50 Fun Facts About The Borrowers

Which 1971 Disney film was adapted from two earlier novels by Borrowers author Mary Norton?

Bedknobs and Broomsticks drew on The Magic Bed Knob and its sequel, which Norton wrote years before she invented the Borrowers.

Which future Harry Potter actor made his film debut as the Clock family's son in 1997's The Borrowers?

Tom Felton landed the part after appearing in commercials, four years before the first Harry Potter film reached cinemas.

Which Japanese company adapted Mary Norton's The Borrowers as the 2010 animated film Arrietty?

Studio Ghibli saw Arrietty become the top-grossing Japanese film of 2010 at Japan's own box office.

Which future Marvel star's first film role was voicing the boy Sho in the British dub of Arrietty?

Tom Holland began his film career with a voice part: the UK version reached cinemas in 2011, and the later American dub used a different cast.

What do the tiny Borrowers of Mary Norton's novels call the full-sized people whose homes they share?

Human beans is a Borrower mispronunciation of human beings, and a Borrower's whole way of life depends on never being seen by one.

What is the profession of Ocious P. Potter, the villain John Goodman plays in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

Lawyer Ocious P. Potter deceives the family living in the house so that he can demolish it and build on the land.

Which future Lord of the Rings actor played Pod Clock in the BBC's 1992 series The Borrowers?

Ian Holm acted opposite his real-life wife in the series: she played Pod's wife, Homily.

In Mary Norton's The Borrowers, what does a Borrower surname such as Clock or Overmantel reveal?

Where the family lives: the Clocks' home lies beneath a grandfather clock, and the Overmantels lived on the drawing-room mantelpiece.

At a dairy in the 1997 film The Borrowers, John Goodman's villain leaves the Clock family to drown in what?

Liquid cheese almost finishes off the Clocks before the boy Pete arrives and saves them just in time.

John Goodman, the villain of 1997's The Borrowers, was famous on television as Dan Conner in which sitcom?

Roseanne ended its original run in 1997, the same year Goodman swapped the good-natured Dan for a scheming villain.

In Mary Norton's The Borrowers, the Boy who befriends Arrietty was raised in which country before coming to England?

India is why the Boy reads English slowly, so the two strike a bargain: he brings Arrietty books and she reads them to him.

What trade does Pod Clock practise under the floor in The Borrowers, using beads and old kid gloves?

Shoemaker Pod turns his finds into tiny button boots, and he is just as quick at inventing and improvising when a borrowing trip goes wrong.

In Mary Norton's The Borrowers, which newly arrived household animal is blamed for a young Borrower's disappearance?

A cat was the danger nobody had mentioned to the girl: her family hid the risks of the house from her, so she wandered out to explore.

Which cousin of Arrietty Clock was presumed eaten after wandering out to explore in Mary Norton's The Borrowers?

Eggletina turns out to be alive in the next novel, where Arrietty finally meets her: a thin, shy girl.

Which elderly relation tells young Kate the story of the Borrowers at the start of Mary Norton's novel?

Mrs May heard the tale from her younger brother, the boy who claimed he had befriended a Borrower while staying at the old house.

Which housekeeper and cook discovers the Clock family beneath the floorboards in Mary Norton's The Borrowers?

Mrs Driver spots candlelight shining up through the floorboards one night and thinks she has found a hoard of stolen goods.

Which gardener in Mary Norton's The Borrowers suspects the Boy of keeping a pet ferret in the fields?

Crampfurl had watched the Boy calling for an uncle out in a field; he was really trying to deliver Arrietty's letter to her relatives.

In The Borrowers, bedridden Great-Aunt Sophy thinks Pod Clock is a hallucination brought on by which drink?

Wine is her constant bedside companion, so Pod can visit her quite openly: she never believes that he is real.

Where are Uncle Hendreary and his family said to have emigrated in Mary Norton's first Borrowers novel?

A badger sett two fields from the house is where the Boy carries Arrietty's letter, and he brings back a puzzling reply.

In Mary Norton's The Borrowers, what does the Boy bring the Clock family as gifts from the old nursery?

Dollhouse furniture begins a golden age of gift after gift for the Clocks, and in return Arrietty is allowed outside to read to the Boy.

Which leading British children's book award did Mary Norton win for the first Borrowers novel?

Carnegie Medal judges named it the outstanding children's book of its year, and in 2007 it was picked as one of the top ten winners in the prize's first 70 years.

Mary Norton grew up in a Georgian house, the reputed model for The Borrowers, in which English town?

Leighton Buzzard still has the house: it is now part of a middle school, where it is known as The Old House.

Where was Mary Norton working for the British Purchasing Commission when she began writing?

New York City was her base during the Second World War, and a picture-book version of her first story came out in America before the book appeared in Britain.

Which illustrator of C. S. Lewis's Narnia books drew the pictures for the British edition of The Borrowers Avenged?

Pauline Baynes took over from Diana Stanley for the final novel, which arrived more than 20 years after the fourth.

