Der Esel von Bethlehem

The Small One is so sweet and charming, that for instance it brought tears to my eyes with the boy being so tender towards Small One the Donkey. I love this, and think it is underrated, and I watch it every Christmas. The animation is beautiful, and just adds to the beauty of the film. The story was simple and gentle, demonstrating you can't have everything to meet your own needs, even if it means losing a friend. What made me cry as well as the relationship between the boy and Small One was the title song. So haunting and even heart-rending, with meaningful lyrics. I will say that I never was a fan of Sean Marshall's singing voice on Pete's Dragon, and while it was an improvement here, I still didn't like it that much. But compared to the overall beauty of the film, it is a minor criticism. I thought Small One was adorable, and I did feel angry that anyone would want to kill an innocent donkey. I loved the ending, the character of Joseph was so well-spoken, kind and sensitive, that it warmed my heart. Overall, a really sweet film. 9/10 Bethany Cox.

Every Christmas I watch this film with tears streaming. It's a beautiful story about true friendship and the small donkey chosen to carry Mary to Bethlehem. It has light comedy, danger and pathos by turns. The title song "Small One" and the boy's song "Friendly Face" are sweet and memorable. The Merchants' song is fun. It is a Christmas tale that everyone will love and is timeless. A masterpiece from Bluth. 10/10

Before he quit Disney and formed his own company, Don Bluth did a lot for some of their animated films in the 70s, from being a character animator on Robin Hood, to being a directing animator on The Rescuers and even being the animation director on Pete's Dragon. However, one very notable project he directed was a half-hour short film called "The Small One". Although not as well known as other holiday specials, it is worthy to watch during this time of year for its pleasant retelling of an old donkey who is need of a new home.

Set near Nazareth, the story focuses on a young boy who must give away his cherished old donkey named Small One, except nobody at the market really wants him. With all that said, what really makes this special sweet is the relationship between the boy and Small One, as one can tell how much the boy cares for the old animal and doesn't want to give him away to just anyone. It's during several scenes where the townsfolk pester and berate the scrawny donkey where we sympathize the most with the boy in such a difficult situation. Now being that this is a spiritual special, it becomes clear how it will conclude from the subtext alone, but the religious aspect does not take away from the film's overall heart.

Being that this was directed by Bluth, it's no surprise that the animation is well handled. The animators give the proper facial features for Small One to make us endear him, and the occasional pretty effect and dark atmosphere are a nice bonus. The only complaints with the animation is how obvious the boy looks like Mowgli from The Jungle Book and that the auctioneer looks like one of the Italian chefs from Lady & the Tramp, but that can be blamed more on the budget. In addition, the musical numbers help compliment the film's tone. "Small One" helps establish the emotional feel of the film, "Friendly Face" is very moving given the somber context of its scene, and the Merchant's song is quite amusing and full of energy.

Needless to say, there is just enough heart and sweetness in The Small One to make it a holiday special worth seeing. Sure, Disney usually shies away from religious subject matter like this one, hence why it's somewhat obscure nowadays, but it's still a pleasant treat worth viewing for the emotional core that Bluth was known for in his best work. So if you're either a big fan of Disney, Bluth or Christmas specials related to the nativity, then definitely give this one a look. Remember, just because a special tackles a religious subject does not mean it can't be handled with respect, subtlety and tension to detail.

The cover line «A new animation featurette destined to become a Disney Holiday Classic» suits perfectly on this Christmas tale. This short is considered an experiment, reuniting the talents of Don Bluth and the artists from the Walt Disney Company, as much as it is a quality Christian propaganda mini-film.

It's a nice cartoon. The story is touching, the artwork is excellent, the animation is great and the whole thing runs on a perfect pace. But, back to the artwork, for those who are familiar with Disney's "Aladdin", the artwork here and even the sceneries give a certain "déjà vu" feeling.

As for the characters, the boy looks almost identical to Mowgli from Disney's "The Jungle Book", but he's much better drawn and not as slim as Mowgli. Plus, this boy is kind and very humble, while Mowgli is stubborn and often challenging to deal with. Curiously, some of the animation of the boy is identical to Mowgli's.

The donkey is precisely named Small One, which is ironic because he's such a large donkey. Big, yes, but as gentle as a lamb. The boy's father is a nice guy and Joseph (the donkey's buyer) is very kind.

About the characters I don't like, they are obviously the guard, the tanner, the 3 merchants and the auctioneer. Curiously, the auctioneer almost looks like Stromboli from Disney's masterpiece "Pinocchio". But although I like Stromboli, I dislike the auctioneer.

Our story takes place in Israel, outside of Nazareth. The story focus on the friendship between Small One and the boy, but also on the boy's attempt to sell the donkey for a piece of silver. They both live an awful day but the ending is happy. The donkey is sold to Joseph, who needs a gentle donkey to carry his wife Mary to Bethlehem. The ending has a strong magical feeling because of its excellent artwork and especially because of that sparkling big star.

The voice cast does a good job, including Sean Marshall as the boy (which is obvious, because his laughter is very Pete-like). Sean Marshall was not only a very talented young actor, but also a wonderful singer. If there's any doubt about that, he is very good as Pete in "Pete's Dragon" and he sings beautifully in that movie. In "The Small One", he demonstrates again his acting skills (in this case, vocal) and sings very well either. I wonder what happened to him and where is he now.

So, in conclusion, it's not an animated short without faults, but it's quite good and deserves more credit than it gets. It's really pitiful that such a trashy and gross movie like "Grease" has much more success, popularity and recognition than this nice little story (which came out in the same year of 1978).

The number of animated shorts, animated films and even live-action films made by Walt Disney Company doesn't stop to surprise me. Anytime I think there won't be more or that even more would be impossible, I keep getting surprised.

This should definitely be on Top 250.

From the first time I listened to the album to this movie I was hooked.

It was a read/sing along album with the story and illustrations inside when you open the cover. The story is sweet and endearing. I cannot believe there is not more information available about this movie.

If there were more stories like this for our children to grow up on, they would still be innocent like we were back then. Growing up I listened to the story everyday. I can still recite it all the lines along with movie.

It was not just for Christmas in my eyes. A must see for every child and adult.