My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analyses: "The Little Matchgirl" - The Hand Drawn Animated Short Based on Hans Christian Andersen`s Fairy Tale

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.

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For the first time ever I`m going to write about a short. But hey, there`s a first for everything, right?

Here I go again on my own... Right, Whitesnake? :)

I`m a albino statue :)

The history of shorts dates at the dawn of cinema. All movies at the time were very short, sometimes just a minute or two. It wasn`t until the 1910s when films started to get longer than ten minutes. When the television came, commercial live action shorts almost vanished in the mid-1950`s. But Cartoon Short Film had a longer shelf life, partly due to cheaper limited animation techniques, and TV animation took off. Allowing them to have a theatrical and a syndication run. And while shorts are aired as filler, Live-Action Shorts was a way for many famous filmmakers of today to launch their careers.

I`m the female version of
Jacob Marley from A
Christmas Carol :)

And regarding the position of shorts today, they now enjoy wider success, due to digital platforms and social media, But regarding the quality of animated shorts, while some of them are cheaply made, there were some made in higher quality. Some of those shorts made it theatrically, but others were meant for the theaters, but never made it. And sure, Disney has never been a stranger to shorts at all, as Walt started with them. But even they have made shorts of higher quality. Where some were made for the theaters and other didn`t made it.

The History of Fantasia 2006

I`ve paid the broomstick to
make me look that I`m nice
to it :)

But regarding the genesis of this feature from this entry: When Walt made the grand and ambitious Fantasia in 1940 (who unfortunately turned out to be ahead of it`s time), he was planning to update it with new segments. However, unfortunately Fantasia turned out to be a huge flop, so Disney never got to fulfill his plans with the upcoming segments. It took sixty years before Disney (without Walt) dared to make it`s official follow up, Fantasia 2000 (which was greenlit on how Fantasia turned out to be huge hit on VHS).

We`re coming from the Yellow
Submarine :)

Which unfortunately turned out to be a bigger flop. Disney were considering to make a third movie, Fantasia 2006. But unfortunately it was scrapped. But still there were some shorts made to it. While shorts like Lorenzo (from Pocahontas` Mike Gabriel), Destino and One by One (named after the song from The Lion King Broadway show of the same name) were made separately in the beginning of this Milleinum (in 2003, 2004) and found their ways into DVD releases and compilations, the very last short that was made to Fantasia 2006 was The Little Matchgirl. Which was made in the same mold as it`s predecessors.

General Information About The Little Matchgirl

Don`t be fooled, it was
heavy to carry this box :)

Set to Nocturne from

Alexander Borodin's String Quartet #2, The Little

Matchgirl was boarded and directed by Roger Allers (The Lion King) and produced by Roy Disney, Baker Bloodworth (Dinosaur), and Don Hahn. Dave Bossert was the Artistic Coordinator and Visuals EFX Supervisor. Ed Gombert

(Aladdin) and Ralph Zondag (Dinosaur) developed the story. Hans Bacher (Mulan), Randy Haycock (Hercules) and Mike Surrey (The Lion King) were the visual developers. Joe Haidar (Hercules) and Doug Frankel (The Emperor`s New Groove) were the animators. Mauro Maressa (Hercules) was the Visual Effect Animator. Thomas Baker (The Lion King) was the scene planner. Marshall Toomey (Beauty and the Beast) did the Clean Up. Matchgirl was also the final use of the CAPS system.

Since I`m (Ariel) is
petite, they made me
look taller for this
cover :)

While it made its debut at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France in June 5 2006, it was officially released to the public with the Platinum Edition release of The Little Mermaid (which could be perceived as a synergy, for being Hans Christian Andersen property). It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, but lost to The Danish Poet. It won Best Film For Children at the 17th Festival of Animated Films 2006 Animafest World Festival of Animated Films Zagreb. As for the overall reception of Matchgirl, it has been well received by the public. As it was praised it for it`s visuals and poignancy.

