Thumbelina (1993 film)

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Thumbelina
Directed by Masakazu Higuchi
Chinami Namba
Produced by Diane Eskenazi
Written by Hans Christian Andersen (author)
Jack Olesker
Music by Richard Hurwitz
John Arrias
Distributed by GoodTimes Entertainment
Release date(s) 1993 (USA)
Running time 49 minutes
Country Flag of Japan Japan
Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Preceded by Sinbad (1993)
Followed by Beauty and the Beast (1993)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Originally released directly to video in 1993, Thumbelina is a 49-minute animated film based on the classic story, Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen. Like all other Golden Films productions, the film featured a single theme song, "Little Teeny Thumbelina", written and composed by Richard Hurwitz and John Arrias, as well as the classic campfire song, "Edelweiss".

A girl, no bigger than a thumb is sent on a mission to the Meadow of the Tulips where she must inform the prince about the breaking of the dam, a threat that could endanger the life of all the Little People in the meadow. On her journey, Thumbelina is brought by an old medicine woman to the home of a lonely child-less woman, who seeing the size of the little girl, names her "Thumbelina."

Thumbelina was produced by Golden Films and the American Film Investment Corporation, it was distributed to DVD in 2002 by GoodTimes Entertainment, as part of their "Collectible Classics" line.

Contents

[edit] Story

For over fifty years, the tiny keeper of the dam had watched over it and recently had begun to worry about its state. He shows his daughter the different cracks that have formed over the dam's surface, and though the girl shows no concern, her father is deeply worried. Since he is an old man with lots of experience, he trusts his bones when they signal a lot of snow for the upcoming winter. The old keeper of the dam explains to his daughter that if there should be a lot of snow, the coming of spring would melt it and the water would flow down from the mountains and fill up the pond higher than ever before, thus, the pond would overflow, the cracking dam would break and the water would flow over the meadows and drown all of the little people who lived in the flowers. The old man knows that the prince of the little people needs to be warned about the upcoming disaster, so that he may send many of his men to fix the dam and save themselves and their people. However, the keeper knows that he is too old to take on such a hard and long journey, for this, he asks his daughter to go in his place. The young girl, surprised that such a big responsibility could be laid upon her shoulders, gladly accepts and takes off right away, bidding farewell to her loving father.

After a long day of walking, the young girl decides to make herself a small bed in the inside of a tulip. As the girl sleeps, an old medicine woman, with the appearance of an old witch, discoverers the little girl inside the tulip and takes the flower away into town. The old woman takes the tulip to the house of a lonely, child-less woman who desires a little daughter. The medicine woman tells her that she must plant the tulip she's selling her in a flower pot and that she will soon have her child. Though a bit mistrusting, the child-less woman pays for the tulip and plants it in a small pot, hoping that she will not have to wait until spring. To her surprise, the tulip opens up before her eyes, revealing a beautiful and tiny little girl. The woman, enchanted by her new daughter, makes her a bed out of the shell of a walnut, using a rose petal for a bedsheet. When the girl wakes up, she is surprised at finding herself in the home of a stranger and when she meets her new mother, she tells her that she must go and find the prince of the little people, but the woman doesn't listen. The woman, seeing that the girl is smaller than one of her thumbs, names her "Thumbelina". At the end of her first day in her new home, Thumbelina goes to bed feeling lost and somewhat hopeless. Shortly after falling sleep, a frog walks inside the house and takes Thumbelina, walnut shell and all, away with her, with the intention of marrying her to her son. The frog places the sleeping Thumbelina on top of a lily pad, so that when she wakes she will not be able to run. The girl wakes up to the buzzing of a bee who tries to sting her, but Thumbelina protects herself by placing the shell over herself, causing the bee to injure its stinger and fly away defeated. Surprised by her new surroundings, Thumbelina is greeted by the frog and her son, but when she asks for guidance to the meadow of the tulips, the frog tells her that she shall soon be marrying her son. Thumbelina stops to think about her new situation for a moment, but is surprised when the lily pad begins to rapidly make its way downstream; she ignores that two fish had cut the roots of the pad, setting it free. Once downstream, the lily pad once again slows down and the girl begins another nap that is quickly interrupted by the sound of lovely music, the singing of a swallow. Thumbelina quickly makes friends with the animal and is delighted by its singing. The bird hears her story about her long journey to the meadow of the tulips, but sadly tells her that he cannot help her, for he himself has lost his flock and needs to find it before the winter. The two friends bid themselves farewell, hoping to see each other again someday. Thumbelina is then greeted by a new friend, a butterfly who offers to take her to the meadow, since she knows the way. Sadly, as soon as Thumbelina is safely tied to the foot of the butterfly, a beetle flies up behind her and grabs her away. Ridiculed by his friends about his new ugly "pet", the beetle leaves the lost Thumbelina on her own once again.

