Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. are best known for their "animagic" puppet holiday classics Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, but only hints of that magic appear in their 1966 feature-length film The Daydreamer. Set in Denmark, the story finds young Hans Christian Andersen (Paul O'Keefe) and his shoemaker father (Jack Gilford) living in material poverty, but blessed with a surfeit of imagination. A visit from the Sandman transports "Chris" off into the puppet-animated world of his stories, including “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor's New Clothes” and “Thumbelina.” The live-action portions of the film are badly directed, badly acted, and badly written (enlivened only by the appearances of Ray Bolger and Margaret Hamilton), while even the fairytale sections--though colorful--seem disappointingly simplistic compared to, say, Disney's interpretation of the same material. Featuring a cavalcade of quirky celebrity voices, including Hayley Mills, Boris Karloff, Victor Borge, Burl Ives, Patty Duke and Tallulah Bankhead (and a title track sung by Robert Goulet), The Daydreamer is presented here in a spiffy-looking but extra-less release that is not likely to appeal to today's animation-savvy youngsters. Not a necessary purchase. (D. Fienberg)
The Daydreamer
Anchor Bay, 98 min., not rated, DVD: $14.98 Volume 18, Issue 3
The Daydreamer
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: