The World of Hans Christian Andersen
The World of Hans Christian Andersen is a 1968 Japanese animated fantasy film from Toei Doga, inspired by the tales of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It opened in Japan on March 19, 1968, and United Artists released an English-dubbed version in U.S. theaters in March 1971. The story follows a young Andersen who, while trying to buy an opera ticket, discovers the imagination and talent that will fuel his future fairy tales.
The movie was directed by Kimio Yabuki, with a screenplay by Hisashi Inoue and Morihisa Yamamoto, music by Seichiro Uno, and production by Ken Ariga, Masajirō Seki, and Seiichi Moro. It runs about 80 minutes and is in Japanese.
This film is related to a 1971 Andersen Stories TV series, as both share composer Seiichirō Uno, writers Hisashi Inoue and Morihisa Yamamoto, and voice actress Eiko Masuyama. The U.S. dub was prepared for Hal Roach Studios and distributed by United Artists.
Toei later made more Andersen adaptations, including The Little Mermaid (1975), The Wild Swans (1977), and Thumbelina (1978), and also produced the World Fairy Tale Series on TV.
Reception noted the colorful and imaginative animation that makes for good family viewing, though some critics called it clichéd. It was released on VHS in the 1980s by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video and on DVD by Digiview Productions in 2004.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:14 (CET).