The Happy Time is a musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by N. Richard Nash loosely based on a 1950 hit Broadway play, The Happy Time by Samuel A. Taylor, which was in turn based on stories by Robert Fontaine. The story had also been made into a 1952 film version. The original 1967 Los Angeles and 1968 Broadway productions were directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, who won Tony Awards in each category.