Hans Christian Andersen

Saw this movie when I was a small child. It is still good after all these years.

At first when I bought this movie, I was really excited since I remember watching this when I was little. I thought to buy this so that my family could enjoy it with me. The children hemmmmmed and hawwwwwed they wanted a different movie, this looked boring. I ignored them, put the movie on, and left to wash dishes. All of a sudden silence, the children were entranced by this movie and did not budge until it was over and then wanted to watch it again!

I personally think this is one of Danny Kaye's best films, even though it's certainly not his most famous or popular. There are so many classic songs in here (Inchworm/2 and 2 are 4; Ugly Duckling; etc.) and Danny Kaye is a charmer here, much better than his more slapstick style in other movies.

The only part that I found somewhat tedious was the long scene where he's trapped in a storage room at the ballet and can only imagine what the dancing must be like based on the music he hears (I admit I sometimes fast forward past this bit). But otherwise it's a 5-star-plus movie for me!

I find the the film has a few deficiencies, like some of the dramatic scenes are a bit long. But it is indeed a children's-well really a family movie.I have no children, yet I enjoy this movie very much! I loaned it to my friend and her (very hyper) children were glued to it. I especially enjoyed the toning down of Danny Kaye, there is none of his over-the-top silliness that really bothers me at times. This movie is labelled at the outset as a fairy tale in it's own right, it's not meant to be factual. It features his happier tales indeed, but they are small parts of the overall tale; the larger tale features a man who seeks to entertain and to teach, yet is subject to a bit of vanity as are most of us...it also illustrates the danger of living too much in fantasy!

This is a movie that is positive, well acted (mostly...the bit parts are pretty weak) and has a wonderful score that I was still able to sing or hum despite the passing of 20-30 years between viewings...how many movies can you say that about?

This film is a delight, wonderful to be enjoyed by kids from 3-4 years and older by themselves or with parents or grandparents. A true classic.