A return to form for Don Bluth and his band of Disney animation defectors, "Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina" is also the artist's first foray into traditional fairy tales. And he's managed to brighten up Andersen's story with eccentric characters, humorous sight gags and song-and-dance routines that are delightful throwbacks to burlesque and vaudeville.
Bluth stumbled a bit with "Rock-A-Doodle" and, despite its popularity, I was not a fan of the very dark "All Dogs Go to Heaven." But it must be said that, faults and all, even those films were far superior to most of what passes for theatrical animation these days, excluding Disney, of course.
So, it's nice to see him recapture some of the old magic — though "Thumbelina" remains primarily a children's film and is not likely to cross over to adult audiences, as Disney's more recent efforts have done.
The story begins with a lonely, middle-aged woman yearning for a daughter of her own. And her wish is granted when a kindly witch provides her with a magical barleycorn that sprouts a flower, and inside the flower is a tiny young woman. A very tiny young woman, one who is, to paraphrase Andersen, "no bigger than your thumb."
Naturally, Thumbelina yearns for some romance, preferably in the form of someone her own size. And he eventually shows up, the handsome Prince of the Fairies.
But before they can declare their true love for one another, Thumbelina is spirited away by an obnoxious, lovesick toad and his overbearing mother (Charo); then by a beetle who needs a date — and who sounds suspiciously like the parrot in "Aladdin" (which is logical, since he is also voiced by Gilbert Gottfried); and finally takes shelter with a field mouse (Carol Channing), who plays matchmaker to a wealthy but myopic mole (John Hurt). (The voice of Thumbelina, by the way, is provided by Jodi Benson, who also gave voice to another Andersen heroine, "The Little Mermaid.")
These encounters are frequently amusing, especially those with the comical frogs and the wild characters at the Beetle Ball. But Thumbelina's guardian angel, in the form of a swallow named Jacquimo (Gino Conforti doing a Maurice Chevalier inflection), becomes tiresome after awhile.
Still, there are lots of little pleasures, including the overall look of the film and a wide array of subtle . . . and not so subtle . . . gags. Children will enjoy themselves, and this is certainly the best kids' picture we've had in a while.
For all the enjoyable elements in "Thumbelina," however, there is one major and most surprising flaw, the underdeveloped face and personality of the title character. When compared with the Disney standard-bearers — Jasmine in "Aladdin," Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" and Ariel in "The little Mermaid" — Thumbelina pales sadly. She is wimpy, ill-defined and her features lack the distinctive character we've become accustomed to in the Disney films.
There are also some interesting echoes in some of the supporting players — Channing's field mouse resembles one of the mice in Disney's "Cinderella," and some of the wide-eyed insects bring to mind the bugs that populated the Fleischer cartoons of the '30s ("Hoppity Goes to Town" and uncountable shorts). One has to think that's a deliberate, winking acknowledgment by Bluth to the bygone artists who influenced him.
And there is a camp element to the proceedings here that cannot go unmentioned — the presence of Charo, Channing and songs by Barry Manilow, which may cause older members of the audience to think they've stumbled into some kind of bizarre animated Ed Sullivan rerun.
Playing with "Thumbelina" is a manic "Animaniacs" short titled "I'm Mad!" from Steven Spielberg, an amusing, rhyming piece that has Yakko, Wakko and Dot taking a trip with Dr. Scratchanshiff.