Movie Type: Fairy Tales & Legends, Children's Fantasy
Themes: Finding a Way Back Home, Fantasy Lands, Kidnapping
Main Cast: Jodi Benson, Carol Channing, Charo, Gino Conforti, Barbara Cook
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
The voices of Carol Channing, John Hurt, Jodi Benson and Gilbert Gottfried help bring this wonderful Hans Christian Andersen story to life. Barry Manilow contributed heavily to the film's music. Children still seem to enjoy this story about a young girl who was the size of a human thumb. She was kidnapped by a toad, just when she hoped to continue her life with Cornelius the Fairy Prince. This is a good "family film" with few, if any, parts that might be considered questionable for children. Kids are likely to enjoy how Gilbert Gottfried does the voice of a strange beetle and how Carol Channing breathes life into Ms. Fieldmouse. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
Review
Disney's revitalization of its animation department in the late 1980s -- and their subsequent huge box office returns -- created a boom period for animated features from other sources as well, although few found significant financial success. Thumbelina, produced in the middle of this period, is another frustrating offering from director/animator Don Bluth. Clearly a talented cartoonist, Bluth has produced few films that realize their promise, and Thumbelina is no exception. The film's biggest problem is its screenplay, which is so freely drawn from the Andersen fairy tale as to have almost nothing in common with it beyond the idea of a tiny girl. The movie also discards the fragile delicacy of the fairy tale in favor of broad humor and hackneyed plotting. In addition, the story Bluth and Willard Carroll have devised centers around one of the most passive characters ever created for a film. Aside from her size, there is nothing distinctive about Thumbelina, and the adult viewer eventually grows tired of her, despite a fine effort from Jodi Benson. Matters are not helped by the ho-hum Barry Manilow score, which contains only one decent number ("Let Me Be Your Wings.") As usual with Bluth, the animation is superior to the story, but while it contains a number of interesting sequences, too much of it is merely serviceable. In addition to Benson, good supporting work is turned in by Carol Channing, Gilbert Gottfried and Charo. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Kendall Cunningham - Baby Bug; June Foray - Queen Tabitha; Tawny Sunshine Glover - Gnatty; Gilbert Gottfried - Mr. Beetle; John Hurt - Mr. Mole; Gary Imhoff - Prince Cornelius; Joe Lynch - Grundel; Kenneth Mars - King Colbert; Pat Musick - Mrs Rabbit; Will Ryan - Hero; Neil Ross - Mr. Fox; Danny Mann - Mozo
Credit
Barry Atkinson - Art Director, Richard Bazley - Animator, Piet de Rycker - Animator, Dave Kupczyk - Animator, Jean Morel - Animator, Len Simon - Animator, John Hill - Animator, Russell Boland - Associate Producer, Don Bluth - Director, Gary Goldman - Director, Thomas V. Moss - Editor, Jack Feldman - Composer (Music Score), Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), Barry Manilow - Composer (Music Score), William Ross - Composer (Music Score), Bruce Sussman - Composer (Music Score), Rowland Wilson - Production Designer, Don Bluth - Producer, Gary Goldman - Producer, John Pomeroy - Producer, John K. Carr - Sound/Sound Designer, Lynda Gordon - Sound/Sound Designer, Judy Taylor - Sound/Sound Designer, John Pomeroy - Supervisor/Manager, Don Bluth - Screenwriter, Willard Carroll - Screenwriter, Hans Christian Andersen - Short Story Author
