Classic Christmas Favorites (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! / The Year Without a Santa Claus / Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July / Rudolph's Shiny New Year)
by Arthur Rankin Jr., Ben Washam, Chuck Jones, Jules Bass
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Actor: Boris Karloff, Dick Shawn, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Booth, Thurl RavenscroftDirector: Arthur Rankin Jr., Ben Washam, Chuck Jones, Jules Bass
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Bob Ogle
Writer: Carlo Collodi
Writer: Charles Dickens
Writer: Clement Moore
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Animated, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 393 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner
DVD Reviews of Classic Christmas Favorites (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! / The Year Without a Santa Claus / Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July / Rudolph's Shiny New Year)
DVD Review: Fantastic sequel set IF you don't get one from a flubbed shipment!
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, this review is long overdue, as many folks have asked me to follow up after my review of the "Original Christmas Classics" set, so here goes. First up though, I want to say that this "Classic Christmas Favorites" set from Warner Home Video (2008) IS supposed to have the classic stop-motion version of "The Year Without a Santa Claus", and NOT the live-action remake starring John Goodman. Apparently, since a lot of folks have complained about this, it seems many people have gotten this set with the wrong version. Amazing, since the original is clearly featured on the packaging. All I can do is speculate here that Warner had tons of those live-action DVDs lying around and were trying to get rid of them, ha, but maybe it was just an innocent but careless mistake. Regardless, as another reviewer has suggested, you can simply call Warner Customer Support, and they'll send you the correct DVD, and if you're lucky, they won't even ask you to send the other one back (which means you get a freebie, which is pretty sweet). I don't want to steal that other reviewer's thunder since they originally posted about this, so simply locate their review for the phone number.
Now, if you were lucky and got the RIGHT "Year Without a Santa Claus" disc, you SHOULD be very happy, as this is an excellent set loaded with classic holiday specials, and even some extras!
Disc 1 features one of the all-time greatest animated programs, the 1966 holiday classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". This Chuck Jones directed masterpiece, overseen by Dr. Seuss himself, with the voices of Boris Karloff, June Foray, and Thurl Ravenscroft, is a Christmas MUST. Now, I actually like the Jim Carrey version, but it is no substitute for the original. If you are shockingly unfamiliar with it, this is the story of a grouchy, green creature who hates Christmas and decides to dress up as Santa Claus and "steal" it, essentially coming down chimneys and taking everyone's trees, presents, food, and decorations to dump off a mountaintop out of pure spite. That is, until he discovers there is more to Christmas than gifts, noise, and gluttony. A true worldwide favorite, and this version shouldn't be too scary for kiddies, ha.
Also on Disc 1 are, count 'em, three other Christmas specials, plus the bulk of the set's bonus features (since most are about the Grinch). The other three specials are all from those holiday maestros, Rankin and Bass, the guys who brought us the original Rudolph and Frosty TV classics (found in the "Original Christmas Classics" set). Here, we have "The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold", "Pinocchio's Christmas", and "The Stingiest Man In Town". These three are all entertaining, but a bit more forgettable (story-wise, at least) as Rankin/Bass holiday specials go. "The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold" (1981, stop-motion "animagic") isn't that much about Christmas and could easily have been written as a Saint Patrick's Day special. Perhaps that was the original idea, and they just fell under network or reputation pressure to work-in the Christmas aspect. I don't know, but basically it's a fun little story about leprechauns and a young sailor trying to prevent a banshee from stealing taking their Christmas gold. Some folks have complained that its a story that doesn't have the Christmas spirit, as the banshee requires the gold to stay alive and the leprechauns are just being greedy by not giving it to her, and I can see the point of such complaints, but if you are able to look past that and just enjoy the rarity of a leprechaun story, it's entertaining enough. "Pinocchio's Christmas" (1980, stop-motion "animagic") is similar to Leprechauns in that it could have just been a Pinocchio story, but they worked Christmas into it. The special is basically a series of Pinocchio-type adventures started by Pinocchio wanting to buy Geppetto a Christmas gift. Like in the original Pinocchio story, he is tricked repeatedly by the Fox and Cat, ends up in the hands of a mean puppeteer, etc... If you like Pinocchio stories, you'll like this one. And finally, "The Stingiest Man In Town" (1978) is Rankin Bass's rather straightforward, traditionally animated version of "A Christmas Carol", AKA "Scrooge". As I understand it, it's a remake of a live-action musical version from 1956, but this special is told by a B.A.H. Humbug, a literal bug (voiced by Tom Bosley), which I doubt was the case in the live-action Basil Rathbone version. The wonderful extras on Disc 1 are, as I mentioned, all Grinch-related. There's that wonderful "Making-Of" special that I remember seeing on TNT, hosted by the always hilarious Phil Hartman, whom we all greatly miss. There's also a featurette on the music of the Grinch (Songs in the Key of Grinch), a nice Seuss featurette (Dr. Seuss and the Grinch - From Whoville to Hollywood), text bios, an actual commentary track with voice actress Jun Foray (Cindy Lou Who) and Animator Phil Roman, and what are described as pencil tests but simply appear to be three production art drawings from the special.
