Justin's Japan: New York Hosts Sneak Preview of Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Secret World of Arrietty’

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.Co-written by anime legend Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Miyazaki protégé Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the New York International Children’s Film Festival will present a special one-time advance screening of Studio Ghibli’s new film The Secret World of Arrietty on Jan. 21 at Symphony Space, nearly a whole month ahead of its wide release on Feb. 17. The news comes just as the massive 15-film Studio Ghibli Festival (which broke box office records by grossing over $150,000 to date at the IFC Center) wraps up Jan. 12.Originally released in Japan in July 2010 and based on Mary Norton’s classic children’s book The Borrowers, the film is a beautiful story about friendship, family and love, sumptuously animated with all the loving detail, warmth and humanity expected from Studio Ghibli’s finest works.Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler), a tiny but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (voices of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (voice of Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to "borrow" scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts.For the complete story, click here.