Animated Movies was launched by Olivier Mouroux in 1999. In addition to a daily news report, he also created a database of information about past, current, and upcoming films. In 2003, he took a job in the industry and had to give up his work on the site. Several fans of Animated Movies decided to take on the task of keeping the news portion of his site going, and founded what is now Animated Views. As AV turns 15, let's take a look back at the site we descended from. Below you can explore the database Olivier compiled at Animated Movies during its existence, as it last appeared online in October 2003. |
Directed
by: Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
Written by: Hans Christian Andersen &
Don Bluth
Music by: Barry Manilow (music) &
Jack Feldman (lyrics)
Released on: March 30, 1994
Running Time: 86 minutes
Budget: $
Box-Office: $11.4 million in the U.S.,
$ million worldwide
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Thumbelina... Jodi Benson
Jacquimo... Gino Conforti
Mother... Barbara Cook
Mr. Mole... John Hurt
Hero... Will Ryan
Queen Tabitha... June Foray
King Colbert... Kenneth Mars
Prince Cornelius... Gary Imhoff
Grundel... Joe Lynch
Mrs. Toad... Charo
Mozo... Danny Mann
Gringo... Loren Michaels
Mr. Beetle... Gilbert Gottfried
Thumbelina was written more than 100 years ago: therefore, no rights purchase or licensing was necessary since the title is in public domaine.
Gary Goldman admitted that Thumbelina "did terribly at the box office, about $2 million less that NIMH did 20 years ago. Thumbelina apparently did well in video, but we do not have the numbers."
Thumbelina is voiced by The Little Mermaid's Jodi Benson, and has music by Barry Manilow. This also marks the first time Don Bluth has used a classic fairy story as the theme for one of his films - something Disney has always done! The group's very first production was supposed to be a fairy story - "The Pied Piper", but they eventually decided against it.
Barbara Cook (1927) is best-loved and remembered for her work on the Broadway
stage. An amazing singer and refreshingly impulsive actress, she made her
debut at 23 in the musical 'Flahooley.' Roles in 'Plain and Fancy' and
the most famous flop of all time, 'Candide' followed. In 1957, she created
her most famous role as Marion Paroo opposite Robert Preston in 'The Music
Man.' She won a Tony for her work. Other shows included 'The Gay Life,
' 'She Loves Me' and 'Something More.' After the short-lived 'Grass Harp'
during the early '70s, Cook retired from the musical theater. Not long
after, she emerged as a dynamite cabaret singer. This second phase of her
career is still going strong today. Her covers of Disney songs are some
of the most highly regarded ones -especially Dumbo's
"When I see an elephant fly".
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The style of the characters was clearly inspired by Don Bluth's work on Xanadu (1980), an Olivia Newton-John movie vehicle for which he animated a short sequence.
In February 2002, Don Bluth looked back at this production and commented: "This film was one of the last three films we made while in Ireland. The audience target was female, 6 to 10 and family. Production value-wise, we are very proud of this film and the story is very close to Hans Christian Andersen's original. The film has won awards in Denmark and is shown regularly at the annual Hans Christian Andersen festivals. When we were in bankrupcy court, Disney offered to buy the film from the court-appointed trustee. The Disney marketing group felt that the film fit their style of product and that they would do well with it financially. The trustee did not sell them the film. He was protecting the company and its 500+ employees. Production-wise, Thumbelina is a strong example of good animation and production design."
Barry Manilow's "Marry The Mole!" received a very undeserved Razzie Award for Worst Original Song in 1995.
Barry Manilow also wrote music for Disney's Oliver and Company (1988) and Don Bluth's The Pebble and the Penguin (1995).
"Thumbelina was
a challenge," recalled Don Bluth in January 2003. "We now wish we would
have made her a stronger character with a spunkier personality. We tried
to stick very close to the Hans Christian Andersen version. But there are
many elements in the film that we are very proud of. The message of 'Follow
Your Heart' is a great message. We also wish that we could have had a female
sing 'Let Me Be Your Wings' in the end credits, with male back-up. It would
be just the reverse of the song sung in or during the body of the film.
It just seemed appropriate, now that Thumbelina has her own wings."