Studio Ghibli Thoughts: Arrietty
Of all the Studio Ghibli movies, this one is most about perspective and how you look at the world. In another way, it can also be seen as the perspective of a first-time director, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, on the work of his mentor Hayao Miyazaki, which is why Arrietty manages to so closely simulate earlier Studio Ghibli work while being the work of a fresh director. Based, like many of Studio Ghibli’s works, on a Western children's fantasy novel, Arrietty follows the adventures of the titular character, a girl from an almost extinct race of very small humans, as she interacts with our world. The entire premise of The Borrowers hinges on the wonder of looking at our world from the eyes of a race that is as small as insects, and that’s where perspective is key. For Arrietty and her family, who sometimes need to go into human kitchens to “borrow” supplies, the walk between one side of the kitchen to the other becomes a grand adventure. Needles become swords, tissue paper a valuable fab...
