MovieChat Forums > The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964) Discussion > Plot holes

Plot holes

posted 16 years ago by dsewell-3
8 replies | jump to latest

I never saw this movie as a kid, so I don't know if these points would have bothered me or not. Probably not. But as an adult viewer:

1. Why doesn't the "witch" let the children know she has Thomasina? As she saw their elaborate funeral and knows that it was a named cat, she must realize that Thomasina was very special to someone. And she had plenty of time to learn whose pet she was.

2. This one's worse IMO. How, after going to great lengths to make the adults aware of the circus staff's cruelty to animals, can the kids go to a performance and apparently have a great time watching? (There's a shot of them laughing and enjoying themselves.)

I'd guess that #1 had a reasonable explanation in the book but was glossed over in the film. #2 is just plain wrong.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LetsPoddy 15 years ago

cant_find_my_tonsils wrote:

> When she found Thomasina, the cat was breathing.
> She probably figured that the kids were playing a
> cruel game or were just too stupid to actually have a cat.

She makes a remark about the cat still breathing and "didn't they know" ... so she indeed knew it was a funeral service the kids were having.

> I don't remember that. Most likely, they were different children.

I just saw the movie tonight and it was the same kids who were upset at the circus animals being abused.

Like the original poster, I immediately was thinking why are they watching the performance and smiling when earlier they had been quite upset at what was going on with the animals at the circus.

[–] actionmanozzie 15 years ago

She believed that they were stupid kids because the cat was obviously still alive, so she would never give them the cat back. ALSO, she doesn't see the owner (mary) until the very END of the movie. When she sees them, she's quite a good deal away (singing with them during the funeral) and ALL of them are covered head to toe in black (including huge hats with feathers all around the girls faces). They all scatter before she's very close. She might not have known that it was the same children...

As for the circus, they don't know that there's cruetly to animals going on. They're watching the circus. The woman and Mr. Macdui are the ones trying to prevent the cruelty/seeing it.

[–] c00lac 14 years ago

I'm pretty sure we're NOT supposed to assume that she is taking the cat away from the kids after having decided that they're too stupid to have a cat. I will, however, accept that the kids run before she gets too close. Besides, she lives alone in the woods and may not recognize some random kids from the town. Besides, Thomasina wasn't in a cage -- she could have gone back home at any time. Lori wasn't aware of Thomasina's amnesia.

As for the circus, the boys certainly do know that there's cruelty to animals going on. Lori & Andrew are only there because the kids were horrified enough to run to town and talk to the cops/vet/witch. It does seem a little strange, though what they were cheering for wasn't a terribly abusive act...

[–] nycruise-1 15 years ago

Watching it again tonight.

It was a favorite of mine when it first came out.

The one plot hole tonight that I finally nailed that always somehow escaped notice but that somehow stirred in my head regarding her burial - and subsequent re-emergence to Life #2 - is that the children had Thomasina's body - despite the fact that she presumably had died of tetanus.

Mr. Macdhui insists on all of Mary's contaminated belongings being burned because of their exposure to tetanus - yet the infected body somehow makes its way into the hands of the kids!

I would have thought Thomasina's body would have been the first thing quarantined and burned.

Or perhaps Thomasina didn't have tetanus - and Dr. Macdhui simply wanted the cat dead and out of the way, then gave no thought afterward to the disposal of the body.

(I know the plot hole allows for the rest of the movie to happen - and I'm sure no one on the Disney staff ever took the trouble to frame it so that it might imply what I stated above regarding Thomasina NOT having tetanus - nevertheless, I couldn't help but notice it tonight.)

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

[–] borg_punk-1 15 years ago

I don't think they would have listened even if Dr. Macdui told them not to tuch the body. Mary ignored everything he said from that point.
Anyway, they did not tuch the bodt and it doesnt make sense that Thomasina had Tetanus and then wakes up again.

[–] nabo7 11 years ago

Mr. MacDhui and his assistant had their hands full performing emergency surgery on the blind man's badly injured guide dog when Mary brought Thomasina in. In their haste Mr. MacDhui could have misdiagnosed the cat as having tetanus and the assistant could have let some procedure fall through the cracks. Perhaps not too much liberty for the sake of a story.

[–] moosefeathers 9 years ago

Those are not plot holes, just things that annoy you.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...