After escaping from the circus, to which she was kidnapped as a baby who was the long lost princess, and then reunited with her and returned to her lost home, tiny Thumbelina (Jennifer Love Hewitt) sets out to find others of her diminutive stature and the place where she belongs. She happens upon Tom Thumb (Elijah Wood), who was raised by a good normal-sized man. He is not only similar to her in size, but is also looking for others like him. But just as they fall in love, Thumbelina is taken prisoner by the terribly sinister Mole King (Peter Gallagher), who wants to make her his bride. Thumbelina is the daughter of King and Queen of Gemworld.
The film is copyrighted 1999 but was not released until 2002. It was distributed internationally to Italy, where it debuted on 75 screens in 2004, earning €23,531 in its initial week of release.[2]
Reception
Kevin Lee of DVD Verdict found the film "guilty", writing "Walt Disney is being held in contempt of this court for The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. This is simply not up to the usual standards of the Mouse House."[3] Brian Costello of Common Sense Media gave the film four stars out of five, saying the film is "a fun tale with enough constant action and snappy dialogue to keep both children and adults entertained."[1]
Awards
The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina won a 2003 Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in the Direct to Video category.[4] In addition, the film was nominated for a 2003 DVD Premiere Award (administered by the DVD Exclusive Awards) in the categories of Best Animated Character Performance (Elijah Wood) and Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie.[citation needed]
