 "review" | 2009-12-25 |
| - Reviewed By Laura Piawlock from moving somewhere United States |
| It arrived in lenty of time for Christmas and I can't wait to see the surpirsed look when my daughter openes it. |
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 "The Miser brothers make this one special" | 2009-12-17 |
| - Reviewed By Muzzlehatch from the walls of Gormenghast |
Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass productions ruled the Christmas TV landscape in my childhood. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, FROSTY THE SNOWMAN and on an on. This production/direction team put out three holiday specials in the late 1960s, took a break and then went full steam ahead starting in 1974 with a dozen new programs over the following 7 years, and one last lone attempt in 1985. What's interesting is that they did both conventional animation and stop-motion, but it all has very much the same house style - big, cherubic faces, a whiff of Victorian style even in more modern stories, a pretty even mixture of humor and sentimentality. They always got older members of "Hollywood royalty" to tell the stories, too - Burl Ives, Fred Astaire, Gene Autry, and in this case Shirley Booth.
I'm pretty sure I saw The Year Without A Santa Claus on its first broadcast, when I was 9, and like every other kid who saw it at that age I loved Heat Miser and Snow Miser - and I still do. The story is the weakest and silliest element here - Santa decides to stay home for Christmas one year, deciding that there's no spirit of Christmas left (based mostly on a one-minute exchange with his doctor), and it's up to his resourceful wife and a couple of rather stupid elves to teach him that it isn't so, by dredging up some real Christmas spirit in the American city of Southtown. C'mon, would Santa really just stay home? And wouldn't it be a little more exciting if he didn't meet a couple of Santa-believing adults first thing in Southtown?
Ah, no matter, it's kids' stuff after all and one thing that did - and does - set this above most of the other shows of this vintage is that none of the songs are truly lame, which cannot be said for RUDOLPH or SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN. No sappy love songs here; "I Believe in Santa Claus" comes closest to mush but it doesn't go over the edge. The humor and petulant childishness in the Miser brothers scenes still works - they remind me of my brother and I, always fighting, and is it a coincidence that "miser" calls to mind that most famous Christmas character, Scrooge?
The voice work by Shirley Booth and Mickey Rooney (Mr & Mrs Claus) and Dick Shawn and George Irving (the Misers) is quite excellent, and it's nice to see a Christmas special with strong-willed women (Mrs. Claus and, later, Mother Nature who has to teach her boys the Miser brothers something about getting along) for a change. The stop-motion animation retains its charm to me, even if the reindeer do look sort of drugged and the North Pole is pretty featureless.
"Don't be such a stranger. Come around with your husband, we'll have a blizzard. Ha ha ha ha." Snow Miser doing the ol' vaudeville act there.
It's still awesome. |
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| "Chrismas Kids Shows" | 2009-12-15 |
| - Reviewed By E.B.S. from MO. USA |
Hi I can say that even as an adult I still love these shows I think any child who believes in Christmas will love these shows it just doesn't seem like Christmas with out them they seem to go with this time of the year just as much as the Chrstmas Tree does my son loves them and I at 39 still do to I have never seen a child that didn't so you can't go wrong with The year with out Santa, The Nestor the long eared Christmas donkey, Rudolf's Shiny New Year.
I hope every one has a Merry Christmas to you and your Familys I hope this helps but I do think most of you know these shows I never missed them growing up and couldn't think of children not having the chance to know and see them to. |
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| "Two favorite Christmas classics!" | 2009-10-06 |
| - Reviewed By Fix it Girl from St. Charles, MO USA |
| My kids and I love Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey and The Year Without a Santa Claus so much that we had to buy this set. Freeze Miser and Heat Miser are my favorites from when I was little, thirty years ago! |
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| "THREE GREAT RANKIN & BASS FAVORITES ON A "MISERS" BUDGET!" | 2008-12-28 |
| - Reviewed By DR SHOCK from TRI STATE AREA |
Yes, it's that time of years again, when anyone old enough to remember these beloved Rankin & Bass classics will be reliving childhood memories watching these shows during the holiday season. It just never seemed like Christmas until Rudolph, Frosty and the rest of the animated holiday gang came on TV each year.
The great new is most of these are available to buy on DVD! Which means you can watch them whenever you want and they look better than ever! This review is for the older release of this holiday special which looks crisp and clean with vibrant colors. There are no special features, but the inclusion of two more Rankin & Bass specials 'Nestor, The Long Eared Christmas Donkey' and 'Rudolph's Shiny New Year' more than makes up for it.
So join Heat Miser, his brother Snow Miser,Rudolph,Nestor, Santa and the rest of the Rankin & Bass holiday gang for some very fond memories and Holiday fun! |
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| "you have to see nestor!" | 2008-12-27 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| one of the best Christmas stories of all time and even better, its come with 2 more!!! so worth it!!! |
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