Yep, in the United States, they used to play these claymation holiday specials every year. Santa Claus is coming to town, Frosty the snowman, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Little drummer boy, Rudolph's shiny new year... Etc.
@maxducoudray When you use the shorthand of (claymation) people get an image of (stop motion), which it is. But when you start getting technical with terms: oh, it's stop-motion wood/plastic dolls... people have almost no idea what you're talking about. But, to each his own???
As a kid who grew up watching these back in the day, the kiss and toy part was always weird. Not creepy, just not needed. A hug in there would've been better. But I get it, the show affection thing made sense in a grateful sort of way. I just didn't agree with it being that intimate.
"A kiss, a toy, is the price you'll pay" literally mean the kids have to kiss him and gibe him a toy to sit on his lap - grammatically that's what that phrase is saying. It's terrible writing. I was seven when this came out and I didn't like it even then as a child.
I was a kid when this came out and grew up in a very large, demonstrative, extended family. A kiss on the cheek was a default greeting and in no sense an intimate act.
Same as when Professor Marvel invites Dorothy into his wagon in "The Wizard of Oz" and reactors act like it was a creep van and he was offering "free hugs."
When I was a kid I wouldn't miss this come on every Christmas. You see, before the internet and the ability to stream, DVDs, or VCRs we had to wait an entire year to be able to watch this on TV. We had to put it on a calendar to make sure we didn't miss it come on TV. We loved it.
Same here. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was always full of shows like this. Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, Little Drummer Boy, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman... there were so many great shows for kids to look forward to
Same with our family back then. Yeah we looked up stuff in the TV guide or TV section of the newspaper, but we watched so much TV that we always caught the preview commercials. They were never called teasers, just previews, which I like better and still prefer to use. I also think waiting 1 year is fine, since watching this any more than that would kill the fun and anticipation for a favorite you hadn't seen for some time.
The Rakin Bass movies are a treasure. I was born before most of them were made. I grew up watching them as a child. I still loved them through my teen age years. I remember a Christmas being in the Air Force when I was nineteen years old. The crowd in the barracks day room was watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. We were all technically adults serving our nation, but we were really little kids at heart. It was the first Christmas being away from home for most of us. This Rakin Bass claymation classic made the Season feel a little more normal.
I'm shocked to learn that she hasn't seen these classics. They are perfect for her personality. Can't wait for her to watch Rudolph eventually. She's going to love it.
My wife is disabled from strokes, sometimes that first step after standing is a little slow. I sing "Put one foot in front of the otheerrrr" then she looks at me like I'm an idiot because she's never seen this movie.
And Mikey Rooney was Santa Claus *both* here and in his reprised role in the 2008 sequel A Miser Brothers' Christmas. George S. Irving was also the Heat Miser in both movies.
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, the little drummer boy, and frosty the snowman. These were the minimum must see events in the 1970’s at Christmas, the only played once each year, there was no streaming so you would do anything to see them!
Rudolph was my favorite. The Abominable monster scared me a bit as a kid with all those teeth, but never to tears. I never liked Drummer Boy, for me it was one and done. Frosty was okay though I wished that was done stop motion. The Charlie Brown one was kinda sad, with that small fragile tree scene. But Linus made it better and Snoopy was always around for comedy relief to offset the down moments.
The narrator was Fred Astaire, who made ten musicals with Ginger Rogers. He was also in "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby. Santa was Mickey Rooney, who made "Babes in Arms" with Judy Garland.
Don't forget Fred Astaire also made a musical with Judy Garland, EASTER PARADE (1948). Mickey and Judy made a whole series of movies together in addition to BABES IN ARMS (1939): THOROUGHBREDS DON'T CRY (1937), LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938), ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940), STRIKE UP THE BAND (1940), LIFE BEGINS FOR ANDY HARDY (1941), BABES ON BROADWAY (1941), and GIRL CRAZY (1943). They would reuinite for a performance in WORDS AND MUSIC (1948), and in 1963 Mickey guest-starred on the first episode of Judy's television series, THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW.
I kinda feel sad when i see these because somewhere through the years, we've lost our common decency. It's like people have become so jaded that they see dirty things in every gesture and act of kindness. I miss those times years ago. Anyway, merry Christmas!😄😄🎄🎄
Same as when Professor Marvel invites Dorothy into his wagon in "The Wizard of Oz" and reactors act like it was a creep van and he was offering "free hugs."
I'm 57 and watched this and Frosty yesterday night (and Charlie Brown over the weekend), and will be watching rudolph tonight. Takes me back to the good old days.
Late Baby Boomer here… I remember racing home from elementary school in the late 60s to see if our family received the first week of December ‘TV GUIDE’ !!! I would then highlight all of the best kids Christmas specials… * Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer * Frosty The Snowman * Santa Clause is Coming to Town * The Drummer Boy * A Charlie Brown Christmas Others eventually followed…
Thank you for watching this sweet film with us! ❤ Christmas in the 60s and 70s just wasn’t Christmas without the stop-motion children’s movies! We scoured the TV Guide (a television broadcast schedule in booklet form purchased at supermarket checkouts) for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and on and on. For children of the time, missing any of these broadcasts literally reduced the joy of Christmas by half, at least!
Rankin/Bass (Arthur Rankin Jr, and Jules Bass) are also known for making hand drawn films like _The Hobbit_ , _The Last Unicorn_ , The Flight of Dragons , etc.
I must be getting soft in my old age. Lol! Brought a tear to my eyes, remembering those nights sitting around the TV watching these every year at Christmas time. I have had the DVD with all the classics. Santa Clause is Coming To Town, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Little Drummer Boy, Charlie Brown's Christmas, well that was a different DVD. Year without a Santa Claus, Rudolph's Shining New Year. Just remember, when I was a child and these came out, there was no such thing as a DVD or even a VCR. You only got to see them once a year when they were shown on TV. As an adult with Kids, I found they had been made into a DVD set and had to buy them. Something you might ought to do is look up the actors who did the voices for these characters. Funny enough, the animated characters carry a resemblance to the actor themselves. Point in fact, Fred Astair as the postman. Keenan Wynne as Winter. Roddy McDowell as the Sergant at arms to the Burgermeister. In Rudolf the Snowman who narrorates the story is non other than Burl Eyves. A very famous singer, actor. Look them up and compare them to the character they provided voice for. If nothing else, you can identify them if you ever see some of their more famous rolls. Fred Astair Starred in the movie Singing in the Rain.
