I’d actually seen this film many years ago, but I could only remember it semi-lucidly, so I figured it would still work as a first viewing for both you folks and myself. This is a very cool and interesting film, with not only a splendidly crafted dark and demented style and some very neat uses of stop-motion in different forms, but also timeless, if cynical, themes and ideas regarding human nature and controlled societies. It’s also probably the largest work in the arty, twisted, grungy, industrial animation wave that came about in the late 80s and early 90s, which was usually relegated to shorts more than anything. Needless to say, I quite enjoyed it, but we’ll get more into my thoughts later. As usual, here’s an idea of the story.
The film takes place in a dystopian scenario with a large factory/laboratory that seems to control a small British city/town. The factory essentially acts as a stork towards the townsfolk, creating artificial insemination jars for their mothers to incubate. However, one day, a robotic bug (of which there are many in the film) ends up getting caught in this assembly line and alters one of the jars. The mother that this jar was for ends up giving birth to a vastly diminutive child, who looks somewhat premature and is about the size of a human thumb. Because of this, the father decides to name him Tom Thumb, and they raise him as they would any other child, within the obvious limitations, of course. However, the overseers from the factory find out about Tom and take him away, obviously wanting to hide any sort of anomaly in their production pipeline. They put him in the laboratory section of their facility, where they perform several experiments on him and keep him locked in a cage, like an animal. Luckily, his cell neighbor, who’s a quadrupedal creature made of raw flesh, bat wings, an animal skull, and one metal limb, manages to break out of his cage and gets Tom out as well. The two form a partnership and look for a way to escape. Along the way, they come across a large generator-like device called the I.M.P. (short for Isolates Metabolite Particles) that seems to give out some form of energy that the scientists are using. After they, they find the “reject area,” where malformed creatures are kept in tanks, alive but not truly “living.” One of them seems to tell Tom to flip the switch that keeps them all alive, and he does so out of mercy. However, this alerts the scientists to his presents, so he and his friend make a break for a garbage chute, riding it all the way outside of the lab. When Tom emerges from the tube, he finds himself in a murky junkyard and is greeted by a tribe of small folks not much larger than himself. They seem to be friendly enough at first, but when the hybrid creature tries to crawl out of the tube, they immediately fear it and start throwing rocks and sharp metal objects at it. Tom tries to stop them, but the barrage sadly kills the creature, leaving Tom sad and the tribes-folk somewhat regretful. They still take Tom in and give him shelter, specifically with this one tribesman in particular. However, one night, Tom has several visions: ones of his father, ones of the I.M.P., and ones containing both. Upon telling this to his host, the two agree that they need to journey back to the town, find Tom’s dad, and make it back into the facility. They seem to have plans for the giant generator. I’ll leave the rest of the movie for you to see, now on to my thoughts.
Aesthetically, this film really speaks to me. I’ve always had an affinity for the twisted and artier side of animation, especially the styles of it that were coming about in the early 90’s. You’d see some of this stuff represented mostly at film festivals, but they did manage to get some exposure through places like MTV, which had showcase shows like Liquid Television and various demented bumper ads that would employ the people who made this stuff. This film very much fits in with that sort of crowd, what with its mixture of techniques and it’s grungy-and-industrial-meets-arty-and-weird vibe, which was an alternative aesthetic that was still going strong at that time. However, this film is much more subdued compared to the wilder offerings from a lot of the American works in this wave. It definitely feels more in line with the more “European style” art animation of creators like Jan Svankmajer, who was previously featured on the blog, and The Brothers Quay (though, ironically, they’re American themselves, but they studied in and work in Europe, so it factors in). The studio that made this film, bolexbrothers, was British, after all, so that makes sense. In terms of the techniques used within, the main character, Tom, along with the tribes-folk, lab creatures, and various bugs and critters, are all rendered using traditional armature stop-motion, which involves poseable figures on a set that are moved slightly and photographed many times in succession in order to create movement. This is a very classic form of animation that has been used in countless films and shows, though this film is, as stated, more on the Quay side than the Rankin-Bass side, if you catch my drift. Interestingly, however, the human actors in the film, such as those of Tom’s parents and the town’s people, aren’t shot live. Rather, they too are stop-motion animated in a technique called pixilation, which basically involves the same process that you would use with a model, except you’re doing it on an actual person. This both allows the human and model characters to interact rather seamlessly and gives the humans a very distinct jerkiness to their movements, which helps create a bridge between the relatability that we would expect out of seeing a human on film and the otherworldly vibe of the setting and non-human characters. Considering the overbearing grip that the facility has on the town and how it basically controls their lives, you have to wonder if the fact that the humans are animated like the model characters is implying the “puppet-like” nature of their existence. It might also be intentionally playing into “uncanny valley” techniques, since humans don’t normally move like stop-motion characters, so it gives off the sense that there’s something wrong with this whole world. The film, in general, definitely seems to be making some comments about society, as well as human nature. The overlording facility is a well-loved dystopian concept that, sadly, isn’t too far off from reality in some parts of the world (need I get into the “regulated birth” thing?). There are many mechanical bugs seen throughout the film, which, considering the fact that the factory has a garbage chute that leads to a radioactive pool right next to a junkyard, I think you can make your own conclusions on in terms of where they came from. The fact that the little tribes-folk, who are clearly shown to live in terrible conditions and are never even acknowledged by the humans at all (to the point where they step right on their houses and don’t even bat an eye), still react with fear and violence upon seeing the Tom’s creature friend, I think says a lot about prejudice in humanity, and how even the oppressed and downtrodden can hold these sorts of beliefs and impulses. Also, you got to love the Santa-crucifix that’s hung in Tom’s family’s house, that’s just classic. On the topic of religion, there does seem to be something of a Christian allegory or influence going on with Tom’s story, but I’m not sure I should get too into that, as it might spoil the ending. Needless to say, it’s certainly another element to take note of and look into. So, personally, I liked this film quite a lot. It spoke to different sides of myself: the fan of dark and weird animation, the art appreciator, and the writer/storyteller. I’m glad that someone out there was able to create a feature film within that animation wave I mentioned earlier (as there really aren’t many examples), and it now has a proud place in my collection.
Honestly, on the whole, I think this film was very well done. It executed what it wanted to say in an interesting way, gave you enough of an understanding of its story and ideas without having to tell you directly (literally, as there’s very little dialogue within, and what is there is often mumbled), crafted a very cool and interesting style that will draw in fans of the grim and twisted, and retained a sense of artistry that would be interesting for those that appreciate, not only the technical craft, but also the thematic craft as well. This one gets a definite recommendation from me, and if you’re trepidatious about it, keep in mind that its only an hour long, so it’s not a huge time sink or anything. So, delve into the Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb, the ones that the old British folk-tellers never told you (probably because they couldn’t foresee dystopian fiction yet, but you get the idea).