Thumbelina manages to make herself a home for the winter with the help of the large Big Bear. He brings food for Thumbelina, such as honey from up high in the beehives and protecting her from dangerous animals such as a racoon and a big pack of wolves. In one occasion, Big Bear is attacked by three wolves and Thumbelina runs to his aid with no more a weapon than a small twig. Luckily for the both of them, Big Bear's brothers appear, Billy Bear and Berton Bear and the three ferocious wolves run away frightened. Thumbelina, disappointed after believing that the wolves had run away at the sight of her and her weapon, says goodbye to the three bears as they make their way to their cave to sleep during the long winter. Thumbelina manages to remain mainly safe under the large quantities of snow of the winter, but her home is brought down due to the large weight resting upon it. As she finds herself starving, Thumbelina takes off and starts searching for food. She eventually finds the home of the old mouse Mona and she takes Thumbelina into her home where she allows her to stay throughout the winter. Grateful to Mona for having saved her life, Thumbelina doesn't complain about becoming a house-maid and does daily work to keep Mona's house clean. Thumbelina explains to Mona that she is on a mission to find the meadow of the tulips and warn the prince, Mona replies telling her that a visitor will be arriving soon who will be able to hell her. Thumbelina doesn't know that Mona is in reality a greedy being and has wicked plans. Thumbelina greets their new guest, the ugly Mr. Mole, who falls in love with Thumbelina, her cooking and her singing, and desires to marry her. Mona tells Thumbelina that Mr. Mole will be able to take her to the meadow of the tulips if she agrees to marry him and downhearted, Thumbelina sees no other option but to accept. Mr. Mole shows Thumbelina what will become her new home, a dark tunnel under the soil. There, Thumbelina is shocked to find the dead body of an old friend, the swallow who had sang to her long before. Hurt by the evil remarks of both Mr. Mole and Mona, Thumbelina visits the swallow after all have gone to sleep and brings him a blanket so that he'll be warm even in death. To her surprise, the swallow opens his eyes and is glad to see the girl once again. Thumbelina nurses the swallow back to health until the arrival of spring, when the day of her wedding comes. The swallow offers to fly Thumbelina away, but she refuses feeling that she cannot betray Mona, who had been so kind to her when she had nearly frozen to death. On the day of her wedding, Thumbelina is heartbroken when she realizes that she has failed at the important task given to her by her father and fears for the lives of all of the little people. The swallow, who had left once he had recovered, returns to Thumbelina with the news that he has found the meadow of the tulips and tells her that if he asks Mr. Mole, he might allow her to postpone the wedding and still save the little people. Before asking, Thumbelina discovers the wicked plan thought up by Mona; she had sold Thumbelina to Mr. Mole in exchange of eatable goods and that he has no intention of taking her to the meadow. Feeling cheated, Thumbelina climbs on the back of the swallow and flies off to get the prince. Thumbelina, the prince and his men, riding upon the swallow and his newly found flock, arrive at the dam where Thumbelina's father waits desperately, having lost almost all hope. Delighted to see his daughter again, the keeper of the dam embraces her and watches as the soldiers work to repair the dam and fix all the cracks. The dam fixed, the meadow of the tulips and all of the little people safe, the prince knows that he and his people owe Thumbelina their lives and proposes marriage to her. Thumbelina, dressed in her gown for her wedding with Mr. Mole, gladly accepts and becomes the princess of the land to the many cheerings of the little people.

[edit] Characters

Thumbelina: She is the main character and the heroine of the story. She, like the rest of her people is no bigger than a human's thumb. Thumbelina lives up in the valley with her father, and it's him who sends her on a journey to find the prince of the little people and warn him about the breaking of the dam.

Mona: She is an old mouse who lives in her cozy mouse-house at the foot of a tree. She takes Thumbelina into her home after she finds her half frozen in the snow outside. Mona takes advantage of Thumbelina's gratitude and tries to force her into marrying the old Mr. Mole.

Father: Simply referred to as "father", he is Thumbelina's father and his job is to watch over the dam and make sure everything is in order. One day, he gets the feeling that there will be a lot of snow in the upcoming winter and when spring comes, the melting snow will flow over the Meadow of the Tulips.

Swallow: Thumbelina and this kind swallow are friends since they first meet and although they say goodbye shortly after their first meeting, destiny brings the two friends together again. After Thumbelina saves him from death, the swallow will help her complete her important task.

Mr. Mole: He is the ugly old mole who falls in love with Thumbelina from the moment he hears her beautiful singing. He is then willing to offer Mona a fair stock of goods in order for her getting Thumbelina to agree to marry him. Thumbelina hates the idea.

[edit] Music

  • Theme: "Little Teeny Thumbelina", written and composed by Richard Hurwitz and John Arrias.

[edit] Classical pieces

(incomplete)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Sinbad		 Golden Films
1993		 Succeeded by
Beauty and the Beast