A slight correction. Roddy McDowall does not voice Grimsley, the "Sergeant at Arms." It's actually Paul Frees, voicing both the Burgermeister and Grimsley, and quite a few other characters. Also, Gene Kelly was the star of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952), rather than Fred Astaire, but Astaire was the star of many other classic musicals.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Man, I miss when they used to make and broadcast wonderful Christmas specials like this. They speak to the little kid in me.
It was only after becoming an adult that I would fully see the brilliance in this production. The amazing voice acting includes the talents of Hollywood legends Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, and Paul Frees. The design was done by Mad Magazine artist Paul Coker Jr. with animation techniques developed by the Japanese, which I think explains Miss Jessica’s distinctive anime look. Finally, we have the wonderful, brilliantly performed and orchestrated songs by Maury Laws and Jules Bass, which I appreciate as a composer.
After his first screentests, a talent scout wrote of Astaire: Can’t act, can’t sing, can dance a little. The world is lucky David O. Selznick saw more than that in Astaire. Astaire, already a Broadway star, went on to star in dozens of musicals, comedies and dramas, introduce many songs into the American Songbook, and innovate a new way of filming musical numbers in movies, and was always stayed fresh with his choreography. His dancing with Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, Barrie Chase and Eleanor Powell is the stuff of legends!
His name was in the opening credits. I'm sure she saw it. The question is... does she know who Fred Astaire is? Probably not. I know she never heard of Mickey Rooney.
My parents watched these growing up, they showed them to us as kids, and now I watch them with my son every christmas! We love the Burger Miester Miester Burger
I feel like this film had everything Cassie loves. It had children, it had a romance, it had a warm cozy feeling to enjoy on the holidays. I consider this to be one of the greatest Christmas specials of all time and my Christmas doesn’t feel complete without it.
It's my favorite Christmas animated movie. In many ways it's like a James Bond film. An evil villain, a love interest, and an intrepid hero who has important allies who give him gadgets to thwart the villain.
Cassie having a jump scare during a wholesome Rankin-Bass movie . . . That's the Christmas present I never knew I needed. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I started watching these when I was 5... they became a Christmas time kind of tradition. I bought them all on vhs lol... and they were my kids favorite.....a yearly must watch for all of us. Kids love these. ❤️
I have a friend who injured her ankle several years ago, to the point where she was wheelchair bound for a few months and had to learn to walk again. She would sing the song from here, "Put One Foot In Front of the Other" as she would practice walking.
I still remember as a kid, probably 7 or 8 yrs old, pretending I was sick so I didn't have to go to Xmas eve church service so I could stay home and watch either this or the Rudolph special on TV. Back in the early to mid 70's before video tape players if you missed the broadcast, you missed it and wouldn't see it until next year. So, I got out of going to church and my dad stayed home with me while he put a fire in the fireplace and I watched the special. Charlie Brown, The Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa Claus is coming to town was MUST SEE TV for a kid back then.
As kids we went to church on Christmas day so we never missed these, which were often shown on a week night before Christmas eve. There was no needing to play sick and we never missed them.
It doesn't seem like Christmas until I have watched my collection of Rankin Bass Christmas specials. Stick Charlie Brown in there too. I'm 47 years old but I will never outgrow these specials. They have a charm nothing today can match.
These rankin/bass christmas classics were always a personal favorite as a kid. The voice acting is permanently stamped into my mind. Mickey rooney, paul frees, etc.
Except we didn't know who those actors were until we grew up. We heard Paul Frees' distinct voices in different shows and made the connection later rewatching them. Same with Ted Cassidy, these days for us they are easily recognizable.
This was such a pleasant trip down memory lane!! I probably haven’t seen this for about twenty years, and now I’m going down a rabbit hole of their other Christmas and Easter specials. Rudolph is a must watch, and the one my family watches every year 🎉🎉 happy holidays ❤
Your reaction to the garland brushing your back, making you scream, almost had me rolling on the floor. I doubt that that I ever saw such a reaction from you, when you watched "Halloween!" The contradiction was hilarious!
Fred Astaire who voiced the mailman (narrator) was one of the top dancers in the movie musicals of the '30s, 40s, and 50s. He was one of the leads in the classic Holiday Inn, which is the movie in which the song White Christmas was introduced, sung by Bing Crosby. (I just did a stage production of that movie, playing the part that Astaire did. ) So enjoyable!
Merry Christmas, Cassie! Also, it wouldn't be Christmas without a good jumpscare. These were all part of the Christmas countdown for me when I was a kid. An essential part of the build-up to Christmas was combing through the TV Guide magazine and finding all my favorite Christmas movies, which included all the stop-action animation ones like this one (and of course Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, my personal favorite) and a lot of traditional animated movies, like Frosty the Snowman, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and the original, incomparable, version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Thanks for this great x-mas movie. I was 9 years old in 1970. Also watched Rudolf with the abomable snow creature. Hello from PA. USA Have a wonderful holiday ❤❤❤
Fun fact! The original Rudolph special was only meant to air for 2 seasons. It has aired on television every year since it came out. The animation was done in Japan by the stop motion studio MOM Productions, headed by director and animator Tadahito Mochinaga, aka "Tad". Which I think a lot of Americans aren't aware of and I just want to make sure the Japanese studio also gets a little credit for their incredible work on these specials.
As I recall, the name Santa Claus derives from Scandinavian immigrants talking about Saint (Sint) Nicholas. Chris Kringle, on the other hand, comes from the German immigrants, whose tradition was that gifts were delivered by the Christ Child (Christkindl). Edited for spelling.
This makes me feel 9 years old again the second I hear Fred Astaire. I can’t imagine growing up without these wonderful Christmas movies. Frosty the Snowman is my personal favorite.
Merry Christmas Cassie! You are my favorite UA-cam movie reactor. I also want to wish everyone in the PIB community a happy and safe holiday season as well.