Which wild, outdoor-living Borrower befriends the Clocks and brings them meat in Mary Norton's The Borrowers Afield?

Spiller took his name from the only thing he can remember his family calling him: Dreadful Spiller.

In the BBC's 1992 series The Borrowers, which cast-off object becomes the Clocks' home after they flee the manor?

An old boot shelters the family in the open countryside until they are reunited with relations who had fled the same manor before them.

In The Borrowers Afloat, which household object carries the Clock family downstream when rain sets it adrift?

A tea kettle was only meant to be a hideout while a friend scouted ahead, and none of the Clocks can swim.

In Mary Norton's Borrowers novels, what is Little Fordham, a place that became legendary among Borrowers?

A model village offers a whole settlement at Borrower scale, plus plenty of food dropped by the big people who come to visit.

In The Borrowers Aloft, the kidnapped Clock family escape from an attic in which home-made craft?

A balloon came to mind after Arrietty read about ballooning in old newspapers during a winter shut in the attic.

In The Borrowers Avenged, the Clock family settle under a window seat in which kind of old building?

A rectory proves a lucky choice: their Borrower relatives turn out to be living in the church next door.

What is the surname of young Pete and his parents, whose house is at stake in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

Lender is a joke on the film's title: the family's house supplies everything that the tiny Clocks borrow.

Which missing document do the Clock children rescue from Ocious P. Potter in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

A will hidden in the house by a late aunt, who distrusted banks, proves that the home belongs to the people living in it.

What is the name of Arrietty Clock's brother, who falls into a milk bottle in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

Peagreen shares his name with the poetic, artistic Peagreen Overmantel, whom Arrietty meets in Mary Norton's final novel.

Which future Harry Potter actor played the pest controller Exterminator Jeff in 1997's The Borrowers?

Mark Williams had played Horace in 101 Dalmatians a year earlier, another family film he shared with Hugh Laurie.

Which kind of character does Hugh Laurie, later the star of House, play in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

A police officer called Steady, he grows suspicious of the villain's motives long before the truth comes out.

Which actor, later an Oscar winner for Iris, played Pod Clock in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

Jim Broadbent played the father of the family opposite Celia Imrie as Homily, and The Guardian called the pair a joy.

What breed is Mr. Smelly, the flatulent dog owned by Exterminator Jeff in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

Bloodhound Mr. Smelly joins the chase to a dairy, on the trail of a Borrower who was carried off inside an empty milk bottle.

Which James Bond film kept 1997's The Borrowers in second place at the UK box office in its second week?

Tomorrow Never Dies took over the top spot from Alien Resurrection, which had beaten The Borrowers on its opening weekend.

Critic Roger Ebert wrote that the effects in 1997's The Borrowers were like which animated film come to life?

Toy Story was his comparison for the special effects, and he added that the film's timeless storybook look would impress adults too.

What does John Goodman's villain want to build where the family's house stands in the 1997 film The Borrowers?

Condominiums are the reason he hides the truth about who owns the house, a scheme that ends with his own arrest.

Which celebrated Japanese director co-wrote the screenplay of Arrietty, the 2010 animated film of The Borrowers?

Hayao Miyazaki had been thinking about adapting Mary Norton's novel for some 40 years before the film was finally made.

Which Oscar-nominated actress voiced the title character in the British dub of the animated film Arrietty?

Saoirse Ronan led a British cast that included Olivia Colman and Mark Strong as her character's parents.

Which Saturday Night Live alumna voiced Arrietty's mother Homily in Disney's American dub of Arrietty?

Amy Poehler was paired with Will Arnett as Pod, while Carol Burnett voiced the household's suspicious maid.

Which country is harpist Cécile Corbel from, the first non-Japanese composer to score a film for Arrietty's studio?

France is home for Corbel, who won the job after posting her album to the studio, where a producer noticed the handwritten envelope.

What keepsake does Arrietty give the boy Sho when they part at the end of the 2010 film Arrietty?

Her hairclip is really a tiny clothespin, and she hands it over after Sho gives her a parting gift of sugar.

Which former Doctor Who star played Pod Clock in the BBC's 2011 television film The Borrowers?

Christopher Eccleston took the part six years after his single series in the TARDIS, with Sharon Horgan as Homily.

Which familiar face from QI played Professor Mildeye, who hunts the Clock family in the BBC's 2011 film The Borrowers?

Stephen Fry's scientist plans to unveil the tiny people at a conference, but ends up with only a doll's jacket to show the audience.

The BBC's 2011 film The Borrowers moves the story to modern London at which time of year?

Christmas runs right through it: the tiny heroes hide in a church nativity scene and parachute from a model plane that was given as a present.

Which 1960s sitcom star played Pod Clock in the 1973 American TV film of The Borrowers?

Eddie Albert starred in an American television special of the story that went on to win an Emmy.

Chawton House, the manor in the BBC's 1992 series The Borrowers, once belonged to the brother of which novelist?

Jane Austen's brother Edward inherited the Hampshire house from a wealthy relative who had adopted him as his heir.