Overthinking: Don Bluth's Thumbelina

(NOTE: When reading this please keep in mind that it is intended as a skit to be recorded. Light editing and stage direction are included in this piece. Also be aware there is light profanity.)

T​humbelina is apparently the very first movie I had ever seen in theaters. I do remember watching it several times in my young age, so it holds a nostalgic place in my heart. As we get older and our logical, practical side grows, the magic of such nostalgia tends to fade. Hell, I even loved 'A Troll in Central Park' as a kid. But while the nostalgia fades, some films still hold respect as a work of art while others... Don't.

T​ruth be told, I wasn't aware of the desperation and criticism Don Bluth and his team had to endure while making 'Thumbelina' until I watched a Don Bluth tier list video by 'Just Stop' who I recommend for great review content. What stuck out in me the most was how dire of straights Don Bluth and his company was in at the time and the criticism there was in the movie as a whole, more notably how bland the main protagonists were. Though I know now it was likely completely unintentional, I originally thought that Thumbelina was something far more clever than most gave it credit for. In fact, Thumbelina taught me an incredibly valuable lesson as a young person. What lesson you ask? Let me explain while I'm overthinking Don Bluth's Thumbelina.

P​art 1. The Story

A​mong Bluth's works, Thumbelina is by far the one closest to the Disney formula. From the story inspiration stemming from well-known fairytales to having popular voice actors who worked on notable Disney films. It stars a female protagonist who doesn't fit in and desires more out of life all while the cast is involved with broadway-style singing and dancing. It's a very simple formula. A very safe formula. And since Bluth Productions was bought out to the creator of 20th Century Fox during this film's production and was in the ringer while it was pitched, this really was a final attempt at digging himself out of a hole, which really explains a majority of grievances involved in this film.

S​o what's the story of Thumbelina? Well, we have a young woman who was born inside a blooming rose who is no bigger than a thumb and she lives on a farm with her mother, the woman who was gifted the flower after her wish to have a child. Thumbelina loves her mother but wishes she knew people who were little like her and desires to meet people her size. One night a fairy prince happens to hear her singing and, erm, introduces himself.

A​fter a romantic trip flying around together they fall in love, normal princess romance stuff. But in the dead of night Thumbelina is kidnapped by a toad who wants Thumbelina to marry her son who fell in love with her when he saw her the night she was flying around with the fairy guy. Thumbelina manages to escape with the help of a sparrow named Jacquamo and she tries to find her way home. (Why Jacquamo doesn't just fly her home there and then I have no idea but you know what? It's fine.)

She does ask the help of a beetle however to fly her up high enough to see where she's going. He agrees only if she sings and dances for him at the Beetle Ball, but after she's publically shamed during the performance she runs away (I assume) where she is found once again by Jacquamo. He agrees to find the fairy prince (But not fly her home?? Seriously, they don't even bring it up once? FLY HER HOME YOU BIRD-BRAINED BI-)

S​o autumn comes and goes and now it's winter. And we know based off of dialogue that the fairy royalty is holding off colder seasons as much as possible so it's late winter and Thumbelina is freezing to death in the snow. It's been a long time is all I'm saying. She finds shelter in an old shoe with her farmstead literally in the background but was saved (Or stolen however you want to interpret it) by a field mouse. It's here where the protagonist learns her fairy prince was found frozen in a block of ice and she goes ballistic with grief which the field mouse gives zero shits about.

U​sing her recent charity and good old Southern hospitality guilt to force Thumbelina into going down to see Mr.Mole is so cold-hearted and honestly it was such a subtle type of antagonist that I missed it as a kid. But oh boy do I see it now. I can sort of do a whole mini-rant on dear miss field mouse. Maybe another time.

