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The Borrowers (1973 film) facts for kids

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The Borrowers
Borrowers1973.jpg
The Borrowers (1973) DVD Cover
Directed by Walter C. Miller
Written by Jay Presson Allen
Mary Norton (novel)
Starring Eddie Albert
Tammy Grimes
Judith Anderson
Music by Rod McKuen
Studio NBC
Release date(s) December 14, 1973 (1973-12-14)
Running time 81 min.
Country United States
Language English

The Borrowers is a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special first broadcast in 1973 on NBC. This made for television special is adapted from the 1952 Carnegie Medal-winning first novel of author Mary Norton's The Borrowers series: The Borrowers. The film stars Eddie Albert, Tammy Grimes and Judith Anderson and was directed by Walter C. Miller.

In 1974, the special was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming and was nominated for Outstanding Children's Special (producers Duane Bogie, Walt deFaria and Warren Lockhart), Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (performer Judith Anderson), Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (performer Juul Haalmeyer) and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (director Walter C. Miller).

The special tells the story of the Clock Family, tiny people who live under the floorboards in an old English house.

This movie is in the public domain.

Plot

The Clock Family are "borrowers," tiny people who live in the houses of regular sized "human beans" (a borrower mispronunciation of "human beings"). They survive by borrowing all they need from big people and try to keep their existence secret. The main characters are a teenage borrower girl named Arriety Clock and her parents, Pod and Homily. During a borrowing expedition with her father and contrary to borrower nature, Arriety befriends a human boy who lives in the home and develops a friendship with him.

The tiny family, who live under the kitchen floorboards of an old manor, are eventually discovered by the other humans who occupy the home and are forced to flee into the English countryside.

Cast

Awards

Emmy Awards

  • 1974 Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (Won)
  • 1974 Outstanding Children's Special (producers Duane Bogie, Walt deFaria and Warren Lockhart) (Nominated)
  • 1974 Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (performer Judith Anderson) (Nominated)
  • 1974 Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (costume designer Juul Haalmeyer) (Nominated)
  • 1974 Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (director Walter C. Miller) (Nominated)

Filming locations

  • Toad Hall, Whitby, Ontario
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