The Little Matchgirl (film)

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The Little Matchgirl is a 2006 Academy Award nominated animated short film directed by Roger Allers and produced by Don Hahn, who previously were involved in classic Disney animated films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. It is based on an original story by Hans Christian Andersen entitled The Little Girl with the Matches or The Little Match Girl and was published in 1848. The story's popularity far exceeded Andersen's original intention which was to call immediate attention to the plight of Europe's suffering children. For the Disney Studio the film is not about politics; it is a visual style piece set to music and told entirely through mime.

The differences between the Disney version and the original Andersen text are slight but do include a change of geographical location from Holland to Russia. The storytelling also places a reduced emphasis in the beginning of the film to the Little Match Girl's cruel and overbearing father and the death of her Grandmother. These changes aside, Allers' version of The Little Match Girl does capture Andersen's original sentiment. This film was originally a segment in the shelved Fantasia 2006 and can be found on the DVD Platinum Edition of The Little Mermaid. This short also represents Disney's final use of CAPS.

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Sheddling Light on the Little Matchgirl traces the path director Roger Allers and the Disney Studio took in adapting the Hans Christian Andersen story to animation.