Disc 2 is the much talked about "Year Without a Santa Claus" disc so many people have been getting the wrong version of. If your set holds the correct version, the featured special will be the old "animagic" (stop-motion) version from Rankin/Bass, 1974. This program is one of the big Rankin/Bass holiday classics to most people, most famous for the Heat Miser/Snow Miser musical number. Personally, for some reason, this one never was a tradition for me, as I just don't remember it being aired yearly as a kid. When I was an older kid, it would get multiple airings, but I never caught it. I guess I never really sat and watched it until I got this set. It's a cute and original little story, but for me it's no Rudolph, Frosty, or Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I can see myself possibly forming a new attachment to it though, but I digress. "Year Without a Santa Claus" is about Santa catching a cold and not wanting to go out on his yearly rounds one Christmas, long ago. The real problem, though, seems to be that Santa has gotten the impression that people no longer really care if he visits or not. Mrs. Claus considers making the rounds herself, but instead sends two elves on a mission to find proof that people still believe in Santa and care about him coming on Christmas Eve. This leads to other complications in which Mrs. Claus must try to make a deal with the Miser Brothers to allow it to snow in a place called Southtown to restore the belief in Santa Claus there. Lots of great music and fun in this classic special, to be sure. And that's not all of the great stuff on Disc 2. There are two more specials AND some bonus features!
The other two specials on Disc 2 are "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" and "Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey", both in the "animagic" medium. The first is, for me at least, a true classic. I loved this one AT LEAST as much as the original Rudolph. Clearly, he was Rankin/Bass's little star/hero, and in this unforgettable New Year's special from 1976, Rudolph is sent on a mission to find the missing Baby New Year, Happy. Rudolph must find little Happy in time for the new year, but also before the monster-bird Eon the Terrible finds him first! Yeah, Eon was actually pretty scary when I was a little kid! This one is full of neat characters and fun adventure as Rudolph and new friends that he meets along the way search over a cluster of magical islands that represent past years. This is the special that introduces the whale, Big Ben, with the big clock in his tail, and the camel, The Great Quarter Past Five, with the big clock for a hump, ha, along with the caveman, One Million, the Knight, Sir Ten-To-Three, Seventeen Seventy Six, Father Time, and even the three bears! Father Time is the storyteller, as Rankin/Bass always seems to have one of those, and is voiced by Red Skelton (looks like him too). As for "Nestor, The Long-Eared Donkey" (1977), you may not have heard of this one before, or you may easily confuse it with other specials, but Nestor (narrated by Roger Miller, playing a donkey descendant of Nestor) is the story of a little donkey with ridiculously long ears. Need I say more? Yes, it's like Rudolph or Dumbo, a character made fun of for a physical oddity that pays off in the end. It's not the best or most original special, but some may appreciate this one at least for its focus on the Nativity Story, as Nestor ends up being the donkey that carries Mary to Bethlehem. You may take issue with that if you are a big "Small One" fan, like myself, but, oh, well. Nestor is a cute little critter too, so there's that as well, and we get to see Santa and co. gathered around a manger display in the end, which is lovely if you'd like to see Santa acknowledging the true meaning of Christmas in a special for a change of pace. On to the bonus features of Disc 2 though. There are two featurettes, both of which are pretty nice. One is "We Are Santa's Elves", which is about Rankin/Bass (with emphasis on Year Without a Santa Claus, I'd say), and the other is "Stop Motion 101", which is all about the process of Stop Motion Animation. Good stuff!
