The Daydreamer

Infobox Film
name = The Daydreamer


caption = Cover of the 2003 DVD release.
director = Jules Bass
producer = Joseph E. Levine Arthur Rankin, Jr. Larry Roemer
writer = Romeo Muller Arthur Rankin, Jr. Hans Christian Andersen (stories)
narrator =
starring = Paul O'Keefe Jack Gilford Ray Bolger Margaret Hamilton Burl Ives Hayley Mills
music = Maury Laws
cinematography = Daniel Cavelli Tadahito Mochinaga
editing =
distributor = Embassy Pictures Anchor Bay Entertainment
released = flagicon|United States June 1966
runtime = 101 min.
country = US
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:12649
imdb_id = 0060283

The Daydreamer is a 1966 Rankin/Bass stop-motion puppet animation and live-action musical fantasy film. Directed by Jules Bass, it was written by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Romeo Muller, based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. It features songs by Jules Bass and Maury Laws.

Plot

Teen-aged Hans Christian Andersen daydreams instead of studying for school. He runs away from home. Whenever he falls asleep, he dreams that he is in strange adventures with tailors, a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb, a mermaid, a devil boy in Eden, and others. The dream sequences are puppet animation, complete with a puppet version of himself. These dreams become the basis for his fairy tale fictions, which he writes as an adult: "The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes," and "The Garden of Paradise".

Thirteen-year-old Hans Christian Andersen, the son of a poor shoemaker in Odense, Denmark, is an incurable daydreamer. His father tells him about a legendary Garden of Paradise, and one day Chris runs away to find it. In an abandoned boat he meets The Sandman; and before long, young Chris is dreaming of Father Neptune's realm under the sea. There, The Little Mermaid falls in love with him, but, failing to win Chris's love, she is left stranded on a rock. Chris next visits The Emperor's palace and witnesses the old ruler being tricked by two tailors into believing his nakedness is actually a magnificent set of robes. After being magically reduced to the tiny size of Thumbelina and escaping from the evil Rat and Mole, Chris finally enters the Garden of Paradise. Puck, a boy who looks very much like Chris, persuades him to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and he is plunged into the Valley of Nothingness. Chris awakens from his bad dream and is joyfully reunited with his father. The Sandman makes a last appearance to suggest that perhaps Chris found his own Garden of Paradise through the wonderful tales; Chris ponders his adventures and finally writes them down on paper.

Songs: "Does Anyone Have Some Luck To Sell?" and "Who Can Tell A Wise Man from a Fool?"

Cast

*Paul O'Keefe as 'Chris' (Hans Christian Andersen)
*Jack Gilford as Papa Andersen
*Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Klopplebobbler
*Sessue Hayakawa as The Mole
*Patty Duke as Thumbelina
*Boris Karloff as The Rat
*Hayley Mills as The Little Mermaid
*Burl Ives as Father Neptune
*Tallulah Bankhead as The Sea Witch
*Victor Borge as Zenith
*Ed Wynn as The Emperor
*Ray Bolger as The Pieman

ee also

*List of stop-motion films

External links

*imdb title| id=0060283
*amg movie|id=1:12649|title=The Daydreamer
*rotten-tomatoes|id=daydreamer|title=The Daydreamer