Thumbelina (1994 film)

This article is about the Don Bluth movie released in 1994. For the 1992 Golden Films version, see Thumbelina (1992 film). For this film's soundtrack, see Thumbelina (soundtrack).

Thumbelina
Promotional poster.
Directed by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman
Produced by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman John Pomeroy
Written by	Story: Hans Christian Andersen Screenplay: Don Bluth
Starring	Jodi Benson Gino Conforti Barbara Cook Gary Imhoff Charo Gilbert Gottfried Carol Channing John Hurt Joe Lynch
Music by	Barry Manilow William Ross
Editing by	Fiona Trayler
Studio	Don Bluth Entertainment A. Film A/S Phoenix Animation Studios Wang Film Productions Creative Capers Entertainment Tony Collingswood Productions Lapiz Azul Studios Matias Marcos Animation
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (theatrical) Warner Home Video (VHS) 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (DVD)
Release date(s)	March 30, 1994 (1994-03-30)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$28,000,000
Box office	$11,373,501

Thumbelina is a 1994 American animated film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman from a screenplay by Bluth based on Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina. The film was produced by Don Bluth Entertainment and was released to movie theaters by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment on March 30, 1994.

Synopsis

The film starts with the narrator, a swallow named Jacquimo, flying through Paris, France and telling the audience about the story of Thumbelina. A lonely woman longs for a child of her very own. One day, a good witch gives her a barley corn to plant, and the next day the flower blooms, revealing a little girl "no bigger than her thumb". The woman names her Thumbelina. Thumbelina spends time with her mother's farm animals, but is worried that there is no one around of her own size. One night, her mother tells her a story about fairies. After being put to bed, Thumbelina imagines that someday she will be able to find someone to love. As she is humming to herself, Prince Cornelius of the Fairies flies by her windowsill and is enchanted by her. The two take a ride on Cornelius' bumblebee, during which they fall in love. During this ride, a toad named Grundel sees Thumbelina and declares to his mother, Mrs. Toad, that he loves her.

Cornelius returns Thumbelina to her windowsill and promises to come back for her the next day. After he leaves, Thumbelina goes to sleep in her walnut bed, and is kidnapped by Mrs. Toad despite Hero the dog's attempt to stop her. When Thumbelina awakes the next morning, she is on a lily-pad far away from home. Mrs. Toad declares and sings that Thumbelina will join their family singing troupe "Singers de Espana", and Thumbelina will also marry Grundel. The group leaves her alone on the lily-pad to fetch the priest, despite her protests. Thumbelina's cries for help are heard by Jacquimo, who helps her free of the lily-pad and, with the help of a couple of fish and the jitterbugs, a waterfall, and encourages her to follow her heart and find her way home to her mother. Jacquimo himself promises to find Cornelius, who lives in the Vale of the Fairies and is a friend of Jacquimo's. Meanwhile, Cornelius has learned of Thumbelina's kidnapping from Hero and goes to find her.

Thumbelina almost reaches home, but she is stopped by Berkeley Beetle, who becomes smitten with her and wants her to join his act at the Beetle Ball. Thumbelina is forced to perform at the Beetle Ball, but at the end is kicked out for being "too ugly". Grundel, who is also searching for Thumbelina, tracks down Beetle and forces him (by taking his wings) to help find Thumbelina. Searching for the Vale of the Fairies, Jacquimo seeks help from a fleeing rabbit and its pursuer, a fox. The fox angrily shoves him out of the way and into a tree, driving a thorn straight through his wing and wounding him severely. When he is trying to ask for directions from a sleeping bear, the bear only responds "I don't want no berries". This makes it even difficult for Jacquimo, who ends up in the honey pot and is accidentally throw out by the bear, who resumes sleeping. The cold winter frost arrives, and he becomes too weak to fly to the point that he is blown into the wind. The falling snow also causes Cornelius to fall from his bumble bee into a pond, where he is frozen in ice. Beetle eventually finds Cornelius and cuts out a block of ice in which he is trapped, and takes him to Grundel.

With both Cornelius and Jacquimo incapacitated, Thumbelina takes shelter from the winter frost in a shoe. She is rescued by Miss Fieldmouse, who tells her that she has heard that Cornelius is dead. Miss Fieldmouse convinces a heartbroken Thumbelina to join her to visit Mr. Mole, where Thumbelina is asked to sing for him. They take a walk in Mr. Mole's extensive tunnels, where Thumbelina discovers the unconscious Jacquimo. Mr. Mole also tells Miss Fieldmouse, in private, that he would like to marry Thumbelina, and she agrees to convince Thumbelina that it would be for the best. Grundel learns that Thumbelina is to marry Mr. Mole and abandons the frozen Cornelius with Beetle, allowing three young jitterbug children that Thumbelina befriended to light a fire to melt the ice that has trapped Cornelius. Thumbelina sneaks out of Miss Fieldmouse's home to visit Jacquimo. He wakes, and Thumbelina removes the thorn from his wing. Though she explains that Cornelius is dead, Jacquimo refuses to believe it, and ventures off to find Cornelius and the Vale of the Fairies. Believing that she cannot return home now, Thumbelina decides to marry Mr. Mole.

