"The Daydreamer" is a full-length film by Rankin-Bass, the same folks who brought us Christmas classics such as "Santa Claus in Coming to Town" and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". The pair were very prolific and made a bunch more...though today most, aside from the Christmas specials, has been forgotten.
The story seems to be set in some difficult to determine time in Europe long ago. The cobbler's son, Chris, is a dreamer who has many adventures after he meets the Sandman. With the Sandman's urging, he goes off on some dreamy adventures...all of which are based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. During the course of the film, Chris dreams of The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Emperor's New Clothes and the Garden of Paradise (which is essentially a retelling of the Garden of Eden from GENESIS). And, in most of them, Chris is kind of a selfish jerk!
So is it any good? Well, the animation is exactly what you'd expect from Rankin-Bass...very cute and a bit old fashioned. There's also the obligatory singing...most of which seemed like padding, though I liked "Does Anyone Have Some Luck to Sell?". Overall, a good film with tons of interesting voice actors but also one that I am afraid today's kids might not enjoy as much as we did long ago. Worth seeing...and on YouTube.
The Daydreamer
1966
Action / Adventure / Animation / Drama / Family / Fantasy / Musical
The Daydreamer
1966
Action / Adventure / Animation / Drama / Family / Fantasy / Musical
Plot summary
It's 1801 in Odense, Denmark. Teenage Chris (Paul O'Keefe) lives with his father, Papa Andersen (Jack Gilford),the town's poor cobbler. In addition to getting little respect from his customers, Papa Andersen wants Chris to gain knowledge to grow up to be more than just a poor, abused cobbler, telling him in the process that all knowledge can be found in the Garden of Paradise. With The Sandman (Cyril Ritchard) as his guide, Chris sets off to find the Garden of Paradise. Often daydreaming along the way, Chris gets into one adventure and misadventure after another, most often only in his daydreams, encountering and befriending along the way a Little Mermaid (Hayley Mills),who lives under the sea, an Emperor (Ed Wynn),unhappy with what he has, commissioning a new set of clothes from a pair of Parisian tailors who aren't quite what they seem, a duckling who has lost his way from the rest of his family, and Thumbelina (Patty Duke),a little girl no bigger than his thumb. Chris' quest to get to the Garden of Paradise is unrelenting as he believes the world will be his oyster if he gets there, but acting as his moral compass, The Sandman may show him that he has to learn a few lessons and that the Garden will not just magically show him the answers to all life's questions. Meanwhile, Papa goes on a search for the missing Chris, following the metaphorical breadcrumbs that Chris has inadvertently left in his path.
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Movie Reviews
A cute but somewhat dated Rankin-Bass film for kids.
Fantasy fare for the little ones.
Just perfect for rugrats and pre-schoolers. Several Hans Christian Anderson tales told by way of live action and stop motion puppetry. A diverse cast donated time and talent to this somewhat dated film. The cast features Ed Wynn, Ray Bolger, Patty Duke, Boris Karloff, Burl Ives, Margaret Hamilton, Tallulah Bankhead and Paul O'Keefe.
The Rankin/Bass team working with the best of intentions...
Despite a terrific "Emperor's New Clothes" episode, I'm hard-pressed to recall anything in "The Daydreamer" which really works, and that's a shame because the team of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass are obviously working with love and sincerity. Plot concerns a young Hans Christian Andersen who runs away from home and meets up with all the fairy tale characters he'll someday write about. Live-action prologue and epilogue are cringingly awkward, animated middle not nearly as bad but certainly not magical. Top vocal talents abound, however they're weakly used (Hayley Mills voices the Little Mermaid, yet when it's Hayley's turn to sing, we are instead treated to some kiddie variation on Marni Nixon). "New Clothes" segment is funny and better paced than the rest of the film, and is certainly helped by Ed Wynn as the delightfully egomaniacal Emperor. ** from ****