When I was a wee lad of four our TV blew a tube (that should tell you how long ago that was) and it wouldn't be until I was 14 in the 1980s that we finally replaced it. In between, many a year, my mother would rent a TV just before Thanksgiving so that we could watch all the Christmas specials by Rankin & Bass (and her favorite, Charlie Brown - don't get me started on my mom's idea of a "perfect Christmas tree"; from actual conversations in the Christmas tree lot: Mom! This tree doesn't even cast a SHADOW! A bird couldn't build a NEST in it!). Santa Claus is Coming to Town was my favorite of their stop motion specials. One Foot in Front of The Other is my favorite song from all these specials. I used to sing it to my baby sister when she was learning to walk. I love the basic idea that grumpy people like the Warlock and the Burgermeister just need a toy to get them out of their funk. On the one hand, I wish the Burgermeister had got some sort of comeuppance at the end or learned a lesson; on the other hand, I think the ending where the Meisterburgers just die out and people just kind of laugh at that silly era is rather fitting. But, my favorite Rankin & Bass Christmas special is the hand-drawn animated T'was the Night Before Christmas because I really identified with the know-it-all, nerdy mouse. Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass got their start animating commercials and when they formed Rankin/Bass, they moved their operation to Japan where the lower wages of Japanese animators let them undercut American studios like Hanna Barbera. These specials were stop-motion animation, but NOT "claymation". Rankin & Bass called them "puppetoons". They were actually built more like marionettes with hinged joints under actual clothing. They weren't made out of clay. Very few of the "puppets" still exist. They weren't made to last, just last long enough to film the show. The people were making paychecks cranking out entertainment, they didn't know they were making pop-culture history that would dramatically impact people's lives and they would still be watching and sharing with their grandkids FIFTY YEARS down the road. Rankin & Bass animated the Hobbit and The Last Unicorn (two more movies to add to your list) and the Thundercats TV show (and several Thundercat knockoffs like the Tigersharks and Silverhawks) - though, they really farmed out most of the actual animation to studios like Toei Animation (the studio behind Dragon Ball) and Topcraft (which when it went under, the lead animator Toru Hara and his protege Hiyao Miyazaki went on to found Studio Ghibli). And, if you don't have the Studio Ghibli movies on your list . . . And, you were right at the end there. The song came first. The song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" was written in 1934, this special first aired in 1970. The script was written to tell the story of the song, just like the Rudolph special released in 1964 based on a 1949 song based on a 1939 children's book.
Burl Ives' Snowman is my favorite from the first one. Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold... "My name is... Jack?! No, it's Charlie. But nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-Box. The mailman is Fred Astaire, voiced by Fred Astaire so they made it look like him. Santa Claus is Coming to Town my favorite story. Young Santa is Conan's doppelganger.
Burl Ives Snowman from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is great. I sing "Holly Jolly Christmas" when I am Christmas shopping without even thinking about it.
[Jessica] All the little cares picked along the way Suddenly have disappeared with yesterday Tossed above the fields and lost among the winds My world is beginning today. Oh, so many times have I walked this way And never seen the little things I see today Never had my head so high above the clouds My world is beginning today. I know something's gonna happen But it's out of my hands Things are gonna start snappin' Without any plan. All the little cares picked along the way Suddenly have disappeared with yesterday Tossed above the fields and lost among the winds My world is beginning today My world is beginning today!
This lovely song & scene often gets shortened or completely cut out of TV broadcasts of this special, especially ones with commercials. Yes, the trippy animation in the background very much shows it was made in the late 60s-early 70s but IMHO it's one of the best songs in this special. You'll notice Jessica's outfit colors undergo a full change during this song, from somewhat drab grays & blues to light sky blue & yellow. Along with her bright red hair it very much resembles a sunrise to show the full change in her life & I'm sure that's not just coincidental 😊🌄
Don't forget to leave cigarettes, shoes, and a Baretta 92F in the ductwork for John McClane this Christmas Eve. Yippie-Ki-Yay and Merry Christmas Motha Fucah!!
The line in this movie that kills my dad and I every time is when they’re flying away and the warlock goes “look everyone I’m not a loser anymore!” 🤣 this movie is a gift. This Santa and Tim Allen are my Santa Claus’s.
Did you realize that the narrator (mailman) is considered by many to be the greatest male movie star dancer of all time? (Fred Astaire) And Santa was voiced by another just enormous Hollywood legend, Mickey Rooney. (from wiki: _"an American actor. In a _*_career spanning nearly nine decades,_*_ he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941")_
Those of us familiar with Harryhausen know the correct term. We know what type of model figures were used in each film whether clay or puppets. The act of moving a part of each figure per frame is the same, the materials different.
Hello Cassie!😊 Most people don't know Rankin & Bass sent the script to Japan to do the stop motion animation specials. Japan sent them back complete and the voices were added. Great reactions to this holiday special over 50 years old, Cassie!!!🎬👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!🎄1⃣
I can never understand why we never got a RANKEN AND BASS collection of videogames? We have games like Little Big Planet that tell us we have the gaming technology to make faithful adaptations of these wonderful claymation stories.
My favorite Christmas classics are Rudolph, the red nose reindeer, a Charlie Brown Christmas special, and a Mickey's Christmas Carol, hosted by the Muffets.
She has got to be the first person to ever think that there are "inappropriate scenes" for children in a Rankin/Bass production...just goes to show the insane mentality of today's generations...there is something severely wrong with them.
Rankin/Bass were Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass who founded the company that produced many animated holiday specials - some stop-motion, some traditional cel animation. They're best remembered for the Christmas titles like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. This one is narrated by the legendary Fred Astaire and the mailman is designed to resemble him. And, strictly speaking, this not "claymation" as these figures are not clay but a combination of metal armatures, rubber and fabric.
The animations, stop-motion and traditional, would be done by Japanese studios, including Topcraft, which would later spin into Studio Ghibli. It's tempting to wonder if Hayao Miyazaki animated for _The Hobbit_ or _The Last Unicorn_
Thank you, Cassie!! This movie and others like it helped define a pre-computer technology generation that, for tens of millions of kids across the country, allowed time to stand still for a perfect, magical moment once a year. Much the same as it was for a handsome, bald Starship Captain to see his home planet from space the first time, or watch a hummingbird’s wing beats slow to stop while feeding (Star Trek Insurrection). The wholesome innocence of Toys and playtime…”Data, remember to take time everyday to play!” (Also see - ST Original series, “Shore Leave” episode. Same lesson. Great story!) PS - Cassie, these once-a-year Christmas films were meant to be shared. You know… peace on earth, goodwill to younger siblings. Be a good big sister and let Carly watch them with you. lol!😂 Thanks again, your reactions are the best!
