"Fairy" Tale Romance

From world-renowned animator Don Bluth (An American Tail, Titan A.E.) and award-winning composer Barry Manilow comes Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina - a magical story that reminds us that if we follow our hearts, nothing is impossible. When Thumbelina, a tiny little girl- no bigger than her mother‘s thumb, meets Prince Cornelius, she is sure she's found her heart's desire. But before their romance can blossom, she is kidnapped by a family of show business toads and detained by a scheming beetle when all she wants is to go home and be reunited with Cornelius.

Title: Thumbelina
Release: March 30, 1994
Genre: Animated
MPAA Rating: G
Based On: Thumbelina by Hans Christian Anderson
Writer: Don Bluth
Director: Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
Music By: Barry Manilow, William Ross, Mark Isham
Produced By: Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
Distributed By: Warner Bros. Family Entertainment & 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 86 minutes

Making an animated film is always a major challenge, especially ones that are based upon Hans Christian Anderson’s beloved fairy tales. Outside of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, there are few that are even remarkable and although it was considered a flop at the time, Don Bluth’s Thumbelina but has developed a bit of a fan following over the years.

Almost all companies have gone bankrupt at one time or another due to a “flop” and very few are ever able to recover, Don Bluth’s studio is one of these. During Disney’s period of making “just okay” films, he quit their studio in order to make animation the way it should be. After the success of his An American Tale and The Land Before Time, the Disney Company started to feel threatened and stepped up their work. Thus, The Little Mermaid was created and Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven; released the same year, suffered (although of course since it’s such a great movie the video sales were good). That little nudge Bluth gave the sleeping Disney giant is partly the reason we got all of those great Disney films in the early 90s. It’s also part of the reason Mr. Bluth’s studio went bankrupt.

Other than starting off as a fairy tale written by the same man, Thumbelina has something else in common with Disney’s The Little Mermaid: three characters provide voices in both films! Kenneth Mars (King Colbert) was King Triton, Will Ryan (the dog Hero and Reverend Rat) was a sea horse, and Jodi Benson was both Ariel and Thumbelina. Which is why the songs are the best part of this film and why I can’t understand how it was the only animated film to receive a Razzie for Worst Original Song (Marry the Mole).

While I won’t say I’m a fan of the movie even though I generally love Don Bluth (and have done so before I was old enough to know the difference between, I do like it. Maybe not as much as I did when my grandmother took me to see it in theaters as a kid, but I still enjoy it. Mr. Don Bluth can tell a story very well and Jodi Benson has the voice of an angel… or at least that of a fairy!

Related Don Bluth Reviews: The Land Before Time, Banjo the Woodpile Cat, Xanadu, The Secret of NIMH, An American Tale, The Animated Films of Don Bluth by John Cawley

Links: Don Bluth's Official Site, Imdb.com, Thumbelina fairy tale (Wikipedia), Thumbelina movie (Wikipedia), Thumbelina Storyboards, Fan Site

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Original Siskel & Ebert's Review:

The Snow White Story Continues...

What ever happened to Snow White? Find out in this feature-length musical adventure brought delightfully to life by an all-star voice cast and breathtaking animated magic! Snow White and her Prince are busily planning their wedding when the evil Queen's wizard brother, Lord Maliss, kidnaps the Prince! Embarking on a thrilling quest to rescue her true love, Snow White enlists the help of the Dwarfelles: seven tiny, magical comical ladies. It's one thrill after another as Snow White and her courageous companions face off against the sinister Maliss and his castle-full of outrageously off beat creatures in this song-filled fairy tale that the whole family will love.

Title: Happily Ever After
Release: May 28, 1993
Genre: Animated
MPAA Rating: G
Writer: Robby London & Martha Moran
Director: John Howley
Music By: Frank Becker
Produced By: Lou Scheimer
Distributed By: First National Pictures
Run Time: 75 minutes

Creating an animated film takes a lot of hard work and dedication, especially when you’re thwarted at every turn. Completed in 1988, Filmation’s Happily Ever After didn’t actually make it into theaters for five more years because of a Disney lawsuit (that resulted in much of the film being changed including the title) and also a licensing dispute with the distributor. It also probably didn’t help that the original Walt Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was re-issued theatrically that year either.

Magic, especially nature-type magic has always fascinated me in movies and one of the reasons why can probably be contributed to this film. It came out in the spring of 1993 a few months after I had turned 6 years old. By this time, I had seen just about every animated movie that our local rental place owned. What did I care if it had an all-star cast or that it wasn’t very well received? All I knew was that it was animated (or as I didn’t know what that word was, cartoon), it was about Snow White and instead of the Seven Dwarfs, there were now Seven “Dwarfelles”. Now 15 years later, somehow I stumbled across an interview with Irene Cara (voice of Snow White) about the movie and it made me want to see it again… especially since I could hardly remember anything at all about it.

