The Borrowers (1997)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Peter Hewitt

Writers (WGA):

Mary Norton (novels)
Gavin Scott (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 February 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

The screen's smallest heroes in the year's biggest adventure.

Plot:

The Borrowers are four-inch high "little people" who live under the floorboards. When the owner of the...

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Little People | Police | Dairy | Miniature People

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

John Goodman	...	Ocious P. Potter
Mark Williams	...	Exterminator Jeff
Jim Broadbent	...	Pod Clock
Celia Imrie	...	Homily Clock
Flora Newbigin	...	Arrietty 'Ett' Clock
Tom Felton	...	Peagreen Clock
Raymond Pickard	...	Spud Spiller
Bradley Pierce	...	Pete 'Petey' Lender
Aden Gillett	...	Joe Lender
Doon Mackichan	...	Victoria Lender
Hugh Laurie	...	Police Officer Steady
Ruby Wax	...	Town Hall Clerk
Andrew Dunford	...	Dustbunny
Bob Goody	...	Minty Branch
Patrick Monckton	...	Swag (as Patrick Monkton)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild peril and some crude humor.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:All | UK:U (tv rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Mexico:A | Netherlands:AL (original rating) | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #35227) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Ealing Town Hall, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

When Arietty is in Pete's room, the plastic figure she knocks down is 'Little Bear' from The Indian in the Cupboard (1995).

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Similarly, the geographical location is entirely fictional, so that accents, uniforms, vocabulary, currency, vehicles and driving styles are not consistent with any given country.

Quotes:

Peagreen Clock: [Repeated Line] I don't like milk.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

Weird

Inventive And Real-Looking

When this first came out, almost a decade ago, I thought it was the best job I had seen of making miniature people look real. This showed how far technology had come in films and now, of course, we see a lot more amazing special effects.

It was fun to view how these "borrowers" moved about, using ordinary household items to propel themselves around a normal-sized house. It's all pretty ingenious.

John Goodman plays a cartoon-like role, a role that is generally funny to watch. The cast has a mixture of American and English actors, with a setting of 1940s Britain. I first saw this on VHS and then later on DVD, which was improvement not only video-wise, but audio, too, as it somehow went from mono to surround sound. This might be considered a kids movie but a lot of the humor is more adult-oriented.