Review of
Hans Christian Andersen Animated Classics:
The Nightingale, DVD version
Five out of five stars
Beautiful tale set in China
Like so many of
the fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, this one is nonviolent and has a
happy ending. It features the Chinese Emperor and includes some lackeys in the
imperial court as well. However, the main human character is a young female
that fishes with her grandfather and works as a cleaner in an inn frequented by
arrogant male members of the imperial court.
Word reaches
the Emperor about a nightingale whose song is so beautiful that it will bring
tears to your eyes. The court lackeys are ordered to find the nightingale, but
they have no idea what it is or where to look.
When they are
at an inn, their laments are overheard by the young female cleaner and she
speaks up, which is against the hierarchical protocol. She then takes them to
the nightingale, and it agrees to sing for the Emperor. He is so stricken by
the song that he elects to keep the nightingale in what is essentially a caged
existence.
After some
time, the Japanese Emperor sends the Chinese Emperor a mechanical nightingale
that also has a wonderful sound. Having that device, the Chinese Emperor
ignores the live nightingale, and it flies away.
A significant
amount of time passes and suddenly the mechanical nightingale breaks down and cannot
be repaired. The Emperor is on the verge of death when the young female goes
and asks the live nightingale to come sing for the Emperor and it agrees. It has
a strong restorative affect, and the Emperor recovers and promises the
nightingale its’ freedom if it will sing on occasion.
There are many
different moral undercurrents in this story, the live versus mechanical, captive
versus free and royal versus common people. All of them are resolved in favor
of what is right, making this a joyous story for children.
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