The Great Land of Small (1986)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

best movie i've ever seen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

From the same "Tales for All" series which mentally scarred Canadian children for life with the infamous Peanut Butter Solution comes yet another trippindicular kids film bound to disturb anyone under the age of 12.The Great Land of Small tells the story of Jenny and David, two fairly bratty kids who appear to work in the circus with their mom. The fatherless family takes a vacation to spend some time with Granny and Gramps in countryside, where the kiddos encounter Fritz, a diminutive denizen of the Land of Small, a realm existing in "innerspace" on the other side of the rainbow. Fritz goofed up in the woods by dropping his magic dust, allowing a sinister tavern owner to chance upon it. Fritz lets the bad guy take the dust with a warning, taking the opportunity test human responsibility. Of course things go wrong, so Fritz and the kids have to team up to set things straight. Their journey takes them over the rainbow to the titular Land of Small, where things get really whacked out.For those of you who are purely reliant on plot and spectacle, The Great Land of Small will wear out its welcome pretty quickly, but if you have a taste for this sort of thing, I think you'll dig it. The camera-work is actually rather nice for a kids film, so it was no surprise to see that this was a French-Canadian/Czech production. The music is fun too -- lots of ultra-saccharine, twinkly synth-pop for kids.It's not a high-budget film by any means, but it's full of quirks and peculiarities, which reach a climax when the kids go to the Land of Small, which is like a low-rent version of Little Nemo's Slumberland. The set is actually (I'm pretty sure) the stadium Canada built for the '76 Olympics, which is a very '70s futuristic all-white building with lots of sloping curves. Add lots of fog, populate it with brightly festooned Cirque du Soleil performers, and film it with some Dutch angles and you've got the Land of Small. This loopy land is ruled by Fritz's twin brother, played by Twin Peak's Michael J. Anderson in a dual role. His queen is played by the same actress that plays David and Jenny's mom, which is really weird. Hanging out in the Land of Small ain't so bad until the trip goes sour and David and Jenny attend a bizarre ritual. The Smallians start chanting "Slimo", summoning an ugly, moon-like creature out of a foggy crater. A dwarf and a giant are sacrificed (willingly?) to Slimo by sliding down a chute into a squishy pit. Slimo spits some gold dust into the pit and these folks are reincarnated into butterfly people. David and Jenny narrowly avoid the same fate. Long story short, this scene is really creepy and Slimo kinda looks like the scary moon from the game "Majora's Mask".Anyways, if you are the kind of maniac like me that enjoys weirdo kid flicks with awkward dubbing, imaginative sets and more than a dose of creep factor, check it out!

i have waited a long time to find this movie,i first saw this movie when i was a young child and would very much like to see it again,i really wish that it was DVD.for those who haven't seen this film well you will enjoy it and your children will love it if you have any.at this time in my life all i can remember of this film is one of the songs and mimmick who looks so sweet and cute and that it reminds me of other films like flight of the navigator and never-ending story.those kind of films should be brought back to are television screens so other children can watch this film and remember the fairy tales and the magic.like i said before this film needs to be put on DVD.

I was 7 years old when this movie came out, and I was taken to see it with my best friend by his mother. The memories of this film still haunt me to this day. Something about the strange imagery of the film caused it to fuel more nightmares for my childhood mind than freddy krueger or any other ghoul could ever hope to do. For that reason, I don't know whether to endorse the film or not. The imagery in the movie was potent/bizarre/creepy enough to etch itself permanently into my seven year old consciousness, so if you're interested to see what kind of film can do that to a child, I'd have to recommend it.If not, stay away, especially if you're a kid or have a kid with an (over)active imagination.

To this day my family uses "The Great Land of Small" as the basis of comparison for any film we disapprove of. Though details elude our memory, we recall an inexplicably cheerful little man and people in colored saran wrap. We fail to see what was "great" about the land, other than a volcano that burped glitter. Years after viewing it, we need only say the title to send everyone into fits of laughter and gagging sounds. This earns "The Great Land of Small" our resounding two thumbs way down. Were we to judge it on a star ratings system, it would be a black hole.