Tom Thumb (1936): A Weird Little Fever Dream

Is this thing worth a watch?

If you have ten minutes to kill and a high tolerance for 1930s animation weirdness, sure. It’s for the folks who like seeing how early cartoons didn't really have a rulebook yet. If you need a coherent story or realistic physics, you should probably just skip this and go watch The Cyclone Ranger instead.

Ub Iwerks directed this, and you can tell he was just throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck. Poor Tom is barely a character; he’s just a nuisance who gets in the way of everyone’s feet. The whole setup feels like it’s being made up on the fly.

The Underwater Stuff

Once Tom goes fishing, the movie turns into this bizarre fever dream. The fish have faces that look like they belong in a horror movie, not a fairytale. It’s got that specific 1930s vibe where everything is bouncy and slightly unsettling.

• The stork delivery scene is surprisingly clunky.
• The underwater perspective is mostly just fish swimming in circles.
• Why is Tom so good at getting into trouble?

I found myself staring at the background textures more than the actual plot. It’s not exactly deep storytelling, but there’s a strange charm to how messy it is. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Trying to Get Along, though much more chaotic. 🐟

Honestly, the ending just sort of happens. There’s no big lesson or satisfying conclusion, just a fade-out that feels like the animator got bored and decided to call it a day. It’s not great, but it’s definitely something you won’t forget in a hurry. Just don't expect it to change your life.