Disc Three holds two more great holiday specials. In fact, these are two favorites of mine in particular. Both are traditionally animated and from Rankin/Bass. I generally prefer their animagic stuff, but these and the original Frosty are the ones I make the exception for. They are simply delightful. First up is the TRUE Frosty sequel, 1976's "Frosty's Winter Wonderland", narrated by an animated Andy Griffith. In the story, Frosty comes back to town to have fun with the kids again (sadly, a favorite character of mine, little Karen, is not part of this story, though I've heard she can be seen in one scene and I need to check on that). However, the children notice that when they have to go in for the night, Frosty gets lonely (well, he basically tells them). So, they end up building him a wife. I always say this, but why he decides on a frozen Shelly Winters is beyond me. I'd make a snow-Elisabeth Harnois or a snow-Hilary Duff, or something more along those lines. Call me superficial (but call me). Anyway, things work out until Jack Frost gets jealous of Frosty's popularity. It's a wonderful and original little sequel from R/B, with a simple and charming story and reasonably good continuity with the first (returning voices and close-enough art, etc...), unlike the two most recent attempts at 2D Frosty sequels (Frosty Returns and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman). Unfortunately, don't expect to ever find this one coupled with the original special, since, as I understand it, WB's ownership of Rankin/Bass titles only includes the 1974-1989 titles (minus "The Last Unicorn"). So, I just recommend getting this boxed set and the "Original Christmas Classics" set, as I did. Continuing, the second special on Disc Three is 1974's "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", and it's the tale of a town with a problem. A "forward-thinking" young mouse scripts an anonymous letter that gets printed in the newspaper and simply explains that Santa Claus does not exist. This, of course, offends Santa and the townspeople become concerned that he will not visit them this year. A musical town clock is commissioned to be built that will sing praises of Santa when it chimes, but the little mouse (who lives in the clock maker's own home) mucks that up as well. It's a great story of making mistakes, learning from them, and working hard to put them right, and just a delightful little Christmas story that ends with the telling of the classic poem of the same name. Both of these fine specials are a must for any Christmas Special-lover's collection.
Finally, we come to Disc 4, which holds the feature film (yes, theatrically released), "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July". It's from 1979, and the great part is that it brings Rudolph and Frosty together, explained here as best-friends, with their original voices and with Frosty's wife Crystal too (voiced again by Shelly Winters). Mickey Rooney returns as Santa (whom he played in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Year Without a Santa Claus"), and we get to see Frosty's kids as well! Plus, Jack Frost and Big Ben make an appearance! So, it's like a great crossover flick for hardcore Rankin/Bass fans! This was one of two attempts Rankin/Bass made at doing animagic feature films, the other being "Mad Monster Party", which I recommend for a Halloween R/B fix. The negative on this one is that, well, Christmas in July itself is kind of a bunk concept. Do you watch this at Christmas, or in July? I think I vote Christmas though. The story is pretty interesting though, and it provides a detailed backstory on Rudolph's special light. The villain is a warlock named Winterbolt, who returns to take back control of the North, but first he must defeat its new ruler, Santa Claus. He decides to do this with a storm, but feels he first must get Rudolph and his light-up nose out of the way. When he learns that Rudolph will lose his glow if he ever uses it for an act of evil, he arranges some trickery to cause Rudolph to help in a robbery without knowing it. He also manipulates Frosty and family in his further scheming to gain power. This all happens at the worst time for the Frosties, as they, along with Rudolph, are out of their cold-weather element (thanks to magic amulets) helping a circus put on a Christmas in July themed show. Red Buttons and Ethel Merman also star. Some have called this film's story a bit bleak since the major characters come into some pretty dark situations, sometimes facing "death" (as in, melting or losing your magic hat, in some cases), but I think freaking out about those plot elements is a bit much. Having said that, though, perhaps overall the story is darker than one might expect. The heightened drama was probably because the film was made for theatrical release. Overall, it's a good if not great story, and the big highlight is seeing the Frosties in animagic form and seeing all the characters I mentioned together in one story. For that, it's another Rankin/Bass fan Must-Own.
So, that's the "Classic Christmas Favorites" DVD set in a nutshell. It's a very solid collection of holiday greats I highly recommend. Get the "Original Christmas Classics" set first, but definitely follow-up with this one (or get them at the same time, duh). It's terrible about the swapped disc issue for Year Without a Santa Claus, but just make sure to call Warner Customer Support if your set holds the live-action version instead. They should set you up with the right one, and then you'll be thrilled with this wonderful collection.
More Classic Christmas Favorites (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! / The Year Without a Santa Claus / Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July / Rudolph's Shiny New Year) reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Description of Classic Christmas Favorites (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! / The Year Without a Santa Claus / Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July / Rudolph's Shiny New Year)
Disc 1:-How the Grinch Stole Christmas
-Leprechauns Christmas Gold
-Pinocchio's Christmas
-Stingiest Man in Town
Disc 2:
-The Year Without a Santa Claus: Deluxe Edition. Includes Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Nestor, the Long Eared Christmas Donkey
Disc 3:
-Frosty's Winterwonderland, which includes Twas' the Night Before Christmas
Disc 4:
-Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
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