The Daydreamer

1966 "Before the Little Mermaid, there was..."
6.1| 1h41m| G| en| More Info
Released: 01 June 1966 Released
Producted By: Rankin/Bass Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.

Watch Online

The Daydreamer (1966) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Jules Bass

Production Companies

Rankin/Bass Productions

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.
Watch Now
The Daydreamer Videos and Images
View All
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

The Daydreamer Audience Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.
Richard L. Fairchild like or not like. have certain expectations, or do not have certain expectations. beautiful ideas. check. sweet song in "Be a Happy Guy too." check. profundity in the Tree of Knowledge. check. sweetness all around. check. ingratitude for the skill and talent which produced this movie. no check. smug criticism by "sophisticated" reviewers. check. proof the movie is good and is truly a delight by the reviews of smug critics. check, and thank you. i guess i have to write more, because my review isn't able to be published without 10 lines. OK, here's some more. and more yet. OK, i'll keep writing.. is this enough? how about this? and is this enough? and what about this? am i in a college class? am i back in my film class in college? i don't feel that young anymore. maybe the sandman has brought me there.
Mark Andrew The Daydreamer is a wonderful piece of artfully combined live-action and stop-motion animation, also combining several classic folk tales. But what stuck in my mind since I first saw it in 1967 was Hayley Mills' poignant vocal on "Wishes & Teardrops", among the most intimate and affecting performances I have ever heard, an overlooked gem. Mills has a brittle vibrato which uncannily matches the undersea motif of her character, the Little Mermaid, and combined with the faintly comic bubble sounds in the background and lush orchestral accompaniment to her unusual surprisingly powerful alto range reminiscent of Karen Carpenter, and a thoroughly natural and idiomatic interpretation, produces a powerfully intimate connection reinforced by a superlative lyric impeccably matched to a captivating musical theme and a perfect choice of 3/4 waltz time signature, so evocative of the sea, a musicality reminiscent of Debussy's La Mer. Although this apparently represents Ms. Mills' sole adult commercial musical work, for me it's easily worth a lifetime of contribution to the universe of music. Almost half a century later, it still feels as if I'm hearing it for the first time.
D_Burke "The Daydreamer" is a movie which I hadn't heard of before until I saw it in the children's section of a movie store. I usually like Rankin-Bass's other movies and TV specials, especially "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" and "The Little Drummer Boy". Sure, the animation is archaic compared to the 3D animation we know today, but most of their specials have stood the test of time because they're still entertaining to watch, and they tell great stories. Plus, stop-motion animation is considered more of an art form now than in was in the 1960's and 70's.For those reasons, I really thought I was going to like "The Daydreamer". Not only that, but it also seemed like the first animated movie to feature celebrities as voices, rather than having mostly anonymous voice-over artists. Well, although "The Daydreamer" was made with the best of intentions, it didn't really work for me."The Daydreamer" is a movie that can be considered an even more fictionalized prequel to 1952's "Hans Christian Anderson", starring Danny Kaye. This movie tells the story of a young Anderson, known to his father and others as "Chris". Tired of his meager life with his father (there apparently is a mother in this movie as well, but she is mentioned, not shown), Chris is prompted by a Sandman (or a dream maker) to seek out a Magic Garden where all his troubles will be forgotten and he will live happily for the rest of his life. Chris sets out in the middle of the night, and through his journey dreams of encounters with The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and the shady tailors who are going to make an Emperor's New Clothes. These journeys, however, exist only in Chris' dreams. The idea behind this movie is that a young Chris will be inspired by these dreams that he will grow up and write famous stories about his "experiences". His dreams are all in stop-motion animation, while the real-life segments are acted in real time.Now here are my problems with the movie. First, the people in the live action parts didn't act very well, and were completely unbelievable. Although it was great to see Ray Bolger and Margaret Hamilton on screen (the Scarecrow and the Wicked Witch from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz", respectively.), the thrill was lost to me with the principle characters. The kid who played young Hans Christian Anderson looked and sounded awkward every moment he was on screen, and actually sounded worse when he was voicing his own character. Jack