Oscar-Nominated Songs: Thumbelina
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (69136)
United States
January 17, 2023 10:39am CST
There are songs, if you’re of a certain age, that might be safely stored in the deep recesses of your mind. And here I come with a countdown and drag them out!!! Some of you are going to hate me for bringing this song to mind. Too bad. This song lost a coin toss or it’d be in the top ten! So here’s today’s song from the list of Oscar-nominated tunes.
Thumbelina - Danny Kaye
By the time I came along, Danny Kaye was a “has-been.” Not that he was “washed up” (if you want to see an absolutely MARVELOUS performance, watch him as the concentration camp survivor protesting a neo-Nazi march in the 1981 TV movie Skokie), but the Beatles and rock and roll and all that. I was watching a documentary on Kaye the other night and his daughter said that, when she was ga-ga over the Beatles, her mother told her, ”That’s how they acted for your father when he played at the Palladium in London!”
The good thing about him being a “has-been” was that most of his movies were on TV. That included the 1952 classic Hans Christian Andersen.
And yet again, as I mentioned with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, I was upset to discover that Hans Christian Andersen didn’t look ANYTHING like Danny Kaye! 
Actually, the whole movie was a farce. Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a sad figure, not the happy-go-lucky singing troubadour that Kaye portrayed. And Thumbelina is not a happy fairy tale, certainly nothing to inspire such a happy, upbeat song.
Danny Kaye, on the other hand, played a lot of this movie in real life. The first thing I remember knowing about him was his work as the international ambassador for UNICEF and a USO entertainer, where he’d go spread love.
This joyful tune is in stark contrast to the 1952 Best Original Song winner, the previously used “Ballad of High Noon.” And we need the contrast.
So, if you’d forgotten about this song long ago…I’m not sorry for bringing it back up.
Thumbelina
Written by Frank Loesser
Recorded by Danny Kaye
From Hans Christian Andersen, 1952
When your heart is full of love:
Actually, the whole movie was a farce. Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a sad figure, not the happy-go-lucky singing troubadour that Kaye portrayed. And Thumbelina is not a happy fairy tale, certainly nothing to inspire such a happy, upbeat song.
Danny Kaye, on the other hand, played a lot of this movie in real life. The first thing I remember knowing about him was his work as the international ambassador for UNICEF and a USO entertainer, where he’d go spread love.
This joyful tune is in stark contrast to the 1952 Best Original Song winner, the previously used “Ballad of High Noon.” And we need the contrast.
So, if you’d forgotten about this song long ago…I’m not sorry for bringing it back up.
Thumbelina
Written by Frank Loesser
Recorded by Danny Kaye
From Hans Christian Andersen, 1952
When your heart is full of love:
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13 people like this
12 responses
@RebeccasFarm (90523)
• Arvada, Colorado
17 Jan 23
Are you kidding me? I know it and remember it so well Four Walls.
3 people like this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
17 Jan 23
It’s one of those songs that made you love musicals back then!3 people like this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
18 Jan 23
I thought he was so handsome (“cute” handsome, I guess) when I was little. I loved watching his movies on TV.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47706)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
17 Jan 23
Yes, I always liked Danny. I thought he was very good looking so it's a wonder he didn't get star leading man roles. Maybe because he was also funny.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
17 Jan 23
I thought he was very handsome, too! There are different levels of “movie star handsome,” I guess, and he wasn’t in Newman’s league. No less brilliant a performer, though.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
17 Jan 23
The song brings back such wonderful memories!
2 people like this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
17 Jan 23
Is that a big “nope” that Whiskey Puppy chewed on? 
1 person likes this
@NJChicaa (120188)
• United States
17 Jan 23
@FourWalls definitely. You just reminded me that I have to get him when I get back. I saw my neighbor as I was leaving. She unexpectedly got called into work.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
18 Jan 23
Musicals are an acquired taste (although he did much more than that). I always appreciated his charity work for UNICEF.
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
18 Jan 23
@CarolDM — the problem with them is you see one, you’ve seen them all. Some great songs, though. Tomorrow’s song might shock you to discover it originated in a movie!
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203422)
• Nashville, Tennessee
18 Jan 23
@FourWalls I never got into musicals. Good for him and his charity work. Always good to hear.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (80884)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
17 Jan 23
I know the singer, have seen the movie and know the song.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
18 Jan 23
Alright! I thought a lot of people would have hated this. I love Danny Kaye’s work.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (342277)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Jan 23
My mother loved Danny Kaye, as do I, but his star was waning when I was growing up. I remember seeing The Five Pennies. I also saw him 'conducting' an orchestra with a fly swat and picking out a shy Asian player and singing her national song to her. He seemed to ooze charisma and love. I must try to watch more of his stuff. I also read/was told that his wife wrote all/many his tongue-twisting lyrics.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
18 Jan 23
He was married to Sylvia Fine, who won an Emmy and Peabody Award for her work. She did indeed write many of his songs.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (342277)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Jan 23
@FourWalls I should have known you would know!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (182117)
• United States
18 Jan 23
I remember Danny Kaye and this song very well.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
18 Jan 23
Hot dog! I’m doing well with you this month. You didn’t even upchuck over the country songs I used!
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (35778)
•
27 Jan 23
Never heard the song Thumbelina before. So, I'll have to go along with the High Noon winning the Oscar 
Such a classic Western, just like Shane.
Very fun song, but I'll have to give this one a "Thumbs Down." 
Although Danny did a good job singing the tune. Rosemary Clooney did say Kaye was a better singer than dancer 
Such a classic Western, just like Shane.
Very fun song, but I'll have to give this one a "Thumbs Down."
Although Danny did a good job singing the tune. Rosemary Clooney did say Kaye was a better singer than dancer 1 person likes this
@FourWalls (69136)
• United States
28 Jan 23
Thumbs down??? Well, I guess your heart isn’t full of love!
I’m sure Danny Kaye — and everyone else back then — would have preferred to leave the dancing to Fred Astaire and Donald O’Connor.
I’m sure Danny Kaye — and everyone else back then — would have preferred to leave the dancing to Fred Astaire and Donald O’Connor. 1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (35778)
•
29 Jan 23
@FourWalls Ha, ha. I have a soft spot for good Westerns.
1 person likes this
@thebos (5960)
• Kisumu, Kenya
2 Feb 23
@FourWalls true, bringing all the memories
1 person likes this
