"Thumbelina!" (PLAYS IMMEDIATELY)

(Non-streamlined version - Real Audio 243K)

Thumbelina is the story of a miniature girl who emerges from a rose, grown from a barley seed (all these genetically modified crops! - I don't know!...), given to a childless family by a good witch.   Thumbelina grows up on a farm, always getting into various difficulties because of her diminutive size.

Thumbelina's mother reads her a bedtime story about fairies, but this gets her thinking about how there is no-one around in her life the same small size as she, and when her mother leaves her to sleep she dances in front of her open story book and sings her wish to meet 'someone somewhere'.

At that moment an autumn fairy prince just happens to be passing by, hears her singing, and goes to investigate.   Thumbelina is amazed and happy to find that she isn't the only small person in the world - and that there are fairies too, as in her story.   She talks to her visitor and tells him that she'd love to meet the Prince of the Fairies.   The prince says he'll tell him.

Thumbelina is then starled by the prince's bumble bee who has just appeared, but he assures her that the bee isn't dangerous, and takes her on a bee back ride in an Aladdin & Jasmine style fly around the kingdom to the song "Let me be your wings".   On their return to her home the prince reveals his identity, and asks her to meet his parents the next day.   Thumbelina agrees to the meeting, but she is kidnapped by Dolores Toad, part of a group of Spanish singing toads.   Dolres Toad's son says he wants to marry Thumbelina, so they abandon her on a lilly pad while they go away and arrange things.   Thumbelina with the help of Jacquimo the swallow manages to row the lilly pad away, but finds herself heading for a waterfall!   Thumbelina's lilly pad is fought to safety by a group of fish, and exhausted, she is brought to shore.

On her way back home Thumbelina meets Berkeley Beetle, a shifty-looking character with a victorian pantomime villain thin moustache, and the voice of Iago the parrot from "Aladdin"!   Thumbelina asks the beetle to help her get home, and in exchange for this 'big favour' she'll sing for him.   Berekely picks her up, and flies her unwillingly to the Beetle Ball, where she appears on stage dressed as a beetle.   The beetle audience isn't happy when they eventually discover that she isn't a beetle after all, and Berekely abandons her to once again try to find her own way home.

Winter cannot be held back by the King and Queen of the autumn faries any longer, even though their son is out looking for Thumbelina, and we see the Prince freeze into a block of ice while searching the land.   Meanwhile Thumbelina has been taken in by a fieldmouse who arranges for her to marry a mole friend of hers - Mr Mole!

Thumbelina, now believing that Prince Cornelius is dead, agrees...

Thumbelina is voiced by The Little Mermaid's Jodi Benson, and has music by Barry Manilow.   This also marks the first time Don Bluth has used a classic fairy story as the theme for one of his films - something Disney has always done!   The group's very first production was supposed to be a fairy story - "The Pied Piper", but they eventually decided against it.

Visit Thumbelina's section of the Animated Heroines Page

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