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After 2011's dog-killing craze, everyone's wondering what the new movie trend for 2012 will be. Travelling back in time? Getting attacked by aliens? Superheroes, again? I'm happy to reveal that it's something else entirely. 2012 is officially the year of looking over hedges. Or, as I shall now be calling it, hedging.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - 17th FebruaryWith Studio Ghibli's Arrietty arriving in cinemas this week (read our Arrietty review), Hayao Miyazaki's screenplay takes us under the floorboards into the miniature world of Mary Norton's The Borrowers. But while director Hiromasa Yonebayashi takes pleasure in watching Arrietty run from cats, carry leaves and all the other microscopic details of her existence, Ghibli's adaptation reminds us that, in the words of Dr. Seuss, a person's a person, no matter how small. So join us, oh normal-sized people, as we turn the microscope onto all that is tiny in the world of film. These are cinema's greatest little people: 
An Arrietty trailer and some new images have turned up in our inbox. And as you'd expect from a Studio Ghibli adaptation of The Borrowers, they're lovely. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the animated tale focuses on little heroine Arrietty and full-sized Sho, who moves into the house where she and her family live. Discovered by Sho, Arrietty and the young boy become friends in true Ghibli fashion. And, inevitably, it all looks as beautiful as Arrietty's UK poster. Just look at her, with her tiny little hands and tiny little feet, like some kind of really tiny person. It's adorable. And that's even with the trailer's slightly unnecessary Dr Seuss voiceover. "Discover a world beneath our own, where little people have made their home..." the narrator begins, before going on to remind us of Ghibli's ridiculously brilliant track record in animation. Unsurprisingly, he can't think of anything to rhyme with "Ponyo". Co-written by Hayao Miyazaki, Arrietty is released on Friday 29th July. Read on for the new Arrietty images and the full video, head this way for our Arrietty review, or check out the Arrietty trailer, official synopsis and cast list (including Saoirse Ronan and Mark Strong). Trailer: Arrietty (Studio Ghibli)
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi This is a story of a family of “little” people. Beneath the floorboards of a sprawling mansion set in a magical, overgrown garden in the suburbs of Tokyo, tiny 14-year-old Arrietty lives with her equally tiny parents.The house is occupied by two old ladies, who are absolutely unaware of the existence of their miniature tenants. Arrietty and her family live by "borrowing". Everything they have, they borrow or make from the things they have borrowed. Essentials like cooking gas, water and food. Tables, chairs, cooking utensils. And treats - a sugar cube here, a scrap of material there. But only a little each time, so the ladies do not notice. A 12-year-old boy, Sho, moves in the mansion while he waits for urgent medical treatment in the city. Arrietty's parents have always warned her: "Never let humans see you." Once seen, little people always have to move on. But the adventurous Arrietty doesn't listen, and Sho discovers her. The two begin to confide in each other and, before long, a friendship begins to blossom... BREAKING NEWS: Pretty-looking Studio Ghibli film looks pretty. The nation is in shock.
Studio Ghibli's take on The Borrowers (directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi) is in cinemas on Friday 29th July. And will boast an English dubbed voice cast of Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, Mark Strong, Olivia Colman and Geraldine McEwan. Oh, and it's written by Hayao Miyazaki. Cannot. Wait.
(You can head this way to read our Arrietty review.) |