2. 1. History – the book
2. Author – Mary Norton
3. Video clip
4. Storyline
5. Characters
6. Theme
7. Film style
8. Cultural aspects
9. Class questions together
10. References
3. • Stories of little people or fairies are an essential part of
Bristish folklore
• “The novel examines how individuals, most specifically
Arrietty, grow and mature through their increased
understanding of themselves in relation to their
families, their natural environments, and their pasts, and
how they create stories of their lives as part of this
process of understanding and growth.”
4. • December 10, 1903 (London, England) – August 29, 1992 (
Hartland, Devon)
• Educated in a convent school in London and was originally
trained to become an actress
• Had two book series:
• Bedknob and Broomstick
• The Borrowers
• In each of her novels she has the reoccurring story of a young
person’s growth to maturity
• Her works are bildungsroman’s, narratives of rites of passage
that belong to story traditions extending back to the
folktales, legends, and myths of most preliterate cultures
6. • Almost 14 year old Arrietty and her family (the Clocks)
live in a peaceful, secret home made by items the borrow
from the humans. Little do the humans know that the
Clock family is living under their floorboards. When a
new teenage boy moves into the house life starts to
change when he sees Arrietty. In the mixt of him trying
to help Arrietty and her family, the crazy housekeeper
starts to get involved. Leaving the clock family with a
decision to stay or retreat.
7. • Arrietty is the only child from the Clock family. She has a
mother and a father that love her dearly. During the
movie we join in on Arrietty’s first borrowing. She is a
very adventurous and very curious young girl. She is
always looking to try something new. You can tell she
wants to provide for her family as much as she can and
will do whatever it takes to protect her family.
8. • Shawn is a teenage boy who is struggling with a heart
problem and his parent’s marriage is in turmoil. So he
escapes to his mother’s childhood home in attempt to
relax. You can tell he is very caring and respectful. He
takes advantage of being able to take care of Arrietty and
her family because he is always being cared for. Just an
overall mellow and sweet
kid.
9. • Haru is the care taker of the house and of Shawn. She is a
rather grouchy and unhappy woman. . Haru is also the
antagonist in the film. She has a constant suspicion that
borrowers exsist, and once she finds proof she stops at
nothing to capture one.
10. • Pod is Arrietty’s father. Pod is a very quiet and good
tempered man. His wife – Homily – is a rather excentric
woman, so he balances out with her really well. He is a
good father and provider for the family and knows
Arrietty like
the back of his
hand.
11. • Homily is Arrietty mother. She is the definition of what a
mother is. Very caring and loving towards her
family, especially Arrietty. She is always worrying about
Arrietty and what will happen when she goes out into
the humans world. Her personality and emotions are
very animated. She
always seems stressed.
12. • Spiller is a beacon of hope to the Clock family. He is the
first borrower they have seen in ages and he also helps
Pod home when he is injured from a borrowing. Spiller is
an outdoor fellow and dresses like a caveman/Native
American. He grunts and lives off the land. He is quite
but a good guy. The family trusts him on their journey to
a new life.
13. • While there are many small themes in the movie the most
major, unifying idea is trust. Throughout the entirety of the
film they are clear examples of trust. For example right from
the start of the movie we see that Pod, Arrietty’s father, has
complete trust in Arrietty and lets her go on her first
“borrowing” with him. But what’s important is how confident
and brave Arrietty was because this could just be the main
reason the she was allowed to go on the adventure even at her
mothers disapproval.
• And of course another good example of trust in the film is
how Arrietty trusted Shawn with her and her families secret
even though she could have put her family in danger. We can
see even from this example how confident Arrietty really is
and it pays off in the end because of the friendship between
Shawn and Arrietty he eventually helps retrieve Homily
Clock, Arrietty’s mother, from Haru.
14. • The animation and film style in this film takes from
many different movies especially from other Japanese
filmmakers. This is because the director and animator of
the film is Hiromasa Yonebayashi, he also directed and
produced the films Spirited Away, Princess
Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo.
• The plot of the movie is a classic tale of heroism but it
differs from most films because the main character is the
heroine and she is confident and courageous. This
contrasts some of Yonebayashi’s other works where the
main character would either be a male hero like in
Princess Mononoki or a shy unconfident girl like in
Spirited Away.
15. • The Secret World of Arrietty has a few cultural
influences from Eastern culture. Particularly the faces of
the characters have a very typical Japanese anime-type
look to them with large eyes and sometimes over
exaggerated facial expressions. The film itself has a
distinctive anime-style animation. In addition, Arrietty’s
father is the stereotypical hard working father who only
wants the best for his children, typical of Asian families.
The architecture of the house and vegetation
surrounding the house also have an Asian feel to them
16. • While the Clock family has encountered numerous near
death experiences throughout the course of this
film, they managed to get their things together and arrive
safely at the desired destination so that they can continue
on the journey for a new life. They stick together like a
family should and continue through all the hurdles that
life has thrown at them. Not only are the Clocks satisfied
but Shawn is as well. He got to help someone for the first
time and but their well being before his, and he got the
surgery and survived.
17. 1. How does your opinion change on stealing or
“borrowing” ?
2. Have you heard any bedtime stories or folktales about
little people?
3. How would you react if you were in the human’s
position and you found little people living in your
walls?
4. If you were in the same position as Arrietty’s family
how would you feel about borrowing and what would
you do about it?
