Too much of everything

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's something that everyone fears in their heart of hearts, the thought of being utterly alone and out in the cold. I love how there are no words. It doesn't need any, the feelings are the same in any language. The story and its poignant music go together absolutely perfectly. This animated short is fairly brief and it's so engrossing that the time flies by before you know it. The Little Match Girl short is so great because it captures and mirrors the exact same emotions you get from reading the story, or remember from being read the story as a small child. My mother used to read this to me when I was little and it was extraordinary to me how familiar it felt watching this, and how all those old emotions came flooding back. There's the harrowing plight of the girl trying in vain to sell her matches, the improbable, desperate hope as she strikes them and experiences her beautiful visions-a rather disturbing thought that now occurs to me with my adult sensibilities is that they could be near-death cold induced hallucinations-and of course, finally, the tragic hopeless despair of her sad lonely end. Sure, she is now free, with her beloved grandmother in a better place of warmth and love, but she had to die to do it. What's so "happy ending" about that? It certainly makes me feel little joy, it makes me feel cold in my gut, as cold as the girl probably felt, and I felt the exact same way when I was small. That is precisely how you're supposed to react. Very sad, but perhaps also grateful for just a certain something. That's why I think it's very important for little kids to be read this and all the other classic tales and fables because I believe they can instill a sense of empathy, as well as other good values. Of course it "pulls at the heart strings" that's the whole point, to make you feel the sorrow, to make you CARE. Anyone remember that? Kids should be read stories like this because they should know, in an innocent gentle way, that this world can be a very cruel place, and that not every ending is a happy one. There's not really much in the story that they left out of this. Except, in some of them I remember, it shows a few of the townspeople sadly offering far too late sympathies as they discover the girl, and then the scene changes to show the girl and her grandmother as angels in the stars... And so, for the sheer emotional impact alone, do I consider this to be, for what it is perfect. It couldn't be any more moving. If anyone really "enjoyed" if that is the right word, the deeply moving themes of this short I highly recommend you try and watch the 1988 TV drama: God Bless the Child. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Thanks for reading! Stay warm now...

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been deeply moved by Hans Christian Andersen's story. It is so beautiful, so touching and so poignant, yet I don't consider it depressing in any way. From the very start, I had immediate sympathy for the Little MatchGirl of the title, and I was hoping this Disney short would do this amazing story justice. And it does.The Little MatchGirl in my opinion is a small Disney masterpiece, it is very short, but it is beautiful in every meaning of the word. I am a huge fan of Disney, not only of their films(Beauty and the Beast especially) but also of their Silly Symphonies like The Old Mill and Flowers and Trees. The Little MatchGirl is yet another favourite of mine from them.The short has no dialogue or voices, all through visuals and music, and this worked. The animation is simply stunning, the backgrounds, character features, the architecture of those beautiful Russian buildings and colours are consistently amazing. And I have to say the music is outstanding, this was a piece of music- Borrodin's String Quartet no. 2, Nocturno- that I really underestimated, it is a truly beautiful work that is put to perfect use and beautifully performed. The story is still poignant and touching in tone, the title character I related to immediately and the pacing is just right.Overall, a superb short, like I said with The Old Mill, I forgot I was watching a cartoon and thought I was watching a work of art. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I didn't get my first taste of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" until a few weeks ago, when I watched Jean Renoir's silent short-subject adaptation, for which he unusually cast his 28-year-old wife in the lead role. Many subsequent versions of the story have followed, the latest being this impressive 7-minute snippet from Disney, which tells the story wordlessly against a classical music soundtrack. Notably, 'The Little Matchgirl (2006)' was the studio's final 2D-animated film, the last remnant of a dying art, its seems, in popular American animation. Directed by Roger Allers {whose only previous directorial credit was 'The Lion King (1994)'}, this short was nominated for an Academy Award in 2007, but lost to Torill Kove's 'The Danish Poet (2006),' which I unfortunately have yet to see. From a studio whose non-Pixar track-record has been a little shaky in recent years, this little treat suggests a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel, and that Disney still retains more than enough creativity to produce quality works of art.In pre-revolutionary Russia, a young girl stands shivering in the winter cold, trying unsuccessfully to sell matches to passersby. As though she didn't exist, one person after another strides past without even acknowledging her silent pleads; one man scavenges enough kindness to help her down from a pole, but waves away the offer of a match. As night falls, the young girl huddles beneath a snowstorm, trying miserably to warm herself by the flame of a matchstick. As she slowly and tiredly succumbs to exposure, the girl descends into sparks of fairytale, envisioning the warm home of her deceased grandmother, with a roaring fire and a dinner table bulging with food. 'The Little Match Girl' was initially produced for a 'Fantasia'-style compilation film, and so the music – Aleksandr Borodin's "String Quartet #2 In D Major: 3rd Movement: Notturno (Andante)" – plays a major role. However, the music doesn't "interact" with the story and images as did the segments in 'Fantasia (1940),' and so there's an impersonality of tone that the film struggles to shake off.

I never read the original story, so I had no idea what this was about. Needless to say by the end of the short (which is about 6 minutes) I was felt a heaviness in my chest an my eyes were teary. Mind you, I'm an action/horror movie guy - I don't emote much. :-) THIS is the full potential of what animation can do - even without any words spoken. The expressions and fluidness of the characters simply would not emote the same way if it was CGI and as this was the final hand drawn 2d work by Disney's studio it looks to be their final true masterpiece.Its BURIED in the Platinum edition of the Little Mermaid DVD, be sure to find it on the 2nd disk Why a person would tell this story to their child is really beyond me.