| “ | You don't know as much as you think because you only think with your head. So you have a lot of trouble believing in things you can't see or touch. | ” |
— Father Mouse attempting to wise up Albert | ||
'Twas the Night Before Christmas is an animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass and based on the famous 1823 poem that opens with this line. It originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974.
Synopsis[]
The Junctionville Town Hall
The special is set in the fictional town of Junctionville, New York, around the turn of the 20th century. Santa Claus is offended by an anonymous letter printed in the town's newspaper (and signed "all of us") claiming that he doesn't exist. In response, he returns the entire town's letters to him unopened. Upon reading the anonymous letter in the newspaper, Father Mouse, an assistant to the human clockmaker, Joshua Trundle, immediately suspects that his brainy son, Albert, is the author. Albert confirms his suspicions, repeating the letter verbatim to him.
Father Mouse and the Trundle family devise a plan to appease Santa by building a singing clock tower for him, built with a special recording to play a song to coax him not to bypass Junctionville on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Albert enters it to explore it without permission and inadvertently breaks it, seriously damaging Joshua's professional reputation. Furthermore, the mayor, publicly embarrassed at the clock tower's failure, refuses to give Joshua access to it for repairs.
Santa Claus as he appears in the special
Confessing his mistake, Albert volunteers to repair the clock tower himself and Father Mouse tells Joshua about the situation before waiting at his bed with worry on Christmas Eve night. Although Albert does not complete his task until about one minute after the midnight deadline, the clock tower plays its song within earshot of Santa which convinces him to turn around and come to Junctionville after all. The special ends amid an animated telling of the original poem, set to Santa leaving gifts at the Trundle home, performing the actions stated in it.
Songs[]
When aired on ABC Family or other television networks, "Give Your Heart a Try" was often cut. From 2011 onward, however, it was reinstated in its entirety.
Soundtrack[]
The special's soundtrack adaptation
A soundtrack album was released on Disneyland Records DQ-1367 in 1976, featuring the special's complete soundtrack.
Trivia[]
- Junctionville, New York is a fictional town meant to honor the original poem's author, Clement Moore, who was born in New York. It is apparently a seaside town, as one little boy is shown sitting on a sea stack throwing a drawing of Santa into the ocean. Its maritime nature may have been based on Newport, Rhode Island, where Moore died.
Broadcast history[]
The special continued to air annually on CBS through 1994. From 1995 through 2017, it was aired annually in the 25 Days of Christmas on Freeform and its predecessors. As of 2023, it currently airs annually on AMC's Best Christmas Ever block.
Availability[]
After acquiring the home video rights to the post-1973 Rankin/Bass specials, Warner Home Video released the special on VHS in 1993. It was later made available on Warner's first DVD release of Frosty's Winter Wonderland in 2004. Warner Home Video later gave the special its own Remastered Deluxe Edition DVD in 2010 and followed it up with a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release the following year. It shared a disc with Frosty's Winter Wonderland again in The Complete Rankin/Bass Christmas Collection box set, released on October 18, 2022, and was included on the Blu-ray set of the same name a year later.
December 21, 1993
October 2, 2007
October 7, 2008
October 5, 2010
October 4, 2011
DVD is the same as the 2010 DVD-only release.
October 4, 2011
October 13, 2015
October 18, 2022
October 31, 2023
Cast[]
| Voice actor/actress | Character |
|---|---|
| George Gobel | Father Mouse |
| Joel Grey | Joshua Trundle |
| Tammy Grimes | Albert Mouse |
| John McGiver | Mayor |
| Patricia Bright | Mother Mouse Mrs. Trundle |
| Scott Firestone | Mouse Son Trundle Son |
| Bob McFadden | North Pole Phone Operator Man Guarding Clock Councilman #2 |
| Allen Swift | Santa Claus City Clerk Councilman #1 |
| Christine Winter | Mouse Daughter Trundle Daughter |
Gallery[]
Videos[]
External links[]
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Internet Movie Database
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at Behind the Voice Actors
content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
|