"Thumbelina" is a show tune from the 1952 film ''

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

'' written by American songwriter Frank Loesser and performed by

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

.Thumbelina 1952
2021 Frank Loesser It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

at the

25th Academy Awards The 25th Academy Awards were held on March 19, 1953 at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and the NBC International Theatre in New York City, to honor the films of 1952. It was the first Oscars ceremony to be televised, the first ceremony ...

Background

The song is based on the titular character of Danish

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in t ...

, who is the size of a thumb. In the song, a morose Thumbelina is encouraged to sing and dance (''"Thumbelina dance, Thumbelina sing"'') despite being a "tiny little thing", and when her "heart is full of love" she becomes "nine feet tall". According to Susan Loesser, the daughter of Frank Loesser, her father didn't have much regard for this song, referring to it as an "insignificant little ditty, not a real song", where he would use this song as an example when it came to poor music, whether his own or someone else's. Loesser never gave himself much credit for this song, although the song was created in a way it was meant to be – A "little ditty" that is aimed to entertain a young child.

Composition

The song is written in the key of D major with a tempo of 100 beats per minute (although the tempo in the actual record plays at 132 BPM). It features the use of a ninth chord,

major seventh chord In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a ''Delta chord'', can be written as maj7, M7, , ...

and as well as a

diminished chord In music theory, a diminished triad (also known as the minor flatted fifth) is a triad consisting of two minor thirds above the root. It is a minor triad with a lowered ( flattened) fifth. When using chord symbols, it may be indicated by the ...

Covers

*It has been covered by American singer

Jimmy Boyd Jimmy Devon Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor known for his 1952 recording of the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". Early years Jimmy Boyd was born in 1939 Mississippi into a musical fam ...

(with Norman Luboff) in the same year of its release. *Roger Snoeck has produced an instrumental version of the song in 1953. *It was part of a

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

performed by conductor Arthur Fiedler in 1963. *Canadian singer-lyricist Raffi covered the song in 1982, which appears in his album ''Rise and Shine''. Having a

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

influence, the song features

backup vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

s by a children's choir and instrumental music by Ken Whiteley, in addition to having a tempo of 102 BPM, slower than the original.Thumbelina – Versions
2003-2021 secondhandsongs.com

References

{{reflist

External links

Audio clip of original song
on YouTube
Razzi's version
on YouTube
Lyrics of this song
1952 songs American children's songs American nursery rhymes Songs about fictional characters Songs about fictional female characters Songs written by Frank Loesser