Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-04-02 – 1875-08-04) was a Danish author of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, but is best known for his fairy tales which include The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Little Match Girl, and many others. His writings were originally written in his native Dutch, and, as he grew in popularity, translated to over 125 other languages. Andersen's popularity meant that he influenced hundreds of artists for generations including Kenneth Grahame, A. A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, and Beatrix Potter.
Contents
Personal
Like many children, I had heard Andersen's fairy tales as a very young child in various forms of media. One of the first I clearly remember is a Christmas audio drama album by Peter Pan Records called Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol, which included The Little Match Girl and The Fir-Tree. However, when I started reading his works in their original form as an adult, I found them to be rather dark, unpalatable, not appropriate for children, and relying on ham-fisted morals.
Works
Andersen wrote 156 stories, but here are some of the ones that are important to me:
Title | Published |
---|---|
The Emperor's New Clothes | 1837-04-07 |
The Fir-Tree | 1844-12-21 |
The Little Match Girl | 1845-12-?? |
The Little Mermaid | 1837-04-07 |
The Princess and the Pea | 1835-05-08 |
The Snow Queen | 1844-12-21 |
The Ugly Duckling | 1843-11-11 |
Thumbelina | 1835-12-16 |
Adaptions
Due his large amount of popular stories, Andersen's work has been adapted thousands of times. Here are the ones that are important to me:
Title | Publisher | Adapted From | Released |
---|---|---|---|
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol | Peter Pan Records | The Little Match Girl, The Fir-Tree | 197?-??-?? |
The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes | Rankin/Bass Productions | The Emperor's New Clothes | 1972-02-21 |
Frozen | Disney | The Snow Queen | 2013-11-19 |
The Little Matchgirl | Disney | The Little Match Girl | 2006-09-07 |
The Little Mermaid | Disney | The Little Mermaid | 1989-11-17 |
The Ugly Duckling | Disney | The Ugly Duckling | 1939-04-07 |