S​he meets Mr. Mole and is encouraged to sing a story, to which Mr. Mole responds with his own story about how a dead bird happened upon his hole. This bird turns out to be Jacquamo with a thorn in his wing. Her care for him and her singing leads Mr. Mole to confess to Miss Field Mouse that he wants Thumbelina as his bride to keep her company. Thumbelina hears Jacquamo breathing and promises to return as Miss Field Mouse summons her away and back to the burrow. Miss Field Mouse then tries to convince Thumbelina to marry Mr. Mole. As she visits Jacquamo to nurse him back to health, Thumbelina contemplates this decision and decides to go through with it. This wakes the sparrow from his coma and he's inspired by his stupidity to continue his search for the prince Cornelius despite Thumbelina's protests and he GOES OFF AGAIN WITHOUT TAKING THUMBELINA MOTHERFU-

S​o we're at the wedding and Thumbelina realizes she can't go through with the loveless marriage and Cornelius comes to vanquish the toad without Thumbelina knowing. Then Jacquamo shows up again and FINALLY flies Thumbelina to a weed patch that he insists is the veil of the fairies. She sings and spring comes and Cornelius reunites with Thumbelina. Then they get married, Thumbelina's mom is there and it's a happy ending yay.

P​art 2. The Analysis

S​o here's the thing. I love this movie. According to my mother, it's the first movie I ever saw in theaters and it holds a special place in my heart. But Jacquamo is a love-obsessed moron and he needs an intervention. Also people need to listen to Thumbelina. But at least for that, I believe it was intentional. Because after all this, this story is a whole lot more thought-provoking when considered that Don Bluth's Thumbelina might be, at it's core, a cautionary tale about relationships; moreso to the respect of women.

L​et's begin with Cornelius. He and Thumbelina quite literally 'fit' together. Thumbelina's desire is to find people who are her size, and Cornelius is, until the end of the movie, the only one who matches that very desire. In classic fairytale fashion, he is the Prince Charming. He is the ideal partner. Respectful, attentive, supportive, and their emotions are mutual. Not to mention he's one of the few characters that doesn't berate her or ignore her when she talks. In a real world parallel, he is the dream partner. Thumbelina literally meets him at night, when she could very well have dreamed him up, much like many others do.

B​ut who robs her of her dreams? Both metaphorically and literally? A mother toad who heard Cornelius and Thumbelina singing a love ballad together and decided to kidnap her so they could 'make her a Star,' and also so her son G-guh-Grundel?! You're kidding! Surely that can't be right, I-nope. No, it's true. Grundel?! Talk about going for the low-hanging fruit, know what I'm saying? (Insert forced pun laughter here Before an 'experiencing technical difficulties' thing pops up)

(​Clears throat) Uh, anyway. You know the fairy tale where the princess kisses the frog who turns into a prince? Well, this frog is no prince. He perfectly fits the trope of inattentive, abusive, short-tempered, mama's boy, 'nice guy' syndrome that toxic masculinity loves to spout out. Ironically, Toad mama sings this whole song about why Cornelius isn't the prince charming Thumbelina thinks he is and describes the sort of loveless marriage that Thumbelina would certainly experience if she was to marry Friggin' Grundel.

A​fter the song number finishes, Toad mama and everyone else who gathered for the performance leaves Thumbelina stranded on a lilypad to get a priest to marry Thumbelina and Grundel (I'm sorry, I can't get over that name.) Again, Thumbelina doesn't want any of this. She and (Sighs) I'm just going to call him 'the Toad' because otherwise I'm never going to finish this review. Thumbelina and the Toad had zero words exchanged between the two of them. The toad had his mom do all the talking. All Toad knows is 'girl is pretty and she sings good.' Did he ever stop and apologize for his mother abducting her? No. Did he ever stop the musical number to look at Thumbelina and say, 'you good?' Of course not! And based off of his rough handling to his siblings and a certain Gilbert Godfried beetle, it's implied that this man would be physically abusive towards his wife.

U​nfortunately, people do find themselves in partnerships with a Grundel... Pun intended. There are people out there, men and women, who resort to violence when things don't go their way. They may act sweet or misunderstood at first, or even just, 'Oh I hit these people but I'd never hit YOU.' Before you know it, you're stuck in a relationship that you're afraid to leave because of what they might do to you.

T​hink that's a bit of a stretch from a Toad whose name is as ridiculous as Grundel? Well, wait until you meet the Beetle.

