Based on Mary Norton’s children’s fantasy series The Borrowers, Kari-gurashi no Arrietty is to be released next year in Australian cinemas.
Madman is proud to announce its acquisition of Kari-gurashi no Arrietty, the latest masterpiece from the Academy Award-winning Studio Ghibli.
This 2010 Japanese anime film is based on Mary Norton’s much-loved children’s fantasy novel series The Borrowers. It revolves around 14-year-old Arrietty and her family, who are a race of "tiny people" living in peaceful anonymity under floorboards, as they make their own home from items they’ve borrowed from the human inhabitants of a house in Tokyo.
However, life changes for Arrietty and her parents when a 12-year-old human boy called Sho stumbles upon her. As the relationship between the two develops, the inevitable risk of human interference begins to endanger the lives of Arrietty and her family.
Now the two friends must work together to try and protect their way of life.
Kari-gurashi no Arrietty was written and supervised by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli founder and director of award-winning and beautiful films such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle. The film also marks the directorial debut of animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who at 36 is the youngest person ever to direct a film for Studio Ghibli.
Since its premier on July 11, Kari-gurashi no Arrietty spent 11 of its 15 weeks in the Kogyo Tsushinsha Japanese box-office charts sitting in the top ten, and had grossed over US$110 million at the end of its theatrical run.
Kari-gurashi no Arrietty will be released in Australian cinemas by Madman in 2011.
