“Thumbelina” is completely Andersen’s invention. He knew other tales of little people such as the old English fairy tale of "Tom Thumb" and Jonathan Swift’s "Gulliver's Travels" with its tiny, six-inch Lilliputians. He may have found inspiration in these tales for "Thumbelina". He knew Voltaire‘s short story, “Micromégas“ (with its cast of huge and tiny peoples), and E. T. A. Hoffmann’s hallucinatory, erotic tale "Meister Floh". In Hoffmann's tale, a tiny lady torments the hero. A tiny girl also appears in Andersen‘s prose fantasy, "A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager" (1828). Another image from literature similar to Andersen’s tiny being inside a flower is found in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s "Princess Brambilla” (1821).
Andersen printed two booklets of "Fairy Tales Told for Children" in 1835. The first booklet was printed in May, and the second in December. "Thumbelina" was first printed in the December booklet by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen. "Thumbelina" was the first tale in the booklet. The booklet included two other tales: "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion". "Thumbelina" was printed again in collections of Andersen's works in 1850 and 1862.
The second booklet of "Fairy Tales Told for Children" featured "The Tinderbox", "Great Claus and Little Claus", "The Princess and the Pea", and "Little Ida's Flowers". The third booklet, printed in 1837, included "The Little Mermaid" and "The Emperor's New Clothes".
The first reviews of the seven tales of 1835 did not appear until 1836. The Danish critics did not like them. They thought the informal, chatty style of the tales and their lack of morals were not appropriate for children’s stories. One critic however thought that "Thumbelina" was “the most delightful fairy tale you could wish for.”
The critics did not believe Andersen should write other fairy tales. One journal never mentioned the first seven tales at all. Another advised Andersen not to waste his time writing fairy tales. One critic stated that Andersen "lacked the usual form of that kind of poetry [...] and would not study models". Andersen felt he was working against their ideas of what a fairy tale should be. He returned to writing novels, believing that this was his true calling. The critical reaction to the 1835 tales was so rough that Andersen waited a year before printing "The Little Mermaid" and "The Emperor's New Clothes". These two tales appeared in the third and final booklet of "Fairy Tales Told for Children" in 1837.
Mary Howitt was the first to translate "Tommelise" into English. She printed it in 1846 as "Thumbelina" in "Wonderful Stories for Children". However, she did not approve of the opening scene with the witch. Instead, she had the childless woman provide bread and milk to a hungry beggar woman. The childless woman was then rewarded with a barleycorn.
Charles Boner also translated the tale in 1846 as "Little Ellie". Madame de Chatelain called the tiny child 'Little Totty' in her 1852 translation. The editor of "The Child's Own Book" (1853) called the child throughout, 'Little Maja'. H. W. Dulcken's widely printed volumes of Andersen's tales appeared in 1864 and 1866. Mrs. H. B. Paulli translated the name as 'Little Tiny' in the late-nineteenth century.
In the twentieth century, Erik Christian Haugaard translated the name as 'Inchelina' in 1974. Jeffrey and Diane Crone Frank translated the name as 'Thumbelisa' in 2005. Modern English translations of "Thumbelina" are found in the six-volume complete edition of Andersen's tales from the 1940s by Jean Hersholt. Erik Christian Haugaard’s translation of the complete tales was published in 1974.
Fairy tale and folklore researchers Iona and Peter Opie have written that "Thumbelina" is an adventure story from the female point of view. They believe the story teaches the reader that people are happiest with their own kind. Thumbelina is a passive character and the victim of circumstances, they point out. Her male counterpart Tom Thumb (one of the tale’s inspirations) is an active character. He makes himself felt, and exerts himself.
Folklorist Maria Tatar sees “Thumbelina” as a runaway bride story. She notes that it has been viewed as an allegory about arranged marriages. She points out that "Thumbelina" is a fable about being true to one’s heart. "Thumbelina" upholds the notion that the love of a prince is to be valued above all else.
Tatar points out that in Hindu belief, a thumb-sized being known as the innermost self or soul dwells in the heart of all beings, human or animal. This concept may have absorbed by European folklore, then taken form as Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. Both characters seek transfiguration and redemption. She sees parallels between Andersen’s tale and the Greek myth of Demeter and her daughter, Persephone. Despite the pagan references in the tale, she notes that "Thumbelina" refers to Christ‘s suffering and resurrection, and the Christian concept of salvation.
Andersen biographer Jackie Wullschlager writes that “Thumbelina” was the first of Andersen's tales to dramatize the sufferings and hardships of one who is different. As a result of being different, Thumbelina becomes the object of mockery. It was also the first of Andersen's tales to use the swallow as the symbol of the poetic soul. Andersen identified with the swallow as a migratory bird whose pattern of life his own traveling days were beginning to resemble.
Roger Sale believes Andersen's feelings of social and sexual inferiority were expressed in the tale by creating characters that are inferior to their beloveds. The Little Mermaid, for example, has no soul while her human beloved has a soul as his birthright. In “Thumbelina”, Andersen suggests the toad, the beetle, and the mole are Thumbelina’s inferiors. They should remain in their places rather than wanting their superior. Sale indicates they are not inferior to Thumbelina but simply "different". He suggests that Andersen may have done some damage to the animal world when he colored his animal characters with his own feelings of inferiority.
Jacqueline Banerjee views the tale as a story about failure. “Not surprisingly,“ she writes, “”Thumbelina“ is now often read as a story of specifically female empowerment.“ Susie Stephens believes Thumbelina herself is a grotesque. She observes that “the grotesque in children’s literature is [...] a necessary and beneficial component that enhances the psychological welfare of the young reader“. Children are attracted to the cathartic qualities of the grotesque, she suggests.
Sidney Rosenblatt in his essay, "Thumbelina and the Development of Female Sexuality" believes the tale may be analyzed from the perspective of Freudian psychosexual development. He believes the story is one of female masturbation. Thumbelina herself, he posits, could symbolize the clitoris, her rose petal coverlet the labia, the white butterfly "the budding genitals", and the mole and the prince the anal and vaginal openings respectively.
"Thumbelina" has been adapted to different media. The earliest animated version of the tale is a silent, black-and-white release by director Herbert M. Dawley in 1924. Lotte Reiniger released a 10-minute movie adaptation in 1954 featuring her "silhouette" puppets.
Don Bluth's full-length animated movie, "Thumblina" may be one of the best known versions. The story was also adapted to the live-action television program, "Faerie Tale Theatre". This production starred Carrie Fisher. The direct-to-DVD animated movie, "Barbie Presents Thumbelina" was released in 2009. Russia and Japan have also released animated productions.
Mike McGlone
Michael "Mike" McGlone (born 10 August 1972) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and comedian. He is best known as the GEICO insurance spokesperson.
Puss in Boots