The Daydreamer

Viewed this film many years ago and it always was a great film for children and adults. The cast of actors were all veterans of the screen, namely: Jack Gilford, Ray Bolger(The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz) and Margaret Hamilton(The Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz) and the king of Horror, Boris Karloff (Frankenstein Monster). It also featured the voices of: Burl Ives, Tallulah Bankhead, Terry-Thomas, Victor Borge, Ed Wynn, Patty Duke and Robert Goulet. Karloff was the menacing voice of "THE RAT" in this internationally produced, live-action puppet fantasy. It is a MUST SEE to find out the complete story and ending.

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.

Delightful musical feature with thought-provoking lessons for both children and adults alike. A magical opening with Ritchard's "Sandman" sets the tone for an equally magical adventure through the mind of Hans Christhian Anderson. A memorable all-star cast accompanied by a whimsical score (who could resist "Isn't It Cozy Here!!"??). Not as good as Rankin/Bass' classic Christmas specials, but a winner, nonetheless.

I loved watching this whenever it came on when I was a kid. I loved how they took a young Hans Christian Anderson and put him in the middle of the stories that would later bring him fame. The thing that I think was a great moral to this story was that it is better to stay and face your problems than it is to run away. Too bad it is not shown on broadcast television anymore for the few people who don't have cable or sattelite.

OF COURSE I`VE SEEN THIS FILM!!! And quite honestly, seeing it over and over again, brings back so many fond memories of my childhood!! When it first came out, I was only a year old at the time, but as with most good childrens films, I always waited for the yearly reruns...(this of course being long befor VCRs). Now I own this film on video, and do watch it from time to time, and notice how sad it is that we dont see many of these claymation films anymore. The wonderful character voices of Patty Duke, Tallulah Bankhead, etc tec... you just dont find quality childrens films like this anymore. A classic in my opinion!! Children of all ages ...young and old , should see it!

Two thumbs up from VEGAS!!