Still image from the 1958 film tom thumb.

tom thumb

Directed by George Pal

A six-inch-tall boy takes on a pair of comical crooks.

1958 1h 38m Musical TV-G

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CAST
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0

George Pal, Director
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George Pal
Director

1

Russ Tamblyn, tom thumb
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Russ Tamblyn
tom thumb

4

Terry-thomas, Ivan
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Terry-thomas
Ivan

5

Peter Sellers, Tony
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Peter Sellers
Tony

FULL SYNOPSIS

Long ago, near a small village by a stream surrounded by a large forest, honest Jonathan cuts firewood for the villagers. One day while chopping a large oak, the Forest Queen appears to Jonathan to plead with him to spare the tree, the oldest and fairest in the forest. Reluctantly, Jonathan agrees and in gratitude, the Queen offers him three wishes, cautioning him to consider carefully as the wishes will affect his wife Anna as well. When Jonathan expresses skepticism about the Queen's offer, she vanishes. Frightened, Jonathan returns home with his burro Charlie. At home, Anna doubts Jonathan's story until he wishes his dull cabbage meal would change into a hearty sausage. After the cabbage turns into a sausage, Anna wishes the sausage onto her husband's nose for his silliness, but then frets that they have wasted two of their wishes. Jonathan spends the third wish regaining his real nose and he and Anna realize they have lost their wishes.

On their way to bed, the couple pause at the empty, toy-filled nursery to lament their lack of children. Anna declares that she would love any child, even if it were no bigger than her thumb and Jonathan assures her there is still time for children. At the stroke of midnight, Jonathan and Anna are awakened by a knock at their front door. Investigating, Jonathan discovers a tiny boy, no bigger than his thumb, who declares that he is Jonathan and Anna's son. Realizing that the kind Forest Queen has granted thei...


VIDEOS
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Ben Mankiewicz Intro...
Hosted Intro
Ben Mankiewicz Intro...
Hosted Intro
Alicia Malone Intro
Hosted Intro
Ben Mankiewicz Intro...
Hosted Intro
Tiffany Vazquez Intro...
Hosted Intro
Sent By The Beautiful Lady?...
Movie Clip

ARTICLES
Once upon a time, prolific animator turned producer George Pal made it his mission to bring to life memorable flights of fancy. After cutting his teeth on films like When Worlds Collide (1951) and The War Of The Worlds (1953), George Pal took on the very big job of creating a five and a half inch screen hero. A well known fairy-tale by the brothers Grimm, tom thumb (1958) is the story of a modest couple, Jonathan and Anna (Bernard Miles and Jessie Matthews) who wish for a son that Anna says she would "love with all my heart, even if he were no bigger than my thumb." That night, the couple discovers a tiny boy who reveals that he has been sent by the Forest Queen. Unfortunately this remarkable character soon runs afoul of two rogues (Peter Sellers and Terry-Thomas) who plot to exploit the tiny boy for their own nefarious purposes. But since this is a fairy tale, all ends happily in this unique entertainment which features songs by Sonny Burke and Peggy Lee, an array of amazing special effects, and an acrobatic performance by Russ Tamblyn as the title character. For George Pal, the road to tom thumb was a long one, but his patience and persistence paid off. Originally a creator of animated films in Paris, Pal eventually carved a niche for himself in Holland with his famed "Puppetoons" - cartoons using molded or carved puppets instead of drawings. After making hundreds of these stop-motion films in Europe, Pal brought his Puppetoons to Paramount, where they remai...

NOTES
The literary source credit card reads: "Based on a story from the pen of the Brothers Grimm." German writers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm created their tale, "Daumesdick," around a well-known European folk character. An earlier use of the tiny man known as "tom thumb" was in the late 17th century fairy tale in French author Charles Perrault's collection Tales of Times Past: or Mother Goose Tales (Paris, 1697).
       The film differed somewhat from the popular Grimm's fairy tale,which featured tom convincing his father to sell him to two traveling men in order to have adventures. Tom experiences hiding in a hole with a mouse, being swallowed by a cow and later a wolf, yet he returns home safely. The Perrault story also took liberties with the original tale, featuring an Ogre that terrorized tom's family. In that story, tom was the youngest of seven children.
       A June 1957 Hollywood Rep...

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