Les aventures de Tom Pouce

Woodcutter Honest Jonathan is granted three wishes by the forest queen as gratitude for not chopping down a mighty oak tree. Returning home he excitedly tries to tell his wife about the wishes, but an argument ensues and during the course of which, the three wishes are foolishly wasted. Realising the folly of their waste, they both sadly ponder on the absence of a son in their life, no matter what size he be. Jonathan muses that perhaps the queen would grant them one more wish, even a small one...

Based on the Brothers Grimm story, "tom thumb" may just be the most undervalued musical made in the 1950s. "tom thumb" has everything a family musical should have, a fantastical fairytale full of colour, vibrant song and dance sequences, and a warmth to cheer the bluest of hearts. With the athletic and ebullient Russ Tamblyn taking the lead as Tom, and villains portrayed with such gleeful caddishness by Peter Sellers and Terry-Thomas, the film was always going to start from a good footing. Add in Tom Howard's Academy Award winning effects, Gamley & Jones' whimsical score and the zippy direction from Ray Harryhausen mentor, George Pal, well what's the excuse for not letting this film into yours, and your children's life?

The story unfolds in a blaze of glorious art design and pupetoon effects. As Tamblyn roams around his little world, the makers blend over-sized sets with animation and real life choreography. Yeah its a little creaky now, but this is still magic, a hark back to a time when it was hard work to craft such a fusion of incredible delights. There's a main sequence as Tom brings the toys to life (you see a toy without a child is as bad as a child without a toy), a truly wondrous segment of film that deserves classic status. Fit to sit alongside the moment Gene Kelly danced with Mickey Mouse in Anchors Aweigh, this sees Tamblyn trip the light fantastic around, and with, numerous articles and childhood toys beloved by so many in the past. Then there is the talented shoes, a mortality romantic sub-plot, and yes! the good against evil thematic so rich and potent with many a fairytale that has been spun. It's all good, really it is.

Am I biased because it was a childhood favourite? You can bet your last Cent, Penny or Euro that I am indeed! But I know this one truth, that I have shown this to various age groups over the years, and not once has this film finished and not been met with smiles and even happy tears on occasions. Because ultimately it delivers the joy to the children, and to the children in us all. And that be the truth your honour.

Doo be doo be doo 9/10

Made 52 years ago and still enchanting, this MGM musical and puppetoon version of TOM THUMB is still a valid solid family delight. Told in a very European storybook manner, rather like the illustrations from a Little Golden Book, TOM THUMB unfolds into a spectacular special effects laden thrill... and no CGI all marvelous sets and over-sized art direction with amazing stop frame animation and puppet movements. It actually became more interesting for the astonishing and clever ideas edited together to make the story work. In 2009 this version might at first seem a bit too juvenile for today's kids but the simple ideas presented as a pantomime with sheer brilliance of on screen mastery and some hilarious acting by Terry Thomas Peter Sellers and Russ Tamblyn made me in middle age realize that once the lights go down and a genuinely well made film begins, it works for any person of any age. The two 8 year olds with me who are saturated with Harry Potter and Star Wars simply loved TOM THUMB and like kids of any year gone, laughed along with the beauty and wit on screen. It must have had a big budget because what I saw in scene after scene was a beautifully constructed lavish fantasy with completely convincing special effects.. made of cardboard and film. TOM THUMB still works !! What a delight. This version did not have a gollywog dance wither so it might have been the shorter version still clocking in at about 92 minutes. I saw the Gollywog but he was lying down by the time he appeared. I saw a new 35mm print in a cinema in Sydney on Jan 13, 2009. The color was rich and a bit dark and the grain obvious, but it was so clever and funny I forgot any film laboratory hardness.

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.

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.

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.