From Amazon.com
Not only does the incurably sleepy Hans "Chris" Andersen dream in full color, this future storyteller also dreams in "Animagic." From the award-winning team that delights youngsters annually with their 1964 classic
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass),
The Daydreamer blends animated, roly-headed puppets with live-action talent including Jack Gilford (
Cocoon) and Margaret Hamilton (
The Wizard of Oz). A hunger for knowledge sends young Chris Andersen searching for the elusive Garden of Paradise. But the Sandman (a wavy shadow, voiced by Cyril Ritchard) casts Chris into a magical puppet world where he breaks a little mermaid's heart, humiliates an emperor, and causes big trouble for tiny Thumbelina. Screen favorites like Hayley Mills, Tallulah Bankhead, Burl Ives, and Boris Karloff lend their voices to the fantasy. Best suited for sentimental
Rudolph fans and kids who adore lengthy song-and-dance classics like
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, this visual candy store runs 99 minutes. (Ages 6 and older)
--Liane Thomas
Review
Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass carved a successful niche for themselves and their "animagic" stop-motion animation process in such television outings as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Their attempts at crossing over to the big screen, however, were less successful. The Daydreamer is not bad, but it's also not up to the level of Disney or most other studios attempting animation at the same time. By modern day standards, the animation is technically primitive, but even in comparison with other Rankin-Bass productions Daydreamer's "animagic" is a little sloppy (especially in those segments involving water). The live-action wraparound sequences are awkward and rather trying, and the film as a whole tends to drag. On the positive side, the "Emperor's New Clothes" section is quite good, helped enormously by Ed Wynn's marvelous Emperor and the thieves of Terry-Thomas and Victor Borge. The vocal talent throughout is of very high quality; rarely has an animated film boasted such a stellar line-up. The whimsical score is also a plus, with special mention going to the title song and the delightful "Isn't it Cozy Here," and the creators deserve credit for keeping intact the rather melancholy, downbeat air associated with Hans Christian Andersen. If they had also captured his magic, this might have been a special picture. Rankin and Bass would attempt one more feature production, the strange Mad Monster Party, a year later. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
See all Product Description
(7 customer reviews)
(
