Dreaming of the Dream. Adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales in 1930s America

This article explores the adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in 1930s America, focusing on three short films: Disney’s The Ugly Duckling (1939) and The Brave Tin Soldier (1934), and Columbia Favorites’ The Little Match Girl (1937). These adaptations are analysed in the context of the Great Depression and the American Dream, accentuating how Andersen’s tales were transformed to negotiate American socio-cultural values. The analysis focuses on how the adaptations’ changes to the original text can be seen in relation to the identity myth of the American Dream. We argue that these adaptations not only Americanized Andersen’s stories but were also used to discuss the era’s cultural narratives through themes of perseverance, family, gender, and social mobility.