B​erkely Beetle notices Thumbelina humming to herself and is also enamored by her voice. He flies out of nowhere and accosts her with kisses to her hand and compliments. He listens to her talk, or... Sing. And at first Thumbelina believes he'll help her out. He agrees to help her fly up to get a good vantage point and find her way home if she sings for him at the Beetle Ball. She's dressed up as a gorgeous butterfly, but as soon as she's revealed to be a human everything takes a turn. The crowd calls her hideous and laughs at her. Berkely outright calls her 'ugly' despite having had no qualms over her looks when they first met. This two-faced, sleazy type of character is, once again, a symbol of an abusive relationship.

T​hose who find themselves in these partnerships start out with compliments and praise and even gifts, but over time they're made to feel worse and worse about themselves. This kind of person makes jabs about how their partner looks and acts until their own self-esteem gets questioned. People often find themselves unable to leave these relationships because they've been convinced that they'd be unable to do any better. This is textbook emotional abuse. When the Beetle calls Thumbelina ugly, he's not only completely wrong, but he's also showing how shallow and self-serving he is. The Beetle has zero feelings towards Thumbelina and he would have had nothing else to do with her if it weren't for our good old Toad buddy bullying the Beetle into helping him get her. The Beetle has to have something benefit him in order to care.

A​nd of course, we've got the Mole. Now, Mr. Mole is a little different than the last two. He's no brute like the Toad, nor is he manipulative like the Beetle. However, he and Thumbelina have nothing in common. Mr. Mole hates the sun while Thumbelina loves it. Mr. Mole hates the sound of birds whereas one of Thumbelina's closest friends is a bird. Mr. Mole is blind so he isn't taken in by Thumbelina's beauty like most of the others. It's her voice and her kind heart that he becomes enamored with. Mr. Mole as a person isn't really all that bad of a person. Certainly no fiend in comparison to the Toad and Beetle. But Thumbelina doesn't love the Mole. They have nothing in common, and there is no chemistry there.

A​t this point, Thumbelina believes Cornelius to be dead. It could also be interpreted that, after such relationships with a Toad and then a Beetle, she doesn't believe a Prince Charming really exists. Mrs. Fieldmouse convinces her as much with her song (And yes I know this was the only animated song to ever be considered so bad to have been awarded a Razzy but this was my favorite song as a kid and the jaded tone of it is kind of iconic for me. It's also a song that aligns with my perceived message of this movie so I'm saying it's a good song, okay?). So at this point, Thumbelina has given up on finding a good relationship with a Prince Charming. Mr. Mole has DOUGH, and he's not so hateful that he would make Thumbelina's life miserable. She conceded into becoming a Sugar Baby until the ghost of her dead dream boy snaps her back to reality.

T​hen came the end of the movie and Thumbelina was reunited with Cornelius. The two abusive characters fell to their deaths and the happy couple lived happily ever after.

N​ow I don't think there's any such thing as a perfect partner. But I do commend Don Bluth's Thumbelina for teaching me to be wary of Toads and Beetles, and to find love, not money. If you can find both that's great too, but a stable partner will work with you to make a stable life and that's really what you want. If anyone listening finds yourself in a relationship like the Toad, Beetle or Mole, just know that you are stronger, more beautiful and more capable than to settle in something that makes you unhappy. If necessary, find home first. And confide in those that care about you. Was Jacquamo a perfect friend? No. He's an idiot. But he was there for Thumbelina. Find those who will be there for you, too.

I​t's also important to see this as a cautionary tale for what sort of partner you are in a relationship. Not everyone watching is a Thumbelina. Maybe you are a Mole, or a Toad, or a Beetle. It's never too late and there's no shame in recognizing that within yourself and working towards being a better person for those around you. No one is a total 'Prince Charming.' It's a good goal, but even I have to admit to having some 'Beetle' tendencies in myself. You're shocked, I know. I am quite spectacular, aren't I?~

M​y point being, this show really didn't rake in the money that Don Bluth was hoping for. But whether intentional or unintentional, it has a pretty good message about never giving up on finding where you fit in. And though mistakes and detours will be in the way, and at times it may seem impossible, you can find your way to what makes you happy if you just follow your heart.