Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.
Make sure to leave a comment if you like this site! And if there's something you think could be improved, please let me know. But in a constructive way, please. And just a note; I'm not a Native English writer, so my incorrect grammar may be notable.
And finally; If you haven't seen the films, beware of spoilers! And the funny lines aren't meant to be nothing than funny. So I hope you won't find them offensive. If so, I apologize
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| I wanted to guide you away from the fire :) |
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| I wanted to show that hearts can be purple and not only red :) |
Don
Bluth is a well-known name for many Animation nerds. However, if we`re going to summarize his style of telling stories, it`s well known that he left a certain company (Disney) to do his own thing. Sure, most of his movies had some Disney elements, but at least Bluth managed to have his own signature style to his movies. As they became somewhat distinctive on their own right. However, fate had different turns for Bluth and Disney, as Bluth was topping the Animation Field with his own style in the late 1980`s. While Disney were slowly climbing up of a dark period. But the beginning of the past Millenium had different turns for them, as Disney were rising up with their new Renaissance Pictures, while Bluth were declining. But Bluth was still not giving up, as he made some new entries to the Animation World. While some of his movies were distinctive, at least he made two films that were deliberately trying to copy the Disney Renaissance style.
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| I`m Caught in a Flower, instead of Caught in the Middle, like A1 :) |
His most worshipped entry was 1997`s Anastasia,
who somewhat made an impact and became regarded for being on par with
Renaissance Pictures. However, a lesser known contender would`ve been a
predecessor that was released three years earlier than Anastasia. Which was a little picture (no pun intended) called Thumbelina. Released in March 1994, Thumbelina was helmed by both Bluth and his collaborator Gary Oldman and distributed by 20th Century Fox. But it still had a complete Disney ensemble. It featured Disney`s own Princess voice actress Jodi Benson (Ariel in The Little Mermaid)
as the titular heroine, Kenneth Mars (Triton) in another Royal part,
King Colbert, cartoon veteran voice actress June Foray (Grandmother Fa
in Mulan) as Queen Tabitha and even the late Gilbert Gottfried (Iago in Aladdin) as Berkeley Beetle. Even Oliver & Company`s songwriters Barry Manilow (who Bluth adored) and Jack Feldman were behind the songs. John Pomeroy (supervising animator on John Smith from Pocahontas) was among the producers. The Disney Renaissance Elements and the Reputation of Thumbelina
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| I know that you don`t want your dress to touch the book, but don`t worry. The book is not filthy :) |
Essentially, Thumbelina was a first for Bluth, the first time where he adapted a fairy tale source. Which means that the overall staple of Thumbelina is
that it`s been one of Disney`s copycats. It has all the elements of the
Disney Renaissance: A musical adapted from a fairy tale, a perky and
feminist heroine (who`s for once given a surrogate mother), a love
interest, animal sidekicks and a villain (it even starts in Paris and
Notre Dame, two years before Disney would adapt a certain story). And
yes, it`s even somewhat a departure from it`s original source material,
despite how it does keeps it`s basic elements.  |
| I`m practicing on a dizzy ballet. Don`t ask me what it is ;) |
And sure, since 
Thumbelina was
released in a time where Disney was still the King of Animation and
when it was the norm to cherish Disney at the expense of their
wannabes, Thumbelina had to measure up to it. Still, the overall staple and legacy of Thumbelina is a lackluster one, as it`s been somewhat stuck with a dud-staple. Commecially, it was a Box Office bomb, making only $11.4 million Domestically.
As for it`s critical recepetion, it was mostly shunned by critics. And
for the reception of the general audiences, it seems to be on the
similar league: Sure, Thumbelina has it`s fanbase, but it doesn`t seem to be particularly huge.
Thumbelina was
released in a time where Disney was still the King of Animation and
when it was the norm to cherish Disney at the expense of their
wannabes, Thumbelina had to measure up to it. Still, the overall staple and legacy of Thumbelina is a lackluster one, as it`s been somewhat stuck with a dud-staple. Commecially, it was a Box Office bomb, making only $11.4 million Domestically.
As for it`s critical recepetion, it was mostly shunned by critics. And
for the reception of the general audiences, it seems to be on the
similar league: Sure, Thumbelina has it`s fanbase, but it doesn`t seem to be particularly huge. My Own Personal Opinon About Thumbelina
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| We`re so cute that we`ll make ya forget that we are bugs :) |
As for my own experience with Thumbelina,
do I hate it? For someone who never saw this movie as a child, I never
had my childhood bias for it. But watching it as an adult (and even
before making this entry), it`s not a
complete and utter waste. Neither is it utterly terrible, as it is both
enchanting and delightful at times. The songs are catchy, the voice
acting is good and it manages to evoke whimsy and wonder. However, it`s
still easy to spot it`s
flaws: The tone is overall too kid-oriented, many of the comical
side-characters are annoying, the story is somewhat episodic and the
animation is second-tier.
