Arrietty, titled Arrietty the Borrower (Japanese: 借りぐらしのアリエッティ, Hepburn: Karigurashi no Arietti) in Japan and The Secret World of Arrietty in North America, is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi as his feature film debut as a director, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and Wild Bunch.

[4][5] The film stars the voices of Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shinobu Otake, Keiko Takeshita, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Tomokazu Miura, and Kirin Kiki, and tells the story of a young Borrower (Shida) befriending a human boy (Kamiki), while trying to avoid being detected by the other humans.

[6] The voice actors were approached in April 2010, and Cécile Corbel wrote the film's score as well as its theme song.

The film was released in Japan on July 17, 2010, by Toho, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation and music.

A boy named Shō tells the story of the week in summer he spent at his mother's home with his maternal great-aunt, Sadako, and the housemaid, Haru.

Shō learns from Sadako that his mother and grandfather had noticed the presence of Borrowers in the house and had the dollhouse built for them.

Shō apologizes that he has forced them to move out and reveals he has had a heart condition since birth and will undergo an operation in a few days.

Arrietty comes to Shō for help; they rescue Homily and he removes all traces of the Borrowers' presence, including putting the kitchen back in the dollhouse.

Shō gives Arrietty a sugar cube and tells her that she will always be a part of him and that her courage and the Borrowers' fight for survival have made him want to live through the operation.

Studio Ghibli founders Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki had been contemplating an adaptation of this novel for the past 40 years.

[13] Hiromasa Yonebayashi was one of the animators for the Studio Ghibli films Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo and Spirited Away.

[14] In addition, Ryunosuke Kamiki, who has voiced characters in other Studio Ghibli films, including Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle was cast as Shō.

[14] Besides them, the film's cast includes Tomokazu Miura, Shinobu Otake, Keiko Takeshita, and Kirin Kiki.

[14] On January 8, 2011, actress and singer Bridgit Mendler was cast as Arrietty for the film's North American release.

[10] The cast included Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, Mark Strong, Olivia Colman, Phyllida Law, and Geraldine McEwan.

[18] It was recorded in France with a small orchestra including acoustic guitar, bass, a string quartet, bagpipes, Irish flutes, bodhrán, percussion instruments, and accordion.

[19][20] "Arrietty's Song", the film's main theme, was performed by Corbel in Japanese, English, German, Italian, Breton,[3] and French.

[26] In an interview with Kidzworld about what the song is about, Mendler explained, "It's not based on personal experience but I think the whole summertime, kind of cheerful, innocent thing was relatable for the movie and something they liked.

[33] The North American dub was directed by Gary Rydstrom, produced by Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy and written by Karey Kirkpatrick.

[32] Distributor Toho announced that as of August 5, 2010, the film managed to gross more than 3.5 billion yen and attracted more than 3.7 million viewers.

[17] According to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Arrietty is the top-grossing Japanese film in their box office for the year for 2010; it grossed approximately 9.25 billion yen[7] ($110.0 million).

[43] Overall, ticket sales for Arrietty, le petit monde des chapardeurs in France totaled almost 740,000 between its release on January 12, 2011, and March 1, 2011.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Visually lush, refreshingly free of family-friendly clatter, and anchored with soulful depth, The Secret World of Arrietty lives up to Studio Ghibli's reputation.

"[49] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[52] Steve Rose, the reviewer for The Guardian, gave the film four out of five stars, describing it as "a gentle and entrancing tale, deeper and richer than more instantly gratifying fare.

[54] Young later went on to say that the relationship with Sho and Arrietty "touches the heartstrings with gentle yearning", and praised Yonebayashi for its direction.

"[56] Groves also criticized the film's storyline, calling it "a gentle, humourless, uncomplicated tale of friendship in an alien environment."

[56] Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network gave the North American version of Arrietty an overall grade of "B".

[60] He also praised Karey Kirkpatrick and Gary Rydstrom for their adaptation of the film, as well as their casting decisions for the British and North American versions.

[61] Schwarzbaum later went on to say that the result is a "dreamy, soft-edge hybrid, equally interested in observing raindrops and the worries of a race of minuscule beings.