'Timeless Tales from Hallmark' is a wonderful show, adapting well-loved stories and while not completely faithful it treats them with respect and tells the stories with plenty of heart and charm without over-complicating or dumbing them down.
Of the show, "Thumbelina" (one of my favourite fairy tales) is one of the best, and along with "The Ugly Duckling" it's one of the most touching. As an adaptation it is also one of the more faithful ones in the series to the original story, a couple of changes but the basic structure and events remains true and the characters are colourfully written, Thumbelina being a more relatable and affecting protagonist than in Don Bluth's film.
With the animation, while there's better (though also much cheaper and inept), it's very beautifully done. There's plenty of vibrant colour, the backgrounds have a great amount of detail and it's smoothly drawn. The music score is one of 'Timeless Tales from Hallmark's' most whimsical and understated, with the songs, the best ones sung by Thumbelina, having great emotional impact (like the ones in "Rapunzel" for example".
Scripting has a nice balance of humour without being juvenile and pathos without being over-sentimentalised, and the story is beautifully told with a lot of charm and heart and no rushing, no choppiness, no dragging and no padding. The voice acting, at least four of whom experienced in voice acting, is very nicely done.
In conclusion, lovely and touching animated version, though the Russian animated version is the best version of the story. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Of the show, "Thumbelina" (one of my favourite fairy tales) is one of the best, and along with "The Ugly Duckling" it's one of the most touching. As an adaptation it is also one of the more faithful ones in the series to the original story, a couple of changes but the basic structure and events remains true and the characters are colourfully written, Thumbelina being a more relatable and affecting protagonist than in Don Bluth's film.
With the animation, while there's better (though also much cheaper and inept), it's very beautifully done. There's plenty of vibrant colour, the backgrounds have a great amount of detail and it's smoothly drawn. The music score is one of 'Timeless Tales from Hallmark's' most whimsical and understated, with the songs, the best ones sung by Thumbelina, having great emotional impact (like the ones in "Rapunzel" for example".
Scripting has a nice balance of humour without being juvenile and pathos without being over-sentimentalised, and the story is beautifully told with a lot of charm and heart and no rushing, no choppiness, no dragging and no padding. The voice acting, at least four of whom experienced in voice acting, is very nicely done.
In conclusion, lovely and touching animated version, though the Russian animated version is the best version of the story. 10/10 Bethany Cox
