Thumbelina

     You may wonder why I am writing about Thumbelina, especially when there’s Anastasia, a much more popular movie by Don Bluth from 20^th Century Fox. My reason is pretty simple. Thumbelina was one of my favorite movies as a child. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Anastasia. I absolutely loved it, but I didn’t watch it as much as Thumbelina.  Anastasia, due to my having seen it as a preteen, doesn’t evoke childhood memories in the same way Thumbelina does. Anyway, I’ll get back to the Currently Watching.

     The movie Thumbelina was based on a Danish tale, Tommelise, which is about the adventures of a tiny girl. The main issues that the girl faces relate to appearance and marriage. She successfully rejects offers from toads, insects, and moles before marrying a fairy prince who is just her size.  After escaping from the mouse’s shelter, due to pressure to marry the mole, Thumbelina meets a sparrow that she nurses back to health. In Hans Christen Andersen’s tale, the sparrow is a bluebird who keeps watch over Thumbelina from beginning and eventually falls in love with her. When Thumbelina marries the fairy prince, the bluebird is devastated and moves to a small house. He, the bluebird, tells his tale to someone who is implied to be Andersen. In the movie, the bird, named Jacquimo, still watches Thumbelina. The difference is that now the bird is not in love with Thumbelina, but helps her find the fairy prince, who is named Cornelius in the movie, to marry.

     The movie Thumbelina received low ratings from movie critics. They saw it as one that would capture the attention of children rather than adults. When I watched the movie last week, I found the movie to be interesting, but perhaps it was because I liked the movie ever since I was a child. This contrasted with the critics of the original fairy tale in Denmark, who said that the tale was immoral. The movie, Thumbelina, won a “Razzie” for the “Worst Original Song” for the song, “Marry the Mole”. In defense, I think that there were some good songs in the movie.

1. “Soon”

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/rW_ohfkpuR0&source=uds

This is my favorite song in the movie. The vocals are excellent, period!

1. “Let Me Be your Wings”

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/C9dud8gFRT8&source=uds

     Maybe I really like this scene because it contains the subject of trust similar to that of the song “A Whole New World” in the movieAladdin.

Don’t tell me this:

Doesn’t remind you of this:

1. “Let Me Be Your Wings (Sun Reprise)”

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Q7_AKlCS7jQ&source=uds 

     This song basically is in the tune of “Let Me Be Your Wings” only Thumbelina is the only one who sings it. It is a song about loss, both the loss of the song and of her love Prince Cornelius. This song also provides the contrast between her and the mole since the mouse tells her to sing to the mole. Thumbelina longs for the sun while the mole hates the sun, preferring the darkness, a place where he feels like he belongs.

     Even though I like the movie a lot, there are two problematic aspects. In terms of gender, Thumbelina was problematic, because like in Disney children’s movies, the main goal of Thumbelina was to find someone to marry. But maybe I shouldn’t complain about that aspect since the goal of marriage was in the original fairy tale. In addition, one could argue that Thumbelina provides a sense of female agency, since Thumbelina chooses the person who she wishes to marry. Another problematic aspect of Thumbelina that is similar to that of Disney children’s movies is the stereotypical Latin tropes applied to the family of toads that kidnapped Thumbelina.

          -Jacqueline Retalis