The latest Japanese animated feature from the legendary Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli is finally coming to Russian screens. The Secret World of Arrietty tells a story of friendship between a 12-year-old boy and little Borrower Arrietty.
The film, which was named Animation of the Year at the 34th Japan Academy Awards, was made by Ghibli’s youngest director, Hiromasa Yonebayashi.
Any production that comes out of Studio Ghibli, the creative force behind Oscar-winning animation Spirited Away, is sure to become an event of international importance and garner enormous attention. The release in Japan of The Secret World of Arrietty proved to be another great success for Ghibli. It became the highest grossing film in Japan in 2010, and raised over $120 million worldwide. Critics once again praised the animation and music, which have became a hallmark of the studio.
The story, adapted for the screen by Hayao Miyazaki, is based on the novel The Borrowers by English children’s author Mary Norton. It is a tale of little people – Borrowers – living cheek-by-jowl with humans, in a hidden world under their floorboards.
The founder of Studio Ghibli still draws each shot by hand without the aid of computer technologies. There have been no announcements of new films from the Ghibli studio, though rumor has it that Miyazaki is working on the second part of his Porco Rosso as well as a biopic.