Amazon.com: Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb: Nick Upton, Deborah Collard, Frank Passingham, John Schofield, Mike Gifford, Robert Heath, George Brandt, Andy Davis, Dave Alex Riddett, Andy Joyce, Richard Starzak, Tim Norfolk, Dave Borthwick, Colin Rose, Hengameh Panahi, Richard 'Hutch' Hutchison: Movies & TV

Actors: Nick Upton, Deborah Collard, Frank Passingham, John Schofield, Mike Gifford
Directors: Dave Borthwick
Writers: Dave Borthwick
Producers: Colin Rose, Hengameh Panahi, Richard 'Hutch' Hutchison
Format: Multiple Formats, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles: English
Dubbed: French, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated:
PG-13
Parents Strongly Cautioned
Studio: Manga Video
DVD Release Date: August 25, 1998
Run Time: 60 minutes
Average Customer Review: 22 customer reviews
ASIN: 6305046808
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,857 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #4700 in Movies & TV > DVD > Kids & Family

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Learn more about "Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb" on IMDb

Proactively Odd

ByJonathanon June 15, 2011

Format: DVDVerified Purchase

This sort of ilk is just my candy. Dave Borthwick directed one of the most bent interpretations of a classic fairytale you are likely to ever stumble upon. "The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb" (1993) is a dark and twisted stop-motion animated feature that follows the life of the mute, fetus-like Tom Thumb who is kidnapped by scientists, meets mutated apparitions in a lab, escapes with the help of a cybernetic lizard-monster, meets a settlement of elf-like creatures led by Jack the Giant Killer and (like Terr in "Fantastic Planet") uses his understanding of the giants and the elves to try and bring about peace and reunite with his Giant father. The giants munch grotesque, slippery bugs and terrorize the elf people for sport. Tom Thumb, being the only innocent, might be the only one who can bring peace to the world. The film is much more of a riddle than I have explained, so please watch it. The real pleasure of "Tom Thumb" comes from the fantastic look of the film and the bizarre humor and fantastically dense and strange atmosphere. It is at times a comedy, a tragedy, an action movie, a spy flick, a film noir, etc. It is a stop-motion film, but only half of the cast are clay puppets, the rest are human performers and they are also manipulated via stop-motion in a slow-going process called pixelation. This process gives the film a very distinct flavor and also allows for the seamless integration and interaction of puppet characters with human actors. Even after seeing it five times the finale still baffles me (see it for yourself). Overall the film is very perplexing and odd, but ultimately a lot of fun and comes recommended for those with a cock-eyed idea of how fairy tales should be told.

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The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb

ByC. Castellion August 31, 2008

This film is an adult version of the childrens fairy tale "Tom Thumb", but believe me this film aint no fairy tale. This film is set in a dingy part of London and is basically about a lower class couple who give birth to a tiny child the size of a thumb who is kidnaped and taken to an experimental laboritory which he subsequently escapes from. He then meets a community of similar sized people who help him to find his parents. This film is visualy spectacular. It is a stop motion animation film with live actors that are stop motion animated to interact with the claymation models which works together brilliantly and gives the film a strange, jumpy feel that keeps you on edge right from the start. Combined with and amazing soundtrack consisting of bands like "Sheep On Drugs", "Startled Insects" and a Theme by John Paul Jones, the former bassist for Led Zepplin, this film is a must see. Five stars

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Five Stars

ByAmazon Customeron February 18, 2017

Excellent

dark but good

ByLeslie J. Robertson May 15, 2007

An unusual and remarkable mixture of claymation and stop-motion animation, this movie is a twisted take on the stories of Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer. Pretty creepy--lots of insects, grimy back alleys, and a sinister science lab. A must for lovers of the genre or for anyone who admires Jan Svankmeyer.

The Dark Side of the Fairy Tale...

ByNyiNyaVINE VOICEon July 25, 2013

Format: DVD

If you were expecting the happy little tale of the tiny little fellow who sings, cavorts and backflips from daisy to daisy, do yourself a favor and back out of the room now. Just trust me and go.

This is such a hard thing to review. I don't even know what to call it: Cautionary tale, nightmare dystopean fable, a dark fairy tale -- or simply the ravings of an unsound mind. First of all, the techniques involved in putting it together are astounding. The claymation, the animation, all are of top quality. It's what these techniques convey that becomes problematic. After the first five minutes, one part of me wanted nothing more than to turn it off and forget it ever happened, but another part of me was hooked. This is not just some schlocky bit of nonsense made to shock gullible kids. A lot of work went into accomplishing...whatever it is it accomplishes.

There are some scenes that are truly disgusting, that made me sick to my stomach, but at some point, looking away became impossible and the sadness and humanity and even, occasionally, an underlying beauty are revealed. Although you kinda have to look fast for those parts, because they are outnumbered to an great extent by the gross stuff. So do I say "Watch this--it is so horrible you can't take your eyes off of it? And when you're finished, don't forget to slow down and enjoy the next car accident you pass!"

The story is your basic fairytale, only deformed. A pair of grotesques give birth to a long-awaited and much loved child. Except their offspring is not the gargoyle one might have expected them to bring forth, it is instead a small and perfectly shaped infant, about the size of a human thumb. Naturally fate will not let them live happily ever after and the homonculis attracts the attention of Evil Scientists who are part of an Evil Government. Tom is snatched away and thereby hangs a tale which is neither linear nor respectful of the general rules of story telling.

On the surface, The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb is a grisly little story of misshapen minds and bodies in an alternative and insect ridden universe. Dig a little deeper and it becomes even more unpleasant. There is a plot, and it is complex and multi-layered, involving corruption, politics, genetics, love, responsibility, murder, kidnapping, hopes fulfilled, depravity, betrayal, disappointment, bravery, self-sacrifice, dreams destroyed and friendly rodents. It's sometimes hard to follow.

The visuals are so repellant and discomfiting, the characters can be random or cruel, and the whole universe so chaotic, one finds oneself watching each scene unfold individually without linking together what went before. At times there is a total disconnect...no sense whatsoever of caring about the creatures performing the actions. Whether this was planned by the filmmakers or just the result of an overabundance of ugly images, I don't know.

So do I recommend this movie? Absolutely. There is a dark fascination in the truly horrible, and this film certainly has that, in spades. Five stars because, for what it is, it is very good. But if you choose not to watch it, you are probably making the right choice. I would never have come across it but for the interference and insistence of a good friend, a person with a keen but skewed intellect and a wide and only occasionally frightening range of interests, who forces me to leave my comfort zone every now and then.

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