However, when Thumbelina is prompted by the Reverend Rat at the wedding ceremony, she responds that she cannot marry Mr. Mole, since she does not truly love him. Grundel and Beetle crash the ceremony, which results in a chase throughout Mr. Mole's caverns. However, Cornelius and the jitterbug children arrive to stop them and Cornelius engages Grundel. Despite his efforts in stalling the crowd long enough to secure Thumbelina's escape, Cornelius is unable to defeat Grundel and the battle eventually culminates in the two falling into a bottomless pit. Thumbelina manages to scare her panicking pursuers by causing a mountain of jewelry to slide toward them, and she escapes to the surface, where she is found by Jacquimo, who claims to have found the Vale of the Fairies. They fly there, but Thumbelina remains skeptical due to the winter having covered the Vale. At Jacquimo's urging, Thumbelina sings, and the ice thaws and Cornelius, who survived the fall and is still with the jitterbug children, appears to be reunited with his love. Cornelius proposes, Thumbelina accepts, the pair kiss and wings sprout from Thumbelina's back. The wedding is celebrated with Thumbelina's mother, Jacquimo, the jitterbug children, and Cornelius' family in attendance, just before Jacquimo closes the story by saying "And, Of Course, They lived happily ever after".

Screenshots during the credits reveal that Beetle resumed his normal, popstar life and got his wings back; Grundel survived the fall with a broken leg and fell in love with a female toad; Mr. Mole married Miss Fieldmouse; and the rabbit and fox Jacquimo tried to ask for help ultimately found friendship.

After all of the credits, Thumbelina runs across the screen and "a DON BLUTH presentation" follows her. A few seconds later, Prince Cornelius on his bumblebee fly across the words and they vanish.

Cast

• Jodi Benson as Thumbelina
• Gary Imhoff as Prince Cornelius
• Gino Conforti as Jacquimo
• Joe Lynch as Grundel
• Barbara Cook as Thumbelina's Mother
• Will Ryan as Hero/Reverend Rat
• Gilbert Gottfried as Berkeley Beetle
• June Foray as Queen Tabitha
• Kenneth Mars as King Colbert
• Charo as Mrs. Toad
• Carol Channing as Ms. Fieldmouse
• John Hurt as Mr. Mole
• Danny Mann as Mozo
• Loren Lester as Gringo
• Michael Nunes as Li'l Bee
• Tawny Sunshine Glover as Gnatty
• Kendall Cunningham as Baby Bug
• Pat Musick as Mrs. Rabbit
• Tony Jay as the Cow

Musical numbers

Main article: Thumbelina (soundtrack)

The film's soundtrack was composed by Barry Manilow in what was originally a three-picture deal with Don Bluth. The second project following Thumbelina is The Pebble and the Penguin.

• "Follow Your Heart" (Intro) - Jacquimo
• "Thumbelina" - Thumbelina, Farm Animals
• "Soon" - Thumbelina
• "Let Me Be Your Wings" - Cornelius, Thumbelina
• "On the Road" - Mrs. Toad, Thumbelina, Singers de Espana (Los Sapos Guapos)
• "Follow Your Heart" - Jacquimo, Jitterbugs, Birds
• "Yer Beautiful, Baby" - Berkeley Beetle, Beetle Chorus
• "Soon (Reprise)" - Thumbelina's Mother
• "Let Me Be Your Wings (Sun Reprise)" - Thumbelina
• "Marry the Mole" - Ms. Fieldmouse
• "Let Me Be Your Wings (Wedding Reprise)" - Cornelius
• "Let Me Be Your Wings" (Reprise) - Thumbelina, Cornelious, Jacquimo
• "Follow Your Heart" (Finale) - Chorus
• "Let Me Be Your Wings" - Barry Manilow & Debra Byrd
• Theatrical Short song: I'm Mad - Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Dr. Scratchnsniff Animaniacs

Reception

The film was a commercial failure, budgeted at $28 million but only making $11,373,501 at the US box office, as it was overshadowed by The Lion King and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. It also won a Razzie in the category of "Worst Original Song" for "Marry the Mole", sung by Carol Channing and is the first & only animated film to win a Razzie award and was the first & only animated film to be nominated for a Razzie award until Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996 was nominated for a Razzie award for the "Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million" which lost to Twister.

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics with Roger Ebert giving the film a middling two stars out of four, concluding his review "It is difficult to imagine anyone over the age of 12 finding much to enjoy in Thumbelina." As of 2009, 25% of critics give it positive reviews at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes (based on eight reviews) with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. On the other hand, the RT community gave it a score of 53% based on over 100 reviews, its score on Internet Movie Database is 5.8 out of 10, and it has a "C+" at Box Office Mojo.

Release

• The film was released with an Animaniacs short called I'm Mad.

External links

• Thumbelina at the Internet Movie Database
• Thumbelina at AllRovi
• Thumbelina at Rotten Tomatoes
• Thumbelina at Box Office Mojo