Love these old school animated Christmas movies. Cassie this style animation is call Stop motion (also known as stop frame animation) Its an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames/images is played back. Sounds like you understand how its done. I'm shocked you haven't seen the original stop motion Rudolph the red noise Reindeer.
Yes you must do Rudolph, that is another origin story. That version was on major networks on primetime way longer than this movie. I am pretty sure it still is, but I don't know.
Merry Christmas! This was always my favorite Christmas special. There’s a certain innocence about it, and, although it’s about Santa Claus, there’s a sweet reverence for the true meaning of Christmas. God bless you and your family.
i grew watching these ever Christmas the memories of seeing this again are great as i sit here i just want to say getting to see you smiling and seeing this for the first time made my Christmas
Every age we see of Kris looks exactly like my dad. Exactly. E X A C T L Y. He was 14 when this came out, and grew the same ginger beard as an adult. As an old man, he now looks just like Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph special. What's creepy is how much Mrs Claus looks like my grandma, his mother, as a young woman in the 40s. She was a beautiful ginger Red Cross nurse who apparently never bought a meal when on the trains with Ally soldiers. 😂 Is the studio that makes these claymation Christmas specials Scandinavian or something?
I had this and Rudolph on VHS back in the day. As a red head loved that Santa was a read head and loved Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph. Merry Christmas Cassie!
Fred Astaire was instantly recognized as the narrator, my favorite stop-motion Christmas movie is The Year Without A Santa Claus which has a great musical rivalry between the Snow Miser and Heat Miser.
Charlie Brown, this, Rudolph, and Frosty were my favorites as a kid. Made time to sit down and watch them every year. Still do once in a while; I watched Charlie Brown earlier today. Happy Holidays!
Stop-motion animation! Glad that a Rankin-Bass finally made a watch. Cassie has already watched the original "King Kong". I hope that in 2025, she will finally get into Ray Harryhausen features ("The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", "Jason & The Argonauts" etc. ).
This is THE one for me as a kid. I love Rudolph, Frosty and Year Without A Santa Claus but this one just always stuck with me. Thanks for your reaction! Merry Xmas everyone.
Yep, in the United States, they used to play these claymation holiday specials every year.
Santa Claus is coming to town, Frosty the snowman, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Little drummer boy, Rudolph's shiny new year... Etc.
Rudolph has always been my favorite. I think I’m gonna watch it tonight
They’re not really claymation. Not sure why people say that. They’re puppets.
Frosty’s winter wonderland is awesome too!
@maxducoudray When you use the shorthand of (claymation) people get an image of (stop motion), which it is. But when you start getting technical with terms: oh, it's stop-motion wood/plastic dolls... people have almost no idea what you're talking about.
But, to each his own???
Not used to, but still do. AMC airs them all every year. :)
People didn’t have the same way of thinking 50-60 years ago… Santa getting cheek kisses for toys was still innocent, not nefarious.
To think anything else is gross.
Sign of the times, I guess.
Gigo
As a kid who grew up watching these back in the day, the kiss and toy part was always weird. Not creepy, just not needed. A hug in there would've been better. But I get it, the show affection thing made sense in a grateful sort of way. I just didn't agree with it being that intimate.
"A kiss, a toy, is the price you'll pay" literally mean the kids have to kiss him and gibe him a toy to sit on his lap - grammatically that's what that phrase is saying. It's terrible writing. I was seven when this came out and I didn't like it even then as a child.
I was a kid when this came out and grew up in a very large, demonstrative, extended family. A kiss on the cheek was a default greeting and in no sense an intimate act.
Same as when Professor Marvel invites Dorothy into his wagon in "The Wizard of Oz" and reactors act like it was a creep van and he was offering "free hugs."
When I was a kid I wouldn't miss this come on every Christmas. You see, before the internet and the ability to stream, DVDs, or VCRs we had to wait an entire year to be able to watch this on TV. We had to put it on a calendar to make sure we didn't miss it come on TV. We loved it.
I hated the dreaded year.
Same here. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was always full of shows like this. Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, Little Drummer Boy, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman... there were so many great shows for kids to look forward to
Same with our family back then. Yeah we looked up stuff in the TV guide or TV section of the newspaper, but we watched so much TV that we always caught the preview commercials. They were never called teasers, just previews, which I like better and still prefer to use. I also think waiting 1 year is fine, since watching this any more than that would kill the fun and anticipation for a favorite you hadn't seen for some time.
The Rakin Bass movies are a treasure. I was born before most of them were made. I grew up watching them as a child. I still loved them through my teen age years. I remember a Christmas being in the Air Force when I was nineteen years old. The crowd in the barracks day room was watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. We were all technically adults serving our nation, but we were really little kids at heart. It was the first Christmas being away from home for most of us. This Rakin Bass claymation classic made the Season feel a little more normal.
Thank you for your service.
Thank you for your service. 👍
Now *THAT* is a Christmas story that could be put on film!!!
I had a similar experience in college.
Great comment, but it's not claymation.
I'm shocked to learn that she hasn't seen these classics. They are perfect for her personality. Can't wait for her to watch Rudolph eventually. She's going to love it.
Here’s hoping she DOES in fact watch Rudolph eventually ^_^
My wife is disabled from strokes, sometimes that first step after standing is a little slow. I sing "Put one foot in front of the otheerrrr" then she looks at me like I'm an idiot because she's never seen this movie.
Oh show it to her please
In case you missed it Fred Astaire was the narrator. He is also in a Christmas movie with Bing Crosby, called Holiday Inn.
And as an actor he always played a penniless dancer who would do anything to finance putting on a show.
Also, Mickey Rooney was Kris Kringle with the voice actor who played "Boris Badenov" in the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons playing the Burgermeister
And Mikey Rooney was Santa Claus *both* here and in his reprised role in the 2008 sequel A Miser Brothers' Christmas. George S. Irving was also the Heat Miser in both movies.
