1/1900
Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood and Christopher Eccleston are to star in an adaptation of Mary Norton's classic children's novel The Borrowers this Christmas.
The 90-minute drama, penned by “Merlin" writer Ben Vanstone and produced by Working Title Television, will be directed by “This Is England"'s Tom Harper for BBC1.
In celebration of the Walt Disney Studios and the legendary Studio Ghibli release of THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY on Blu-ray & DVD Combo Pack we present you with clips from the film and bonus material.
