Thumbelina (1994)
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A tiny girl born from a flower seeks companionship and true love in a world of insects and fairies.
The story
A lonely widow is given a barley seed by a friendly witch, which grows into a flower from which a tiny girl named Thumbelina emerges. Raised by the widow, Thumbelina longs for companionship and eventually meets the fairy prince Cornelius. The two fall in love, but their romance is interrupted when Thumbelina is kidnapped by Mrs. Toad, who desires her to marry her son Grundel. Rescued by a swallow named Jacquimo, Thumbelina must navigate a dangerous world of insects and predators to find her way back to her true love.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Thumbelina is a tiny girl born from a flower and raised by a lonely widow. She meets Prince Cornelius, a fairy prince, and they fall in love. However, Mrs. Toad kidnaps Thumbelina to marry her son Grundel. After being rescued by the swallow Jacquimo, Thumbelina encounters various creatures, including Berkeley Beetle, a sleazy singer, and a greedy mouse named Miss Fieldmouse. Miss Fieldmouse tries to marry Thumbelina off to a wealthy Mr. Mole. During this time, Cornelius is presumed dead after being frozen in a pond. Eventually, Jacquimo finds Cornelius and the insect children thaw him out. At Thumbelina's wedding to Mr. Mole, Grundel crashes the ceremony. Thumbelina escapes, and Cornelius arrives to fight Grundel. They reunite in the Vale of the Fairies, where Thumbelina sings to usher in spring, grows wings, and they marry. Meanwhile, Beetle resumes his career, Grundel falls in love with a female toad, and Mr. Mole marries Miss Fieldmouse.
- Original title
- Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina
- First release year
- 1994
- Runtime (minutes)
- 86
- Production countries
- United States; Ireland
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Don Bluth; Gary Goldman
- Writers
- Don Bluth · screenplay; Carol Lynn Pearson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Jodi Benson · Thumbelina; Gary Imhoff · Prince Cornelius; Gino Conforti · Jacquimo; Barbara Cook · Thumbelina's Mother; Kenneth Mars · King Colbert; June Foray · Queen Tabitha; Joe Lynch · Grundel Toad; Gilbert Gottfried · Berkeley Beetle
- Genres
- musical; romance; fantasy; animation
- Themes
- self-reliance; true love; overcoming adversity
- Tone and mood
- whimsical; romantic; adventurous
- Setting
- A fairytale world including a town called Paris, the Vale of the Fairies, and various insect habitats during a winter-to-spring transition.
- Premise and plot tags
- fairy tale; musical; adventure; fantasy
- Source material / true-story basis
- Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen
- Content notes
- child abduction
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 5.3/10 · scale: 10 · review count: 15; ReelViews · score: 3 · scale: 4; Chicago Tribune · score: 3 · scale: 4
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Original Song · Won
- Production trivia
- Don Bluth wanted the message to tell girls they can solve their problems themselves.; The film was originally slated for a Thanksgiving 1993 release.; During test screenings, the film reportedly received higher scores when Warner Bros. replaced its logo with that of Walt Disney Pictures.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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