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, the little drummer boy, and frosty the snowman. These were the minimum must see events in the 1970’s at Christmas, the only played once each year, there was no streaming so you would do anything to see them!
Rudolph was my favorite. The Abominable monster scared me a bit as a kid with all those teeth, but never to tears. I never liked Drummer Boy, for me it was one and done. Frosty was okay though I wished that was done stop motion. The Charlie Brown one was kinda sad, with that small fragile tree scene. But Linus made it better and Snoopy was always around for comedy relief to offset the down moments.
The narrator was Fred Astaire, who made ten musicals with Ginger Rogers. He was also in "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby.
Santa was Mickey Rooney, who made "Babes in Arms" with Judy Garland.
Don't forget Fred Astaire also made a musical with Judy Garland, EASTER PARADE (1948). Mickey and Judy made a whole series of movies together in addition to BABES IN ARMS (1939): THOROUGHBREDS DON'T CRY (1937), LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938), ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940), STRIKE UP THE BAND (1940), LIFE BEGINS FOR ANDY HARDY (1941), BABES ON BROADWAY (1941), and GIRL CRAZY (1943). They would reuinite for a performance in WORDS AND MUSIC (1948), and in 1963 Mickey guest-starred on the first episode of Judy's television series, THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW.
I kinda feel sad when i see these because somewhere through the years, we've lost our common decency. It's like people have become so jaded that they see dirty things in every gesture and act of kindness. I miss those times years ago. Anyway, merry Christmas!😄😄🎄🎄
Same as when Professor Marvel invites Dorothy into his wagon in "The Wizard of Oz" and reactors act like it was a creep van and he was offering "free hugs."
I'm 57 and watched this and Frosty yesterday night (and Charlie Brown over the weekend), and will be watching rudolph tonight. Takes me back to the good old days.
I'm 57 also and my wife and I watched Frosty and Charlie Brown on Christmas Eve and this one on Christmas morning.
I always loved "Year Without A Santa Claus"
A hidden gem. I love it too!
"I feel a song coming on!" Only the most banging song of any Christmas special ever!
Late Baby Boomer here…
I remember racing home from elementary school in the late 60s to see if our family received the first week of December ‘TV GUIDE’ !!!
I would then highlight all of the best kids Christmas specials…
* Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer
* Frosty The Snowman
* Santa Clause is Coming to Town
* The Drummer Boy
* A Charlie Brown Christmas
Others eventually followed…
These specials are a big part of family holiday tradition in America. Rankin Bass ruled the Holiday TV scene in the 60’s/70’s and 80’s.
My wife loves this film. Her name is Jessica, and she always gets a kick out of Mrs. Claus first name being Jessica. Great reaction.
Have her try Dragon Quest 8 if she's into video games/JRPGs at all! Jessica is the main female protagonist!
@ thanks! I appreciate the recommendation. Have a happy holiday and New Year!
Thank you for watching this sweet film with us! ❤
Christmas in the 60s and 70s just wasn’t Christmas without the stop-motion children’s movies! We scoured the TV Guide (a television broadcast schedule in booklet form purchased at supermarket checkouts) for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and on and on. For children of the time, missing any of these broadcasts literally reduced the joy of Christmas by half, at least!
They're not claymation.
A Year Without A Santa Claus is the best
Love it. Heat and Cold Miser, Mother Nature, Southtown, great stuff.
Snow Mizer is my dude...
That one is my favorite. Maybe next year!
Rudolphs shiny new year is the best one!!!!!
100%. Also the one with the Island of Misfit Toys.
Rankin/Bass (Arthur Rankin Jr, and Jules Bass) are also known for making hand drawn films like _The Hobbit_ , _The Last Unicorn_ , The Flight of Dragons , etc.
I can't watch this without tearing up a bit. Yeah, the Christmas spirit is still alive in me and in this timeless animation. 💗💗💗💗
I must be getting soft in my old age. Lol! Brought a tear to my eyes, remembering those nights sitting around the TV watching these every year at Christmas time. I have had the DVD with all the classics. Santa Clause is Coming To Town, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Little Drummer Boy, Charlie Brown's Christmas, well that was a different DVD. Year without a Santa Claus, Rudolph's Shining New Year. Just remember, when I was a child and these came out, there was no such thing as a DVD or even a VCR. You only got to see them once a year when they were shown on TV. As an adult with Kids, I found they had been made into a DVD set and had to buy them. Something you might ought to do is look up the actors who did the voices for these characters. Funny enough, the animated characters carry a resemblance to the actor themselves. Point in fact, Fred Astair as the postman. Keenan Wynne as Winter. Roddy McDowell as the Sergant at arms to the Burgermeister. In Rudolf the Snowman who narrorates the story is non other than Burl Eyves. A very famous singer, actor. Look them up and compare them to the character they provided voice for. If nothing else, you can identify them if you ever see some of their more famous rolls. Fred Astair Starred in the movie Singing in the Rain.
A slight correction. Roddy McDowall does not voice Grimsley, the "Sergeant at Arms." It's actually Paul Frees, voicing both the Burgermeister and Grimsley, and quite a few other characters. Also, Gene Kelly was the star of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952), rather than Fred Astaire, but Astaire was the star of many other classic musicals.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Man, I miss when they used to make and broadcast wonderful Christmas specials like this. They speak to the little kid in me.
It was only after becoming an adult that I would fully see the brilliance in this production. The amazing voice acting includes the talents of Hollywood legends Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, and Paul Frees. The design was done by Mad Magazine artist Paul Coker Jr. with animation techniques developed by the Japanese, which I think explains Miss Jessica’s distinctive anime look. Finally, we have the wonderful, brilliantly performed and orchestrated songs by Maury Laws and Jules Bass, which I appreciate as a composer.
Don't overlook Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock.
@@oliverbrownlow5615 Absolutely! Edit made!
I think you'll recognize the "narrator". Its none other than Fred Astaire...the famous movie dancer.
Fred was a triple threat - Dance, Sing and Act.
AND.....Mickey Rooney was Kris.....
After his first screentests, a talent scout wrote of Astaire: Can’t act, can’t sing, can dance a little.
The world is lucky David O. Selznick saw more than that in Astaire. Astaire, already a Broadway star, went on to star in dozens of musicals, comedies and dramas, introduce many songs into the American Songbook, and innovate a new way of filming musical numbers in movies, and was always stayed fresh with his choreography.
