Hop o' My Thumb

The story opens in the cottage of the woodcutter. Harassed by the problem of trying to feed so many mouths, the woodman adopts the singular plan of losing them in the depths of the forest rather than see them starve at home. Hop is too shrewd for his scheming parent; all through the woods, as he is led away, he sprinkles pebbles, so that when the desertion takes place, it is a simple matter for him to guide his brothers straight home to their mother's arms. They had escaped the goblins of the forest. Fortune smiles on the parents. They receive ten crowns for a bit of work the woodcutter has done. When this money has been spent, poverty returns. The woodcutter determines there are too many mouths to feed, and the children are again led into the forest. This time Hop can get no pebbles, so he drops crumbs of bread. When Hop starts to retrace his steps, he discovers that the birds have eaten the crumbs. Hop climbs a tree, and in the distance sees a castle. He leads his brothers to it. He pulls the great knocker. A large woman opens the castle door. All the children bow to her. She is alarmed for the safety of the boys, and tells them of the great ogre, her husband. She cannot alarm Hop, however. He calmly intimates that the wolves will get them anyhow if she turns them out. The big woman's alarm is real, however, when there comes a knock on the door. Hop leads the children under a bed. The great ogre, arrayed in gorgeous costume, enters. He glares wildly around, displaying his enormous molars. He utters the famous, "Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of chickens, some!" The ogre hears the children under the bed, and drags them out. He takes an enormous knife and prepares to carve Hop. His wife interferes, saying that the children are scrawny, and suggesting that she be given an opportunity to fatten them. So the children are put to bed, alongside the seven daughters of the ogre. The girls all wear a golden crown. Here is Hop's opportunity. During the night he takes the caps from the heads of his brothers and the crowns from the heads of the daughters and transfers them. The ogre tells his wife that he feels like absorbing something. He goes to the bedroom, where the fourteen are all asleep. He reaches into the bed of the woodcutter's children and from a tousled head pulls a crown. This he sees will not do. He replaces the crown and looks for a cap. One the head of one of the sleeping daughters he locates one. We see the great knife in the air and the scene changes. The ogre has slain all wearing a cap. After his departure Hop arouses his brothers and escapes. The ogre in the morning discovers how he has been fooled by Hop. He gets into his seven-league boots and starts after the children. He flies over the ground. As he is tired out, he stops to take a nap. Hop removes the boots and put them on his own feet. The famous boots shrink to fit him. Away goes Hop back to the castle and informs the wife of the ogre, that her bloodthirsty individual has been captured by "suffragettes" and that he wants money for ransom. The good wife turns over to Hop a bag of gold. Hop returns home, and is warmly welcomed. He pours over the floor of the hut the gold of the ogre. The seven-league boots have made Hop famous. He is appointed a messenger to the king. He establishes the family of the woodcutter at court. There we see him arrayed in silks and fancy garb waiting on the king and queen. The whole family are likewise arrayed. Their poverty is at an end. - IMDb