Cricket on the Hearth

I have loved animation from Rankin/Bass ever since I first watched Rudolph and Frosty as a kid at Christmas. This is one of those Christmas specials that I have never even heard of or seen. I have recently bought it on DVD, and after I have watched it, I absolutely love it; it almost made me cry, like the romance between Bertha Plummer and Edward Belton and the tender moments between Bertha and her dad. Except when Crockett and his mates put stuff (walnuts and pepper) in Mr. Tackleton's tea to prevent him from proposing to Bertha; now that made me laugh.

Yes, with these beautifully animated specials and the film "The Last Unicorn," it makes me wish that Rankin/Bass would have been around longer, along with Fleischer's.

I never heard of this film before, although I do heard that it was made by the same company Rankin Bass who made the timeless classic "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". So, my father got a DVD copy of this for me and my sibling to watch and we sat through it to see if it would enchant our hearts the same way their later efforts like "Frosty the Snowman", "The Little Drummer Boy", and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town". Later, we had a decent enough time watching it, but let me remind you all that I do have some problems with it.

The 2D animation is completely standard. It has some beautiful pictures of the Nativity, but it's character animation's kind of awkward with some wonky movements. The characters, though, I thought they were decent. I liked the romance between Bertha and Edward and the main villain Tackelton is very creepy especially his pet raven. The main character Cricket did annoy me in the beginning, but it wasn't Roddy Macdowell's fault. I think he did a fine job voicing him with enough spirit and energy. In fact, the voice acting is pretty decent.

The story isn't that bad at all either, although it does have some depressing moments especially the scene where a sailer captain shoots three animals off-screen which came across as a bit dark for kids. The other problem is that while the songs aren't that bad, there are still too many for me to remember them and slowed the movie down just a bit in some scenes.

Overall, Cricket on the Heart isn't exactly Rankin Bass's strongest work and I haven't read the story from Charles Dickens, but this might be worth watching if all of you can give it a chance.

This is a type of TV show that was fairly common and generally liked by audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. A popular entertainer would host a special program that would include a number of performers. They might sing, dance, and act out short skits. Occasionally, someone would host a show with an animated story in which he or she and other performers would be the voices.

"Cricket on the Hearth" is such a film. What makes this somewhat special is that it is based on a children's fairy tale written by Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote "The Cricket on the Hearth" and it was first published Dec. 20, 1845. It was one of more than two-dozen Christmas stories he wrote.

The story is pleasant but not as engaging as are most Christmas tales. Danny Thomas hosts the show and produced it. He and daughter Margo are voices and sing a couple songs. Other characters are voiced by Hans Conreid, Ed Ames, and Roddy McDowell. The role of the cricket isn't very substantial except that he appears as the narrator within the animated story.

Young audiences of the 1960s generally enjoyed this and similar films and programs. Modern audiences decades later have much more variety at hand for entertainment, so even young ones might find this too slow or boring.

For those unaware, 'Pinocchio', by Carlo Collodi, was first published in 1883 while Charles Dickens' 'Cricket on the Hearth' was first published in 1845 - that's almost 40 years difference. Do not make the mistake in thinking this Rankin/Bass story is original and they ripped off Collodi's 'Pinocchio' - that is untrue.

This Dickens tale cannot hold a candle to his famous 'A Christmas Carol' but that doesn't mean 'Cricket on the Hearth' isn't worth watching. "Cricket" is worth watching but it doesn't have the same impact that "Carol" has story-wise.

"Cricket" is a rather nice tale of a young girl in-love with a man who goes away. She believes he's died and goes blind. Her father spends a lot of money to help his daughter and the father befriends a cricket along the way. The cricket does help out in the end.

6/10.

Just watched this gem for the first time and understand why it's not aired every year with the likes of Rudolph, Frosty and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Very depressing and a bit disturbing too. This good luck cricket seems to have brought nothing but ill will to the father/daughter it finds. Sudden blindness. Banruptcy. Kidnapping and cold murder. Dirty old man with warts and no teeth. Not the things I really want to share with my kids. Ever. I suppose its OK because both Jesus and the Pope due make an appearance. However, my husband and I were laughing so hard by the end due to it's utter ridiculousness that I think it will be a holiday tradition in our household for years to come. From now on our motto is: cricket on the hearth, take that horseshoe off the door, with a cricket on the hearth, you can leave that lucky penny sitting on the floor. Deep.