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| Those are my cousins, not my brothers. And no, they`re not twice removed :) |
Even the meeting and development between our lovebirds is quite straight-forward, as it`s development could`ve been easily been taken out from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Sleeping Beauty. Perhaps it`s not regressive, but it`s still not as progressive as Thumbelina`s Renaissance counterparts, where there was actually a development between the leads (And yes, both Thumbelina and Cornelius would resemble it`s Don Bluth followers: Thumbelina`s features does somewhat resemble Anastasia`s. And Cornelius` looks like a predecessor to Anastasia`s love interest, Dimitri and also Cale from Titan A.E. Which some people have ranted about).
Behind the Scenes Information
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| Don`t worry, Cornelius is a ice cream. So I was dreaming about an ice cream, not a guy :) |
The
first draft of Thumbelina, written by Carol Flynn Pearson, was actually very feminist, where Thumbelina didn`t pine for her prince. However, when revising the script, the Prince was too wimpy and Thumbelina was too self-piteous. It had lost the innocence and charm of it`s target audience and was more adult. But when Flynn was urged to change the script, she felt that it didn`t needed to be changed. And due to the budget, Bluth did the adaptation himself. Bluth originally controlled the character designs, but to be fresh, he gave it to Rowland Wilson (who later on moved to Disney). Wilkson even created a backstory to Jacquimo. Betty White was voicing Mrs. Fieldmouse, but her performance lacked energy. So Bluth casted Carol Channing without informing White`s agent. But Channing and White were friends and got to know about their same gigs from each other. So Bluth had to apologize to both of them.
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| This is a manual for how you look before and after this swordfight :) |
Bluth
had originally pictured Mr. Mole as stingy, but his voice actor John
Hurt gave a completely other take. CGI
were used at times. Thumbelina began as the crew finished storyboarding Rock-A-Doodle in 1989-90. The character style was inspired by Bluth's work on Xanadu (1980), an Olivia
Newton-John movie which he animated a short scene. Despite it`s semi-unfaithfulness to it`s source material, Thumbelina won awards in Denmark and is shown at the annual
Hans Christian Andersen festivals. While Bluth himself has been proud of the project, he`s also expressed it`s faults. He admitted in a 2010 interview that the script could`ve been better. And made Thumbelina herself a stronger character with more spunk.  |
| These earrings are to those who wants to scare prissy women away :) If they become annyoing :) |
However, regarding the comparsion to Disney, Thumbelina received positive ratings on test screenings by having the Walt Disney Pictures logo, fooling viewers to think were watching a Disney movie. Thumbelina was going to be distributed by MGM in US. But But dropped it for the bankruptcy of Bluth's studio. During that time, the court trustee presented
the film to Disney, as Disney felt it could fit their style. But the trustee declined Disney's offer. Warner Bros. bought
the distribution rights in March 1993. However, Disney bought the rights through their acquisition of Fox, who replaced
Warner Bros. as the distributor due to Fox acquiring Don Bluth Ireland
Limited.  |
| Cause Margot`s name was already taken :) |
Artists from both Dublin and Burbank studios worked simultaneously on the film. In
1991, Chuck
Jones visited the studio during the Dublin Film Festival. And praised Thumbelina seeing a reel.
Thumbelina was the hardest voice to cast, due to her sheer size. But
Bluth deliberately reached Jodi Benson for her work on Ariel. And Bluth wanted
to make Mrs Toad more interesting by making her Spanish, which was why Charo was chosen. And when Bluth asked her, she told
him that she was a toad at heart. But when Bluth was drawing the
character, he was drawing Charo herself. Epilogue
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| My cheeks hurts for posing like this all day long. Cause my nails hurt them :) |
At the end, it`s hard to conclude something like Thumbelina:
A movie that is considered to be overall mediocre as a whole. Sure, it
has it`s small fanbase, but it doesn`t seem to have truly risen from the
ashes and become a classic. And frankly, it`s easy to see why, for it`s
aforementioned flaws. Despite how this entry is not about to completely
redeem Thumbelina, it`s still astonishing that it`s
(in my opinion) better than anticipated. It may be clunky and a little
kid-oriented, but it`s still a charming and delightful little picture.
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| I thought that lifting my dress was going to be harder without a servant. But I could do it myself! Yay! :) |
But it still would be fair to call Thumbelina somewhat semi-forgotten, as it`s been never as worshipped as Disney or even Bluth`s own Princess successor, Anastasia. But yeah, despite how Thumbelina is not particularly perfect, it`s still a pity that it`s been overall stuck with a dud-staple.
However, since this entry was meant to synergize with it`s 30th
Anniversary (yes, for someone who was a kid during at age, it`s hard to
believe that it`s been so long ago), there`s nothing left than to wish Thumbelina Happy 30th Anniversary and may you continue to have many more.
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| We were increased for this picture :) |
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References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QhyFjGlo9g (Don Bluth Thumbelina 1994 Interview)
https://web.archive.org/web/20090822204824/http://www.razzies.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=344&PN=2
Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life (Don Bluth)
Lovely article. I didn't grow up with this as a child but I did watch it several times as a teen so it's stuck with me since. I think the songs are charming, the characters endearing (there are a few annoying ones but that's it), and I love how old-fashioned the story is. Like something from the Walt era so I don't find it regressive or outdated at all. I love all the Disney voice actors and how Let Me Be Your Wings is basically A Whole New World. Had no idea Disney almost distributed it and it's a shame that they own it now but don't make any merchandise for it as they do for Anastasia.
SvarSlett