The Trademarks of The Little Matchgirl

What makes The Little Matchgirl notable is it`s medium. For being one of the last gasps of high quality Hand Drawn animation in a World where it isn`t as prominent anymore (released right when Disney was officially resurging it with both

Enchanted and The Princess and the Frog). But since Disney has always adapted material from fairy tales and certainly from Hans Christian Andersen, it`s essentially another addition from that author. But what also makes Matchgirl notable is that it`s one of the few Disney properties set in Russia (with the exception of Peter and the Wolf.

And yes, let`s skip the Anastasia comparisons, since it`s a Don Bluth property, shall we? Despite how Disney owns 20th Century Fox now). And it`s among the Disney properties to have a little girl (who looks non-White) as the lead. But what`s essentially unique about Matchgirl is it`s ending: How it`s brave enough to have a unhappy ending, despite how it`s not the first time Disney has adapted a story with an unhappy eding (*cough, Pocahontas, cough*). Despite how that ending, simultaneously, still has it`s own happy resonance. As it serves as being both tragic, but also concluding with it`s purpose at the same time (and frankly, it`s more uplifting than the ending of Pocahontas).

Behind the Scenes Information

Production on The Little Matchgirl got started in 2002. The story was chosen to make sense for a new Fantasia segment. It is something that could be done in pantomime and to music. When Don Hahn pitched it Allers (who was asked to come back to Disney), he was thrilled because it was his favorite story (and read it to his kids). The production took over four years. Allers decided early on that it should be hand drawn, spending months experimenting with paints and pigments. Both Hans Bacher and Randy Haycock was behind the character designs. But as the ink would trail off and fade out and the texture of the paper that came up underneath (by Bacher`s choice) inspired the idea of do it in water color. Not wanting the texture to be obvious, but still wanting the audience to notice that it was art. A challenge was to integrate the characters to the hand painted watercolor backgrounds. Which was done in CAPS by processing the line drawings to give it the appearance that pigment pooled towards the edges of the paint shapes (as it does in watercolor paintings). To give it texture and to have the color bleeding out towards the end of the outline of the character. They also created mottled grain in the painted character. For Allers it was lovely to board again. But he decided that the palette should be colorless due to the story and the visions to have a better palette during the scenes with the Grandmother.

Regarding Disney`s ongoing staple of Disneyfication, the short leaves the girl's cruel father and the death of her grandmother (despite how it`s implied). But it was scrapped due to how it`s a short and it would`ve been too much to have the first subplot. And having her alone made her longing for her grandmother stronger. And the setting was moved to Russia. As the story was non-specific of it`s location, Saint Petersburg allowed for beautiful scenery, pre-elegance (which spoke to Allers). and was associated with snow and harsh winters.

It was going to use Debussy's Claire de Lune, but Nocturne was chosen for evoking images of Russia. And how it had so much pathos in it. It was a challenge to make the shifts from back to reality. When Glen Keane saw the scene where the grandmother was holding the girl, he knew she was dead. Despite how Allers thought that the scene was rather about the girl being fully embraced by her grandmother. The executives at Disney didn`t want a sad ending, so happier endings were tried. But rejected. Roger wanted to be true to the original story. The ending is almost prayerful, without being religious. It`s a way to show hope and that all children have a right to exist.

Epilogue

At least I see the lights. Right
Rapunzel? :)

At the end,

The Little Matchgirl is a worthy addition to Disney`s huge and ongoing legacy. And a respectful addition to Disney`s library of Hand Drawn animation. As for my own personal opinion about this short, the truth is that I like it. Despite how it`s not the very best Disney has ever done. The music that was chosen for it could`ve been better (no offense). But I still like it for the character designs, animation and overall mood and tone, as it`s skillfully done.

Yes, even a child can sell an
adult candy :)

And it`s a well animated and does makes me long back for Hand Drawn
animation. And it`s a wistful reminder of what high quality Hand Drawn Animation once used to be and how it will probably never be the same again. And yes, it`s hard to believe that it`s now turned two decades old! But at the end, since this entry was meant to synergize it`s 20th Anniversary, there`s nothing else to wish The Little Matchgirl Happy 20th Anniversary and may you continue to have many more.