His dancing with Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, Barrie Chase and Eleanor Powell is the stuff of legends!
His name was in the opening credits. I'm sure she saw it. The question is... does she know who Fred Astaire is? Probably not. I know she never heard of Mickey Rooney.
@@knyght67 And Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock. All of these famous actors from Old Hollywood.😊
“Santa” means “Saint”. Santa Claus is named for a 4th century Catholic bishop, Saint Nicholas, from Turkey.
He got into a… passionate debate with Origen over the deity of Christ. My favorite Santa story.
Also, it's easy to see how a child's mispronunciation of "Saint Nicholas" could be corrupted into "Santa Claus" ("Sa'nt Ni c'las").
Why us it Santa versus Santo for a male saint?
@oliverbrownlow5615 actually Santa Claus comes from the Dutch "Sinterklaas" which is the translation for Saint Nicholas.
Congratulations! Despite all odds, you managed to add in a jump-scare to a holiday classic 🤣🤣
Those garlands are gonna GIT YA!
My parents watched these growing up, they showed them to us as kids, and now I watch them with my son every christmas!
We love the Burger Miester Miester Burger
My husband has a story how he and his brothers played Snow Miser and Heat Miser in the bath and of course the youngest was the Snow Miser lol
This was narrated by Fred Astaire a famous actor and dancer from the 1930's, 40's, and 50's. The narrator puppets face was made to resemble Astaires.
Add the 20s too for broadway/theatre.
I feel like this film had everything Cassie loves. It had children, it had a romance, it had a warm cozy feeling to enjoy on the holidays. I consider this to be one of the greatest Christmas specials of all time and my Christmas doesn’t feel complete without it.
It's my favorite Christmas animated movie.
In many ways it's like a James Bond film. An evil villain, a love interest, and an intrepid hero who has important allies who give him gadgets to thwart the villain.
The all time classic Christmas movie is - drum roll - A Charlie Brown Christmas! Everything else is just second best.
Cassie having a jump scare during a wholesome Rankin-Bass movie . . . That's the Christmas present I never knew I needed.
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I grew up watching Rankin/Bass they shaped my childhood! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!
I loved all of these growing up in the 70's. We watched them every single year.
I love the Little Drummer Boy-that one is my favorite.
"Put one foot in front of the other " is advice I still find helpful.
Merry Christmas everyone. ❤❤
I started watching these when I was 5... they became a Christmas time kind of tradition. I bought them all on vhs lol... and they were my kids favorite.....a yearly must watch for all of us. Kids love these. ❤️
I have a friend who injured her ankle several years ago, to the point where she was wheelchair bound for a few months and had to learn to walk again. She would sing the song from here, "Put One Foot In Front of the Other" as she would practice walking.
Some of us watched this every year as long as we can remember It’s alot of nostalgia.
The little drummer boy was always the last thing we would watch before bed on Christmas Eve….still to this day
THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (1968) is perhaps the darkest and most underrated of all the Rankin-Bass Christmas Specials.
@@oliverbrownlow5615 Because it was dark it was never my favorite. Only watched it once.
Growing up in Canada in the 70's, we would watch these as often as they would broadcast them during the month of December. Absolute magic!
I still remember as a kid, probably 7 or 8 yrs old, pretending I was sick so I didn't have to go to Xmas eve church service so I could stay home and watch either this or the Rudolph special on TV. Back in the early to mid 70's before video tape players if you missed the broadcast, you missed it and wouldn't see it until next year. So, I got out of going to church and my dad stayed home with me while he put a fire in the fireplace and I watched the special. Charlie Brown, The Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa Claus is coming to town was MUST SEE TV for a kid back then.
As kids we went to church on Christmas day so we never missed these, which were often shown on a week night before Christmas eve. There was no needing to play sick and we never missed them.
Wishing a very Merry Christmas to Cassie and the entire PIB family 🎄
Yes a Merry Christmas to all!
And to all a good night😊
👍
And a Happy New Year 🎉
I lost it when the tinsel fell on you ... 🤣
Yep. If you're a Gen X'er, you grew up watching these every Christmas.
It wasnt just you. We baby baby boomers watched them too
Even the older millennials, too. Heck, was flipping through channels the other day and some channel was playing a marathon of these
Rankin/Bass! ❤❤❤❤❤
Millennial here, watched this and Rudolph every year growing up
It doesn't seem like Christmas until I have watched my collection of Rankin Bass Christmas specials. Stick Charlie Brown in there too. I'm 47 years old but I will never outgrow these specials. They have a charm nothing today can match.
Merry Christmas Cassie, thanks for sharing your warm spirit with all of us throughout the year!
These rankin/bass christmas classics were always a personal favorite as a kid. The voice acting is permanently stamped into my mind. Mickey rooney, paul frees, etc.
Many great stars and great voice actors.
Except we didn't know who those actors were until we grew up. We heard Paul Frees' distinct voices in different shows and made the connection later rewatching them. Same with Ted Cassidy, these days for us they are easily recognizable.
This was such a pleasant trip down memory lane!! I probably haven’t seen this for about twenty years, and now I’m going down a rabbit hole of their other Christmas and Easter specials. Rudolph is a must watch, and the one my family watches every year 🎉🎉 happy holidays ❤
Your reaction to the garland brushing your back, making you scream, almost had me rolling on the floor. I doubt that that I ever saw such a reaction from you, when you watched "Halloween!" The contradiction was hilarious!
Fred Astaire who voiced the mailman (narrator) was one of the top dancers in the movie musicals of the '30s, 40s, and 50s. He was one of the leads in the classic Holiday Inn, which is the movie in which the song White Christmas was introduced, sung by Bing Crosby. (I just did a stage production of that movie, playing the part that Astaire did. ) So enjoyable!
The world might be crazy. But today the world feels beautiful. Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas, Cassie! Also, it wouldn't be Christmas without a good jumpscare.
