Animation Celebration Saturday - Thumbelina

Warner Bros, 1994
Voices of Jodi Benson, Gary Imhoff, Gino Conforti, and Joe Lynch
Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Music by Barry Manilow; Lyrics by Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman

Don Bluth was riding high in the late 80's after the success of An American Tail and The Land Before Time, but his All Dogs Go to Heaven couldn't compete with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and failed at the box office. The Chanticleer story Rock-a-Doodle did even worse four years later. For the rest of the decade, he threw his energies into making animated fantasy musicals on a par with what Disney was doing at the time. We've already seen one, Anastasia. Does this adaptation of another Hans Christian Anderson story reach the same heights, or does it remain earthbound? Let's head to Paris and find out...

The Story: We open in Paris, as Jacquimo the Swallow (Conforti) tells us the story. Thumbelina (Benson) appears from the center of a flower raised by a lonely old woman (Barbara Cook). The tiny girl loves her mother, but is tired of being made fun of by the barn animals and wishes she could meet other people her size. She gets her wish when the fairy prince Cornelius (Imhoff) overhears her singing and falls head-over-heels for her at first sight. She feels the same way, but the next night, she's kidnapped by the toad Grundel (Lynch) who is a member of a Spanish performing troupe with his mother (Charo) and brothers. Thumbelina has no desire to join their troupe or marry Grundel, Jacquimo finally helps her get away and encourages her to return home.

Meanwhile, Cornelius is also determined to find her, with the help of a few bug friends of Jacquimo's. He tells his parents at the Vale of the Fairies to try to hold off the winter as long as they can. Thumbelina spends most of the rest of the fall and winter bouncing from animal to animal. A beetle (Gilbert Gottfried) brings her to his ball, only for the rest of his kind to denounce her as ugly and turn her away. She ends up with Miss Fieldmouse (Carol Channing), who tells her that Cornelius fell into the ice and was frozen. She'd rather Thumbelina wed the rather cynical Mr. Mole (John Hurt). Thumbelina almost does...before spring finally comes back, and she remember who she really loves.

The Animation: Don Bluth tried very hard to go full-on fairy tale with this one...and for all the movie's other problems, the animation isn't bad. While I wish the colors had been a little less muted, especially early in the film, the character movements and expressions are pretty well-done, and the backgrounds are lush and detailed. The first "Let Me Be Your Wings" duet where Cornelius and Thumbelina first meet has some especially nice effects.

The Song and Dance: This has one of the most interesting and unique casts in the Bluth filmography. Channing and Cook were mainly stage performers and rarely turned up on film, making this a unusual record of their talents. Hurt isn't too bad as the Mole, and Gottfried is actually a bit subdued for him as the obnoxious beetle who fancies himself a sophisticate. And at the very least, the movie does stick a bit closer to the original Hans Christian Anderson story than The Little Mermaid and Frozen did.

Favorite Number: "Let Me Be Your Wings" is the best of a bland lot, particularly in that soaring duet in the beginning. "Soon," first performed by Thumbelina, then later by her mother after she thinks she's lost her daughter, isn't too horrible.

What I Don't Like: No wonder this was a huge flop in 1994. The other songs are either bland or obnoxious, and almost all of the characters are either dull, cutesy, or annoying. The dialogue is ridiculously cliched and over-the-top, even for an animated fairy tale. Thumbelina and Cornelius falling in love at first sight comes off as more silly than romantic, especially after Frozen and other recent movies have deconstructed that trope. And why on earth do we start off in Paris, instead of right at the old woman's house, or at least somewhere closer to the actual setting of the story?

This is one time I almost wish they hadn't stuck to the original story. Poor Thumbelina gets bounced from toad to beetle to mole with barely a struggle. You have to agree with her when she asks after the toad sequence if anyone wants to ask her how she felt about all this. You also can't help but wonder what she sees in Cornelius, other than he shares her size. We don't really see much of him, and what little we do see of him and the other fairies, including his parents, doesn't really give much of an impression.

The Big Finale: I know there's quite a few young women who grew up watching this on video in the 90's and early 2000's and consider it to be a guilty pleasure. More power to them. I'm afraid it's not one of mine. For very young princesses who'll be able to overlook the boring characters and plot or major fans of the cast or Bluth's other work only.

Home Media: Easily found on most formats, often for under 5 dollars. It's occasionally packaged with Anastasia.

DVD
DVD - 2 Movies set with Anastasia 
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime