''Thumbelina'' (also known as ''Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina'') is a 1994 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

HOW THE SECRET OF NIMH PROVED DON BLUTH COULD BEAT DISNEY - Nerdist
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animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

musical fantasy film directed by

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including '' The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), '' An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...

and

Gary Goldman Gary Wayne Goldman (born November 17, 1944) is an American film producer, director, animator, writer and voice actor. He is known for working on films with Don Bluth such as ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' for his directorial debut, ''Anastasia'', ' ...

, based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film stars the voices of

Jodi Benson Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in Disney's 1989 animated film '' The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its seq ...

Gary Imhoff Gary Lee Imhoff is an American actor. He was a teacher at Milton Katselas' Beverly Hills Playhouse. Imhoff teaches The Professional Artists Workshop and The Musical Artists Workshop at The Whitmore-Lindley Theatre in North Hollywood, California. ...

and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

, with supporting roles from

Gino Conforti Gino Conforti (born January 30, 1932) is an American film, television and theatre actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Frank Angelino's chef Felipe Gomez in the American television sitcom ''Three's Company''. Life and career Conforti w ...

Charo María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-American actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist. Charo began playing guitar at the age of nine and trained under the famed A ...

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous r ...

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

and Joe Lynch. The film was produced by Don Bluth Ireland Ltd., and distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

under its

Family Entertainment ''Family Entertainment'' is the second album by the British progressive rock band Family, released in March 1969. The cover of the album was a takeoff from the sleeve of the Doors' second album, '' Strange Days'', as Family admitted. Backgrou ...

imprint was released in theaters on March 30, 1994. The film was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing only $17 million dollars against its $28 million dollar budget, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

Plot

A lonely widow longing for a child of her own is given a

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

seed by a friendly

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

. The planted seed grows into a flower, and a tiny girl emerges from inside, no bigger than the old woman's thumb. The old woman names the tiny girl Thumbelina and raises her as her own. Although Thumbelina loves her mother, she craves companionship from someone her own size. One night, the fairy prince Cornelius stumbles upon Thumbelina after hearing her singing. The two take a ride on Cornelius'

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera ...

and fall in love. During this ride, Mrs. Toad and her son Grundel are enchanted by Thumbelina's singing. That night, Mrs. Toad kidnaps Thumbelina, desiring her to join their show troupe and marry Grundel. Thumbelina is rescued by Jacquimo, a

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

. Meanwhile, Cornelius learns of her kidnapping and returns to his kingdom, the Vale of the Fairies, to ask his parents to try holding back the winter as long as they can, but they can only hold it for a day. Grundel learns that Thumbelina escaped and ventures out to find her. While trying to get home, Thumbelina is ambushed by Berkeley Beetle, who promises to show her the way home if she sings at his Beetle Ball. She reluctantly complies, but her bug disguise falls off during the concert and she is denounced as "ugly" as well as being publicly humiliated in front of the audience. Beetle rejects her without helping her. She is next found by Jacquimo, who promises to find Cornelius. Beetle is confronted by Grundel and suggests that Grundel kidnap Cornelius and use him as bait to lure Thumbelina. Grundel coerces Beetle into partnership by removing his wings. Upon the arrival of winter, Jacquimo injures his wing and loses consciousness from the extreme cold, while Cornelius falls into a pond by wind and is frozen. Beetle finds Cornelius' frozen body and takes him to Grundel. Thumbelina is forced to take refuge in an old shoe, where she is discovered by Miss Fieldmouse and granted shelter in her underground house. After relaying Cornelius' fate to her, Miss Fieldmouse introduces her to her neighbor Mr. Mole, who becomes infatuated with her and desires to marry her. Devastated by the apparent loss of Cornelius, Thumbelina gives in to hopelessness and accepts Mr. Mole's proposal. Jacquimo revives and, before Thumbelina can get a chance to explain to him what happened to Cornelius, resolves to find him before the wedding. Beetle tells Grundel of Thumbelina's wedding. When they leave Cornelius behind, a trio of friendly

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

children find and thaw Cornelius. At the wedding, Thumbelina finds herself unable to marry Mr. Mole after remembering Cornelius' promise to always love her. Grundel and Beetle arrive, and a chase ensues. Cornelius also arrives and engages Grundel in a fight, which culminates with the two falling into a

chasm In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben wi ...

