#thumblings

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Jaquimo

I rewatched Thumbelina recently. I was working on a review of it for the Thumbling Project, but I kept coming back to the the character of Jaquimo. Andersen’s swallow wasn’t in the story much, but Don Bluth’s swallow is in it a lot, and he’s . . . well, think Jar Jar Binks. However, my problem with him goes deeper than just how annoying he is.

Probably the main thing about Jaquimo’s character is that he is obsessed with tragic romances. The ones he mentions first and foremost are Samson and Delilah (betrayal and death), and Romeo and Juliet (mutual suicide) – which are more tragedies than romances in my book. Also in this scene, other books strewn around include Hero and Leander (drowning and suicide) and Apollo and Daphne (attempted rape and a woman turning into a tree!).

Jaquimo likes these romances because they’re “impossible.” This casts a new light on his excitement at learning that Thumbelina is engaged. Almost immediately afterwards, he almost lets Thumbelina go over a waterfall rather than fly her to safety.

Actually, he has the ability to fly Thumbelina home at any time, but is totally focused on finding the Vale of the Fairies. It quickly becomes apparent that this plan will be difficult and dangerous for both him and Thumbelina, but he refuses to switch tracks. In the process, he is badly injured and almost dies. Thumbelina only avoids a similar fate because the fieldmouse takes her in. Finally, Jaquimo ignores Thumbelina multiple times when she tells him to stop and take her home.

His actions ultimately save the day, but this seems in bad taste. A constant theme of the movie is people forcing and manipulating Thumbelina into things she doesn’t want. It ranges from the toads kidnapping her, to the beetle aggressively kissing her arm and ignoring her attempets to ward him off, to the mouse pressuring her into a wedding she doesn’t want. In one scene she cries plaintively, “Doesn’t anyone care what I think?” Tellingly, no one answers; she is alone and ignored.

Enter Jaquimo, again. Though he’s supposedly her friend and confidant, he doesn’t listen to her, either! As she begs him to stop, he ignores her and sets off once more on his quest to find the Vale of the Fairies. Here I’m torn, because on the one hand he’s been badly injured and seems pretty out-of-it, but he’s also acting consistently with his behavior in the rest of the movie. He has an extremely one-track mind, and stubbornly insists that he will find the fairies, and all will be well. He becomes exactly like the other animals who pressure her into doing what they want and ignore her desires.

I do believe Jaquimo is well-intentioned and that he cares about Thumbelina. But why is he so devoted to her cause after just a few conversations with her?

Ultimately, he is completely the wrong person to deal with this situation. Though he may not fully realize it, he’s blinded by his own vanity. One of this guy’s first lines is “I love the sound of my voice.” His stubbornness in searching for the fairies is also filled with pride—an insistence that he knows what’s best and that he can solve everything. He’s treating Thumbelina like a character in a tragic romance, albeit one that he can write himself. He can bring the lovers together and save the day. However, in the process he forgets that she is a real person who may not want the same thing he does.

How I would have fixed it

The writers wanted the swallow to have more screentime and build more of a friendship with Thumbelina. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, it does open up a HUGE plothole. Why doesn’t he just fly her home? (In the fairytale, he offers to fly her away first thing and she says no, but they meet for the first time under very different circumstances.)So what you need is an alternate reason why he can’t fly her home. It takes just a few seconds to think one up - he has a broken wing for most of the movie. Or maybe he’s trying to overcome a fear of heights.See? Done.