My first thought was “please don’t let this be some corny, cheesy, badly animated film,” and unfortunately it was. That’s not to say that there weren’t a few good parts like some of the cute songs and certain parts of the story, not to mention the spectacular cast of voice actors like Dom DeLuise, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Phyllis Diller, Carol Channing, Edward Asner and more. This movie should have succeeded on their talent alone but thanks to a few badly animated scenes (Snow White changes skin tone a LOT and facial expressions not often enough plus The Prince looks a lot like He-Man), some storyline that doesn’t make sense, and a few flat, one-dimensional characters, it was received badly by the critics at the time and actually resulted in Filmation declaring bankruptcy and closing down for good.

We all know how marketable movies aimed primarily at children can be so with the other animated films being released that year like The Halloween Tree (based on the Ray Bradbury story), Once Upon a Forest, Steven Spielberg’s We’re Back: A Dinosaur Story, and Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas competition was fierce. However, despite the Dwarfelles and Snow White dolls, the soundtrack, and even the video game, this movie has managed to be forgotten over time.

Links: Wikipedia (film), Imdb.com, Song Lyrics, Interview (with Filmation Co-Founder)

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A Magical Time in Merry Old England

Embark on an adventure-filled quest for an unlikely hero! According to legend, only someone with honor, decency and inner strength can claim the throne of England - by pulling out the enchanted sword that lies locked in a massive stone. Many brave knights have tried, so it seems impossible that a young apprentice known as Wart could succeed. But with the guidance of the wizard Merlin, help from some hilarious friends and true strength of character, Wart just might become England's greatest king.

Title: The Sword in the Stone
Release: December 25, 1963
Genre: Animated
MPAA Rating: G
Writer: T. H.White (novel) & Bill Peet
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Music By: The Sherman Brothers (Robert and Richard Sherman) & George Bruns
Produced By: Walt Disney
Distributed By: Buena Vista Pictures
Run Time: 79 minutes
Official Site

45 years ago, the Walt Disney Company released their 18th animated feature The Sword in the Stone. Based on the first book in T. H. White’s Arthurian The Once and Future King series, the 1939 book (and its other subsequent novels) had become very well loved by the time the film had been made. As with all of Disney English adaptations, the studio was taking a gamble, (Alice in Wonderland and a few others didn’t do so well during their first release) but at the time, it paid off. Not only was it one of the highest grossing films of that year but it also was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Score).

Despite the fact that this was the last animated film made before Walt Disney’s death, this funny little film eventually became just a tiny blip on the radar. It isn’t considered anywhere near the caliber of the animation preceding it (101 Dalmatians in 1961) and following it (Jungle Book in 1967). Regardless of this, I’ve always enjoyed The Sword in the Stone but it isn’t (and never will be) one of my favorite Disney films. Obviously, I’m not alone in this opinion since when the anniversary addition was released there was only one disc and hardly any bonus features so I didn’t buy it when it came out. What do I want with a bunch of games for kids?! I buy the special additions for the documentaries about making the films, deleted scenes/ songs, interviews with the voice actors and the animators, artwork of the film, and of course because the sound and the picture are beautifully restored. Still I wanted to see the new DVD anyway and I’m glad I did… I had forgotten just how amusing this is!

I thought the restoration was beautiful in both picture and sound, everything is so much crisper, especially the sound! I noticed that a lot of the voice actors in the movie have repeatedly done voice work for other Disney animated films: Narrator/ Sir Ector is the voice of Bagheera in Jungle Book & the Narrator for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Archimedes (the owl) is voiced by Junius Matthews who is probably most famous for being the voice of Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh movies, and even Thurl Ravenscroft makes a tiny voice cameo (Tony the Tiger, "You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch" singer), and tons of small Disney (movies and parks) parts- which is why he became a Disney Legend in 1995). It was wonderful to hear the Sherman Brothers’ songs (this was their first composition of songs for an animated movie) again too. They’ve been my favorite composers for as long as I can remember.

There are several times throughout the movie that I couldn’t help but laugh at the befuddled Merlin (whose nose was inspired by Walt Disney’s). No matter how clumsy the film was at times, you can’t deny that it was written well and the gags were great. If I had one bad thing to say about the story, it would be that none of the women (of which there are very few) are portrayed in a nice light. They’re either annoying or downright mean and ugly but since I haven’t read the book that this movie was based on (yet), I’m not sure if that was the author’s doing or not. Woolie Reitherman, one of the original Nine Old Men, did a great job of directing this too. No matter how zany the film can get, he kept it moving along fluidly. A great animator and a great director he and the rest of the Old Men will be missed.

Links: Imdb.com, Wikipedia, Sword in the Stone Backgrounds (and Landscapes), Walt Disney does Magic (video), Original Storyboards and Artwork (Michael Sporn)

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