Thumbelina

I grew up watching Pebble and the Penguin and Anastasia. I was introduced to this about a month ago, I watched it, and I was actually impressed. It is not as good as the above titles, but I can name a lot worse animated films, believe me, the Secret of NIMH sequel anyone?! The film is flawed, but on the whole it is a fun sweet film for kids. The animation is very good, but is a little flat in some places. But the animation sequence in "Let me be your wings" is breathtaking. Speaking of the songs, they aren't bad at all. They are very pleasant, and beautifully orchestrated with lovely tunes even if some of the lyrics were hard to understand. The incidental music was lovely too. The best aspect was the story. It stayed close to the original fairytale, while adding a little bit on. All of the characters are very much the same, and none of the essence is lost, save for some slow scenes in the middle half. The characterisations are fine. Jodi Benson is a very talented singing actress, and she had the best song of the movie, "Let me be your Wings", which was stunning audibly and artistically, and she does do a good job as Thumbelina. People find Thumbelina annoying and patronising, I find her cute and pretty and she means well. Cornelius was a little bland, but I warmed to him. The toads were funny, especially during that really fast Spanish song. My favourite character is Jaquimo, what a great accent, and Thumbelina's mother is a warm and loving character and provides the film's most touching moment in the reprise of "Soon"! Other voice actors are Gilbert Gottfried, John Hurt and Carol Channing. All in all, a pleasant animation, that is misunderstood. 7/10. Bethany Cox