Customer Reviews

Little Match Girl [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this video for my kids in the hopes that it would be somewhat like the traditional story, but I soon realized that it was very different. It's not really meant for children; they cannot grasp the significance of the new story. I wonder if some adults would get the full meaning, either!

This video also features jazz music, which most children and teens won't fully appreciate. It's a video for adults! They'll think it's pretty good.

This video is pretty good. We enjoyed it. It's kind of a primitive yet stylized animation style. The voices and sound effects are good. The pacing is just right, not phrenetic like MTV, but not truly slow and careful like British drama. The story is somewhat fleshed out from the Hans Christian Andersen original, which is only one and a half pages long. The story is more elaborate, but also kinder and easier to swallow, which admittedly reduces the story's impact. The ending is in contrast to the original. The social message of this story is much stronger and more blatant than the original, an accomodation to today's calloused viewer. There is a fair amount of enjoyable music.

As for being appropriate for children, the slightly less dismal plot makes this video more so than the original story, tho I wonder if telling such a dismal story to a child does anyone any good.

Quick delivery, great shape. It was a gift for a friend of mine who has been looking for the original for a long time. It is the right story but the not the original. Still good.

It's a great cartoon. It teaches you to care about poor people.
People who don't care need to see it. The little match girl is one of the poor people and tries to sell matches, but no one wants any. It is rather gut wrenching but you need to see it.

My folks forced me to watch a live-action version of this movie when I was child, telling me ahead of time that it was really good. Needless to say I was severely disappointed. This film is easier to take for two reasons - one, it's animated. Second, it includes the "visions" that the girl sees when she lights the matches. Unfortunately, the movie I saw as a child didn't have those, which would have made the whole thing much more palatable, even understandable. However, even with them this is one of the worst holiday films of all time simply because it's so incredibly sad, so infinitely depressing. I remember feeling sorry for that poor girl because she had such a monster for a father, and realizing how strong an emotion fear really is. She was too scared to go home, and actually preferred death instead of facing her father's wrath. This kind of thinking is hardly appropriate for young children, although the overall message of compassion is sorely needed in this world of arrogance and selfishness. Adults will also find this a film of sorrow, but I would definitely recommend this one instead of the live-action version - animation tends to be be less devastating. Show this to your children with caution, and be prepared to discuss it afterwards.