The Secret World of Arrietty

Hiromasa
Yonebayashi

In-between animator for Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) before becoming a key animator for the first time for Spirited Away (2001). Continued drawing key animation for the Ghiblies episode 2 (2002), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008), and then served as assistant supervising animator for Tales from Earthsea (2006). Directorial debut was The Secret World of Arrietty (2010), which became the top-grossing film in Japan of the year, recording 7.65 million viewers and 9.25 billion yen at the box office. His second film, When Marnie Was There, was nominated as Best Animated Feature at the 88th Academy Awards. After leaving Studio Ghibli, Yonebayashi directed Studio Ponoc’s Mary and The Witch’s Flower in 2017.

Hidden within the walls and beneath the floors of our homes is the secret world of Borrowers – tiny people who "borrow" whatever they need to survive from the humans above. Young Arrietty lives this way with her parents in a house where a boy named Sho's grandmother lives. On the day Sho arrives, Arrietty goes on her first supply-gathering trip with her father.