thumbelina

A woman yearning for a child asks a witch for advice and is presented with barley which she is told to go home and plant (in the first English translation of 1847 by Mary Howitt, the tale opens with a beggar woman giving a peasant's wife a barleycorn in exchange for food). After the barleycorn is planted and sprouts, a tiny girl named Thumbelina (Tommelise) emerges from its flower.

One night, Thumbelina, asleep in her walnut-shell cradle, is carried off by a toad who wants her as a bride for her son. With the help of a friendly fish and a butterfly, Thumbelina escapes the toad and her son. She drifts on a lily pad until she is captured by a cockchafer who later discards her when his friends reject her company.

Thumbelina tries to protect herself from the elements. When winter comes, she is in desperate straits. She is finally given shelter by an old field mouse and tends her dwelling in gratitude. Thumbelina sees a swallow who is injured while visiting a mole, a neighbor of the field mouse. She meets the swallow one night and finds out what happened to him. She keeps on visiting the swallow at midnight without telling the field mouse and tries to help him gain strength. She frequently spends time with him by singing songs, telling him stories and listening to his stories in the winter until spring arrives. The swallow, after becoming healthy, promises that he will come to that spot again and flies away, saying goodbye to Thumbelina.

At the end of winter, the mouse suggests Thumbelina marry the mole, but Thumbelina finds the prospect of being married to such a creature repulsive; he spends all his days underground and never sees the sun or sky, although he is impressive with his knowledge of ancient history and lots of other topics. The field mouse insists the mole is a good match for her. Eventually, Thumbelina sees little choice but to agree.

At the last minute, Thumbelina escapes the situation by fleeing to a far land with the swallow. In a sunny field of flowers, Thumbelina meets a tiny flower-fairy prince just her size and to her liking; they eventually wed. She receives a pair of wings to accompany her husband on his travels from flower to flower, and a new name, Maia. Their wedding leaves the swallow heartbroken and he flies off, eventually arriving at a small house. There, he tells Thumbelina's story to a man (implied to be Andersen himself) who chronicles the story in a book.{{Harvnb|Opie|Opie|1974|pp=221–9}}

The earliest animated version of the tale is a silent black-and-white release by director Herbert M. Dawley in 1924.{{Citation|last=Dawley|first=Herbert M.|title=Thumbelina|date=1924-09-27|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015411/|type=Animation, Short|access-date=2023-03-08|publisher=Herbert M. Dawley Production}} Lotte Reiniger released a 10-minute cinematic adaptation in 1954 featuring her "silhouette" puppets.{{cite web|title=Däumlienchen|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213627/|website=IMDb}}

In 1964, Soyuzmultfilm released {{ill|Dyuymovochka|ru|Дюймовочка (мультфильм, 1964)}}, a half-hour Russian adaptation of the fairy tale directed by Leonid Amalrik.{{Cite web|title=Российская анимация в буквах и фигурах {{!}} Фильмы {{!}} "ДЮЙМОВОЧКА"|url=https://www.animator.ru/db/?p=show_film&fid=2137|access-date=2023-03-08|website=www.animator.ru}} Although the screenplay by Nikolai Erdman stayed faithful to the story, it was noted for satirical characters and dialogues (many of them turned into catchphrases).{{cite journal|last1=Bagrov|first1=Petr|date=2006|title=Свинарка и пастух. От Ганса Христиана к Христиану Гансу|trans-title=Swine-herd and Stableman. From Hans Christian to Christian Hans|url=https://seance.ru/articles/svinarka-i-pastuh/|journal=Seans|language=ru|number=25/26}} Toei Animation adapted the fairy tale three times: in 1975 as an animated short, in 1978 in the feature-length anime film Thumbelina, and as an episode of World Fairy Tale Series.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-29|title=WORLD FAMOUS FAIRY TALE SERIES PRINCESS THUMB｜Film List｜TOEI ANIMATION|url=http://corp.toei-anim.co.jp/en/film/detail.php?id=66|access-date=2023-03-08|archive-date=2020-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629035740/http://corp.toei-anim.co.jp/en/film/detail.php?id=66|url-status=bot: unknown}}{{Citation|last=Serikawa|first=Yūgo|title=Oyayubi-Hime|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204541/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2|type=Animation, Fantasy|access-date=2023-03-08|publisher=Toei Animation}}{{Citation|title="World Fairy Tale" Oyayubi hime (TV Episode 1995) - IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12538490/|access-date=2023-03-08|language=en-US}}

In 1992, Golden Films released Thumbelina (1992), and Tom Thumb Meets Thumbelina afterwards.{{Citation|last1=Higuchi|first1=Masakazu|title=Thumbelina|date=1992-06-08|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135000/|type=Animation, Adventure, Family|access-date=2023-03-08|publisher=Golden Films, Warner Bros. Animation|last2=Namba|first2=Chinami}}{{Citation|title=Tom Thumb Meets Thumbelina (Video 1996) - IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1125878/|access-date=2023-03-08|language=en-US}} A Japanese animated series adapted the plot and made it into a movie, Thumbelina: A Magical Story (1992), released in 1993.{{cite book|last=Clements|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Clements|last2=McCarthy|first2=Helen|author2-link=Helen McCarthy|title=The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917|date=2001-09-01|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=Berkeley, California|isbn=1-880656-64-7|oclc=47255331|page=399|edition=1st}}

On March 30, 1994, Warner Bros. released the animated film Thumbelina (1994),{{cite web|title=Thumbelina - Character Designs, Cornelius, Thumbelina, and Bumble Bee|url=https://ecollections.scad.edu/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1001717&sp=T&sp=Pall,Rk1000004@,Qthumbelina&suite=def|website=SCAD Libraries|access-date=8 December 2021}} directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, with Jodi Benson as the voice of Thumbelina.

