The Little Match Girl - Part Two

Having revisited my early childhood memories of The Little Match Girl recently I gradually recalled and came to decide that my original knowledge of the story resulted from listening to a record which contained a few of Hans Christian Andersen's stories that were narrated by Danny Kaye. I wasn't quite 100% positive but I was fairly sure that was the case. I wonder if anyone else in my family remembers listening to such a record.

I didn't really have much hope but thought that just for fun I would try to find any evidence of such a record on the internet. I googled "little match girl danny kaye" and the very first hit led me to a web page with a long list of old children's story records including the one I was looking for. The record containing HCA's stories narrated by Danny Kaye did include TLMG plus a few others that seemed to ignite recollection in my head so I'm sure it was the one I had heard long ago, and here it is.



The page also includes downloadable mp3 files of the records so of course I did just that and upon listening to Danny Kaye tell the story of The Little match Girl I am now sure that it was the very same recording that left such a big impression on me all those years ago.

If you would like to hear it for yourself you can listen to it right here.



I must admit that now I prefer the silent animated film version I included in my previous post but Danny Kaye had the advantage of being the first to tell me the story and that, when I was still so young. He must have made an quite an impression, for me to search out the Little Match Seller once more all these years later.

Anyway if you or your kids might be interested in listening to some old stories told the old fashioned way, here is the link to the web page.

http://www.artsreformation.com/records/

(The record containing The Little Match Girl that I downloaded is "GLP 74")

Finally, to close, may I just quote another great old story teller and say, "now you know...(dramatic pause)...the rest of the story."

(Um, yeah, that's Paul Harvey)

The Little Match Girl

Do you remember the story of The Little Match Girl - by Hans Christian Andersen? Of course you do. Maybe not every detail but you do remember the general plot right?

For some reason I got to thinking about her tonight and decided to see what I could find on the YouTube. I found this version done by Disney which is surprisingly (‘cause it’s Disney) faithful to the original story and still contains the saddest parts and has absolutely NO talking animals in it. I wish I’d have come across this a few weeks ago when it would have been a bit more timely. Even so, it’s such a wonderful telling of a sad but beautiful story.

Here is a link to the text version of the story in case you want to refresh your memory before you watch this “silent animated film” version. (The story is shown accompanied by some perfect music but there is no talking in it.) I hope you will take a couple of minutes to read the story once now. I think it will help you get the most out of the film version.

http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/981/

And now for Disney's "The Little Match Girl".



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The Little Match Girl, poor, abused, and unloved. We witness the final moments of her life when, although literally freezing, she is too afraid to go home having been unsuccessful in selling any of her nearly worthless matches. At first she resists the urge to use any of the matches for herself but she finally gives in and, as she slowly freezes to death, we are shown her desperate wishes for only the most basic human needs of shelter, food and love. Things we so often take for granted. Has there ever been anything sadder? Finally her grandmother, the only person who had loved her, comes to take her away from all the pain and the last thing we see is a shooting star, which as the Little Match Girl knew, having been told by her grandmother, meant a soul had ascended to God.
The contrast in the heart breaking yet somehow happy ending is something long lost in modern children’s stories I think.

I’m not sure why I made a post about this. I guess it’s not so much for you this time as it is for me. I was just so happy to discover this little gem and to be reminded to be grateful for all I have, especially on a cold winter night; happy to remind myself to keep an eye out for the Little Match Girls out there and when I encounter one to be sure and buy every one of her matches and then some.

P.S. I also found out that this very same video is included on disc 2 of the two disc version of The Little Mermaid (another Hans C. Andersen story) DVD in the bonus features. So if you happen to have the DVD, it of course looks much better.

Big News Day

As I read the headline "Iconic Waterton Hotel Burns to the Ground", and momentarily forgot how the media likes to sensationalize everything as much as possible, I immediately thought that the Prince of Wales had finally caught a spark and gone with the wind. Clicking on the link and opening the article I was somewhat relieved to learn that it was merely the second worst case scenario and not the PoW.

I have driven, walked, biked, motorcycled and rental scootered past the Kilmorey Lodge many times but I had never actually set foot inside it. I had always hoped to someday stay for a night as I had heard of it's great reputation and it always seemed like such a cozy and inviting place. It's a shame to lose such a lovely lodge but hopefully the owners will be able to rebuild something just as nice in that same spot.


In other news, apparently the US got a new president today.
For the sake of the country I wish him all the best with his new challenge.

I also had my new poster ready just in case they asked me to take over but surprisingly they never called.

Maybe next time.