The Night Before Christmas

I love this little piece of animation and it's a favorite of our family. I show it to my kids every year on Christmas Eve as it's become a family tradition.

Technically, the music is fun and memorable, the colors are great, and yes, the animation does suffer from a limited budget, but not by much. Anyone familiar with any amount of animation knowledge would easily be able to peg when it was made. But that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of it at all.

The story of how Clement Moore wrote this poem is fictionalized, but it's still a nice, heartwarming story. However, my kids and my wife always look forward to the actual reading, er, singing of the The Night Before Christmas/A Visit from St. Nicholas itself. It's told and portrayed the way it should - I remember it fondly from my childhood and my children now have those same childhood memories of what it's like the night before Christmas.

And yes Virginia, it is out on DVD. I've gotten 2 copies of it, the superior one put out by the studio in 1996 (you can find these at ebay or Amazon). The other is put out by EastWestDVD.com that's packaged with Santa and the Three Bears.

The poem is a timeless classic, not just of Christmas but of anything. It is a poem read out loud every year as one of the family Christmas traditions and it has never gotten old. Also absolutely adore animation, have done for as long as can be remembered, and Christmas is my favourite holiday of the year (which people probably already by now. It really has shocked me that it took me this long to hear about this 1968 animated adaptation let alone watch it, having stumbled upon it by chance online looking for Christmas animations to watch.

Am kicking myself still at not seeing this very underrated gem sooner. It is great to see that it is fondly remembered and it is great to see that one can also find it. There are a few adaptations of the poem, which lends itself best to at the most 20 minute short film, about of 'The Night Before Christmas'. Including the early 30s Disney cartoon, Rankin/Bass' and also the very under-exposed Rabbit Ears adaptation, while liking all of those very much this is now my favourite version of 'The Night Before Christmas'.

It's hard knowing where to begin with praising 'The Night Before Christmas'. The limited budget does show at times in some stiff character animation (especially at the beginning), but on the most part the traditional animation was not bad at all. Especially impressive are the simple yet elegant backgrounds and the meticulous attention to detail in recreating the early 19th century period detail. The colours are lively and neither drab or garish. The music has a nostalgic festive quality and is so beautifully orchestrated and arranged, anybody that loves the music in the festive classics of Rankin/Bass and the animated version of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' will love the music here though it's a little more understated here. It's beautifully played and performed, with a beautiful and not too schmaltzy main song.

Had no issues with the dialogue, which was very sincere and had a lot of heart. It is always easy to follow while never being overly-simple, and it never takes the subject too over-seriously or too much of a joke. The balance is just right. While the circumstances of how the poem/story came into fruition is indeed fictionalised, that didn't matter in any way to me and it actually completely slipped my mind while watching. The storytelling is incredibly charming and heart-warming, the father's love is very clear and makes for a very touching bond. While never being overly sweet or too sentimental, thanks to some amusing moments in the first quarter and also in the telling of the story.

Really found myself caring for all the characters, with the most developed and likeable character being Clement, and rooting for things to turn out alright in the end. The voice acting is very good, Clement sounds so kindly and it makes him very inviting to listen to.

Concluding, wonderful and it is not hard to see why it's considered a Christmas classic by others. 10/10

Three virtues defines it:

1) It is a story about Christmas in simple, fair way. The old Christmas of tradition, family and high care for the other. The Christmas of Navity, far by pink compromises and commercial temptations.

2) It is a film for family . For each member. At the first sigh, a film about past. In fact, about the essence of Christmas in each year, location and people.

3) It is well crafted, with care for details, for tension and profound honesty, that kid of cartoon who reminds the real sense of life and joy.

Short, it is a classic. Not for the passing decades but for powerful and useful message.

I remembered this cartoon from when I was very young (8 or 9) and I spent quite a good amount of time looking for it. I FINALLY found a VHS tape of it on Ebay. There probably are not many copies of it left.

Here is some information that MIGHT help you find it:

Playhouse Productions Elba Productions copyright 1968 Released in 1968 by Darco Enterprises

The title is "The Night Before Christmas"

Here's the summary from the VHS case: "The heartwarming true story of how Clement C. Moore came to write the Christmas poem beloved by generations of children, including a joyous retelling of the charming "A Visit from St. Nicholas," done in brilliant animation and sung by the world famous voices of the Norman Luboff Choir.

A festive array of seasonal and original music that evokes the warmth and wonder of Christmas. Brimming with enchanting appeal for the entire family."

I love this cartoon. It's charming....sweet....the musical rendition of the poem is wonderful.

GET IT IF YOU CAN FIND IT!!

This animated TV special, which aired in 1968, is a retelling of The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, and a bit meta-fictional, as the story depicts the author of this classic Christmas poem as a father looking for the perfect gift for his children, one of whom is a daughter deathly sick who had asked for a book about St. Nick. In his failure to find this sought after present, he instead writes a story for his daughter to coax her out of her sickness, and the poem is thus animated. Well done for the time, but a bit outdated and overly homogeneous in terms of the people depicted.