The Emperor's Nightingale

The Emperor's Nightingale (1950)

Genres - Fantasy, Children's/Family  |   Sub-Genres - Fairy Tales & Legends  |   Release Date - May 12, 1951 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 67 min.  |   Countries - Czechia  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

The Emperor's Nightingale relates the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale through utilization of stop-motion puppet animation. The film was produced by the Prague-based "Trick Brothers" studio, owned and operated by Jiri Trnka. The story, adapted by Trnka and Jiri Brdecka, is the traditional one of the emperor who so loved the song of the nightingale that he purchased an artificial singing bird--thereby breaking the nightingale's heart. Actors Jaromir Sobota and Helena Patockova are the only non-puppet performers. When the film was prepared for US release, the distributor (Rembrandt Films) secured the services of Boris Karloff to narrate the story, using a new English narrative written by Phyllis McGinley. The Emperor's Nightingale was distributed in English-speaking markets by Rembrandt in 1951.

Characteristics

Themes

Keywords

child, aristocracy, aunt, awakening, boy, childhood, China, disease, dream, emperor, freedom, friendship, girl, house, isolation, king, loneliness, play [recreation], seclusion, songwriter, woods [place], youth

Attributes

High Artistic Quality, High Historical Importance