These were all part of the Christmas countdown for me when I was a kid. An essential part of the build-up to Christmas was combing through the TV Guide magazine and finding all my favorite Christmas movies, which included all the stop-action animation ones like this one (and of course Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, my personal favorite) and a lot of traditional animated movies, like Frosty the Snowman, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and the original, incomparable, version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Thanks for this great x-mas movie. I was 9 years old in 1970. Also watched Rudolf with the abomable snow creature. Hello from PA. USA Have a wonderful holiday ❤❤❤
Fun fact! The original Rudolph special was only meant to air for 2 seasons. It has aired on television every year since it came out.
The animation was done in Japan by the stop motion studio MOM Productions, headed by director and animator Tadahito Mochinaga, aka "Tad". Which I think a lot of Americans aren't aware of and I just want to make sure the Japanese studio also gets a little credit for their incredible work on these specials.
As I recall, the name Santa Claus derives from Scandinavian immigrants talking about Saint (Sint) Nicholas. Chris Kringle, on the other hand, comes from the German immigrants, whose tradition was that gifts were delivered by the Christ Child (Christkindl).
Edited for spelling.
LOL!
Well, Cassie, I've seen everything now!
You were actually startled by a Christmas decoration! 😂
She is SO JUMPY! It's hysterical.
Happy holidays! Thanks for the content 🤙🏾
This makes me feel 9 years old again the second I hear Fred Astaire. I can’t imagine growing up without these wonderful Christmas movies. Frosty the Snowman is my personal favorite.
These Rankin/Bass Christmas shows were a huge highlight of Christmas's when i was a kid in the 70s and 80s.
Merry Christmas Cassie! You are my favorite UA-cam movie reactor. I also want to wish everyone in the PIB community a happy and safe holiday season as well.
I have not seen this in probably 45 years! Merry Christmas Cassie!
When I was a wee lad of four our TV blew a tube (that should tell you how long ago that was) and it wouldn't be until I was 14 in the 1980s that we finally replaced it. In between, many a year, my mother would rent a TV just before Thanksgiving so that we could watch all the Christmas specials by Rankin & Bass (and her favorite, Charlie Brown - don't get me started on my mom's idea of a "perfect Christmas tree"; from actual conversations in the Christmas tree lot: Mom! This tree doesn't even cast a SHADOW! A bird couldn't build a NEST in it!).
Santa Claus is Coming to Town was my favorite of their stop motion specials. One Foot in Front of The Other is my favorite song from all these specials. I used to sing it to my baby sister when she was learning to walk. I love the basic idea that grumpy people like the Warlock and the Burgermeister just need a toy to get them out of their funk. On the one hand, I wish the Burgermeister had got some sort of comeuppance at the end or learned a lesson; on the other hand, I think the ending where the Meisterburgers just die out and people just kind of laugh at that silly era is rather fitting.
But, my favorite Rankin & Bass Christmas special is the hand-drawn animated T'was the Night Before Christmas because I really identified with the know-it-all, nerdy mouse.
Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass got their start animating commercials and when they formed Rankin/Bass, they moved their operation to Japan where the lower wages of Japanese animators let them undercut American studios like Hanna Barbera. These specials were stop-motion animation, but NOT "claymation". Rankin & Bass called them "puppetoons". They were actually built more like marionettes with hinged joints under actual clothing. They weren't made out of clay. Very few of the "puppets" still exist. They weren't made to last, just last long enough to film the show. The people were making paychecks cranking out entertainment, they didn't know they were making pop-culture history that would dramatically impact people's lives and they would still be watching and sharing with their grandkids FIFTY YEARS down the road.
Rankin & Bass animated the Hobbit and The Last Unicorn (two more movies to add to your list) and the Thundercats TV show (and several Thundercat knockoffs like the Tigersharks and Silverhawks) - though, they really farmed out most of the actual animation to studios like Toei Animation (the studio behind Dragon Ball) and Topcraft (which when it went under, the lead animator Toru Hara and his protege Hiyao Miyazaki went on to found Studio Ghibli). And, if you don't have the Studio Ghibli movies on your list . . .
And, you were right at the end there. The song came first. The song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" was written in 1934, this special first aired in 1970. The script was written to tell the story of the song, just like the Rudolph special released in 1964 based on a 1949 song based on a 1939 children's book.
Burl Ives' Snowman is my favorite from the first one. Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold...
"My name is... Jack?! No, it's Charlie. But nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-Box.
The mailman is Fred Astaire, voiced by Fred Astaire so they made it look like him. Santa Claus is Coming to Town my favorite story. Young Santa is Conan's doppelganger.
Young Kris always looked like Glen Campbell to me.
@@michaelminch5490The first what?
Burl Ives Snowman from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is great. I sing "Holly Jolly Christmas" when I am Christmas shopping without even thinking about it.
[Jessica]
All the little cares picked along the way
Suddenly have disappeared with yesterday
Tossed above the fields and lost among the winds
My world is beginning today.
Oh, so many times have I walked this way
And never seen the little things I see today
Never had my head so high above the clouds
My world is beginning today.
I know something's gonna happen
But it's out of my hands
Things are gonna start snappin'
Without any plan.
All the little cares picked along the way
Suddenly have disappeared with yesterday
Tossed above the fields and lost among the winds
My world is beginning today
My world is beginning today!
This lovely song & scene often gets shortened or completely cut out of TV broadcasts of this special, especially ones with commercials. Yes, the trippy animation in the background very much shows it was made in the late 60s-early 70s but IMHO it's one of the best songs in this special. You'll notice Jessica's outfit colors undergo a full change during this song, from somewhat drab grays & blues to light sky blue & yellow. Along with her bright red hair it very much resembles a sunrise to show the full change in her life & I'm sure that's not just coincidental 😊🌄
Don't forget to leave cigarettes, shoes, and a Baretta 92F in the ductwork for John McClane this Christmas Eve. Yippie-Ki-Yay and Merry Christmas Motha Fucah!!
Alright!! I love a good superhero origin story 🎅
* Also,10:33 Miss Jessica,
one of my first crushes... I was five.
"The Year Without A Santa Claus"... one of the absolute best! ...and of course, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
The line in this movie that kills my dad and I every time is when they’re flying away and the warlock goes “look everyone I’m not a loser anymore!” 🤣 this movie is a gift. This Santa and Tim Allen are my Santa Claus’s.
