Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Tom Thumb

 Tom Thumb
type
TVTItem
 Tom Thumb
label
Tom Thumb
 Tom Thumb
page
TomThumb
 Tom Thumb
comment
Tom Thumb is a traditional hero in English folklore who is no bigger than his father's thumb. Most commonly used as a stock Fairy Tale character in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.Stories involving Tom Thumb include typical fairy tale plot lines such as killing giants, wooing various women and embarking on innumerable other tasks in order to achieve/gain/prove something. These tasks are further complicated by the size of Tom Thumb, though he inevitably manages to utilize his tiny size to overcome obstacles in his way in roundabout ways. With unsettling frequency, Tom gets eaten by various animals and escapes by various means, including cutting his way out, yelling so that a nearby parson thinks the animal is possessed, and just getting pooped out.The origin of Tom Thumb is often cited as a poor, childless couple in the days of King Arthur allowing an old beggar (secretly the magician Merlin) to take refreshment in their home. The couple longs for a son and would be content even if he was no bigger than a thumb. Amused by this notion, Merlin casts a spell which resulted in the birth of the diminutive Tom Thumb. The tiny child is blessed by the fairy queen.The most notable Tom Thumb stories include Richard Johnson's The History of Tom Thumbe published in 1621. A 1730 play by English dramatist Henry Fielding by the same name name, and which he rewrote in 1731 as The Tragedy of Tragedies. A 1958 movie musical stars Russ Tamblyn as Tom. Chuck Jones did two radically different cartoons based on the story for Warner Bros., decades apart: the Disneyesque "Tom Thumb In Trouble," and the Pythonesque "I Was a Teenage Thumb."The Aarne Thompson type is 700; see Thumbelina for the Distaff Counterpart. Full text here; there are similar tales in many countries.
 Tom Thumb
fetched
2024-04-27T12:17:07Z
 Tom Thumb
parsed
2024-04-27T12:17:07Z
 Tom Thumb
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Tom Thumb / int_185ea595
type
The Trickster
 Tom Thumb / int_185ea595
comment
The Trickster: Tom shows shades of this early in the story, cheating at marbles. This probably derives from an earlier oral version, because many Thumblings in folklore tend to be trickster figures.
 Tom Thumb / int_185ea595
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_185ea595
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_185ea595
 Tom Thumb / int_3587b71c
type
Wonder Child
 Tom Thumb / int_3587b71c
comment
Wonder Child
 Tom Thumb / int_3587b71c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_3587b71c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_3587b71c
 Tom Thumb / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Tom Thumb / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Dinah Mulock's version ends with Tom Thumb being killed by a spider. Henry Fielding's tragedy play ends with him being digested by the cow that swallowed him. His ghost comes back, and dies again, after getting embroiled in a Love Triangle.
 Tom Thumb / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_4e3d253b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_4e3d253b
 Tom Thumb / int_590f44cd
type
Improvised Clothes
 Tom Thumb / int_590f44cd
comment
Improvised Clothes: To an extent - Tom's wardrobe gets pretty imaginative, with a needle for a sword. There's even a touch of Garden Garment with a leaf for a hat, a thistledown jacket, and stockings made out of apple rinds.
 Tom Thumb / int_590f44cd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_590f44cd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_590f44cd
 Tom Thumb / int_5e2e55e4
type
The Casanova
 Tom Thumb / int_5e2e55e4
comment
The Casanova: Tom becomes very popular with the ladies in King Arthurs Court.
 Tom Thumb / int_5e2e55e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_5e2e55e4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_5e2e55e4
 Tom Thumb / int_bab7fceb
type
Incredible Shrinking Man
 Tom Thumb / int_bab7fceb
comment
Incredible Shrinking Man
 Tom Thumb / int_bab7fceb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_bab7fceb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_bab7fceb
 Tom Thumb / int_be009bbc
type
Alliterative Name
 Tom Thumb / int_be009bbc
comment
Alliterative Name: The protagonist's name is Tom Thumb.
 Tom Thumb / int_be009bbc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_be009bbc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_be009bbc
 Tom Thumb / int_c1944f9
type
Getting Eaten Is Harmless
 Tom Thumb / int_c1944f9
comment
Getting Eaten Is Harmless: Tom gets Swallowed Whole several times by various creatures (a cow, a giant, a fish, etc). But he manages to survive and escape each time.
 Tom Thumb / int_c1944f9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_c1944f9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_c1944f9
 Tom Thumb / int_c299ce05
type
Ribcage Stomach
 Tom Thumb / int_c299ce05
comment
Ribcage Stomach: Implied in one version. After being Swallowed Whole by a fish, Tom fashions a sword from one of the fish's ribs while he's inside its stomach.
 Tom Thumb / int_c299ce05
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_c299ce05
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_c299ce05
 Tom Thumb / int_ddbf2ebf
type
Lilliputian Warriors
 Tom Thumb / int_ddbf2ebf
comment
Lilliputian Warriors: In many of the tales, Tom is quite the badass.
 Tom Thumb / int_ddbf2ebf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_ddbf2ebf
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_ddbf2ebf
 Tom Thumb / int_df7154e0
type
Nice Mice
 Tom Thumb / int_df7154e0
comment
Nice Mice: Tom rides a mouse and has a carriage drawn by mice.
 Tom Thumb / int_df7154e0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_df7154e0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_df7154e0
 Tom Thumb / int_eea96e78
type
Swallowed Whole
 Tom Thumb / int_eea96e78
comment
Swallowed Whole: Happens to Tom with a fish, a cow and a giant. Modern versions usually tone it down to simply being stuck in the cow's mouth.
 Tom Thumb / int_eea96e78
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_eea96e78
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_eea96e78
 Tom Thumb / int_f0ac89cc
type
Sewing Needle Sword
 Tom Thumb / int_f0ac89cc
comment
Sewing Needle Sword: In some variants of the story, the titular character is knighted by a king during his adventures or sets off on his own. He chooses a small needle to function as his sword.
 Tom Thumb / int_f0ac89cc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_f0ac89cc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_f0ac89cc
 Tom Thumb / int_f4f3252e
type
Law of Inverse Fertility
 Tom Thumb / int_f4f3252e
comment
Law of Inverse Fertility
 Tom Thumb / int_f4f3252e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_f4f3252e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_f4f3252e
 Tom Thumb / int_feb72f62
type
Literal Genie
 Tom Thumb / int_feb72f62
comment
Literal Genie/Jackass Genie: Oddly enough, Merlin can seem to be this in many versions giving the childless couple such a tiny child out of amusement. Though it worked out well.
 Tom Thumb / int_feb72f62
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_feb72f62
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_feb72f62
 Tom Thumb / int_name
type
ItemName
 Tom Thumb / int_name
comment
 Tom Thumb / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Tom Thumb / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Tom Thumb / int_name
 Tom Thumb / int_name
itemName
Tom Thumb

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
all lowercase letters / int_26447cb1
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
English Literature / int_26447cb1
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Just Eat Him / int_26447cb1
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Sewing Needle Sword / int_26447cb1
 Tom Thumb
hasFeature
Wonder Child / int_26447cb1