Why so much hype?

Best movie of this year hands down!

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Thumbelina is one of the cute fairy tale I have ever seen. I liked all the songs from the movie. Especially, Thumbelina looks super cool in the 'beetle song' with awesome gown. This story is about a girl, size of a thumb who gets lost in miniature world and looks for her true love,Cornellius, a fairy prince. Thumbelina is now one of my favorite movie among other Disney princess movies i have seen. Surely little kid girls would love it, so I suggest them to watch it.

If I'm going to be technically honest, it's not a great movie. If I'm going to be nostalgically honest, I like it and don't stop watching it. The story's about a girl that is named Thumbelina (who is no bigger than your thumb), her love for the fairy prince Cornelius, and the three villains that want to marry her. Almost the same as the original story, just adding the prince being a major character, songs, side plots with the villains, setting it in Paris, and animal side characters, one of which gets a main role (Jacquimo the swallow). While I like this movie a lot, there are a lot of problems with the movie. One is that it came out around the time Disney was making such beloved classics such as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Lion King which came out the same year as this movie. If it waited a few more years later, it might have had a better chance. In fact the story resembles The Little Mermaid in many ways (same author, voice actress Jodi Benson, and unique hair). And the music is a hit and miss. Half of the songs are irritating, one of which won a Razzie (Marry the Mole) and another sung by Gilbert Gotfried. But the biggest issue has got to be that Thumbelina had every chance to get home since Jacquimo could fly, but he doesn't even try to take her home, tell any of the jitterbugs to grab her by the arms and fly her to the top of a flower, or even fly above and tell her what direction to go while he searches for her prince. He just leaves her to look on her own. In the original story it made sense, because there are no friends to help her, and she doesn't meet the swallow until the end. Also, she couldn't figure out where she was, so she legitimately gave up. This Thumbelina has friends to get her home but nobody helps her, nor does she think to ask them to fly her home, except with one of the villains, but as that's not one of her allies that doesn't quite count. However, for all its flaws, I still love it. The animation is beautiful, and it's easy to see the hard work on the character designs, fairy wings, fairy magic, and backgrounds. It almost is like Disney animation and yet not quite; it's its own thing. The way it's animated makes you feel like you're the same height as the main characters. In my opinion, some of the best animation can be seen in the song "Let Me Be Your Wings." Speaking of which, I consider that to be the best song in the entire movie. Yes it's a knock off of "A Whole New World" and the romance may be rushed, but the lyrics are well done, the music is beautiful, and of course the duet is wonderful. Jodi Benson singing is a saving grace for even the bad songs. Also, I think the voices are spot on, including Carol Channing as Field Mouse. Something about her voice actually does sound a bit like a dry, cynical, greedy mouse. And as bad as "Marry the Mole" was, I give her credit for trying to make the song work, and that it didn't stop the plot. It's not a good song, I don't like it, but I don't think it's the worst either. And for anybody who loves the original story better, this movie encouraged me to read the story. It's not my favorite Anderson story, but it's a lovely little adventure.What amazes me about this movie is that it got harsher criticism than A Troll in Central Park when it first came out. While A Troll in Central Park also has amazing animation, that movie was pandering and nothing but filler. This movie has an actual plot; an not very well done plot, but at least tried to be something decent. I don't care if it's a "Disney knock-off"; I think it's not terrible. This was probably a hard story for Don Bluth to adapt to a feature length film, but I'm not sure if even Disney would tackle it. I don't stop enjoying the movie, but at the same time I understand the flaws.

I watched it for the first time today, so I don't have the nostalgia a lot of reviewers do. In fact, the only Thumbelina movie I ever saw as a kid was a knockoff one with parts done in live-action, probably from about the same time. A few things about it were really annoying for me. There are a few plot holes, (Why can't Jacquimo just fly Thumbelina back home? How does winter come the day after Autumn begins?) some characters were really annoying, (the little bugs, the toads, the beetle, Jacquimo, etc.) and how hard the moral was nailed into my head from beginning to end. Take a drink every time you hear "Nothing is impossible!" or "Follow your heart!", you'll be wasted in no time. Also, don't listen to Marry the Mole. It's not sung well, the background music isn't too good, and the lyrics are just plain bad. But it's an okay, cute movie for the kids. It's no Disney Princess movie, but it's decent.

Anyone who thinks this is a "rip-off" of Disney films is far out of their league when it comes to good old fashioned "who came first" Hans Christian Anderson's timeless tale of a small girl with big dreams is interpreted wonderfully within this film, unlike other stories that Disney has animated such as The Little Mermaid and Snow white in which didn't follow the original story whatsoever. I think this is a fantastic movie for everyone of all ages because it's a more realistic "princess" movie.Unlike what the clichéd princess genre portrays, Thumbelina follows a young girl who is subject to bad advice, harsh criticisms, and sheltered from the outside world with no true knowledge of how other people act or should act. It shows as Thumbelina find her way towards a more secure view of herself after being told throughout the film she isn't good enough. After being told lies and almost being forced to marry someone she doesn't love, Thumbelina eventually takes her life into her own hands and stops being subjected to what others try to make her believe.For everyone who thinks this is a "rip-off" of Disney princess movies; One must always realize that Thumbelina was not subject to one specific bad guy like everyone else. Her adventure also follows the true story of Thumbelina by Hans Christian Anderson closer than any other "princess" movie I've ever seen.