Is this ok? Am I allowed to love it? What will my friends say? These are the questions I must ask myself every time Hayao Miyazaki releases a new film. Obviously, the answer to all these questions is “whatever”, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying now that he’s released his latest movie, The Secret World of Arrietty – there’s always the fear that he will have finally given in and made Disney-fied movie targeted directly to American children (rather than, say, a sophisticated and maybe even uncompromising animated film which is obviously meant for children but could maybe also be appropriate for a 27 year old male).
Based on the fantasy novel The Borrowers, Arrietty follows the basic template presented in most of Miyazaki’s films - young girl enters a new world, makes new friends, faces adversity, etc – although in this case the girl in question is 10 centimeters tall. As per usual, the American version of the film has been dubbed using (admittedly talented and otherwise quite enjoyable) actors with voices so distinctive as to be genuinely distracting. In the past it’s been Tina Fey or Billy Crystal or Christian Bale, in Arrietty it’s the (again, quite wonderful) Amy Poehler and Will Arnett. While I’m sure they do a great job, it will be hard not to think of Gob Bluth every time I hear Arnett’s voice.
It is indeed a wonderful film, containing many of the best qualities of his beloved My Neighbor Totoro…although strictly speaking this is not a Miyazaki film, but is directed by newcomer Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Very nice to see that Miyazaki is transferring his sensibilities to a younger generation of animators at Studio Ghibli.