Tom Thumb (film)

Plot

Jonathan, a poor but honest lumberjack lives in the forest with his loving wife Anne. One day, while chopping down a tree, the mystical forest queen appears before Jonathan and begs him to spare the tree as it is a home to a family of birds. As selling wood is his livelihood, Jonathan is initially reluctant, but after the queen demonstrates her magic powers, Jonathan agrees. In gratitude, the queen tells Jonathan she will grant Jonathan and his wife three wishes. Jonathan races home to tell Anne about the incredible encounter.

Unfortunately, Jonathan and Anne accidentally squander the wishes while bickering over dinner. As they turn in for bed that night, they look over the second bedroom of their cottage, which is fully stocked with toys for the child they dearly wanted but were never able to have. Anne laments their previous squandering of their magic wishes, which they could have used to wish for a child, but Jonathan consoles her that the forest queen may yet show them kindness and grant them one more wish. Anne remarks that she would love any child they would have had "even if he was no bigger then her thumb."

Later, they are roused by a soft knocking at the door and find before them a young boy who is literally the size of a thumb, who addresses Jonathan and Anne familiarly as "father" and "mother". Anne instinctively knows the boy's name is Tom.

In the following days, family friend Woody takes Tom into town where a carnival is being held. Tom is carried off by a balloon on to the top of the nearby castle's treasury tower, where two thieves, Ivan and Antony, are conspiring to steal the gold. They realize that due to his size, Tom will easily be able to slip between the bars of the grill on the treasury roof and trick him into believing they need the gold to help poor orphans. As a reward for his assistance, Ivan gives Tom a single gold sovereign from the stolen loot. Tom returns home late at night, to find his parents distraught over his disappearance from the carnival. While he sneaks in through the window, he accidentally drops his sovereign into a cake his mother had been baking.

By the next morning, the robbery has been discovered and guards are scouring the countryside searching for the thieves. A unit stops at Jonathan's cottage to ask if he or Anne have seen anyone suspicious in the area. Anne offers the guards some cake and one guard bites into the slice containing the sovereign, instantly recognizing it as part of the stolen treasure. Jonathan and Anne are arrested and taken away to be flogged in the town square.

With Woody's help, Tom tracks down the real thieves and, thanks to his ability to control animals, eventually manages to bring them back to the town square, along with their loot, thereby exonerating his parents. Ivan and Antony are arrested and the gold is returned to the treasury. The movie concludes with Woody marrying the forest queen, whom he has been clumsily romancing throughout the movie.

Cast

Russ Tamblyn as Tom Thumb

Alan Young as Woody

Terry-Thomas as Ivan

Peter Sellers as Antony

June Thorburn as Forest Queen

Bernard Miles as Jonathan, Tom's Father

Jessie Matthews as Anne, Tom's Mother

Ian Wallace as The Cobbler

Peter Butterworth as Kapellmeister

Peter Bull as Town Crier

Stan Freberg as Yawning man (voice)

Dal McKennon as Con-Fu-Shon (voice)

Soundtrack

"Tom Thumb's Tune"

(uncredited)Music and Lyrics by Peggy LeeSung and danced by Russ Tamblyn and the Puppetoons

"After All These Years"

(uncredited)Music by Fred SpielmanLyrics by Janice TorreSung by Jessie Matthews (dubbed by Norma Zimmer)

"Talented Shoes"

(uncredited)Music by Fred SpielmanLyrics by Janice TorreSung by Ian Wallace

"The Yawning Song"

(uncredited)Music by Fred SpielmanLyrics by Kermit GoellSung by Stan Freberg

"Are You a Dream"

(uncredited)Music and Lyrics by Peggy LeeSung by Alan Young

Reception

The film was the 8th most popular movie at the British box office in 1959.

According to MGM records the film earned $1,800,000 in the US and Canada and $1,450,000 elsewhere, making a profit of $612,000.

Awards

At the 1959 Academy Awards, the film won an Oscar for Tom Howard in the category of Best Effects, Special Effects.

At the 1959 BAFTA Awards, Terry Thomas was Nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in the category of Best British Actor.

At the 1959 Golden Globes, the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical.

At the 1959 Laurel Awards, the film was nominated for Top Musical, while Russ Tamblyn was nominated for a Golden Laurel for Top Male Musical Performance.

At the 1959 Writers Guild of America Ladislas Fodor was nominated for a WGA Award (Screen) for Best Written American Musical.

Home video

Tom Thumb has been released as a DVD for all regions and to VHS.

Comic book adaption

Dell Four Color #972 (January 1959)