The Borrowers

I read a lot of children's books while growing up, though I have to admit that I never read Mary Norton's "The Borrowers", even though it's considered something of a classic. So I have no idea if this made for television adaptation follows the book closely or not. However, I did see several months ago the Japanese animated adaptation "The Secret World of Arrietty", and I thought it was a charming low key movie. "The Borrowers" is also a low key movie for the most part, but the movie forgets to add enough stuff to keep the audience's attention. Except for the last twenty or so minutes, it feels really slow and doesn't seem to be going any place. The characters, both regular sized and tiny, also are lacking spirit. I expect children who watch this will soon get restless. More patient adults will get through it, but I think they'll agree with me that the movie is lacking juice.

Saw this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation growing up, don't know if it's available on video but it absolutely should be. Fine performances all round, with a nice tight script that does full justice to the really important things in the book: the details of how the Clock family live, the amusing relationships between Pod and Aunt Sophy and Arietty and the boy.

Definitely one of the better films for children of the past 30 years. Literate and never condescends. And never falls into the trap of making any of the characters too cute.

This Hallmark version of the Mary Norton classic is, as far as I know, the first screen adaptation of the story. It's also by far the weakest, trading the loving family ethos for a crass children's adventure which loses all of the nuance and charm of the origin book. Eddie Albert leads the cast as Pod, but he's transformed here into a cantankerous and unpleasant character you really wouldn't want as a father. Homily fares little better, and although the actress playing Arrietty tries hard, she can't do much with the material. The worst character of all is the human boy who is extraordinarily annoying - more Dennis the Menace than anything else. The FX are understandably dated but it's the lack of warmth that really kills this one.

Previously I had only seen the 1997 remake of this. This version is oriented more towards a younger crowd. It does not play up the comedy angle as much. I felt it was nicely done, and appropriate for the up to age 10 crowd.

You may find this on DVD in the $1.00 family bin at Walmart. At least, that's where I found it. One word of warning on the DVD. It's nice that Digiview put it out on DVD. Having said that, the master must have been pretty bad. Don't expect top-notch quality here. It plays more like a well-worn VHS, with audio to suit. There are places where wear on the film shows through, and areas where it was obvious the film had been spliced. Thankfully, the entire movie is better in this regard than the opening credits. But hey, for a buck who's complaining?

This version of the Mary Norton book has some superb casting, with Eddie Albert, Judith Anderson, Beatrice Straight, and Barnard Hughes, but my viewing suffered because the copy seemed pulled from a tape, with its 1970s-hued color design making the whole thing blurry and depressing.

What is this story about small people who live in an old house, and whose presence is a secret, safe to Miss Anderson, and orphaned Dennis Larsen, who discovers them?

Fantasy done right is a means of telling a story about the real world that's too uncomfortable to tell as a realistic tale; it handles its points symbolically, rather than mimetically. a better writer than I has pointed out that this is a reworking of Ann Frank's story, and once that is said, it all falls Into place. However, Walter Miller's direction of Jay Presson Allen's script is too workaday, and the parable gets lost in the oversized props, the obvious process photography, and the big-name actors. For a 1970s TV movie, it's a notable accomplishment. For a telling piece of fantasy, it's all about the sense of wonder, with nothing behind to bolster it.