Studio Ghibli has revealed their next film and it’s The Borrower Arriety (Karigurashi no Arrietty), based on the 1952 novel The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Hayao Miyazaki is responsible for writing the scenario while Ghibli animator Yonebayashi Hiromasa is promoted to being a first-time director. The film is scheduled for release in Japan this summer and will be approximately 80 minutes long. As with all Ghibli releases, Disney will handle it in North America and while it’s too early for word on when it’ll arrive, summer 2011 is probably a good guess. Unless of course there are any rights issues that could complicate that, like what happened with 2006′s Tales of Earthsea which still hasn’t come here. But when it comes, I hope Disney does some subbed screenings this time around. I’m still waiting to see Ponyo because I refuse to listen to dubs that Miyazaki had nothing to do with.
The Borrowers is about a family of very tiny people (ie. small enough to live under floorboards) and their interactions with the regular human beings who live above. The title comes from the name for these people, as they ‘borrow’ things from the humans as a way of life. The lead character is Arrietty, a fourteen year old girl. Studio Ghibli’s version moves the story’s location from London to Tokyo, presumably while maintaining the 1950s time period. The official site for The Borrower Arrietty is already up.
Studio Ghibli is also working on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter with director Isao Takahata. Read more on that here.
