Further Thoughts on Don Bluth's Thumbelina

A couple of days ago I published a video in which I go through Don Bluth's 1994 fairy tale film, Thumbelina (you can watch it here), and I thought I'd do a blog post as well so I could talk a bit more about the film (and maybe a little more seriously too).

The character paintings I made for my video, with palette tests alongside them.

For some reason, Thumbelina is one of the most nostalgic films of my childhood for me, and it's pretty odd watching it as an adult and being so aware of how cheesy it is, how much it desperately wants to be a Disney film, and how much songwriters Barry Manilow, Bruce Sussman, and Jack Feldman clearly wanted to go home and lie down forever after writing the brilliant 'Let Me Be Your Wings'.

I'm not particularly interested in Thumbelina's character, because she's fairly uninteresting and hollow for the most part. She exists as a vessel for beauty that other characters wish to possess. The portions of the movie which show her voice, captivating every living being she comes into contact with, and almost emanating from her through no direct will or consciousness of her own, remind me somehow of religious iconography and myth. She is the altar of the virgin at which the miscellaneous male creatures and captivated children are anointed. She is a symbol through which the other characters express themselves. A precious jewel which allows them to feel more connected to themselves. Like the one ring, they scramble to harness her through corrupt ownership.

Dialling it back a bit, I want to bring up the dog's moustache. Please look at it:

How did the dog grow a moustache like this? What is going here? What kind of genetics are in place to produce this hair growth pattern? A lot of the animals we see in the scene which introduces us to Thumbelina's home environment have character designs that feel a bit incongruent with the film's overall visual style. I'd include the dog in this, with his thick spaghetti limbs and the end of a plunger apparently glued to his head. I don't really understand what they were going for with a lot of these designs, as they're so lumpy and strange compared the designs of Thumbelina, or the fairy king and queen, or even the jitterbugs, who have a rounded, lumpy, childish look to them. It works much better for them because they're both insects and children. They don't look over-designed or out of place.

There are a few things that really draw me to this film though. Like the great designs for the fairies, and the glittery, golden aesthetics that surround them. The film is very well-paced and feels smooth to watch, despite having very little information, character, and even plot, really. Bearing that in mind, it's impressive how interesting I found the concept of the fairy monarchy and how they ride around in their golden carriage and have bees and stuff. The frost being brought in by the king and queen is such a great concept to lay underneath the thin narrative of the film's events. It's that kind of mystery and mysticism and imagery that I find captivating about fairy tales, so seeing elements of that brought through in a film like this is really cool to me. Despite Thumbelina's over the top, nonsensical, and frustrating elements, I personally find a sense of that deep forest of childhood imagination in it, undercutting its shallow heart. And hey, some of the animation is incredibly well done, so I think this will always be one of my favourite films, despite the fact that there are many things I think it could have done a lot better.

Also, I love sweeping, sudden romances if they're in the right context, and whilst Thumbelina and Cornelius could really benefit from having some more build up in their personalities as well as their relationship, at its core I do quite enjoy the instant captivation they seem to experience with each other, so whatever. But seriously, the bumblebee is the best character.

An unused animation test I made for my video.