The Emperor's New Clothes (30th Anniversary Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Not every Rankin/Bass Special is worth seeing...
Review: I had only just received my wonderful copies of 'Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer', 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' and 'Here comes Peter Cottontail' when I saw that this title would soon be availble. In my Rankin/Bass lovin' haze I quickly purchased. Now I'm no Rankin/Bass historian or nothin' ....but I do consider myself a fan. But even I couldn't find a way to be happy with this purchase. If you have kids then maybe pick it up (maybe I should have kids). Kids might like it. But any 20yrs+ people out there looking for some funky R-B nostalgia... don't waste your money. Stick with the animagic titles I mentioned above and wait for 'The Easter Bunny is Comin' to town" to be released.

This title gave me the creeps. Glad I didn't have to sit on Danny Kaye's knee. Classic? They should have kept this one in the vault. Not recommended if you haven't figured that out yet.

Rating:
Summary: FINALLY! A RANKIN/BASS RARE cut gem!
Review: I have had this special for several years now and urged GOLDEN BOOKS...now known as CLASSIC MEDIA to issue it....they listened! It's a GREAT lost 'ANIMAGIC' gem! It only aired a few times on television and then was locked up in a vault for many years. It features DANNY KAYE in LIVE-ACTION and ANIMAGIC form and he is in RARE form! ALLEN SWIFT, who voiced all the male characters in MAD MONSTER PARTY (Which is also NEWLY released to DVD in PERFECT 35 mm quality), is back as Danny's partner and Bob McFadden does a fine job as the evil Court Jester! IMOGENE COCA also makes a RARE appearance in Animation in this special! What is especially noteworthy here is the 7 minute featurette from RANKIN/BASS included on this disc. Nothing gives a better look into how these special specials were made by RANKIN/BASS, than this! It is re-mastered too! A SPECIAL treat for all RANKIN/BASS fans to enjoy! It's finally here from the Negative! Pick it up QUICK! Rick RANKIN/BASS Historian/Biographer

Rating:
Summary: FINALLY! A RANKIN/BASS RARE cut gem!
Review: I have had this special for several years now and urged GOLDEN BOOKS...now known as CLASSIC MEDIA to issue it....they listened! It's a GREAT lost 'ANIMAGIC' gem! It only aired a few times on television and then was locked up in a vault for many years. It features DANNY KAYE in LIVE-ACTION and ANIMAGIC form and he is in RARE form! ALLEN SWIFT, who voiced all the male characters in MAD MONSTER PARTY (Which is also NEWLY released to DVD in PERFECT 35 mm quality), is back as Danny's partner and Bob McFadden does a fine job as the evil Court Jester! IMOGENE COCA also makes a RARE appearance in Animation in this special! What is especially noteworthy here is the 7 minute featurette from RANKIN/BASS included on this disc. Nothing gives a better look into how these special specials were made by RANKIN/BASS, than this! It is re-mastered too! A SPECIAL treat for all RANKIN/BASS fans to enjoy! It's finally here from the Negative! Pick it up QUICK! Rick RANKIN/BASS Historian/Biographer

Rating:
Summary: The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye
Review: Lacking the charm of the classic Rankin/Bass Holiday specials, "The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes" is still good fun to watch and has some really great animagic action in it, including perhaps the only fully nude animagic puppet ever made.

The mix of live action and animagic is not great, and the special would have been better as a pure animagic feature, but it was meant to launch a series of specials with Danny Kaye supplying the star power and Rankin/Bass providing the magic. Unlike the Holiday specials, this one is dated by the live action. Danny Kaye is awfully "70's." However, this is a small complaint as the special is maybe 90% animagic with only a few lead-ins by Danny Kaye. The animagic portion is charming and Romeo Muller did a great take on the traditional Hans Christian Anderson story. Imogene Coca is the voice of the flighty Princess Jane Klockenlocher, and makes for a good romantic foil for Danny Kaye's tailor. The nude Emperor's stroll through town makes this story.

The big problem with this DVD is its lack of punch. Ringing in at just under an hour, "The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes" is not enough feature to carry an entire DVD on its own. There is a short 6-minute making of documentary, which is interesting. Paired with Danny Kaye's other Rankin/Bass outing, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" would have made for a great DVD. As an extra feature to a DVD of Rankin/Bass's other Hans Christian Anderson feature "The Daydreamer" would have been even better. As it is, probably my least favorite Rankin/Bass DVD.

Rating:
Summary: One of the VERY BEST family films I've EVER seen!!!
Review: This new fully restored DVD release of "The Emperor's New Clothes" was the first time I had ever seen this Romeo Muller story, and what a gem it is!!! It has all the charm and fancy of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", "Frosty the Snowman", "Puff the Magic Dragon", and some of his other better stories. The originality and imagination put into this story is beyond belief! It is beyond belief because it has not become a widely loved piece of entertainment. It is a shame that the other episodes in this TV series were never produced. Given how well this one turned out the other stories in this anthology series would most likely have been of equal stature. You'll be doing your family a dis-service to your family if you do not add this film to your library.

Rating:
Summary: This is a RANKIN/BASS Special Special!
Review: What a GREAT find! Seeing this RARE 'ANIMAGIC' Special in DVD format is beyond words and that MAKING OF documentary is really something! With it being a RAREly seen special, my hat goes off to CLASSIC MEDIA for issueing it for all the RANKIN/BASS fans to enjoy! DANNY KAYE is wonderful in this special and glad he did another special for RANKIN/BASS besides the wonderful HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL! Some GREAT music in here too! You can't lose!

Rating:
Summary: Bravo for the release of this obscure Rankin/Bass gem!
Review: What ever made this show get released on DVD prior to all the other more popular Rankin/Bass specials is beyond me, but I am quite pleased to see it nonetheless. I don't even think this was ever out on video, so it's here first in all DVD splendor.

Nice to see Danny Kaye in Denmark with all the kids. My son loves the animagic the most, but has no trouble paying attention to Danny and all the kids having a grand ole time in great Danish settings.