The Daydreamer (film)

Videocraft International
Company type	Private
Industry	Film production
Founder	Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Headquarters	New York, United States
Key people	Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass, Don Duga, Tadahito Mochinaga
Products	Films, including The Daydreamer, Mad Monster Party?, The Wacky World of Mother Goose

The Daydreamer is a 1966 musical fantasy film combining stop motion animation and live action, produced by Videocraft International. Directed by Jules Bass, the screenplay was crafted by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Romeo Muller, drawing inspiration from the tales of Hans Christian Andersen. The movie includes seven original songs composed by Jules Bass and Maury Laws. Its introduction features a blend of puppet and live-action performances alongside caricatures created by Al Hirschfeld. The cast comprises American performers such as Paul O'Keefe, Jack Gilford, Ray Bolger, and Margaret Hamilton—both renowned for their roles in MGM's 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz—as well as Australian actor Cyril Ritchard portraying the Sandman. Voice contributions come from Burl Ives and Canadian talents Billie Mae Richards and Larry D. Mann, who had previously collaborated on Videocraft’s 1964 stop motion Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Certain voice recordings took place at RCA Studios in Toronto under the direction of Bernard Cowan. The "Animagic" puppet sequences were developed by Don Duga at Videocraft’s New York facility, with supervision by Tadahito Mochinaga at MOM Production in Tokyo.

This film marked Videocraft's initial theatrical release through Embassy Pictures, a Los Angeles-based company headed by executive producer Joseph E. Levine. Embassy Pictures also handled distribution for Videocraft’s subsequent two 1967 releases: Mad Monster Party? and The Wacky World of Mother Goose. Within his partnership with Rankin/Bass, Cyril Ritchard provided voice work for three additional studio projects: The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes (1972), The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975), and The Hobbit (1977), which was his final cinematic performance before passing away.

Plot

A young Hans Christian Andersen, who is the son of an impoverished shoemaker, prefers daydreaming over studying and eventually decides to leave home. His journeys unfold both in reality and through dream sequences portrayed via puppet animation, where he encounters unusual characters including two deceitful tailors, a miniature girl no larger than a thumb, a mermaid, and a devilish boy in Eden. Hans pursues the elusive Garden of Paradise but never locates it. He is wrongly accused of poaching and sentenced to chop wood, where he reunites with his father—also unjustly imprisoned for fishing in restricted waters. Their freedom is secured only after the father surrenders a wedding ring. These imaginative dream adventures serve as inspiration for Andersen’s later fairy tales such as The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes, Little Claus and Big Claus, and The Garden of Paradise.

Cast

Paul O'Keefe as Chris (Hans Christian Andersen) and Puck (uncredited)
Cyril Ritchard as the Sandman
Jack Gilford as Papa Andersen
Ray Bolger as the Pieman
Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Klopplebobbler
Hayley Mills as The Little Mermaid
Burl Ives as Father Neptune
Tallulah Bankhead as The Sea Witch
Terry-Thomas as The First Tailor
Victor Borge as The Second Tailor
Ed Wynn as The Emperor
Patty Duke as Thumbelina
Boris Karloff as The Rat
Sessue Hayakawa as The Mole

Additional voice cast

Robert Harter provided the voices for Big Claus and a Minister
Larry D. Mann voiced the Footman
Billie Mae Richards portrayed one of the Little Mermaid's sisters
James Daugherty contributed as a Minister
William Marine also voiced a Minister

Production team

Directed by: Jules Bass
Written and produced by: Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Executive produced by: Joseph E. Levine
Associate producer: Larry Roemer
Based on stories and characters by: Hans Christian Andersen
Music and lyrics composed by: Maury Laws and Jules Bass
Live action sequence director: Ezra Stone
Animagic sequence director: Don Duga
Additional dialogue written by: Romeo Muller
Recording supervisor: Bernard Cowan
Assistant director: Kizo Nagashima
Cinematographer for live action scenes: Daniel Cavelli
Animagic technician: Tadahito Mochinaga
Puppet creators: Ichiro Komuro, Kyoko Kita (uncredited)
Animation artists: Fumiko Magari, Hiroshi Tabata (uncredited)
Designer of the Emperor’s wardrobe: Oleg Cassini
Set designer: Maurice Gordon
Makeup artist: Phyllis Grens
Mobilux effects specialist: John Hoppe
Optical effects production: Coastal Films, Inc.
Production manager: Sal Scoppa, Jr.
Choreographer: Tony Mordente
Music composer and director: Maury Laws
Orchestrator for title song: Don Costa
Sound recording engineers: Alan Mirchin, Eric Tomlinson, Peter Rage, Richard Gramaglia

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was issued by Columbia Records, containing all musical numbers along with selections from the film’s score. In 2006, Percepto Records re-released the album on CD as a limited edition featuring four additional bonus tracks.

Songs

"Daydreamer" – performed by Robert Goulet
"Overture" – composed by Maury Laws
"Wishes and Teardrops" – sung by The Little Mermaid
"Simply Wonderful" – performed by The Emperor and His Three Ministers
"Who Can Tell" – sung by The Pieman of Odense
"Luck to Sell" – performed by Chris
"Happy Guy" – featuring Thumbelina, Chris and Chorus
"Isn't It Cozy?" – performed by Three Bats and the Mole
"Finale (The Daydreamer)" – performed by Chorus

Referenced tales

Home release

The Daydreamer became available on DVD through Anchor Bay in 2003 and 2008, followed by a Lionsgate Manufacture On Demand edition in 2012 sold via Amazon.com. Scorpion Releasing announced plans for a Blu-ray edition scheduled for 2021.

External links