VanRippestein
I came across this movie due to recommendations from the Eraserhead discussion board. So i had my expectations: i oughta be weird dark, twisted. Well, it is.It's not a great movie though. It's a very original movie, thaT must be said. But the stop motion simply doesn't work. It's all very lifeless, even the REAL actors seem lifeless.It has a nice story, and the backgrounds and weird characters look great. great detail toO!But when things start to move, all tensions are lost. I bought the DVD, cause usual the discussion board are really helpfull to me ( thanks IMDb and members!), so at least i have the short movie "the saint inspector". now THAT's great stop motion movie! so i just pretend that the saint inspector is the main feature and tom thumb is just an OK extra :)
FieCrier
Done in stop-motion, though there are also live actors, and the live actors unusually appear to be done in stop motion as well!An insect flies into an artificial insemination factory, and gets squished and some of its guts drip into one of the specimen jars. Sometime thereafter, a woman in a small hovel gives birth to a tiny boy that fits easily into his father's palm. He's named Tom Thumb, and his parents do not seem surprised or disappointed by his small size. Unfortunately, some men in black trenchcoats, hats, and gloves come and take him away to a laboratory.The laboratory has all manner of strange creatures and parts of creatures being kept alive for weird procedures and experiments. Tom is helped by a small dragon-like creature that is partly skeletal, partly cybernetic, partly raw flesh, and partly "normal" looking. He meets other tiny people and tries to make his way back home.The world they live in is rather dingy-looking, and there are always some insects present. There is very little dialog, and some of what is spoken is little more than mumbling.Definitely calls to mind the Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmajer, and the team of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, City of Lost Children). Quite entertaining, and I wonder how available the other works by this director might be.
cmari
Last night i had the chance to see this excellent piece of animation and I truly enjoyed it. For all those interested in clay/latex animation (Aardman style) the s/fx are awesome.As for the storytelling: absolutely wicked ! One of the best adaptations of a nursery tale I've seen, with somber dystopia tones: think Aldous Huxley and Brothers Grimm meet Chicken Run.Fantastic flick !
fringevideo
Dark Bolex Bros. fantasy about the life of a miniature baby born into a world of giant misfits & social freaks who grunt and coo without saying anything intelligent. Out of step time and place, populated by scurrying spiders and other unidentifiable species of insects makes this piece much like the films of the Brothers Quay or the outstanding work of animation master Jan Svankmajer. This is a weird film that blends live-action footage with stop-motion claymation set in a world of dark back alleys; high tech labs, and swampy landscapes of garbage ruins. Tom Thumb is stolen from his home in the seedy part of town by sinister government agents. He later escapes from an evil lab where mutation experiments are performed. Narrowly escaping he finds himself in a land of people his own size fighting the big people alongside Jack the Giant killer. Genuine horror and moving moments that have the power to unsettle and enchant in equal measure. Definitely one of the most intoxicating and mesmerizing animated films I've seen in a very long time.
AD