. Thumbelina escapes on a pile of Mr. Mole's treasure, causing it to fall at Mr. Mole and the wedding guests. Jacquimo finds the Vale of the Fairies and takes Thumbelina there. She and Cornelius reunite, and she magically grows her own pair of wings upon accepting his proposal and kissing him. With her mother and the fairy court in attendance, the two marry and depart on Cornelius' bumblebee. The credits images reveal that Beetle's wings regrew and he resumed his pop career; Grundel survived the fall with a broken leg and married a female

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

to his mom's delight, and Mr. Mole married Miss Fieldmouse.

Voice cast

as Thumbelina, a tiny young girl who is not as big as her adoptive mother's thumb and falls in love with the handsome fairy prince Cornelius. *

as Prince Cornelius, the Prince of the Fairies and Thumbelina's love interest. * Joe Lynch as Grundel Toad, a lustful

in love with Thumbelina *

as Jacquimo, a wise

who speaks with a French accent. He is the partial

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

of the story. *

as Berkeley Beetle, a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

singer who owns his own "beetle band" and a so-called "connoisseur of sweet nectars, a designer of rare threads, and a judge of beautiful women". He is forced by Grundel to help him to find Thumbelina. *

as Ms. Fieldmouse, a rather greedy yet kind field mouse who takes Thumbelina in from the cold and persuades her to marry Mr. Mole. *

as Mr. Mole, a fabulously wealthy but self-involved and cynical

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

who falls in love with Thumbelina after hearing her voice. *

Barbara Cook Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927 – August 8, 2017) was an American actress and singer who first came to prominence in the 1950s as the lead in the original Broadway musicals '' Plain and Fancy'' (1955), ''Candide'' (1956) and ''The Music Man'' ( ...

as Thumbelina's Mother, the kind widow who mothers Thumbelina since her birth from a flower. *

as Mrs. Toad, a gorgeous and famous Spanish singer and mother to her three sons Mozo, Gringo, and Grundel. *

Kenneth Mars Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in '' The Producers'' (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in ''Youn ...

as King Colbert, Cornelius' father. *

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...

as Queen Tabitha, Cornelius' mother. *

Will Ryan William Frank Ryan (May 21, 1949 – November 19, 2021) was an American voice actor, musician and singer. He provided the voice of Petrie in the 1988 animated film ''The Land Before Time''. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner ...

as Hero

Dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, Reverend Rat. Additionally, Ryan voiced multiple background characters, including several beetles, barnyard animals, and other various insects. * Danny Mann as Mozo, Grundel's younger brother. *

Loren Lester Loren Lester (born October 4, 1960) is an American screen, stage and voice actor best known as the voice of DC Comics superheroes Nightwing and Robin in various media, starting with the DC Animated Universe. He is also a graduate of the Occidental ...

as Gringo, Grundel's younger brother. *

Pat Musick Patricia Anne Musick is an American voice actress, who has provided numerous voices in many television shows, films and video games. She and her husband, Jeff Whitman, a personal manager and set construction coordinator, are the parents of actre ...

as Mrs. Rabbit *

Neil Ross Neil David Ross is a British-American voice actor and announcer. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably ''Voltron'', '' G.I. Joe'', and ''Transformers'', as well as video games, incl ...

as Mr. Bear, Mr. Fox * Tawny Sunshine Glover as Gnatty, one of the

jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing danc ...

s. * Michael Nunes as Li'l Bee, one of the jitterbugs. * Kendall Cunningham as Baby Bug, one of the jitterbugs. *

Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive bari ...

(uncredited) as a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

on the farm of Thumbelina's mother.

Music

Barry Manilow agreed to compose the songs for three Don Bluth pictures. ''Thumbelina'' was the first, followed by ''

The Pebble and the Penguin ''The Pebble and the Penguin'' is a 1995 Irish-American independent animated film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voices of Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Tim Curry, and Annie Golden. Based on the true life mating rituals o ...

