Cricket on the Hearth

Who would have thought that the father and daughter team of Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas would starred together in this holiday special based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same title. Not only does Danny Thomas hosted this but also stars in this animated special that was produced by Rankin-Bass Productions,the same company that brings us each season joyous holiday specials like "Rudolph,The Red Nosed Reindeer","Frosty The Snowman","Santa Claus Is Coming To Town",and many,many more.

Based on the classic story by Charles Dickens,and produced by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass and executive produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas under their production company Thomas-Spelling Productions,the holiday special "The Cricket On The Hearth" originally aired as a special presentation in color for ABC-TV on December 18,1967. This is the only animated special that Thomas and Spelling ever did,since their production company was known for there live-action shows.

This hour-long special,based on the Charles Dickens story which by the way is animated(with the storyline by Romeo Muller and Arthur Rankin,Jr.)concerns a cricket(voiced by Roddy McDowell)who decides to grace the home of Caleb(Danny Thomas),and his daughter Bertha(Marlo Thomas)at Christmas time. The good luck this cricket brings seems to have nothing but ill will to the happiness it brings. Then the elements kicked in when Celeb is suddenly blind and he and his daughter face bankruptcy and are forced to move to new surroundings. Along the way,Bertha almost ends up marrying Celeb ruthless and cunning not to mention creepy old miser,but she has her heart set on the man whom she loves,Edward whom she thought was lost at sea. The songs are really boring,and for a hour long special for its time in 1967 is very disturbing and quite depressing in all aspects,and about halfway through there are some scenes that may be too disturbing for children under the age of 12. There are some tender moments where Bertha finally finds out that Edward is alive and towards the end get married. As for the songs here,they're depressing with the singing talents of not only Danny Thomas but also from Ed Ames and Abbe Lane featuring The Norman Luboff Choir. With the additional talents of Hans Conreid,and former Rankin-Bass stockplayer Paul Frees.

"The Cricket On The Hearth" has been aired by ABC numerous times. The last time this special was seen on a major television network was back in 1972,when the network stop running this special. Reason? You won't see this among the regular Rankin and Bass specials that aired annually. ABC Family aired it during the late 1990's. The last time it was ever shown was when Public Television pick it up and basically did a restoration of this with some scenes that were deleted out during its original broadcast. Not the best of the Rankin-Bass specials,but it is worth taking a look at the ONLY animated production Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling ever did.

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.

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?