Review of
Hans Christian Andersen Animated Classics:
Thumbelina, DVD
Five out of five stars
One of the most touching fairy tales
The story opens
with a woman conversing with a witch and she expresses her desire for a child. In
response, the witch gives her a barleycorn and tells her to plant it. She does
this and in a short time a plant grows, and the flower opens, revealing a very
tiny girl. Small enough to fit into a walnut shell, she is given the name Thumbelina.
One night while
she is sleeping, Thumbelina is carried off by a mother toad that wants her to
be the bride of her son. With the help of some fish and a butterfly, Thumbelina
escapes, only to be captured by a stag beetle that wants to use her to impress
his version of the ladies. He abandons her when they reject Thumbelina.
Alone and
nearly frozen as winter sets in, Thumbelina is taken in by a female field
mouse. One of her friends is a mole and she tries to play matchmaker and have
Thumbelina marry the mole. Out of gratitude for saving her life, Thumbelina
reluctantly agrees. Fortunately, she is rescued by her friend the swallow and
she eventually encounters a fairy prince her size. They quickly fall in love
and she receives a pair of wings so that they can fly away together.
The concept of
the arranged marriage is much older than the concept of marrying the person
that you want to, particularly for women. In this story, the small and
vulnerable young girl manages to avoid her assumed fate until the right “man”
comes along. The animation is excellent, the vocalization clear and well-stated
and the facial expressions of all the creatures are cute and charming. Children
will love the humanized creatures and the concluding romance.
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