History YMMV / Thumbelina

* AlternateCharacterInterpretaton: A common one is that Thumbelina ''is'' one of the fairy people she encounters at the end and that the witch stole her from her people.

[[redirect:YMMV/Thumbelina1994]]

* AllAnimationIsDisney: When test audiences first saw this movie with the Creator/WarnerBros logo, the reviews were mediocre at best. When aired with the Creator/{{Disney}} logo, reviews on average were much higher.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Ms. Fieldmouse isn't concerned about Thumbelina at all, she's just pimping Thumbelina out to stay on Mr. Mole's good side without having him consider her as a possible match for him.
** She clearly wants to get married to him herself, though whereas it's simply because of the money or because she did genuinely love him is not particularly clear. Maybe both.
*** The theory of her being in love with the Mole actually makes the [[SoBadItsGood song Marry the Mole]] make perfect sense. Listening to it again, [[FridgeBrilliance it's a very cynical view of love and why it's better to marry to ensure you're taken care of.]]
** Mrs. Toad was messing with Grundel when she promised him Thumbelina's hand, which may be the only real explanation for why she ''left Thumbelina behind'' immediately after declaring they were to be married to go fetch the priest.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Thumbelina herself has enough fans to be popular but to some she's a DamselScrappy (see below).
* ClicheStorm: Of Disney-esque tropes.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "Marry The Mole" may be a bad song, but "Let Me Be Your Wings" is a pretty decent ballad and considered by many to be the best song in the movie.
** 'Soon'. Never mind the lyrics, just listen to the melody and Jodi Benson's voice on the long notes.
* CultClassic: Despite the poor reception it got, ''Thumbelina'' has developed somewhat of a cult following over the years.
* DamselScrappy: Although somewhat justified given she's a tiny woman unfamiliar with the infinitely larger world around her, Thumbelina's submissiveness to those taking advantage of her as well as writing everything off as "impossible" is sure to get old quickly for some.
-->'''Nostalgia Chick''': "Impossible", and "mildly inconvenient" are NOT the same thing!
* DorkAge: Likely did much to cement the belief that Don Bluth had fallen into one. Its Golden Raspberry win didn't help matters.
* EarWorm: The title song, "On the Road" and "Follow Your Heart". Also, "[[AwardBaitSong Let Me Be Your Wings]]" clearly manages to stick to your head after a while.
** "Marry The Mole," which may be why so many people hate it.
* HilariousInHindsight: Mrs. Toad looks a lot like an [[http://i.imgur.com/fng8r.jpg animal version of Nicki Minaj]].
* IdiotPlot: The only reason Thumbelina keeps getting in trouble is because neither she or Jacquimo can think of her taking a ride on his back; made worse by the fact that Jacquimo thinks finding the Vale of the Fairies is more important than flying her home, as well.
** The song "Follow Your Heart", as presented by Jacquimo, underlines this plot hole to the point of insanity. (Lost in the woods? Just follow your heart. I could help you by flying home, but...)
** Thumbelina is left alone and to fend for herself because Mrs. Toad, after all the trouble she went through to kidnap Thumbelina and to make her Grundel's bride, ''leaves her alone on the lily pad to be rescued'' while she and the three sons leave the scene, supposedly to fetch the father. One would think after the killing they just made showing off Thumbelina and after her close encounter with the dog that Mrs. Toad would find it prudent to keep Thumbelina close. A whopping case of DidntThinkThisThrough.
* JerkassWoobie: Sure, Beetle is a shallow, self-absorbed jerk, but the only reason he's working for Grundel at all is because the toad was throttling him and ''then'' stole his wings, effectively blackmailing him. It's easy to watch him get dragged around by his ankle the entire way and feel a little bad for him.
** Grundel himself too. He just wants something to love, after all. Especially, since it's implied that that even his own family doesn't think highly of him, [[FridgeLogic like how the mother doesn't even bother try to keep Thumbelina captive in order to marry her son, which seemed more like a joke on her part]].
* LesYay: Thumbelina staring down Mrs. Toad's long legs as the latter starts dancing. Not helped by Thumbelina saying "Oh dear..." in a tone that makes it sound like she's thinking "[[StupidSexyFlanders I should not be aroused by this, but I am.]]"
* MostAnnoyingSound: Hey kids, do you like Creator/GilbertGottfried's voice? No? Well, we're gonna make him ''sing!''
** It was actually Randy Crenshaw doing a spot-on Creator/GilbertGottfried impression for Mr. Beetle's singing voice.
* {{Narm}}: A good share of it to go around, but "Marry the Mole" takes the cake.....right down to its title.
* NeverLiveItDown: "Marry the Mole" is this for the film; the fact that it won a Razzie for Worst Original Song doesn't help matters.
** For modern audiences, Jacquimo's failure to simply fly Thumbelina home could be another.
* OneSceneWonder: Paris at the very beginning of the film, as neither the film ''or'' the original tale by Hans Christian Andersen (Who was Danish) take place there.
* TheScrappy: Jacquimo has become something of one, and endless comments have been made about how it completely [[JustForPun flies over him]] that he simply could've flown Thumbelina back home [[SkewedPriorities instead of looking for the Vale of the Fairies]].
* SoOkayItsAverage: At the very least, it's considered one of the more "watchable" of Don Bluth's movies from the 90s, mostly because it's just kind of boring rather than actively obnoxious like his others.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Let Me Be Your Wings," as pointed out by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, is an obvious rip-off of [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} "A Whole New World,"]].
* TheWoobie: ''Thumbelina'', so much. She's born to a loving mother, but life is somewhat difficult due to the fact she's so small, and she's the only person she knows of who is of that size. Then she gets kidnapped just after meeting Cornelius, stalked by Mrs. Toad's amorous son, humiliated by the Beetle and nearly freezes to death. ''Then'' Mrs. Field Mouse blithely tells her the love of her life is dead and tries to force her into marrying a {{Jerkass}} Mole. Damn, girl.
** Thumbelina's mother, too.
* WTHCastingAgency: ''Charo'' as Mrs. Toad, who was even designed to closely resemble the actress.
** John Hurt as the Mole may also count for some.
** Tony Jay plays the cow on Thumbelina's farm, and after the first song is never heard from again.
----

