Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town/The Little Drummer Boy | 
 enlarge | Directors: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass, Takeya Nakamura (ii)
Actors: Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Paul Frees, Joan Gardner (ii)
Studio: Classic Media
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $6.94
You Save: $13.01 (65%)
New (5) Used (14) from $6.94
Rating:  18 reviews
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0307870073
UPC: 074645406992
EAN: 9780307870070
Theatrical Release Date: December 14, 1970
Release Date: September 11, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
This 53-minute, 1970 animated film may be the most delightful of those sundry, stop-motion animated Christmas perennials that show up on television during the holidays. The clay animation production, boasting a wonderful musical score and art direction that occasionally underscores the flower-power era in which it was born, tells the story of Santa's origins, in which Kris Kringle decides to get toys into the hands of poor children in gloomy Sombertown. Charmingly narrated by Fred Astaire and featuring voices by Mickey Rooney and Keenan Wynn, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town presents a nice bridge between two generations of entertainment, the classic and the hip. --Tom Keogh
The Little Drummer Boy
The model animation techniques in this 1968 Rankin and Bass TV chestnut are primitive by today's standards, and picky kids may reject them out of hand. The story, however, which elaborates on the popular Christmas song about a shepherd boy who plays his drum for the baby Jesus and makes the animals dance, is a little more tough-minded than you might expect. The kid begins the story as what we'd now call a neglected child, a surly urchin who says he hates all people. He's pulled back from the brink, first by learning to make music, and then by his encounter with the Christ child. The underlying message alone--that everybody has something worth contributing--qualifies the show for holiday-perennial status. The big-name voice performers, Jose Ferrer and Greer Garson (who narrates), may be a little too ponderous for the occasion, but the familiar cartoony tones of Paul Frees (aka Boris Badenov) and June Forey (aka Rocket J. Squirrel) help liven up the proceedings. It's only 23 minutes long, so it's worth a shot for younger children. --David Chute
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
ahhhhhh July 15, 2008
Thurston Howell
Warm blankets, rocket jammies and hot chocolate. This film brings back all the memories of childhood while at the same time creating new ones for a new generation!
Two classics on one DVD January 11, 2007
Sealya (Cape Ann, MA)
The DVD includes two classics for almost the same price as one. Also, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town includes the full length version that is not seen on television any more because of commercials. On TV there are two scenes deleted that you will get on this DVD.
Classic Christmas TV November 25, 2006
C. Eberlein (Boston, MA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Rankin-Bass presentations (from full-length films like The Hobbit and The Last Unicorn to their classic Christmas specials) are legendary. They might seem a bit out-of-date compared to today's high-tech standards of animation, but Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (presented in claymation style) still retains the innocent exhuberance it had since it was first televised in the late 60s. The Little Drummer Boy is a lesser known holiday claymation by Rankin-Bass, but tells an interesting take on the Christmas story. These two movies, along with Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Frosty, Jack Frost, etc., are classics of Christmastime--enjoyable for people of all ages!
I Love These Rankin and Bass Christmas Specials! October 16, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I watched these Rankin and Bass Christmas productions on TV when I was a child and I loved them, I especially like The Little Drummer Boy which is narrated by Greer Garson and is a beautiful heart-stirring story about the true meaning of Christmas! Santa Claus is Coming to Town is good too about how this boy grew up to became Santa Claus and I highly recommend this DVD set!
A Rankin & Bass Classic! November 9, 2004
Tim Janson (Michigan)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was a bit stunned to see that this first appeard on TV in 1970. I could have sworn I watched it in the 1960's alongside Rudolph and Charlie Brown.
In anycase this is one of those great Rankin & Bass stop motion animated films detailing the life of Santa Claus from the time he was just a baby. The story is told by a friendly postman voiced by Fred Astaire.
Santa is taken in by the Kringles a family of toymakers and once he grows into a young man he begins delivering the toys to the children of Sombertown.
This earns him the status of public enemy #1 from the towns Burgomeister who has outlawed all toys and Kris must think of more secret methods to get the toys to the children.
Along the way we see how Kris gets the name Santa clause, his red suit, flying reindeer, and how the night for delivering toys was chosen.
Mickey rooney voices Kris/Santa and does so with gusto. But Keenan Wynn is the standout as his gruff, but sweet portrayal of the Winter Warlock.
The film also features some great songs such as the title sung by Astaire and "Put one foot in front of the Other".
Over 30 years later I now watch this one with my kids and still enjoy it. But get it on DVD since so much is cut out today to make room for commercials.
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