Der kleine Däumling

Rich, colorful musical fantasy based on a Grimms fairy tale that is delightfully fun to watch. Telling the tale of a woodsman who is granted three wishes by a very beautiful blonde fairy, the Forest Queen, after he agrees to not cut down a giant oak. But he blows it on the wishes (gee, who could have guessed that would happen?!), much to the chagrin of his patient wife, by blurting out a wish for a sausage, which ends up on his nose via another wish, forcing him to use the last wish to get it off his nose - okey dokey. Luckily, the Forest Queen is very patient, apparently, for they are given a fourth wish - they would like to have a young one to play with their room full of toys, someone they can love even if he is no bigger than their thumb. Well, next thing you know, Tom Thumb (played by Russ Tamblyn) has come knocking on their door - he's tiny, but he sure can dance! He's bedded down for the night by his new "parents" and wakes up to have a magical dance party with his toys, now come to life via some really wonderful special effects. Another fun musical number features a village dance where all the dancers have purchased "talented shoes" from the cobbler that keep dancing as long as there is music. Later poor Tom gets mixed up with two villains who force him to steal bags full of gold (this part of the film was the one segment that I thought dragged the story down a bit). There is also a subplot involving a local music man (Alan Young) who is in love with the Forest Queen and doesn't realize that he can turn her into a mortal via a kiss.

As a whole, this film is really a lot of fun - with great dancing, brightly colored period costumes, and trick photography which really succeeds in making Tom look small. All the actors are great in this - but Russ Tamblyn really steals this film with his marvelous, amazing, athletic skill at combining dance with gymnastics - really a fantastic talent. The music in this is fairly good, although nothing spectacular - though I must say that I saw this screened at Cinecon 43 in Hollywood four days ago (it looked great on the big screen, by the way) and I still keep finding myself humming one of the tunes from this all day long, it's really stuck in my head. Alan Young appeared in person for this screening and proved to be highly funny and entertaining during an interview after the film was shown. This would be a terrific movie for children to see, for adults I also find this film to be quite entertaining - I am partial to fantasies, this was a treat to see.

A timeless fantasy featuring the adventures of the world's smallest and best boy. There's some fun songs, decent acting and terrific special effects (for the time and era). This should delight most kids and is pleasant enough for most adults to enjoy as well. As the bumbling villains Ivan and Tony, Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers steal much of the show.

When I was a kid, this was among my favourite movies. The story of an old couple who are finally granted a wish to have a son, only to find he is just as tall as a thumb, is heartwarming and funny. And the naive character of the boy, the clumsy and funny villains, the comic relief characters, all together make this an enchanting tale for kids.

But for me, the highlight of the entire movie was the yawning man. There were lots of funny setpieces (dancing shoes, a romantic sub plot, ...) to extend the length of the movie, which would otherwise have lasted only half an hour or so, but this one stands out in my mind even today: The animated puppet that sings a yawning song, which makes Tom fall asleep. The song was so good, I have never forgotten it, and better yet: It worked. It was incredibly hard for my entire family not to yawn - not because of boredom, but because there are few things as infective as yawning...

So while Harry Potter may be the kiddie-movie of the moment, full of expensive special effects and a world famous franchise, it is hard to beat this old classic with the one thing that Harry Potter lacks: A soul.

Few other kid's movies managed that. Watch "Jack and the Beanstalk" (with Gene Kelly), or a few of the old Czech fairy tale movies (Salt prince, Cinderella with Hazelnuts), and you won't be disappointed. They all had what most ultra-slick kid's movies lack....

If you have children and want to entertain them and yourself with a film, TOM THUMB is acceptable entertainment. Producer/director George Pal creates a quaint, vivid fairy tale world with bright colors, picturesque scenery and Tyrolean costumes. The stop motion animated singing and talking toys who befriend the titular tiny boy (Russ Tamblyn), are beautifully realized and smoothly co-exist with the live action Tamblyn. The songs are pleasant and hummable. Particularly memorable is "The Yawning Song," drowsily warbled by the voice of Stan Freberg as a sleepy toy. Russ Tamblyn is appealing in the title role and Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers as, respectively, the conniving Ivan and his eager confederate Tony practically steal the film with their comic shenanigans. Sellers is particularly impressive, giving the standard dim-witted accomplice part a creepily animalistic shading.

But although TOM THUMB is enjoyable, it doesn't rank with such outstanding family films like THE WIZARD OF OZ and Walt Disney's PINOCCHIO. What mainly prevents TOM THUMB from achieving greatness is Ladislas Fodor's slight scenario. In the best family films, the protagonists have important goals. For instance in THE WIZARD OF OZ Dorothy has to find a way back from Oz and in PINOCCHIO the titular puppet must learn to distinguish between right and wrong in order to become a real boy. In contrast, Tom Thumb's mission- to prove his parents (Bernard Miles, Jessie Matthews) did not steal the town's treasury by exposing the real thieves, Ivan and Tony-seems inconsequential. Compared to the scheme of, say, the Wicked Witch of the West to obtain Dorothy's ruby slippers in order to obtain supremacy in Oz, Ivan and Tony's plan is very pedestrian. The fate of the parents if they're not cleared- a public whipping- is certainly bad but much milder than say the fate of Pinocchio, Geppetto, and their pets if they can't escape from Monstro the whale- eternal imprisonment.

Then there is the romantic subplot between a local musician Woody (Alan Young) and the immortal Fairy Queen (June Thorburn). Woody wants to kiss the Fairy Queen so she can become a mortal as well as his wife, but the Fairy Queen warns him he should prove himself responsible before he can marry her. Pal handles the scenario in such a fluffy manner, however, that there is little conflict or feeling in this subplot. And while the animated segments are delightful, they hardly contribute to the plot.

But considering the glut of dreadful films trying to pass off as family entertainment, one should be grateful that TOM THUMB succeeds in its modest goal of entertaining viewers. Although the film is not extraordinary, it does emanate a storybook charm without succumbing to cloyingness. And Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers are a memorable pair- a kind of malevolent Laurel and Hardy.

This movie deservedly won the Oscar for its Special Effects. Russ Tamblyn was well-cast as tom. The romantic sub-plot is superfluous and Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers all but steal the movie as a bumbling pair of thieves. Funny enjoyable puffball of a movie. Well worth watching for the effects and Sellers and Thomas.