All her life, Anna has felt ordinary and lonely. Robinson provides a constant window inside Anna’s head, probing Anna’s anxious thoughts repeatedly throughout the novel. Anna pines for connections with other people. But her social anxiety, trauma over death and displacement, and depression prevent her from establishing relationships with anyone. The novel presents Anna’s internalised turmoil to a point where Anna tips from feeling relatable to nearly exhausting. However, loneliness, in its myriad forms and emotions that arise as a result, is exhausting. Escaping these feelings often remains untenable, and Robinson earnestly conveys how a little girl might grapple with these feelings. Sara Takatsuki, the actor that voiced Anna Sasaki, explains how she got the role, "In the auditions I've done so far, my confidence has often fluctuated, but this time I strongly wanted to accept it because it was a Ghibli work. I even declared to the manager, "I will definitely accept it" (laughs). Even though my feelings increased that much, when I finished the audition, I lost confidence ... Moreover, I had time to make a decision, so I gave up once saying that I had fallen. So the moment I heard that it was accepted, I felt like a dream."

The film was released in theatres on 19 July 2014, [3] and on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on 18 March 2015. [4] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature]at the 88th Academy Awards. When Marnie Was There". Children's Book News. Children's Booknews Ltd. January 1968. p.28. ISSN 0577-7798. I liked the character of Anna quite a lot and I think a lot of readers will be able to identify with her loneliness and feelings of being on the outside looking in. And I absolutely loved the character of Marnie. She's lively, impulsive, mysterious - really one of the most engaging characters I've read about in a children's book. The parts of the book with her are the best, and once she is gone, the end parts of the book seem fairly conventional. That being said, as I read through the book I came to care about Anna, so I didn't really mind her happy, if conventional, ending.This drawing Anna and Marnie assembly described the film" concluded Nishimura. “I spoke with Suzuki about it. This film shows the evolution of Anna's feelings. She is quite withdrawn psychologically but Marnie supports her. This drawing symbolizes the film well."

A day or so later, Suzuki holds a final meeting to decide on the film's final poster visual, “I've been working for Studio Ghibli for a long time and I have my own opinion when it comes to advertising,” he explains. “I never take any risks, I never go on an adventure and I always choose a safe bet. I take a risk when I have no other choice. For Marnie, it was kind of the case, because the basics of this film were a bit particular, in a good way and a bad way. In any case, different from Miyazaki and Takahata films. It's a "young" film, always in a good and bad way. It was necessary to highlight the “fresh” side of the young succession of the studio after the announcement of Miyazaki's retirement. We have lost this reassuring aspect of Studio Ghibli but we have gained in freshness. And that's the important point of this film."

anna is a kid in desperate need of friendship and support. my emotions teetered during this part of the book, because anna deserves a real, true, flesh-and-blood friend!! marnie is mysterious, and i was terrified she would turn out to be an imaginary friend / ghost girl / manic pixie dream BFF. Toichi/Wuntermenny — is a very quiet fisherman. Anna takes to him because of his silence. In the film, the creators originally played with Toichi having lines that showed Anna kindness, but dropped the idea as they realized Anna would most like exhibit signs of anxiety (Joseph and Otake). Anna is unhappy. Finding life hard at school and feeling unloved by her foster parents, Anna goes to stay with Mr and Mrs Pegg who live in a Norfolk village by the sea. Anna enjoys her freedom roaming the sand dunes and salt marsh and thinks she longs for solitude until she makes friends with another lonely young girl who lives in a house Anna feels inexplicably drawn to. When summer finally (officially) arrives, a lovely, friendly family with five children moves into the mysterious Marsh House. Their renovations of the old place bring to light a diary from long ago that will explain much about Marnie. The Lindsay family will also invite an elderly friend to stay. This woman, “Gillie”, lived in Little Overton as a child, and has fascinating stories to tell about the Marsh House and the lonely girl who lived there over fifty years before, during the time of the Great War. Anna will find her intuited connection to the house is based in her own family’s history. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's same-named novel. It transposes the setting from Norfolk, England in the original novel to Hokkaido, Japan. The film follows Anna Sasaki living with her relatives in the seaside town. Anna comes across a nearby abandoned mansion, where she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl who asks her to promise to keep her secrets from everyone.

Anna — is a 12-year-old girl who is in foster care and lives with her foster parents. In the film, she lives in Sapporo, Japan with Yoriko Sasaki, while in the book she lives in London with Mr. and Mrs. Preston. In both the film and the book she has asthma and her guardian whom she calls Auntie has sent her to the country to get better. In the film, Anna lost both her mother and her father in a car accident when she was little. But in the book, it was her stepfather in the accident and her real father is still alive and does not want her. Both Anna in the film and book were looked after by her grandmother for a short while until she passed too. In the film, Anna is able to relax through drawing. It allows her to relieve her anxiety. Robinson, Joan G.; Seward, Prudence (illus.) (1969). Charley (aka The Girl Who Ran Away) . London: Collins. OCLC 115343. When Marnie Was There tenderly expresses the germane interactions and self-discoveries Anna makes whilst seeking refuge from her isolated loneliness. Life is ephemeral; relationships allow you to weather storms as you run together, hand in hand, toward life’s swelling waves.

Detailed plot summary

This story has a magical, wistful quality and this is one of those books I know I would have absolutely loved as a child, the story potrays Anna's lonely and insecure character touchingly well and the descriptions of carefree days exploring the beach are beautiful and evocative. There is an afterword by the author's daughter in our copy that gave some interesting information about her mother's inspiration for 'When Marnie Was There' Noboku/Sandra — she is not that important to the story. They did soften her for the film. In both versions, she is a bigger girl. In the book, she is described as a lot more bossy. In the film, she is a lot more friendly and welcoming towards Anna. Anna in both versions calls her a “Fat Pig”. Mrs. Preston/Yoriko Sasaki/Auntie- Anna had been living with Auntie for seven years, ever since her grandmother passed away. She loves Anna like a daughter and worries about her. In the film, Yoriko mentions to the doctor that Anna has an ordinary face. An ordinary face means that her face is expressionless. Anna in the book does this intentionally to ward off people.