''The Little Matchgirl'' is a 2006 animated short film produced by
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...
and released by
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...
, directed by
Roger Allers
Roger Charles Allers (born June 29, 1949) is an American film director, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and playwright. He is best-known for co-directing ''The Lion King'' (1994), the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of al ...
and produced by
Don Hahn. It is based on an original 1845
story of the same name by
Hans Christian Andersen. It is the fifth Disney adaptation of an Andersen tale.
It was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Animated Short
The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...
but lost to ''
The Danish Poet'' at the
79th Academy Awards.
Plot
The film is set to the Nocturne from
Borodin’s String Quartet #2.
During
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, in pre-
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
times, an impoverished girl tries to sell matchsticks on the streets, but every potential customer refuses.
Later that night, the girl huddles in a snowy alley, trying to warm herself against the cold. Eventually, she decides to strike some of her remaining matches for warmth.
As the first match burns, she sees in its flames visions of warming her hands. However, when the match gutters out, she is returned to the cold reality of the alleyway. She strikes the next match to find herself enjoying a meal, and then the next, embracing her loving grandmother under a Christmas tree.
The next morning finds the girl still huddled in the alley, unmoving and covered in snow. Suddenly, her grandmother appears, and lifts her into an embrace. The music crescendos at this satisfying conclusion, until it is suddenly revealed that the grandmother is actually a spirit when they pass through the wall together. As they vanish and their spiritual light fades with them, the girl's body appears still in the snow with a smile on her face.
A comet soars across the sky, marking the girl’s journey from the earthly realm.
Differences from source material
The story's popularity far exceeded Andersen's original intention, which was to call immediate attention to the plight of Europe's suffering children.
The differences between the Disney version and the original Andersen text are minor. The setting was moved from the author's native Denmark to Russia; Allers noted that the story was non-specific about location, and Saint Petersburg would allow for beautiful scenery and was associated with snow and harsh winters.
The storytelling also leaves out the girl's cruel and overbearing father and the death of her grandmother, although the latter is implied at the end. Disney executives objected to the sad ending, so happier endings were tried, but ultimately rejected.
Production
Allers and Hahn previously were involved in Disney animated films such as ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...
'', ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
'', ''
Aladdin'', and ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...
''. This short, which was originally intended for the scrapped ''
Fantasia 2006
Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...
'', also represents Disney's final use of its
CAPS
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
system in animation.
The film made its debut at the
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...
in France on 5 June 2006, and was released as an extra on ''
The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD'' (another work based on an Andersen tale). It was re-released on The Little Mermaid Diamond Edition Blu-ray on 2013.
''The Little Matchgirl'' was released on the ''Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection'' Blu-ray on August 18, 2015.
Score
Because the film was intended for use in a ''
Fantasia'' movie, it was made in the Fantasia style, as a visual piece without sound or dialogue, set to a well-known piece of
classical music. It was originally going to use
Debussy's Claire de Lune
''Suite bergamasque'' ( L. 75) () is a piano suite by Claude Debussy. He began composing it around 1890, at the age of 28, but significantly revised it just before its 1905 publication. The popularity of the 3rd movement, "Clair de lune", has ...
, but later Allers decided to use the third movement (''Nocturne'') from
String Quartet No. 2 in D Major by
Alexander Borodin. This choice evoked images of Russia for him, which led to the decision to set the short film in Czarist Russia.
Coincidentally, Borodin was a native of Saint Petersburg. According to the film's closing credits, the piece was played by the
Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and beg ...
.
Cultural impact
Exactly one year after this film was released, the story "Leah" in "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual" was released doing an adaptation of the story.
See also
*
List of Christmas films
Notes
References
External links
*
AWN review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Matchgirl 2006 film
2000s Disney animated short films
2000s Christmas films
2006 films
2006 short films
2006 animated films
Films based on The Little Match Girl
Films set in Saint Petersburg
Films set in the Russian Empire
Animated films without speech
American Christmas films
Animated Christmas films
Films produced by Don Hahn
Films directed by Roger Allers
Fantasia (franchise)