Those among us who treasure Rankin/Bass' annual holiday specials like RUDOLPH THE REINDEER and SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN undoubtably have wondered at some point or another why the production company never tried any full-length feature efforts. Well, they did, with mixed results. The most ambitious effort of several was THE DAYDREAMER, Rankin/Bass' live action/stop-motion animation effort that was apparently supposed to be their masterwork but didn't quite deliver. Sure, it's a children's musical fantasy, and it's cast with a plethora of then-famous movie and television stars, but the whole thing just doesn't work. The story concerns an adolescent Hans Christian Andersen, learning life's lessons as he dreams himself into adventures(the animated sequences)that turn out to be several of the beloved Danish storyteller's famous stories, like Thumbelina, the Little Murmaid, etc. What really puts one's teeth on edge are the live-action sequences with Paul O'Keefe and Jack Gilford as Chris and Papa Andersen. Despite their distracting Brooklyn accents, what really spoils the mood is the degree of disfunction in this family. Papa Andersen is indecisive and easily put-upon by his harpie customers. Chris is selfish and is easily swayed into abandoning many of his new-found friends. Several of the animated sequences are atmospherically dark with less than happy resolutions. The songs are not on par with most of the television offerings, and the film drags intolerably so that, by the time it does end, you really don't care if Chris does get back home. As an adult, I found it hard to sit through, and I can't see a child today(or in 1966)watching this with any degree of sustained interest, with the exception of Tim Burton. And surely, the decision to have Robert Goulet sing the film's theme song was the kiss of death . . .