The 2002 animated film The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina is loosely based on the fairy tale.{{Citation|last=Chaika|first=Glenn|title=The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina|date=2002-08-06|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185143/|type=Animation, Family, Fantasy|access-date=2023-03-09|publisher=Hyperion Pictures, Miramax, Philippine Animation Studio Inc.}} Mattel's Barbie Presents: Thumbelina from 2009 was also presented as a modern retelling of the story, while its plot has from little to nothing to do with Andersen's tale.{{Citation|title=Barbie Presents: Thumbelina (Video 2009) - IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398940/|access-date=2023-03-09|language=en-US}}

In 2021, at the

{{Official website|https://nyicff.org/programs/short-films-one-9/|New York International Children's Film Festival}}, premiered the short film

{{Official website|https://www.tulipanimation.com/|Tulip}}, a contemporary version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairytale Thumbelina. Phoebe Wahl was the writer and lead character designer, as well as co-director and co-producer alongside animator and fiber-artist Andrea Love.{{Cite web|title=Tulip|url=https://www.phoebewahl.com/tulip|access-date=2023-02-22|website=Phoebe Wahl|language=en}}

An adaptation of the Thumbelina story directed by Barry Mahon was included as an embedded narrative in the 1972 low-budget film, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.net/entertainment/movies-tv/santa-and-the-ice-cream-bunny-strange-holiday-entertainment-from-the-1970s/article_bee7be43-9228-55a6-b4ec-d3b3a210be0b.html|title='Santa and The Ice Cream Bunny': Strange holiday entertainment from the 1970s{{!}}Movies & TV{{!}}standard.net|access-date=2023-04-26|archive-date=2020-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617143934/https://www.standard.net/entertainment/movies-tv/santa-and-the-ice-cream-bunny-strange-holiday-entertainment-from-the-1970s/article_bee7be43-9228-55a6-b4ec-d3b3a210be0b.html|url-status=dead}}

On June 11, 1985, a television dramatization of the tale was broadcast as the 12th episode of the anthology series, Faerie Tale Theatre. The production starred Carrie Fisher.{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/printer/faerietaletheatre.php|title=DVD Verdict Review - Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: The Complete Collection|work=dvdverdict.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617011745/http://www.dvdverdict.com/printer/faerietaletheatre.php|archive-date=2011-06-17}}

The 2015 otome game Zettai Meikyuu Himitsu no Oyayubi-hime features Thumbelina as its protagonist, romancing both male and female characters based on other stories by Andersen.{{Cite web |title=絶対迷宮 秘密のおやゆび姫 |url=https://oyayubi.labyrinth-of.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701065418/https://oyayubi.labyrinth-of.net/ |archive-date=2022-07-01 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=絶対迷宮 秘密のおやゆび姫}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Andersen|first1=Hans Christian|author-link=Hans Christian Andersen|year=1983|orig-year=1974|title=The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories|translator-last1=Haugaard|translator-first1=Erik Christian|location=New York, NY|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=0-385-18951-6}}
• {{cite book|last=Andersen|first= Hans Christian|year= 2000|orig-year=1871|title=The Fairy Tale of My Life|location=New York, NY|publisher=Cooper Square Press|isbn=0-8154-1105-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Andersen|first=Hans Christian|title=The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen|publisher=W.W. Norton|location=New York|year=2008|isbn=9780393060812|editor1-last=Tatar|editor1-first=Maria|editor1-link=Maria Tatar}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Classe|editor-first=O.|year=2000|title=Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English; v.2|location=Chicago, IL|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers|isbn=1-884964-36-2}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Eastman|editor-first=Mary Huse|title=Index to Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends|publisher=BiblioLife, LLC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Frank|first1=Diane Crone|last2=Frank|first2=Jeffrey|year=2005|title=The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen|location=Durham, NC and London, UK|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=0-8223-3693-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/storiesofhanschr0000ande}}
• {{cite book|last1=Opie|first1=Iona|author-link=Iona Opie|last2=Opie|first2=Peter|author2-link=Peter Opie|year=1974|title=The Classic Fairy Tales|location=Oxford, UK|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-211559-6|url=https://archive.org/details/classicfairytale00opie_0}}
• {{cite book|last=Sale|first=Roger|year=1978|title=Fairy Tales and After: From Snow White to E.B. White|location=New Haven, CT|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-29157-3|url=https://archive.org/details/fairytalesafter00roge_9tt}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Siegel|editor-first=Elaine V.|year=1992|title=Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Women|location=New York, NY|publisher=Brunner/Mazel, Inc.|isbn=0-87630-655-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Wullschlager|first=Jackie|year=2002|title=Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller|url=https://archive.org/details/hanschristianand0000wull|url-access=registration|location=Chicago, IL|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-91747-9}}

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category|Thumbelina}}

• [http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/Thumbelina_e.html Thumbelina] English translation by Jean Hersholt
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110210163019/http://thumbelinathemusical.com/ Thumbelina: The Musical] Musical of Thumbelina by Chris Seed and Maxine Gallagher

{{Wikisource|Thumbelina}}

{{Hans Christian Andersen}}

{{Thumbelina}}

{{Tom Thumb}}

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Category:1835 short stories

Category:Danish fairy tales

Category:Short stories by Hans Christian Andersen

Category:Witchcraft in fairy tales

Category:Fictional fairies

Category:Female characters in fairy tales

Category:Fairy tales about talking animals

Category:Works about marriage