The Emperor's New Clothes story
An Emperor in 18th Century Europe with peacock tendencies becomes the target for two con men who use his self-indulgence against him. Starring Dick Shawn as the Emperor, Alan Arkin as Bo, Art Carney as Morty, Clive Revill as the Prime Minister, Georgia Brown as Maggie, and Barrie Ingham as the Finance Minister. Narrated by Timothy Dalton. Written by Rod Ash and Mark Curtiss. Directed by Peter Medak.
17 total · 3 choice · 9 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| pluralistic ignorance | choice | A main novelty of the story is that everyone in the kingdom, save for an innocent child, went along with that they could see the Emperor's clothes because they didn't want others to think they were too stupid to see them. |
| the importance of being honest | choice | It's argued that the moral is that we can't let pride keep us from speaking up when we know the truth. Indeed, the trouble in the story stemmed from people lying because they were afraid and embarrassed to admit they couldn't see the clothes. |
| vanity | choice | The eponymous ruler was so vain about his attire that he levied exorbitant taxes to afford fancier outfits. |
| absolute monarchy | major | The Emperor was clearly a sovereign who could order his subjects around as he pleased. |
| con artistry | major | Two con men plotted, and executed, one last heist that involved scamming the emperor out of his kingdom. |
| flattery | major | The Emperor was surrounded by sycophants. |
| greed for riches | major | Two con men plotted to get rich by scamming a kingdom out of a large sum of money. One con man said to the other that they ought not be so greedy that they scam the Emperor for his whole kingdom. |
| lesson in humility | major | The point of the story was that the exceedingly vain emperor was taught a lesson of some sort or another. |
| peer pressure | major | Afraid to be thought stupid, courtiers convinced each other falsely that they could see the invisible cloth. |
| rich character vs. poor character | major | The filthy rich Emperor and his affluent courtiers were variously compared and contrasted with the peasants of the kingdom. |