ARRIETTY on Australian DVD and Blu-ray in May

Source: Madman Entertainment Official Movie Site: karigurashi.jp (Japan), arrietty.com.au (Australia), disney.go.com/arrietty (US) Studio Ghibli`s animated feature ARRIETTY (????????????, Karigurashi no Arrietty, 2010) is scheduled for a May 23rd home video launch in Australia and New Zealand. Distributor Madman Entertainment will release the film on both Blu-ray and DVD. Based on the beloved children`s book The Borrowers by Mary Norton, ARRIETTY topped the Japanese box office and toured Australia nationwide, including screenings at the Japanese Film Festival.

The film is a story of a family of little people. Beneath the floorboards of a sprawling mansion set in a magical, overgrown garden in the suburbs of Tokyo, tiny 14-year-old Arrietty lives with her equally tiny parents. The house is occupied by two old ladies, who are absolutely unaware of the existence of their miniature tenants. Arrietty and her family live by borrowing. Everything they have, they borrow or make from the things they have borrowed. Essentials like gas, water and food. Tables, chairs, cooking utensils. And treats - a sugar cube here, a scrap of material there. But only a little each time, so the ladies do not notice. A 12-year-old boy, Sho, moves into the mansion while he waits for urgent medical treatment in the city. Arrietty`s parents have always warned her: "Never let humans see you." Once seen, little people always have to move on. But the adventurous Arrietty doesn`t listen, and Sho discovers her. The two begin to confide in each other and, before long, a friendship begins to blossom... Madman`s ARRIETTY Blu-ray and DVD will include both the original Japanese audio track and the English dub by Optimum Releasing. Different from the English track created by Walt Disney Studios for the film`s US release, the Optimum dub features Saoirse Ronan (ATONEMENT, LOVELY BONES, HANNA) as Arrietty, Tom Holland (BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL) as Sho and Mark Strong (SHERLOCK HOLMES, GREEN LANTERN, JOHN CARTER) as Pod. Format: DVD (Region 4, PAL) SRP: $29.95 Catalogue: MMA5200 Format: Blu-ray (Region B) SRP: $39.95 Catalogue: MMA5200BR Release Date: May 23, 2012 Year Of Production: 2010 Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Languages: English, Japanese Subtitles: English Runtime: 94 minutes Special Features: Storyboards feature

About Madman

Madman is Australia`s leading independent theatrical, home entertainment distribution and rights management company, specialising in the wholesale distribution of DVD and Blu-ray product into sales channels throughout Australia and New Zealand. Other rights management activities undertaken by Madman include theatrical distribution, as well as licensing for television, video-on-demand, hotel, airline and merchandise. Madman proudly showcases the best in collectable and special interest genres including Australian film, world cinema, TV, kids content, anime, sports and more.

For more information on ARRIETTY, please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: