Arrietty first borrows a sugar cube in Studio Ghibli’s The Secret World of Arrietty.
The sugar cube is taken during Arrietty’s first borrowing expedition with her father, Pod. Borrowers secretly collect small human possessions for everyday use, and the apparently simple trip becomes dangerous when Arrietty is seen by the human boy Shō.
The scene establishes both the Borrowers’ miniature scale and the rules governing their hidden life. The family does not steal large valuables; it takes tiny objects that can be useful in their home. The film adapts Mary Norton’s novel The Borrowers, though its characters, visual design, and some story details were developed for the Japanese animated version.