Tom Thumb in Trouble (1940)

So much average

Blistering performances.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

When animation fans talk about the early Chuck Jones cartoons and how Disney-like they were, they usually point to this title as an example.This short was made at a time when the studio had otherwise stopped trying to compete with Disney. Jones' cartoons were largely void of any hearty comedy. He was criticized by his colleagues and Leon Schlesinger. Even animation fans have criticized the early Jones' cartoons for their sluggish pacing. That doesn't make this title (or Jones' other early cartoons) not enjoyable. The lush visuals and McKimson's rich animation make them a feast for the eyes. Tom Thumb's design is almost a dead ringer for Pinocchio, which was released the same year. Sheppard Strudwick (who voiced Uncle Sam in Jone's OLD GLORY from the previous year), does a great gentle performance as the lumberjack. I like how the designs of the realistic lumberjack and detailed Tom Thumb contrast the cartoony design of the bird. I also like how the use of classical music establishes the dramatic mood of the short. Jones' made excellent use of this in his early shorts. One thing I've never understood, if Jones' early Disney-esque cartoons were and have been panned, they must have had a good degree of popularity with audiences to be reissued to theaters well into the 1950's. Considering that wasn't the type of thing audiences would have theoretically expected from a WB cartoon.This is still nonetheless a great Chuck Jones short.

. . . is enough to give Warner Bros. a bad name, should it be anyone's Point of First Contact with the House of Looney Tunes. TOM THUMB IN TROUBLE might as well be titled WARNER BROS. GOES WANTING, as in, a reason to be. Reducing this outrageously saccharin tale to a plot description would be an inane exercise. Suffice it to say that if you were NOT diabetic BEFORE watching TOM THUMB IN TROUBLE, you surely will need an insulin injection AFTER viewing it! Doting dads, cute tots, warbling birdies--every ancient Disney hallmark is tossed into this sweet and sweeter dish--even the kitchen sink! As this sticky story winds down, most watchers will be hoping for some complication to add a touch of drama to the stale plain jello being consumed here. Perhaps an owl will swoop in to snatch Tom or his birdie friend (preferably, both of them)? No such luck. Doubtless a forerunner to Teletubbies and Barney the Purple Dinosaur in the Parent's Just-Shoot-Me Hall of Shame, let's hope TOM THUMB eloped with THUMBELINA before making any other shorts!

Well, if you are looking for a comedy with a lot of laughs, skip this one. However, if you want a heartwarming story and one that is beautifully drawn, check this "oldie" out: it's magnificent. The restored version of it on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 really does this wonderful animated short justice - it looks fabulous. This was drawn over 75 years ago but you'll be impressed at the visuals.The story is extremely simple and is touching one of a father's love for his son: in this case, a big burly lumberjack-type and little Tom, who is no bigger than the man's thumb.This is a wonderful, sentimental cartoon that - cliché aside - you don't see many anymore and probably haven't in 50 years. It's a treasure.

The TCM network shows film "shorts" as a time filler between movies and this one was shown right before the 'Tom Thumb' feature length movie with Russ Tamblyn. This animated short shows a typical winter day for Tom and his dad. Tom is so small, he takes a bath in the water held in dad's hands. When dad goes outside to labor, Tom uses a tiny mop and suds to clean a plate, as a normal size person might clean a kitchen floor. But Tom has a mishap and falls into a pot of soapy water and cannot get out, the sides are so slippery.A bird about Tom's size is watching from outside, and flies so hard into the window to break it and rescue Tom. Dad, who looks much like 'Bluto' of the Popeye, comes back to find the broken window, Tom wet and barely conscious, and tries to swat the bird before it flies back out the window. Tom writes a very large (for him) note at night telling dad he is going out to find the bird that saved him. Dad is worried but Tom finds the bird, and flies home on the back of the bird which is about his size. The story ends with the three of them sleeping soundly, the bird making its nesting place in dad's beard. Cute animated film short.