DVD Reviews

The Daydreamer

Do you remember all of those animated children shows broadcast around Christmas time? Do you remember the "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty The Snowman" shows, usually shown ever Christmas, that used a puppet-like animation technique? They are classics that play every year and are often some of the most watched Christmas programming each season. An animation and film team called Rankin/Bass was the ones behind those popular Christmas shows, but they also produced other shows and films for children that not many know of. One such film that has been forgotten over time was one of the first films to incorporate live action with animation, something they called ‘Animagic’.

This film is called The Daydreamer and is about a young Hans Christian Anderson who runs away from home and daydreams all day about fantastic people he encounters such as The Little Mermaid and Thumbelina (the idea behind the story is that his daydreams were the inspiration behind the stories he wrote later on in his life). Featuring a highly talented voice cast, The Daydreamer was well received by a young audience on its release but was not shown much afterwards. The film has now been released on DVD with the hopes that it will reach a new young audience.

Presented in a full-frame format, the film looks quite dated, keeping much of its Technicolor-style colours in the image, giving it a colourful yet synthetic look. The soundtrack is digitized mono and is about as good as mono can get. Special features are pretty slim with only a trailer, a TV spot, a rather neat image gallery, and detailed production notes. There is not a heck of a lot offered on this DVD, but the features are a little interesting and the film’s presentation is not poor just old.

Kids may enjoy this film though it is a little dated. The main character is often unsympathetic, making him sometimes unlikable, and there is no real lesson learned by the end. But for those that watched it when they were younger and wanted a copy of theirs to own for nostalgic purposes, you will be happy with this DVD release. If you like the puppet-animated Christmas shows you watch every season then you probably would want to check out this film. Though it is not the greatest of family films, kids may enjoy it and you might enjoy it too, especially if you remember watching it when you were younger. It is a little dated, but that shouldn’t stop you from watching this nice family tale that will appeal to some. But for the most part it will only appeal to those that enjoyed watching it as a child.

Review By Chris Emery