my review
After watching the Nostalgia Chick's review of Thumbelina, for some strange reason, I felt compelled to check it out for myself. (I love watching her reviews, but the Chick tends to focus on the negative.) I found it on Youtube, I'm no going to waste actual money on this one, although I didn't think it was as bad as the Chick described.
The story is based on a Hans Christian Andersen story and was made by Don Bluth, best known for his movies like American Tail, Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go to Heaven (that one still bothers me). This story starts off with an old woman who wants a daughter. She gets a seed from an old witch, which goes into a flower and produces a three-inch-tall, fully-clothed, self-aware, 16-year-old girl that the old woman names Thumbelina. For the most part, Thumbelina's a happy girl, but due to her small size, she fears she'll never find a boyfriend. But then she meets Cornelius (insert Planet of the Apes joke here), the fairy prince, who becomes her "one true love." Shortly after, she's abducted in the night, despite the best efforts of her trusty dog, Hero. She then goes on a long adventure, where she's hit on by frogs, beetles, and moles, while Cornelius desperately searches for her. He finds her in the spring and the two are married (Thumbelina gets wings and becomes a fairy herself, which begs the question, what was she before?).
So what did I think? I'm not a little girl, so I can't judge this from that perspective, but I thought it was cute. As the Nostalgia Chick points out, it copies a lot of Disney elements. This could be consider a rip-off, but having heard how bland the original story is (bedtime story), this was definitely an improvement. As weird as they were, the characters were all entertaining, and Thumbelina herself is a sweet kid, although her pessimist attitude was a bring-down. Also, how does she live? She we see her on the farm with her mother, who almost bakes her into a pie, but how does she help out around the house? Does she have any hobbies or skills that make up for her smallness? Even the Little Mermaid loved collecting thingamabobs from shipwrecks. What does Thumbelina do, sing and dance all day? Also, a part of me wants to see how Mom reacts when Thumbelina makes it home and meets her daughter's boyfriend.
Plot holes, yes, "Marry the Mole", not the greatest song in the world, not by a long shot, but still a mildly entertaining movie, but like I said before, mainly aimed towards little girls. Still not Don Bluth's worst movie. That would probably still be Rock-A-Doodle.
Brother Maynard, bring forth the holy hand grenade!