Andersen's Fairy Tales Resources

Want a bunch of links and resources related to Andersen's life and works? Look no further!

Click here for a charming, short bio of Andersen, a selection of his tales, and one question that will haunt you for the rest of your life: why did the people who got the domain name Andersenfairytales.com do so little with the site?

This page has links to Andersen's stories in 123 different languages. But you have to figure out what the languages are called in Danish in order to navigate the site… So, um, happy Googling!

Duh. We suggest you go read Andersen's version of this tale, then re-watch the movie. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Disney's take on Andersen's "The Snow Queen" is… uh… interesting to say the least. Here, the Kai character saves the Gerda character, which is a switcheroo from the original. And we're expecting some cute singing animals to join the party, because it is Disney, after all.

This Disney film contains a retelling of Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." Check it!

Everybody loves Danny Kaye, right? Though this biography of Andersen is far from factual, Kaye rocks as Andersen. And we enjoy the film as a fun, optimistic reimagining of his life.

There've actually been a bunch of movies inspired by Andersen's tales, so check out the IMDB listing about him here.

Noted fairy tale author Windling discusses Andersen's fairy tales and life story. Sweet.

One journalist visits Andersen's hometown Odense and other parts of Denmark for the 2005 Andersen bicentennial. Bi. Cen. Tennial. That's a lotta years, Shmoopers.

"The Tallow Candle," a story believed to have been written by Andersen while he was still a schoolboy, was found in an archive in 2012. Who doesn't love a good whodunit? (Or, in this case, whowroteit?)

This 10-minute adaptation of Andersen's tale "The Story of a Mother" is hauntingly beautiful. Forreals.

Andersen's tales have inspired experimental dancers to create all kindsa adaptation. This trailer for a show called Musée des Femmes features clips of Karen from "The Red Shoes" (she's the one all in red) and the Snow Queen (in a white dress with a high collar). Kinda cool and kinda freaky. Both.

Stay with us: it's a movie, about a ballet, about a fairy tale. Yup. With some really pretty dancing in it, to boot.

In the mood for some live-action footage of 1970s Denmark followed by a Japanese anime take on "The Little Mermaid"? This one's for you!

Discussion of a week long fairy-tale festival in Denmark to honor Andersen. And who doesn't love some NPR?

Listen to this take on Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" as a Christmas-time radio special.

Check out that book he's holding on his lap. It's huuuuuge!

Trust us, you've seen this before even if you've never been to Copenhagen. It's super famous.

Some of these are pretty trippy.

Want to dig through juicy quotes from Andersen's diaries and letters? This book by fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes contains a wealth of information about Andersen's life and tales.

More Zipes for the win. The chapter on Andersen adaptations in film contains a bunch of cool examples of artsy European films based that you've probably never heard of… but now you'll be able to impress your friends by knowing all about them!

Fairy-tale scholar Maria Tatar presents a selection of Andersen tales, along with annotations that explore the social context informing the tales. Which is really awesome.