'Twas the Night Before Christmas: a Christmas classic in a new way
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Rankin/Bass tends to have some very unique takes on classics. Their animated film 'Twas the Night Before Christmas is based on the classic Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" which was originally published anonymously in 1823, but has since been largely attributed to Clement Moore. That being said, the poem actually takes up a very little percentage of the film.
The little town of Junctionville, NY get thrown into a panic when Santa Claus returns every letter from that town without even reading them. They get news that Santa is mad at the town for some reason and they fear he's going to completely overlook them on the special night. Local clock maker, Joshua Trundle (Joel Grey) and his assistant, Father Mouse (George Gobel), work on a special clock that is designed to make ammends with jolly old St. Nick and mend bridges. Things obviously can't go that easily for our heros, but they do their best.
I've loved watching this one around the holiday season for as long as I can remember. It's simple, it's short, and it has quite hummable tunes. Murry Laws does good work for Rankin/Bass' productions.
And it's very touching to boot.
This one gets a 9 / 10.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas has been rated TV-G.
- Christmas movies - what makes them classic and just how many of them do we need?
Christmas is coming. Which means a whole new batch of movies to tell you how to celebrate it. But what about all those Christmas movies that are already out? What made them Christmasy in the first place.
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Yeah, that bit is a bit unusual from a realistic standpoint. But then, the letter that got him mad was in fact signed "all of us". You can poke logical holes in the thing, but the film serves its purpose.
Phoebe Pike Level 7 Commenter 4 months ago
I thought the film was pretty good, but the way it had Santa Claus condemn an entire town because of one note in a newspaper was a bit strange. He didn't even read their letters, which, for all he knew could have been an apology.