Cricket on the Hearth

The next time you see a cricket chirping around your house, LEAVE HIM BE! It is well known that cricket's bring good luck. And if you are lucky enough to have a cricket on your hearth, so much the better. In fact, if you are lucky enough to have seen "The Cricket on the Hearth" you're luckier than most.

This cell-animated special was released by Rankin/Bass right after their first big hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and, I think anyway, it's almost as good. It's a great shame that it's so hard to come by. Look for it on ABCFamily's "25 Days of Christmas."

Based on the Charles Dickens story (no, not THAT Dickens story) Roddy MacDowall plays the Cricket, who decides to grace the home of Caleb and his daughter, blinded after suffering tremendous grief. The highlight of this special is the wonderful vocal performance of Danny Thomas (joined by real life daughter, Marlo) and the wonderful song he sings.

I like this special, and if you aren't convinced, this entry didn't even EXIST on the database until I suggested it a few weeks ago. Merry Christmas one and all and may you be as lucky as a Cricket on the Hearth.

What an awful piece of Christmas special history. Songs are horribly depressing (as well as the storyline). Animation is the worst of all R/B creations (IMO).

Let's forget it was made, shall we?

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

Cricket on the Hearth is a Christmas special produced by Rankin/Bass, and based on the story of the same title by Charles Dickens..

A talking cricket helps an impoverished toy maker and his daughter, who has been blinded after hearing her beloved is lost at sea. It is book-ended by live-action segments hosted by Danny Thomas.

Not a bad special but this 1967 Television special has too many songs and none of them are very good.

What does work is Television Icons Marlo Thomas and Danny Thomas bring life into an otherwise lifeless script.

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.

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.