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REVIEW: The Secret World of Arrietty BD+DVD


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grooven



Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 1424
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:12 pm Reply with quote
I thought the adaption was pretty lack luster when looking at the source material it came from. Especially after the climax and the end. It just fizzled out. I was pretty disappointed in this release. I did however like art very much.
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Jex2193



Joined: 28 Jan 2014
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:54 pm Reply with quote
I agree with grooven. This adaption was lacking. The art was beautiful but the story seemed to drag on and the ending was disappointing.
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Jex2193



Joined: 28 Jan 2014
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:56 pm Reply with quote
I agree with grooven. This adaption was lacking. The art was beautiful but the story seemed to drag on and the ending was disappointing.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 1:20 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed the anime much more than the book. I did read only the first book in the series, but that is because I just lost interest in it and had no desire to read more.
After reading the book I watched the movie again to see if I would still enjoy it, and I did.
There were parts of the book that were not in the anime. For me removing those elements made the story better.

If I had read the book first I would probably have not watched the movie.

It is possible that the anime adaptation included some elements from later books, and I might have enjoyed the books more if I had continued.
But I did not want to.
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TurnerJ



Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 481
Location: Highland Park, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 1:31 pm Reply with quote
Many people have stated that the dub of Arrietty is horrible and is guilty of "destroying" a great movie. Without mentioning any names to protect the innocent, he said that the dub was "unacceptable" and that i t was one of the worst Ghibli dubs ever.

Myself? I don't really agree with that. I haven't seen the UK dub, but the Arreitty dub seemed mostly fine to me. Brigit was surprisingly good as Arrietty, and even David Henrie wasn't that bad as Shawn. He DOES sound more mature than his onscreen appearance, yes. But his acting was actually quite good and full of genuine sincerity. It's kinda like Pazu from Laputa where he sounded a bit too mature in the dub but the energy he had for the character made up for it. Carol Burnett was absolutely terrific and really stole every scene she was in as Hara, and Amy Poehlner was not bad at all, but I felt that Pod sounded a bit too deadpan at times and there WERE places where the lip-sync felt off. My only quibble was with the song over the second half of the closing credits; it wasn't as effective as the previous one. The rewrites didn't really bother me either; it doesn't matter how "accurate" the lines are just as long as the basic essence of the storyline is intact. None of the Ghibli dubs are guilty of doing anything like that as far as I know.

As for the film? I liked it a lot. It's sweet and heartwarming and reminds me of Totoro at times, but it's not one of my favorites. I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2093
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 1:33 pm Reply with quote
After seeing the movie in March 2012, I tweeted, 'There needs to be a blog post about Arrietty titled "On Bean the Right Size."' Somehow the gigantic water drops just got me wondering how their circulatory system and metabolism worked, which is exactly the wrong thing to be thinking in this kind of story.
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Shadowrun20XX



Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 1935
Location: Vegas
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Interesting view into that world but by the end the whole experience is left unsatisfying.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 3:03 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I quit this movie about half an hour in. Sure, the details of their world were interesting, but the characters weren't and nothing was happening. I usually don't mind slow-moving movies, but this felt utterly glacial for some reason, and I wasn't able to finish it.
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 3:15 pm Reply with quote
The American dub for Arietty is a solid work, but personally I think the UK version is superior. The characters take on somewhat different characteristics, I guess being closer to the Japanese version, but they make for sense to me. In the UK version, while Sho (Japanese names are retained) wants to befriend Arietty, he has an ignorant/insensitive side to himself that he was tone-deaf to. Not only does it give him more of a personal journey from his jadedness in experiencing his illness (as opposed to his pure sweetheartedness in the American version), his ignorance also helps better explain the scene where he causes destruction while giving Arrietty's family a new room. His ignorant insensitivity (albeit well-meaning) makes it make more sense, while in the American version it just makes him comes across as stupid. Also, in the UK version there isspoiler[ no additional ending narration by Sho saying what happened to both himself and Arrietty afterwards, which I far prefer over the American version. Because the point should not have been what are the characters' fates, but how they affected each other and their determination to face the future, come what may]. Plus, I think the charming British voices just fit better.
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Ryo Hazuki



Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 363
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 3:52 pm Reply with quote
This movie is one of the rare cases, where I prefer the movie to the novel, of which it's based on. For me it simply wasn't as memorable. I didn't mind the slow pacing either. For me the pacing really allowed me to immerse myself in the world of the movie and I don't think it had any padding in it..
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jymmy



Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 4:07 pm Reply with quote
Arrietty was certainly a good film, and the detail was its strongest point, but I wasn't blown away by the story. I can't identify any particular flaw, other than I found it nice but not spectacular. Yonebashi's other film with Ghibli as a lead animator I thought had less artistry, but a more resonant story and powerful characters. The connection between Arrietty and Shawn I more understood on a symbolic and narrative level, whereas I really felt how much Marnie meant to Anna.

That said, I should rewatch Arrietty. I haven't seen it since it first came out in cinemas here.
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katscradle



Joined: 05 Jan 2013
Posts: 469
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 4:13 pm Reply with quote
pachy_boy wrote:
Also, in the UK version there isspoiler[ no additional ending narration by Sho saying what happened to both himself and Arrietty afterwards, which I far prefer over the American version. Because the point should not have been what are the characters' fates, but how they affected each other and their determination to face the future, come what may].


The above is my biggest gripe with the American dub. I never read the books so I don't know how it matches but, I was very unhappy with the decision. In the American versionspoiler[ to me it was like the producers felt that the American children watching needed to be reassured about the fate of the characters in perilous situations. When I agree the whole point of the movie is about living and dealing with life's uncertainties.] Such a missed opportunity.
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TurnerJ



Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 481
Location: Highland Park, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 4:57 pm Reply with quote
I'm almost afraid to join the threads for the reviews of KIKI, LAPUTA, and MONONOKE. All three are among my favorite dubs of all time, but they all have harsh detractors, and I fear that ANN will probably slam all three dubs. I've never found anything wrong with them myself, but I know others may feel different. Hopefully the reviewers won't be unkind to the dubs. I don't think any of them are outright bad, and even the one I liked least (THE WIND RISES), while I consider the rock bottom, is certainly not horrible in any stretch of the imagination.
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SnowWarren



Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 272
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:20 pm Reply with quote
Wish the UK dub could have been included in the review, but I think only Australia has released the movie with both dubs. Sho sounds much more age appropriate in that version.
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Lord Dcast



Joined: 07 Nov 2014
Posts: 644
Location: 'Straiya
PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 7:09 pm Reply with quote
This film was disappointing, but it's a fun one to watch. It's not that bad as a whole, and I actually prefer it to the original liveaction UK film adaption.
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