Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936)

*** (out of 4)

Fun Max Fleischer cartoon has a bunch of children at an orphanage waking up on Christmas morning and becoming sad because all of their toys are junk and either falling apart or they simply don't work. A happy-go-lucky older man comes by, notices that the kids are unhappy so he decides to take the run down building and turn it into a happy place with brand new toys. Fans of the Fleischer type of animation are going to get a real kick out of this one. As you'd expect, the animation is extremely nice and I really loved the look of the orphanage. It's rather dark and ugly but it's so fitting of the type of place it is before the old man gets there to fix it up. I also thought the look of the children was a good one and there's no question that the Grampy character is very memorable. The overall story probably isn't something that would get made today but that's why watching these older films are so special.

This is a 9 min shorts, did not get time to watch a whole movie yesterday,

This was about kids waking up in an orphanage and the toy have after playing with for few seconds all the toys start breaking, Leavings kids crying there eyes out

As then Grampy who going by then try to cheer them up, buy using every day item in toys.

This was really good short, there really creative what made with every day items,

the animations was not bad all, for very early Cartoon. I thought it might feel bit out dated now , it feel aged well, even kids today should enjoyed this.

Great short for kids and Adults and tune will stuck in my head all day. 8 out of 10

Both Christmas Comes But Once a Year and 1948's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer have great nostalgic value, and to me still hold up as Christmas classics(as well as classics as cartoons in general) now as a 22-year old. What were especially good in Christmas Comes But Once a Year were the animation and the story. The animation is wonderful and unmistakably Fleischer, not only rich in colour with a real eye for detail and atmosphere but it also looks amazingly real, especially the animation for the inside of the orphanage and the effect of the rotating Christmas tree. The latter was a visual wonder and fairly ahead-of-its-time back then. The characters are cutely drawn too, Grampy comes across quite well in colour. And it is difficult not to like the story too, seeing the children upset over the broken toys was a heart-breaking sight while Grampy's actions are enough to warm up the iciest of hearts, they make for funny stuff and his inventing is quite clever here. It is an adorable story if not quite escaping the inevitable trap of falling into schmaltz and a fun and touching one as well, perfect for Christmas and puts you in a good mood. Grampy- beautifully voiced by Jack Mercer- is a great lead character, he comes across as very kindly and good-humoured and he's also quite lovable. The orphan children are genuinely sweet and not too annoying at all(which is not easy for orphan children in cartoons). The dialogue makes one smile, the pacing is nice and controlled and the music is lusciously orchestrated and lively in tempo. The title song is also irresistible, with a very catchy melody that is easy to sing along to, since viewing the cartoon on Christmas Day I can still sing the song and remember the lyrics. All in all, a Christmas classic that every Fleischer fan should see at least once. 10/10 Bethany Cox

. . . clueless trespassers who traipse around looking for undefended homes and businesses in which they can propagate a Reign of Chaos. One such malingering miscreant, a perpetrator known to law enforcement as "G. R.amps," aka "the Green Gobbling Sledder," is featured during CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR. This trouble-making malcontent seeks out a dormitory full of wailing orphans, and quickly turns all their kitchen utensils and cleaning supplies into impractical short-term attention grabbing gizmos doomed to be totally mislaid and forgotten within a week. Such useless whiz bangs may exude a momentary charm, but what happens the next time the orphans get hungry, or need to clean up their mess?

I found this cartoon short on my Scrooge (1935) DVD. I couldn't get the song out of my head. I wished that they would play "Christmas Comes But Once A Year" on the radio around Christmastime. Anyway the story is about orphans and Christmas. Regardless of the animation of the time period. I found the cartoon short to be cute and enjoyable about orphans who find the joy of Christmas even with broken toys. The song should make a comeback to the radio and compact discs. You can't help but start singing "Christmas Comes But Once A Year" around the house this time of year. The animation in the 1930s was still in it's infancy. If you study animation history, you will note how it's advanced from drawings on paper to the computers. Still, it's priceless and charming to watch the old animated shorts and cartoons where I felt that the characters were more friendly and cute rather than odd looking as in today's animation.