The Little Matchgirl (2006) on Netflix
In pre-Revolution Saint Petersburg at Christmas, an impoverished girl tries to sell matchsticks, and every customer refuses her. In a snowy alley she strikes one of her matches for warmth.
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- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.8/105,721 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
In Czarist Saint Petersburg, at Christmas, a poor girl tries to sell matchsticks in the streets, and the people she approaches all turn her away. Night falls, and she takes shelter in a snowy alley, huddled against the cold with nothing else to keep her warm. Desperate, she strikes one of the matches she has left. In its flame she sees warmth for her hands and feet. The piece is entirely wordless and animated, set to the Nocturne movement from Borodin's String Quartet No. 2, adapted from an 1845 fairy tale about a girl in search of comfort and happiness.
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Little Matchgirl (2006)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The short was first planned to use Debussy's Clair de Lune, but Roger Allers switched to the Nocturne from Borodin's String Quartet No. 2, a piece that evoked Russia for him and led him to set the film in Czarist Russia; Borodin was himself a native of Saint Petersburg.
- Disney executives objected to the sad ending of The Little Matchgirl, so happier endings were tried but ultimately rejected.
- The Little Matchgirl was originally intended for the scrapped Fantasia 2006, the sequel to Fantasia and its 1999 follow-up Fantasia 2000, and it became Disney's final use of its CAPS system in animation.
