The Night Before Christmas

I must first state that I'm biased towards this production. It's fairly close to being my "Rosebud."

I saw this a number of times as a kid growing up and it left a strong impression on me, shaping my images of Santa, reindeer, and Christmas magic as much as any Rankin-Bass special. I remember even an accompanying book, which I relocated years later. I showed this video, first on VHS and then on DVD (it's now on YouTube), to my children every Christmas Eve, feeling it did better justice than I could just reading it. My adult daughter now continues that tradition and it continues to hold a special place in my heart.

The music is great, the colors are wonderful, and the story of how A Visit from St. Nicholas was written, while not true, is still tender and sweet.

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!!

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

I much prefer this "Night Before Christmas" to all of the ridiculous ones with mice and all of the other animals since. When her siblings ask for their father to bring them home toys from his business trip Gretchen only wants a book. She wants to read about Santa Claus to learn more about the great man. It's a wonderful account of the era in which the story was written. It was funny as the youngest brother was stringing popcorn and the dog was eating it off the end of the string as the little boy put it on. Of course the little boy was stuffing a lot of the popcorn into his own mouth as well. Gretchen was the perfect mother's helper and reminds me of Wendy in "Peter Pan." As I recall Gretchen had two brothers just like Wendy and she helps the youngest brother by tying a knot in the end of his popcorn string. I grew up listening to "The Night Before Christmas" performed by Fred Waring and his Orchestra. I much prefer it to just hearing the story read. The music races with the wind as Santa comes into sight and is softened as the father watches him go about filling the stockings. No one really listens to the song. I found it on a Time Life Christmas CD set and I bought it for that song alone. Sadly, their later collections with the same picture and title omitted the song. I wish someone would actually show it every year. I haven't seen it since it was first shown in 1968, but I remember it vividly.

I loved this Christmas special when I was a kid. They eventually stopped playing it around Christmas and the last time I saw it was in the late seventies at a special showing in my elementary school's gymnasium which everyone from Kindergarten to 6th grade attended. Whenever I view the poem I immediately hear it to the tune of the version sung in this cartoon, and I never imagine it any other way.

I was amazed and appalled when Rankin-Bass did a vastly inferior version of this story in 1974. It was so bad I only watched it once. Why did they even bother? It was always a disappointment for me when the TV guide indicated the Night Before Christmas was going to be and it turned out to be the Rankin-Bass one.

But getting back to this one, the good one, I should say, I just started watching it for the first time in over 30 years and I still love it. I miss the days when TV was still fun to watch.