Neuigkeiten

Quick…name a favorable film where the landscape is run by (or at least partially include) the demographic of little people as part of the instrumental storyline? C’mon…it should not be that difficult, okay? If you want to mention say Darby O’Gill and the Little People then that would fine. How about Bad Santa or Poltergeist for that matter?

In That’s Good Enough, Short Stuff: Top Ten Films Featuring Little People we will take a look at some of the mini megastars that inhabited these movies and contributed their fair share of entertainment value to the on-screen proceedings. The debate as to whether some of these selected films featuring these pint-sized performers are considered positive, exploitative or dismissive are not up for discussion (although one of these considerations could apply in the minds of a few folks). Instead, we want to celebrate the inclusion of...

"The Hobbit" hits theaters this Friday and besides all the hobbits, orcs, elves, humans, dragons and Gollums, there's also a group of sturdy folk who form the backbone of the movie: Dwarves.

This isn't the first time dwarves have been portrayed in film, of course — and it's not the first time that little people have been played on screen by regular-sized folks, either. But "The Hobbit," with its band of stout and heroic dwarven heroes, is undoubtedly one of the most prominent portrayals of little people in Hollywood's long and checkered history.

So that got us thinking: Where is "The Hobbit" going to end up ranking on the scale of most positive to most demeaning portrayals of little people in film? To help you decide that for yourself, here's a quick continuum of nine prominent movies featuring little people, ranked from most positive to most demeaning.

1. 'The Station Agent...

Los Angeles -- Henry Thomas was just 10 years old when the role of Elliott in "E.T. – the Extra-Terrestrial" made him a star. With the Steven Spielberg classic finally out this week on a 30th-anniversary Blu-ray, Thomas – now a 41-year-old father of three – was nice enough to take the time to choose his five favorite family films. Here he is, in his own words:

_ "The Wizard of Oz" (1939): A great film any way you slice it! The songs are great for kids and the characters really capture the imagination of young and old alike. An excellent performance by everyone, but especially Toto (my favorite).

_ "The Terror of Tiny Town" (1938): A classic Western acted entirely by small performers and Shetland ponies. This is one of my favorites.

_ "Matilda" (1996): My daughters love this film (a Roald Dahl story directed by Danny DeVito) and we watch it at least once a week.

There's an old adage that "short people live longer," and Karl Slover was a testament to that. The diminutive actor and singer, most famous for playing one of the Munchkins in "The Wizard of Oz," passed on yesterday at the age of 93.

The Associated Press reports that Slover, born Karl Kosiczky in what is now the Czech Republic in 1918, died of cardiopulmonary arrest at a hospital in Georgia. He was still appearing at events as recently as last week.

In addition to his most famous role as the first trumpeter to herald the Munchkin mayor's entrance, Slover had three other roles in the 1939 fantasy classic: a soldier, one of the sleepy heads, and one of the singers of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." He was 21 at the time, the shortest of the Munchkins at 4-feet-4, making the mere 5-foot Judy Garland a towering giant in comparison.

Other parts included the...

Which leads to the burning question: How many Munchkins are left? He is best known for being the first trumpeter in the film but he also was one of the Munchkin soldiers, the only sleepy head boy in the nest of Munchkin eggs, and, one of the singers who led Dorothy down the yellow brick road. Like several of the other small actors, he had a part in the all-midget western The Terror Of Tiny Town in 1938. Laurens County, Georgia Coroner Nathan Stanley says Karl Slover died around 3:40 Tuesday afternoon at Fairview Park Hospital. Stanley said he died of cardiopulmonary problems caused by old age. Slover was 93.

From the BBC News Website:

Actor Karl Slover, who was best known for playing a Munchkin in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz, has died aged 93.

The star, who passed away on Tuesday with heart problems, was one of the last surviving cast members.

An interesting sub-genre called the Weird West has been around longer than most people think, and certainly Cowboys & Aliens won’t be the last, but it might be one of the more successful film mash-ups in the rarely talked about genre. First of all, what’s the Weird West? It’s a term used to describe a western that uses sci-fi, horror, or fantasy elements in its narrative. And although it was popularized by authors, especially Joe R. Lansdale, it has had a long history in film dating back all the way to the early 1930s.

Because of the iconic themes and ideals with in the western movie, which often mirrors the fantastical elements in a sci-fi tale, such as (but not limited to) unknown wilderness and the survival of pioneers, and social decay and order, it would not be very long before the two genres merged, given us a...

The American West was a strange, tragic and occasionally hilarious place, especially in the world of film. From "True Grit" and "Shane" to "Westworld" and "Blazing Saddles," movies have thrown just about everything they can muster at cowboy-hatted icons like John Wayne and Yul Brynner.

2011's "Cowboys and Aliens" is hardly the first movie to mix Western elements in with science fiction or ridiculous monsters. For almost as long as Hollywood has been making movies about lawlessness and bandits, filmmakers have been finding ways to make the West weird. So while we do tip our Stetsons to Mel Brooks, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and every other innovator of the cowboy movie genre, these ten films burned new brands onto cowboy stories as an institution and truly set themselves apart as the most surreal buckaroo films ever made.

[#10-6]   [#5-1]   [Index]

10. "The Terror of Tiny Town" (1939)

Before "Oklahoma!" and "Cannibal! The Musical" set the...