The Emperor (from Tell Me a Story) | Full Animated Classic

[00:00:01][music] >> The Emperor.

[00:00:07]In a peaceful country far, far away, there lived an emperor who liked nothing better than new clothes.

[00:00:25]Everybody was very annoyed about this because he was spending all the money the townspeople paid in taxes and he did not pay those to whom he owed money.

[00:00:40]He hardly paid any of his bills at all.

[00:00:50]He didn't bother to pay the soldiers in his army.

[00:00:53]He didn't bother about anything except new clothes for himself.

[00:01:00]While the soldiers marched up and down and the townspeople became more and more angry, the emperor would stay in his room and change his clothes six or seven times a day.

[00:01:15]In fact, everybody was very unhappy indeed except the emperor.

[00:01:37]One day, two weavers arrived in town.

[00:01:43]Weavers are people who make cloth but these two weren't real weavers.

[00:01:49]They just wanted to make some money without doing any work.

[00:01:55]So, they told everyone that the cloth they made was the finest in the world, but that only those who are very clever could see it.

[00:02:05]Those who hadn't any brains couldn't see the cloth at all.

[00:02:15]It wasn't very long before the emperor heard about the weavers and asked to see them.

[00:02:21]He told the weavers they must make him some new clothes.

[00:02:25]The weavers said this would cost a lot of money as their cloth had to be made from the finest silk and the purest gold thread.

[00:02:36]"Oh, that's all right." The emperor told them.

[00:02:40]"You will be paid well for your work."

[00:02:46]The emperor called for his lord chamberlain and told him to find room for his weavers to work and to give them as much silk and gold thread as they wanted.

[00:02:58]The lord chamberlain did not trust the two weavers, but he had to do what the emperor told him.

[00:03:06]Eventually, he brought the weavers everything they asked for.

[00:03:11]They told the chamberlain to go away so they could get on with their work.

[00:03:25]When the lord chamberlain left, the weavers laughed [music] themselves silly.

[00:03:33]>> [laughter] >> They bundled the beautiful, priceless pieces of thread into their bags and pretended to work all night making the clothes.

[00:03:55]>> One day, the emperor wondered whether his new suit was ready or not. But he was worried in case he wasn't clever enough to see the cloth.

[00:04:04]So, he sent the Lord Chamberlain instead.

[00:04:09]The weavers [music] were ready for him.

[00:04:11]And one of them pretended to hold up a piece of cloth for him to [music] see.

[00:04:16]Of course, there was nothing there at all.

[00:04:20]"Marvelous."

[00:04:22]said the Lord Chamberlain.

[00:04:24]He dared not admit he couldn't see anything. Otherwise, they would think he was foolish.

[00:04:30]"Absolutely marvelous."

[00:04:33]"We want some more silver and gold thread." said the weavers.

[00:04:38]>> [music] >> The emperor asked how things were coming along and was told the cloth was magnificent.

[00:04:55]"Then give them more thread." commanded the emperor.

[00:05:02]Next day, he sent someone to see when the suit would be finished.

[00:05:08]The weavers again held up nothing.

[00:05:11]And the messenger from the emperor had to say how wonderful the cloth was.

[00:05:16]As he didn't want them to think he had no brains either.

[00:05:21]He went back to the emperor and told him the clothes would be ready in about a week.

[00:05:28]"Then." said the emperor.

[00:05:31]"Next week, I shall leave my court through the town wearing the most beautiful suit in the world."

[00:05:41]He thought that if two members of his court had seen the cloth.

[00:05:46]And they didn't have as many brains as he had.

[00:05:48]Then he would surely be able to see it.

[00:05:51]And so he stopped worrying about it.

[00:06:03]The big day arrived. The suit was ready to be collected from the weavers.

[00:06:10]The emperor went to the weavers himself, and they pretended to show him the suit, which of course was not there at all.

[00:06:19]He couldn't say he was unable to see anything, cuz the whole town would have thought he had no brains.

[00:06:26]So he told them how marvelous the suit looked.

[00:06:31]Not long after this, the weavers arrived at the palace with a pile of boxes.

[00:06:36]Opening them, they again showed the emperor his wonderful suit, which was not there at all.

[00:06:44]They showed him his trousers, which were not there at all.

[00:06:49]They showed him a scarf, which was not there at all.

[00:06:54]His coat, which was not there at all.

[00:06:57]And they told him [music] that the suit was so light, he would hardly feel he was wearing it.

[00:07:10]They asked the emperor to undress so that they could put his suit on.

[00:07:16]>> [music] >> The emperor stood in the middle of the room with practically nothing on.

[00:07:28]The weavers made themselves busy pretending to dress him.

[00:07:37]The Lord Chamberlain came in to say that the procession was ready, and everyone in the town was waiting to see him in his new clothes.

[00:07:48]The emperor asked the Lord Chamberlain how he liked the suit.

[00:07:52]Uh "Magnificent, sir." He said, not wanting the emperor to think that he had no brains.

[00:08:09]As the emperor went out at the front door of his palace, the two tricky weavers left by the back with all the beautiful cloth they had stolen.

[00:08:28]The emperor arrived in the town square.

[00:08:31]>> [cheering] >> "Look at his beautiful cloak!" The people cried, wishing to show they had brains and could see it.

[00:08:40]"Look at his wonderful suit!" They all shouted.

[00:08:46]Not one of them was brave enough to say they couldn't see anything except one little boy who shouted at the top of his voice and shrieked with laughter, "The emperor has no clothes on!

[00:09:00]The emperor has no clothes on!"

[00:09:04]There was a hush.

[00:09:08]Then a whisper.

[00:09:10]And the whisper became louder and louder until it reached a roar.

[00:09:15]"Look! He hasn't any clothes! Look! He's practically naked!" Everyone roared.

[00:09:23]The emperor was so ashamed, he ran back to the palace and stayed there for weeks and weeks, not daring to put his face outside.

[00:09:34]One day, he realized just how stupid he had been.

[00:09:39]He gave away all his beautiful clothes to the poor.

[00:09:42]And from that day, he ruled over his kingdom wisely, as all emperors should.

[00:09:49]And all because a little boy in the crowd told the truth.

[00:09:59]>> [music] [music]