"The Emperor's New Clothes" ( ) is a literary folktale written by the Danish author

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

, about a vain

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages.Andersen 2005a 4 "The Emperor's New Clothes" was first published with "

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

" in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark, by C. A. Reitzel, on 7 April 1837, as the third and final installment of Andersen's '' Fairy Tales Told for Children''. The tale has been adapted to various media, and the story's title, the phrase "the Emperor has no clothes", and variations thereof have been adopted for use in numerous other works and as

idioms An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the lit ...

Plot

The tale concerns an emperor who has an obsession with fancy new clothes, and spends lavishly on them, at the expense of state matters. One day, two con-men visit the emperor's capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are either incompetent or stupid. The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor's wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the weavers report that the emperor's suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that they have all been fooled. The emperor is startled, but opts to continue the procession.

Sources

Andersen's tale is based on a 1335 story from the (or ), a medieval Spanish collection of fifty-one cautionary tales with various sources such as

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

and other classical writers and Persian folktales, by

Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena Don Juan Manuel (5 May 128213 June 1348) was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile, son of Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy. He inherited from his father the great Lordship of Villena, receiving the titles of Lord, D ...

(1282–1348). Andersen did not know the Spanish original but read the tale in a German translation titled ("That's the way of the world"). In the source tale, a king is hoodwinked by weavers who claim to make a suit of clothes invisible to any man not the son of his presumed father; whereas Andersen altered the source tale to direct the focus on courtly pride and intellectual vanity rather than adulterous paternity. There is also an Indian version of the story, which appears in the ''

Līlāvatīsāra Līlāvatīsāra (epitome of Līlāvatī) is a poem composed by Jinaratnasuri. Jinaratnasuri belonged to Kharatara Gaccha of the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism. It tells the stories of the lives of a group of souls as they pass through a series o ...

'' by Jinaratna (1283), a summary of a now-lost anthology of fables, the ''Nirvāṇalīlāvatī'' by Jineśvara (1052). The dishonest merchant Dhana from Hastināpura swindles the king of Śrāvastī by offering to weave a supernatural garment that cannot be seen or touched by any person of illegitimate birth. When the king is supposedly wearing the garment, his whole court pretends to admire it. The king is then paraded about his city to show off the garment; when the common folk ask him if he has become a naked ascetic, he realizes the deception, but the swindler has already fled.

Commentaries

Hollis Robbins, in "The Emperor's New Critique" (2003), argues that the tale is itself so transparent "that there has been little need for critical scrutiny". Robbins argues that Andersen's tale "quite clearly rehearses four contemporary controversies: the institution of a meritocratic civil service, the valuation of labor, the expansion of democratic power, and the appraisal of art". Robbins concludes that the story's appeal lies in its "seductive resolution" of the conflict by the truth-telling boy. Naomi Wood of

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

challenges Robbins' reading, arguing that before the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, "Robbins's argument might seem merely playful, anti-intuitive, and provocative." Wood concludes: "Perhaps the truth of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is not that the child's truth is mercifully free of adult corruption, but that it recognizes the terrifying possibility that whatever words we may use to clothe our fears, the fabric cannot protect us from them." In 2017, Robbins returned to the tale to suggest that the courtiers who pretend not to see what they see are models of men in a workplace who claim not to see harassment.

Adaptations

Various adaptations of the tale have appeared since its first publication.

Film and television

In the 1965

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

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 Julius Caesar Bass (; September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft ...

. An

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

, ''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 Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He began his career in vaudeville in 1903 and was known for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show ...

as the emperor, as well as

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 1911 – 8 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members ...

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (; 3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish and American actor, comedian, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in both North America and Europe. Hi ...

, and Paul O’Keefe. In 1970,

Patrick Wymark Patrick Wymark (11 July 192620 October 1970) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Wymark was born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently revisited th ...

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 Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...

adapted the tale as the first and only musical episode of ABC series '' The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye'', featuring

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...