Did you realize that the narrator (mailman) is considered by many to be the greatest male movie star dancer of all time? (Fred Astaire) And Santa was voiced by another just enormous Hollywood legend, Mickey Rooney. (from wiki: _"an American actor. In a _*_career spanning nearly nine decades,_*_ he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941")_
Yes, yes, stop-motion. This is not claymation. It's stop-motion using puppets. End of line. 🖖
Yes. Similar process but a totally different look.
Those of us familiar with Harryhausen know the correct term. We know what type of model figures were used in each film whether clay or puppets. The act of moving a part of each figure per frame is the same, the materials different.
"Claymation" is best typified by characters like Gumby who are actually made of clay.
Another good Rankin and Bass Christmas special is The Little Drummer Boy. It features the Vienna Boys' Choir singing the title song
Hello Cassie!😊 Most people don't know Rankin & Bass sent the script to Japan to do the stop motion animation specials. Japan sent them back complete and the voices were added. Great reactions to this holiday special over 50 years old, Cassie!!!🎬👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!🎄1⃣
I can never understand why we never got a RANKEN AND BASS collection of videogames? We have games like Little Big Planet that tell us we have the gaming technology to make faithful adaptations of these wonderful claymation stories.
Thanks!
This and A Year Without A Santa Claus are a must every Christmas
You will love Rudolph!
You need to see A Year Without a Santa Clause. It was my favorite as a kid. I’ve probably seen it 20 times.
My favorite Christmas classics are Rudolph, the red nose reindeer, a Charlie Brown Christmas special, and a Mickey's Christmas Carol, hosted by the Muffets.
Same here!
Dont forget to add their other classic, Little Drummer Boy
I love this one but Rudolph is my favourite Christmas movie of all time.
She has got to be the first person to ever think that there are "inappropriate scenes" for children in a Rankin/Bass production...just goes to show the insane mentality of today's generations...there is something severely wrong with them.
Rankin/Bass were Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass who founded the company that produced many animated holiday specials - some stop-motion, some traditional cel animation. They're best remembered for the Christmas titles like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. This one is narrated by the legendary Fred Astaire and the mailman is designed to resemble him. And, strictly speaking, this not "claymation" as these figures are not clay but a combination of metal armatures, rubber and fabric.
The animations, stop-motion and traditional, would be done by Japanese studios, including Topcraft, which would later spin into Studio Ghibli. It's tempting to wonder if Hayao Miyazaki animated for _The Hobbit_ or _The Last Unicorn_
Thank you, Cassie!! This movie and others like it helped define a pre-computer technology generation that, for tens of millions of kids across the country, allowed time to stand still for a perfect, magical moment once a year. Much the same as it was for a handsome, bald Starship Captain to see his home planet from space the first time, or watch a hummingbird’s wing beats slow to stop while feeding (Star Trek Insurrection). The wholesome innocence of Toys and playtime…”Data, remember to take time everyday to play!” (Also see - ST Original series, “Shore Leave” episode. Same lesson. Great story!)
PS - Cassie, these once-a-year Christmas films were meant to be shared. You know… peace on earth, goodwill to younger siblings. Be a good big sister and let Carly watch them with you. lol!😂 Thanks again, your reactions are the best!
I really hope 11:01 is featured in the 2024 Jump Scared compilation 😂
7:48 Cassie jumped at the penguin too! 😆😸😆❤️
Love these old school animated Christmas movies. Cassie this style animation is call Stop motion (also known as stop frame animation) Its an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames/images is played back.
Sounds like you understand how its done.
I'm shocked you haven't seen the original stop motion Rudolph the red noise Reindeer.
@@smavtmb2196 Red Noise? 😂 Yeah it does that too! 🦌
Wallace & Grommet in "The Wrong Trousers" and "Attack of the Were Rabbit" are fun stop - motion claymation movies.
Yes you must do Rudolph, that is another origin story. That version was on major networks on primetime way longer than this movie. I am pretty sure it still is, but I don't know.
Merry Christmas! This was always my favorite Christmas special. There’s a certain innocence about it, and, although it’s about Santa Claus, there’s a sweet reverence for the true meaning of Christmas. God bless you and your family.
I’ve watched it since 1970 when I was 10 years old. I still do because it makes me feel young
I was one in 1970 but did manage to remember these as a child
Ahh the memories this movie brings back!!..thanks for sharing
i grew watching these ever Christmas the memories of seeing this again are great as i sit here i just want to say getting to see you smiling and seeing this for the first time made my Christmas
Every age we see of Kris looks exactly like my dad. Exactly. E X A C T L Y. He was 14 when this came out, and grew the same ginger beard as an adult. As an old man, he now looks just like Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph special. What's creepy is how much Mrs Claus looks like my grandma, his mother, as a young woman in the 40s. She was a beautiful ginger Red Cross nurse who apparently never bought a meal when on the trains with Ally soldiers. 😂
Is the studio that makes these claymation Christmas specials Scandinavian or something?
Japanese, actually.
Rankin Bass Rudolf the Red Nosed Raindeer, is the best one they made.
It was made in 1964 and still airs on television to this day.
I had this and Rudolph on VHS back in the day. As a red head loved that Santa was a read head and loved Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph. Merry Christmas Cassie!
Now this brings back nostalgic Christmas memories! Thanks Cassie and Merry Christmas ❤️💚
This gave me such positive childhood nostalgia! Thanks for sharing Cassie. Merry Christmas to you and your family! 🧑🎄🎁🎄
Fred Astaire was instantly recognized as the narrator, my favorite stop-motion Christmas movie is The Year Without A Santa Claus which has a great musical rivalry between the Snow Miser and Heat Miser.
Charlie Brown, this, Rudolph, and Frosty were my favorites as a kid. Made time to sit down and watch them every year. Still do once in a while; I watched Charlie Brown earlier today.
Happy Holidays!
The narrator is Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney was Kris Kringle.
Stop-motion animation! Glad that a Rankin-Bass finally made a watch. Cassie has already watched the original "King Kong". I hope that in 2025, she will finally get into Ray Harryhausen features ("The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", "Jason & The Argonauts" etc. ).
This is THE one for me as a kid. I love Rudolph, Frosty and Year Without A Santa Claus but this one just always stuck with me. Thanks for your reaction! Merry Xmas everyone.
Merry Christmas dear Cassie and Carly. We love you both.🎄🥳🎉