'', and the third, a retelling of the story of

Rapunzel "Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of '' Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of '' Persinet ...

, in which Manilow would also have a voice role, was canceled. The film's soundtrack was released for a limited time and has since gone out of print. "Marry the Mole" won a Razzie for Worst Original Song.

Production and release

''Thumbelina'' was in production from February 1991 to May 1993 at Don Bluth Ireland Ltd. (formerly known as

Sullivan Bluth Studios Don Bluth Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) was an Irish-American animation studio established in 1979 by animator Don Bluth. Bluth and several colleagues, all of whom were former Disney animators, left Disney on September 13, 1979, ...

at that time) in Dublin, Ireland, even though principal recording and animation would not begin until early 1992. The film was completed with funds from filmmaker John Boorman and Hong Kong-based Media Assets after Don Bluth Entertainment filed for bankruptcy. It was originally scheduled to be distributed by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

in North America and J&M Entertainment overseas and was also originally slated for a Thanksgiving 1993 release in the United States. However, by the time it was completed, both companies dropped the arrangement due to concerns about the bankruptcy of Bluth's studio. During Sullivan Bluth's bankruptcy proceedings, the court trustee presented the film to

Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film distribution unit,

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

. The trustee ultimately declined Disney's offer to distribute the film as they were also trying to find a new owner for the studio.

bought the distribution rights on March 15, 1993, and ''Thumbelina'' was released on March 30, 1994. When released, it was preceded by the ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, until ...

'' short, '' I'm Mad''.

Reception

Box office

The film was a

commercial failure Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One ...

, grossing $11.4 million at the US and Canadian box office. In 24 markets internationally it grossed $5.2 million for a worldwide total of at least $16.6 million against a budget of $28 million.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film a 38% approval rating based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 5.2 out of 10.

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

of ''ReelViews'' gave the film 3 out of 4 and wrote: "''Thumbelina'' is close to, but not quite at, the level of ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...

'', the weakest of Disney's recent entries". Roger Ebert gave the film 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''". It won a

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

in the category of " Worst Original Song" given to "Marry the Mole", sung by

. It was also the only animated film to win a stand-alone Razzie until 2017's ''

The Emoji Movie ''The Emoji Movie'' is a 2017 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Directed by Tony Leondis, who wrote the script with Eri ...

'', which won the awards for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Screenplay at the 38th Golden Raspberry Awards. The film reportedly received higher scores during test screenings, where Warner Bros. replaced their logo with that of

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

Home media releases

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

released ''Thumbelina'' on VHS and LaserDisc on July 26, 1994, in the United States and Canada and internationally throughout the 1990s. The film was re-released on VHS in the United Kingdom on March 20, 1995. Warner Home Video released the film on DVD on September 21, 1999. ''Thumbelina'' was re-released on VHS and DVD by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

on February 19, 2002 and on Blu-ray on March 6, 2012. The film was available to view on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

when it launched on November 12, 2019, following

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's acquisition of 21st Century Fox earlier that year. However, it was removed on July 1, 2020. It remains available to view in other countries. The film returned to the service on October 22, 2021. The movie was also available to view on Disney+ via the international brand Star when Star was launched on October 27, 2021 in Japan.

References

Notes

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thumbelina (1994 Film) 1994 films 1994 animated films 1990s American animated films 1990s children's animated films 1990s fantasy adventure films 1990s musical films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films American fantasy adventure films American musical fantasy films Animated teen films 1990s children's fantasy films Films about witchcraft Films about child abduction Films about fairies and sprites Films based on Thumbelina Films directed by Don Bluth Films directed by Gary Goldman Films produced by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman Films produced by John Pomeroy Films scored by William Ross Films set in the 15th century Animated films set in France Films with screenplays by Don Bluth Golden Raspberry Award winning films Rotoscoped films Sullivan Bluth Studios films Warner Bros. films Warner Bros. animated films 1990s English-language films American independent films