Rating of
0.5/4
Films Don't Get Much Worse Than This
JLFM - wrote on 05/04/12
Does a film get much worse than this? Yes, but this is still pretty awful. Barbie's Thumbelina represents some of the worst that films have to offer. Nothing works, everything fails, and the result is a hopeless mess that can't be enjoyed in any way. It's not even "so bad it's good," it's just plain bad.
Thumbelina is about a form of fairy called a twillerbee, who lives among the flowers, making things grow and prosper. In other words, they're an obvious rip-off of the fairies in the Tinker Bell films. Thumbelina is mindlessly flying around and breaking rules, when she discovers that married real estate agents plan to destroy the forest where she lives, in order to build a factory. To save her home and her people, Thumbelina has to change the heart of the agent's spoiled brat named Mackena, so she can convince them to stop construction on the factory.
The voice cast is horrific. All the lines sound the same, and they all sound awfully stiff. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that robots or computers actually voiced the characters, as opposed to humans.
The animation is primitive and silly, sometimes even blocky. Ugly colors and the stiff movements don't help, either. Heck, even Star Wars: The Clone Wars had better animation than this.
Most of the characters are whiny, irritating, spoiled brats, and there's very little character development. Mackena is irritating, and her parents act like they're on drugs most of the movie, or else drunk. The twillerbees are all the same (and they sound the same too), and the construction works are all idiots.
Attempts at humor are made, but none of them are successful. No laughs here, just cringes.
The one thing that Barbie's Thumbelina did right, was omit songs entirely.
Somehow, children can be amused by this. It just goes to show how many people there are that care more about the money, than delivering a quality product, and how bad the taste is, of the average child.
