The Ugly Duckling

For other uses, seeThe Ugly Duckling (disambiguation).

"The Ugly Duckling"
Short storybyHans Christian Andersen
Illustration byVilhelm Pedersen,Andersen‘s first illustrator
Original title	Den grimme ælling
Country	Denmark
Language	Danish
Genre(s)	Literaryfairy tale
Publication
Published in	New Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collection(Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Første Samling)
Publication type	Fairy tale collection
Publisher	C.A. Reitzel
Media type	Print
Publication date	11 November 1843
Chronology
The Sweethearts —

"The Ugly Duckling"(Danish:Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literaryfairy taleby Danish poet and authorHans Christian Andersen(1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 inNew Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collection,with three other tales by Andersen inCopenhagento great critical acclaim. The tale has been adapted to various media, including opera, musical, and animated film. The tale is an original story by Andersen.

Plot

After a motherduck's eggs hatch, one of the ducklings is perceived by the other animals as an ugly little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse. He wanders from thebarnyardand lives with wild ducks andgeeseuntil hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman, but hercatandhentease and taunt him mercilessly, and once again he sets off alone.

The duckling sees a flock of migrating wildswans.He is delighted and excited but cannot join them because he is too young, ugly, and unable to fly. When winter arrives, a farmer finds and carries the freezing duckling home but he is frightened by the farmer's noisy children and flees the house. The duckling spends a miserable winter alone outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over.

The duckling, now having fully grown and matured, cannot endure a life of solitude and hardship anymore. He decides to throw himself at a flock of swans, feeling that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realise by looking at his reflection in the water that he had been not a duckling but a swan all this time. The flock takes to the air, and he spreads his wings to take flight with the rest of his new family.

Commentaries and criticism

A pair of youngswans(or cygnets)

In reviewingHans Christian Andersen: A New Lifeby biographer Jens Andersen, British journalist Anne Chisholm writes "Andersen himself was a tall, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet, and when he grew up with a beautiful singing voice and a passion for the theater, he was cruelly teased and mocked by other children".

Speculation suggests that Andersen was the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik (later KingChristian VIII of Denmark), and found this out sometime before he wrote the book, and then that being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent but also for secret royal lineage.

According to Carole Rosen, the story was inspired in part by Andersen's friendJenny Lind.

Adaptations

Disney's 1931 version

Disney's 1939 version

The tale was adapted to a variety of media. Films based on the tale include twoSilly Symphoniesanimated shorts produced by Walt Disney calledThe Ugly Duckling.The firstwas produced in 1931 in black and white, anda remakein 1939 inTechnicolor.The latter film won the 1939Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons),and was the last Silly Symphony to be made. The main difference between the Andersen story and the Disney version is that, in the latter, the little bird's ordeal lasts for only a few minutes, not for months. In 1936, the Fleischer brothers adapted the story for their animated short "The Little Stranger", reversing the story by having an odd chick born into a family of ducks.

In 1932,Yasuji MuratadirectedAhiru no ko(The Ugly Duckling), a 15-minute Japanese short animated film based on the tale.

In 1956, the Soviet animation studioSoyuzmultfilmproduced its 19-minute version of The Ugly Duckling.The animePrincess Tutuis about a duck that turns into a swan-like ballerina. The 1954Tom and JerrycartoonDownhearted Ducklingis also based on the famous story.

The tale has seen various musical adaptations. In 1914, the Russian composerSergei Prokofievcomposed a work for voice and piano based on Nina Meshcherskaya's adaptation of the tale and, in 1932, arranged the work for voice and orchestra. This was transcribed by Lev Konov in 1996, and his opera was a great success in Russia. Other musical versions include the song "The Ugly Duckling" composed byFrank Loesserand sung byDanny Kayefor the 1952Charles Vidormusical filmHans Christian Andersen,andHonk!,a musical based on the tale which was produced in Britain and won anOlivier Award.The tale was adapted into a musical by Gail Deschamps and Paul Hamilton. In 1998, the musical played thePiccolo Spoletofor seventeen days.

In 1999,Jerry Pinkneyadapted the storyas a children's picture book.

See also

• List of works by Hans Christian Andersen
• Ugly duckling theorem,in philosophical logic, arguing that classification is not possible without bias
• Henny Penny

External links

• The Ugly DucklingEnglish translation byJean Hersholt
• SurLaLune's Annotated The Ugly DucklingArchived2012-09-22 at theWayback Machine
• The Ugly Ducklingin full length.
• The Ugly Ducklingpublic domain audiobook atLibriVox