The Daydreamer (1966)

Join young Hans Christian Andersen as he daydreams his way to adventure through his most famous fairytales. In The Little Mermaid everyone s favorite girl of the sea (Hayley Mills) must triumph over the evil Sea Witch (Tallulah Bankhead) with a little help from Father Neptune (Burl Ives). In The Emperor s New Clothes a pair of villainous tailors (Victor Borge and Terry-Thomas) create a surprising new outfit for a gullible king (Ed Wynn). The fun continues with Oscar ® -winner Patty Duke as Thumbelina Ray Bolger as The Pieman Boris Karloff as a sinister rat Margaret Hamilton as the mean Mrs. Klopplebobbler and much more in this timeless kid s classic filmed in both live- action and Animagic by Rankin/Bass the creators of FROSTY THE SNOWMAN RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER and THE WACKY WORLD OF MOTHER GOOSE.System Requirements:Running Time: 99 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 013131573695 Manufacturer No: DV15736 Product Description

A little-known gem from the makers of "Rudolph" and "Frosty"

Award-winning animation producers Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, fresh from the success of the now-classic TV special RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, aimed extremely high for this ambitious live-action/animated musical fantasy. The story is a fictionalized account of the young life of Hans Christian Andersen, with Paul O'Keefe (Patty Lane's brother on the PATTY DUKE SHOW) as "Chris" and Jack Gilford (COCOON) as his Papa. Chris enters the animated stories of THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES and THUMBELINA. There are also references to other Andersen tales like "The Garden of Paradise," "Big Claus" and "The Ugly Duckling." Even though some of the production values betray the fact that Executive Producer Joe Levine expected Mary Poppins but only provided a Tom Terrific budget, there is a lot to like in THE DAYDREAMER: a star-studded, perfectly selected voice cast, impressive AniMagic stop-motion art direction, and a knockout score by Maury Laws (check out "The Cartoon Music Book" on amazon.com) and Jules Bass. Fans of the late AL HIRSCHFELD will want to see the caricatured opening sequence; fans of THE WIZARD OF OZ will enjoy Margaret Hamilton's feisty cameo, fans of THE LORD OF THE RINGS will have fun comparing this to the Rankin/Bass production of THE HOBBIT released 11 years later and how far they had come since. Even Oleg Cassini designed the Emperor's New Clothes! The live-action sequences were directed by Ezra Stone, who starred as Henry Aldrich on radio and by that time was directing THE MUNSTERS. If you visited the 1964 World's Fair, look for the Denmark pavilion doubling for the streets of Odense. May 14, 2008

Filmed through an amazing combination of live-action and stop-motion animation

The Daydreamer is a children's DVD movie filmed through an amazing combination of live-action and stop-motion animation. Adapting some of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous fairytales, The Daydreamer follows a young Andersen as he imagines his fables come to life. The adapted classic Andersen fairytales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Emperor's New Clothes", and "Thumbelina". A commemorative booklet, still gallery, and poster round out this delightful DVD sure to entertain kids and adults alike, starring the voices of such well-known personalities as Boris Karloff, Patty Duke, Robert Goulet and more. 99 minutes, closed-captioned, full frame presentation. May 8, 2008

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