** Mrs. Toad was messing with Grundel when she promised him Thumbelina's hand, which may be the only real explanation for why she ''left Thumbelina behind'' immediately after declaring they were to be married to go fetch the father of the groom.

* MostAnnoyingSound: Hey kids, do you like GilbertGottfried's voice? No? Well, we're gonna make him ''sing!''

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Let Me Be Your Wings," as pointed out by TheNostalgiaChick, is an obvious rip-off of [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} "A Whole New World,"]].

* NeverLiveItDown: Obvious {{Disneyfication}} aside, "Marry the Mole" quickly went down as one of the most widely ridiculed songs ''ever'', enough to win the movie a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. The fact that it had the talents of Barry Manilow and Carol Channing behind it didn't help matters.
* SoBadItsGood: "Marry The Mole", the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward-winner for "Worst Original Song," is as cringe-inducing as it is strangely charming. It's also hilarious.

* LesYay: Thumbelina staring down Mrs. Toad's long legs as the latter starts dancing.
** Not helped by Thumbelina saying "Oh dear..." in a tone that makes it sound like she's thinking "I should not be aroused by this, but I am."

* SoBadItsGood: "Marry The Mole", the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward-winner for "Worst Original Song," is as cringe-inducing as it is strangely charming.
** It's also hilarious.

* NeverLiveItDown: Obvious Disneyfication aside, "Marry the Mole" quickly went down as one of the most widely ridiculed songs ''ever'', enough to win the movie a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. The fact that it had the talents of Barry Manilow and Carol Channing behind it didn't help matters.

*** The theory of her being in love with the Mole actually makes the [[SoBadItsGood song Marry the Mole]] make perfect sense. Listening to it again, [[FridgeBrilliance it's a very cynical view of love and why it's better to marry to ensure you're taken care of.]]

%%* ClicheStorm

* ClicheStorm

** John Hurt as the Mole may also count for some.

** Thumbelina is left alone and to fend for herself because Mrs. Toad, after all the trouble she went through to kidnap Thumbelina and to make her Grundel's bride, ''leaves her alone on the lily pad to be rescued'' while she and the three sons leave the scene, supposedly to fetch the father. One would think after the killing they just made showing off Thumbelina and after her close encounter with the dog that Mrs. Toad would find it prudent to keep Thumbelina close. A whopping case of [[DidntThinkThisThrough]].

** Thumbelina's mother, too.

* CultClassic[=/=]VindicatedByHistory: Despite the poor reception it got, ''Thumbelina'' has developed somewhat of a cult following over the years.

* LesYay / NoYay: Thumbelina staring down Mrs. Toad's long legs as the latter starts dancing.

* IdiotPlot: The only reason Thumbelina keeps getting in trouble is because neither she or Jacquimo can think of her taking a ride on his back; made worse by the fact that Jacquimo thinks finding the Valley of the Fairies is more important than flying her home, as well.

* CultClassic[=/=}VindicatedByHistory: Despite the poor reception it got, ''Thumbelina'' has developed somewhat of a cult following over the years.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Mrs. Toad looks a lot like a [[http://i.imgur.com/fng8r.jpg cartoon version of Nicki Minaj]].

* CultClassic: Despite the poor reception it got, ''Thumbelina'' has developed somewhat of a cult following over the years.

* DamselScrappy: Although somewhat justified given she's a tiny woman unfamiliar with the infinitely larger world around her, Thumbelina's submissiveness to those taking advantage of her as well as writing everything off as "impossible" is sure to get old quickly [[BaseBreaker for some]].