Hello all! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I love to buddy watch movies together – even though I am in Michigan and she is in Pennsylvania! We don’t literally watch together in a watch party, although that might be fun one time! We wanted our fall list to feel fall cozy, move into some more chilling movies, than turn cozy again for November. This week we had a double feature week, starting with Fantastic Mr. Fox on Tuesday and today, The Secret World of Arrietty.

Over the past year or so, I became a Ghibli fan. I had been urged for years to watch Studio Ghibli movies by my husband and brother, and eventually I gave in and found that yes, they were right, I love them as they knew that I would. Well, most of them. I like the more fairy tale, whimsical Ghibli rather than some of the more sci-fi type (like Nausicaa). In fact, one of my favorite movies as a child, The Last Unicorn (I still love this movie and the book) was created by the people who later formed Studio Ghibli. So I guess I was always a fan and didn’t know it.

The Secret World of Arrietty is one of my favorites. It is such a gentle movie, with fields of flowers and dreaming, a giant fat cat, a kind boy, a brave girl. This movie is based on the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton, and is about a family of tiny people who secretly reside in homes. They borrow only what they need, things that would not be noticed or needed, things forgotten, like Arrietty’s straight pin. They keep to themselves and remain hidden, for the rule is, if a borrower is seen, than the family needs to move to keep safe.

Arrietty sort of blows that being hidden and not seen thing out of the water. She is thirteen, adventurous, and wants to see what is out there, and one day on one of her forays, a new boy arrives to the home to live with his aunt and her employee. He has heart issues and is staying with his aunt until his operation, so that he can relax and be safe and rest. Arrietty doesn’t know this, or about his personality, which turns out to be kind – but she does know that there is a good chance that she was seen by him. She doesn’t say anything to her parents, Pod and Homily, and later that night goes on her first borrowing with her father. I love this part. The seriousness that is conveyed through animation is amazing. So much is said in the quiet moments, the heaviness of her father’s walk, the stoic way he handles the whole expedition. Homily, Arrietty’s mother, is a bundle of dramatic nerves and I have to say, I sometimes can relate to her. I would be terrified if my teen was going on a borrowing and we were only like 3 inches tall. Homily however knows that her child has to learn how to take care of herself, as the three of them, as far as they know, are the last of their kind. They don’t know if there are others out there, so one day Arrietty might be all on her own. She sends them off, imploring them to be safe and with a small list – sugar and tissue paper.

It’s on this expedition that things go awry. Arrietty is not only straight up seen by the boy, Shawn, but he speaks to her. He talks about his mother who grew up in that house told him stories of little people who live in the walls, and you get the sense she was a romantic dreamer, even though now it appears she has left those days behind her. Anyway, this is not good. Not good at all. Pod starts making plans to move, and spends the next few days finding safe routes away from the house. On one of these trips he becomes injured and is discovered by another borrower, Spiller. Spiller tells them he can help them leave, he knows more borrowers out there, and can help them escape to a new beginning.

Now that they have definitely been seen, they have to move and it kills me. There house is so charming and beautiful and every time I watch it I think about how cozy it looks. Just filled with color and life and useful items, books and herbs and quilts and it is all just so delightful. Plus Shawn and his aunt are sympathetic to the family, and not out to get them, although we do know that someone else is.

The animation is spectacular. The way that flowers move in the breeze, the homes with ivy crawling up their sides, plants with dew, the attention to detail is amazing and so real – the scenes without dialogue that are just quick views of the landscape or scenery are some of the most powerful (and relaxing) in the movie.

I could just lay in a field of flowers on a lazy day reading with a cat curled up on me too.

This movie is bittersweet, in the sense that new friends Shawn and Arrietty have to say goodbye to each other, and Arrietty and her family have to move. However, the last few lines of the movie make it seem a bit better.

It was the relaxing, cozy movie I needed last night, after a sort of stressful two days around here. I fell asleep dreaming of rooms filled with plants and life and color.

Next up we leave the world of animation and move back into classics, with the African Queen! This movie has been on my watch list for years and years and I am looking forward to finally watching it. When I feel like a Bogart movie, I almost always switch on Key Largo, one of my favorites, rather than trying a new one. So I am looking forward to finally watching it!

You can find Lisa’s post on Arrietty here! I am linking straight to her blog as I know she had some stuff going on and may not get her post up until a bit later.