(who, 20 years earlier, had portrayed Hans Christian Andersen in the musical of the same name),

Cyril Ritchard Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook i ...

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and pursu ...

Allen Swift Ira J. Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American actor, writer and magician, best known as a voiceover artist who voiced cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the ' ...

, and

Bob McFadden Robert McFadden (January 19, 1923 – January 7, 2000) was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His most popular television cartoon characters included M ...

. The television special features eight songs with music by Maury Laws and lyrics by

, and combines live action filmed in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, 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 Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

. 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 War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) ...

, part of the Cannon Movie Tales. series ''The Emperor's New Clothes'' (1991) animated film, by Burbank Animation Studios. '' Muppet Classic Theater'' has an adaptation of the story with Fozzie Bear as the emperor, and with Rizzo the Rat and two of his fellow rats as the swindlers. Despite the phrasing of the title, the 2000 film ''

The Emperor's New Groove ''The Emperor's New Groove'' is a 2000 American animated fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Mark Dindal and produced by Randy Fullmer, from a screenplay writte ...

'' by

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

is not related to Andersen's classic tale, although both stories involve a vain emperor being tricked. 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 Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...

narrated the tale and

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor. He is known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime ...

was the voice of the Emperor.

Music

On 1 March 1957,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

recorded a musical adaptation of the story for children which was issued as an album '' Never Be Afraid'' by Golden Records in 1957. In 1968, on their '' Four Fairy Tales and Other Children's Stories'' album, the Pickwick Players performed a version of this story that is actually a version of " The King's New Clothes" from the film '' Hans Christian Anderson''. In this version, two swindlers trick the Emperor into buying a nonexistent suit, only for a boy to reveal the truth in the end. There are several differences from the original Danny Kaye version, most importantly a new verse ("This suit of clothes put all together is altogether / The most remarkable suit of clothes, that you've already said. The shirt is white, the cape is ermine, the hose are blue,/ And the doublet is a lovely shade of red!" To which the emperor replies "Green! Glorious Green!" and the Court asks "How could we think it was red!" 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 Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

wrote a song titled "The Emperor's New Clothes" for his 26th album ''

Songs from the West Coast ''Songs from the West Coast'' is the twenty-sixth studio album by English musician Elton John, released worldwide on 1 October 2001. Background For this album, Elton John once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin, marking ...

,'' telling the tale of a young couple who 'cheat the system, living a lie wearing a disguise'.

Idiom

As an idiom, use of the story's title refers to something widely accepted as true or professed as being praiseworthy, due to an unwillingness of the general population to criticize it or be seen as going against popular opinion. The phrase "emperor's new clothes" has become an

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

about logical fallacies. The story may be explained by

pluralistic ignorance In social psychology, pluralistic ignorance (also known as a collective illusion) is a phenomenon in which people mistakenly believe that others predominantly hold an opinion different from their own. In this phenomenon, most people in a group ma ...

or collective illusions. In the story, townspeople pretend to see the emperor's non-existent outfit to fit in. Everyone is ignorant to whether the emperor has clothes on or not, but believes that everyone else is not ignorant. This is an example of a situation where "no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes." Simply put, collective illusions arise when individuals conform to a group's false beliefs, often out of

social pressure Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and beh ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

"Keiserens nye Klæder"
Original Danish text
"Keiserens nye Klæder"
Manuscript from the Odense City Museum

English translation by

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is most famous for starring on the CBS radio series '' Dr. Christian'' from 1937–1954, which later inspired a TV se ...

"The Emperor's New Clothes"
Audio rendition by Sir

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English actor and filmmaker. Beginning his career in theatre, he first appeared in the West End in 1937. He made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperors New Clothes, The 1837 short stories Danish fairy tales Fictional emperors and empresses Fictional tailors Idioms Literary characters introduced in 1837 Male characters in fairy tales Male characters in literature Short stories by Hans Christian Andersen Folklore featuring nakedness