Various adaptations of the tale have appeared since its first publication.
Film and television In the 1965
Doctor Who serial
The Romans, the Doctor uses the story as inspiration to avoid his disguise as a lyre player being discovered. He later claims to have given Andersen the original idea for the story in the first place. In 1966,
Videocraft International released
The Daydreamer, written by
Arthur Rankin Jr. and directed by
Jules Bass. An
anthology film,
The Daydreamer features several segments inspired by Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, animated in Rankin-Bass' signature "Animagic" style, as well as a live-action wraparound story. One of these segments is "The Emperor's New Clothes," featuring the voice of
Ed Wynn as the emperor, as well as
Terry-Thomas,
Victor Borge, and
Paul O'Keefe. In 1970,
Patrick Wymark appeared as the Emperor in
Hans Christian Andersen, an Australian musical and comedy television special highlighting three of Andersen's most famous stories. It was broadcast five weeks after Wymark's untimely death in Melbourne. In 1972,
Rankin/Bass Productions adapted the tale as the first and only musical episode of
ABC series
The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye, featuring
Danny Kaye (who, 20 years earlier, had portrayed Hans Christian Andersen in
the musical of the same name),
Cyril Ritchard,
Imogene Coca,
Allen Swift, and
Bob McFadden. The television special features eight songs with music by
Maury Laws and lyrics by
Jules Bass, and combines live action filmed in
Aarhus, Denmark, animation, special effects, and the stop motion animation process "Animagic" made in Japan. In 1978, this story was used to create a four-episode special of
El Chapulín Colorado, a Mexican TV show created by
Roberto Gomez Bolaños. In the special, Bolaños is the helper of an arts and crafts worker who pretends to have a fantastic fabric that only smart people can see, using it to trick the king. The special compiled several children stories, from Andersen to
Brothers Grimm. The episode is known as "The Valiant Little Tailor", inspired from the Grimm's tale. In 1985, ''
Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre'' adapted the fairy tale, starring Dick Shawn as the Emperor while Alan Arkin and Art Carney starred as the con artists. The 1987, Japanese
war documentary film ''
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On'', by director
Kazuo Hara, centers on 62-year-old
Kenzō Okuzaki, veteran of Japan's
Second World War campaign in New Guinea, and follows him around as he searches out those responsible for the unexplained deaths of two soldiers in his old unit. ''The Emperor's New Clothes'', a 1987 musical comedy adaptation of the fairy tale starring
Sid Caesar, part of the
Cannon Movie Tales. series An original video animation (OVA) episode of the anime franchise
Bikini Warriors humorously adapts the tale, wherein the main characters are stripped nude by an unseen deity under the pretense that it has actually gifted them with a new, legendary bikini armor that only "idiots" are unable to see.
HBO Family aired an animated adaptation called ''The Emperor's Newest Clothes'' in 2018.
Alan Alda narrated the tale and
Jeff Daniels was the voice of the Emperor.
Music On 1 March 1957,
Bing Crosby recorded a musical adaptation of the story for children which was issued as an album
Never Be Afraid by Golden Records in 1957. The song "
The Emperor's New Clothes" was written and released by Sinead O'Connor in 1990 on her sophomore album ''
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.'' She speaks of a system that will be exposed in time "through their own words," most likely referencing the Catholic Church. In 2001,
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin wrote a song titled "The Emperor's New Clothes" for Elton's 26th album
Songs from the West Coast. It tells the story about a young couple who lose everything after "cheating the system", but reminisce about the amazing times they've had. ==Idiom==