Gilford, who played Papa Anderson, delivered dialogue that almost seemed to insult the intelligence of the audience, no matter what the age.Although the stop-motion animation wasn't bad, the story that went along with it was weak and sometimes very confusing. It's doubtful anyone watching the movie would actually care about Chris' quest to find this Garden of Eden by any other name. Plus, when he actually reaches this Garden he was searching for, the story took on a very dark, weird, and unnecessarily Biblical turn that really didn't sit well with me. It was almost as if the screenwriters tried to find a way to tie each Anderson story together, and didn't know where to go after they covered Thumbelina. It's also interesting how The Little Mermaid segment of the story didn't quite have an ending. Most children will probably be sad to know the end of this version of The Little Mermaid, made long before Disney got their hands on it. So rather than spilling the beans on the true ending to The Little Mermaid, this movie decided to cut the ending off altogether. Not a smart move at all.This movie required the viewer to shed far more disbelief than necessary, especially in regards to the Thumbelina section of the story. In it, Chris meets Thumbelina and eventually they find their way to the home of a villainous rat, voiced by Boris Karloff. The rat does a poor job of seeming hospitable, yet both heroes fall for it. They also wander into a dark cave to visit a mole that is a walking, talking negative Asian stereotype. If I saw these creatures, I would run! I bet other kids would too. Why Chris sticks around is beyond me.I thought when I picked up this DVD in stores that it would be an enjoyable classic that I would tell my friends was an underrated classic. I tell my friends about "The Adventures of Mark Twain", which was a very pleasant surprise of a movie. This movie was an unpleasant surprise, and probably bombed when it was released forty years ago. Looking back on it now, it really hasn't stood the test of time. Although the animation was close to stellar, the storytelling, acting, and over plausibility was weak. I can't recommend it.
schwammy "The Daydreamer" is not really an "animated" kiddie film; it's a pretty clever blend of live action and stop-motion puppetry from the people who gave the world "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman." Inventive and ambitious, it makes use of dozens of sets and numerous characters, all of them created from scratch and painstakingly photographed one frame at a time-- something no one today (except Nick Park) would take the trouble to do.To label this film as "embarrassingly dated" is arrogant and absurd, unless you're willing to pass the same judgment on "King Kong" or "Jason and the Argonauts." Most films are a product of their time. A few are ahead of their time, and those films set the pace for others to follow. But to condemn something from the '60s for not being "Toy Story" is unfair, just as it is unfair for an adult to condemn a movie intended for children.Apparently an unfortunate result of computer animation is to render much of the history of filmmaking unwatchable because the special effects don't live up to today's standards. It's like kicking away the ladder that got you onto the roof. Today's effects-laden blockbusters would not have been possible--indeed, the film industry itself would not have survived the lean years when television was making inroads--had filmmakers not been willing to "go ahead and tell the story," plowing through budget and technical limitations, doing the best they could with whatever was at hand. To me, using plastic sheeting to achieve the water effects is ingenious. Obviously they couldn't use REAL water in stop-action animation. I challenge anyone to come up with a better solution using 1966 technology.Of far more importance than technical effects, however, is the effect a film will have on its viewers. Here "The Daydreamer" succeeds brilliantly. Wholesome fare for the current generation of value-starved children, it is to be applauded for its strong ethical stance on the dangers of selfishness and the importance of obedience and loyalty. Far from our present diet of bland postmodern gruel that can come no closer to a moral principle than "have self-esteem, be tolerant and everybody wins," this film teaches that right is right and wrong is wrong, and that actions have serious and often irreversible consequences.Lament, if you must, the inclusion of so many songs, but again, this picture is a product of its time. '60s moviegoers still had at least a fading appreciation for music--something modern audiences cannot claim (witness the death of the entire musical film genre)--and any children's feature worth its salt was expected to include a smattering of musical numbers. And while the music may be forgettable, the film itself obviously is not -- I saw it ONCE as a small child 25 years ago, and it has remained with me vividly until I saw it again yesterday.I look forward to the time when my own daughter is old enough to enjoy it as much as I did.