Short answers, pulled from the story.
Arrietty was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, marking his feature film directorial debut. Before directing, Yonebayashi had worked as an animator on Studio Ghibli films including Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo, and had served as reserve director on Tales from Earthsea.
Arrietty is based on The Borrowers, a 1952 children's novel by British author Mary Norton. The novel won the Carnegie Medal for children's literature in 1953, and Studio Ghibli founders Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki had been contemplating an adaptation for the previous forty years before the film was made.
The score was composed by French musician Cecile Corbel, the first non-Japanese composer to work with Studio Ghibli. She sent a handwritten-envelope promo copy of her album SongBook vol. 2 to the studio, which caught producer Toshio Suzuki's attention; within ten days she was contacted, and by 2009 she had been commissioned to compose the entire score.
Arrietty grossed a worldwide total of $145,570,827, with $19,202,743 earned in North America and $126,368,084 in other territories. It was the highest-grossing Japanese film at the domestic box office for 2010, earning approximately 9.25 billion yen in Japan.
Saoirse Ronan voiced Arrietty in the United Kingdom release, alongside Tom Holland, Olivia Colman, and Mark Strong. Bridgit Mendler voiced the character in the North American release, which also featured Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, and Carol Burnett.
Arrietty won the Animation of the Year award at the 34th Japan Academy Prize ceremony. Its soundtrack album by Cecile Corbel won Best Original Soundtrack Album at the 2011 Japan Gold Disc Awards and became a RIAJ-certified gold record in Japan with more than 200,000 copies sold.