Customer Reviews

Christmas Television Favorites (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! / The Year Without a Santa Claus / Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July / Rudolph's Shiny New Year / and More)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This serviceable DVD set contains the exceptional (Chuck Jones, Boris Karloff) "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" along with seven Rankin/Bass Christmas shows -- the '70s sequels to Rudolph and Frosty.

The true joy of this disk is the Grinch, which my kids watch over and over - much more than the (pretty good) Jim Carey movie.

The very same Grinch disc in this set is available separately --
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition). However, this 4-disc DVD set is only a few dollars more, with the assorted Rudolph & Frosty sequels. It's a very handsome bookshelf edition of four Christmas disks already separately published from the Warner Brothers library, three of them the Rankin/Bass sequels.

(If you want the original Rankin/Bass cartoons of Rudolph and Frosty, not the sequels, they're available on this terrific DVD: The Original Television Christmas Classics (Rudolph, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Frosty and Frosty Returns, Little Drummer Boy, and Cricket on the Hearth).)

DVD Contents:

Disc 1: Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Edition, 26 mins., 1966, animated)
Also includes
- Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (26 mins., 1970, animated)
- Special Features - From Whoville to Hollywood, Grinch Songs, Who's Who in Whoville, Grinch Pencil Test, TNT's Special Edition: Phil Hartman on making the Grinch (19 min), and Trailers

Disc 2: The Year Without a Santa Claus (Deluxe Edition, 125 mins., 2007)
Also includes
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year (50 mins., Stop motion, 1975)
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (24 mins., Stop motion, 1977)
- Special Features: We Are Santa's Elves, School of Stop Motion, & Trailers

Disc 3: Frosty's Winter Wonderland (24 mins., 1976, animated, with Andy Griffith) (Frosty takes a wife!)
Also includes
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (24 mins., 1974, animated, with Joel Grey)

Disc 4: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (97 mins., 1979, Stop motion, with Red Buttons, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, & Shelley Winters)

OK, what can I say but here is the DVD you want for the holidays! It has "The Year Without a Santa Claus" and with the Mr. Cold Miser (My Favorite) and Mr. Heat Miser acts, plus Dr. Seuss and others listed! Boy do I love the Cold and Heat Miser songs!

Play this while you're putting up decorations, to help get into the Christmas mood! Buy it so you don't have to keep looking through the TV Listings to see when it'll be on to watch/record.

It's sad they don't make this type of Christmas shows anymore.

So if you were born after 1964, you will undoubtedly have already purchased the 1st "Christmas TV Classics" boxset that contained Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Little Drummer Boy and Frosty Returns.

Now here is all you will need to complete your Christmas nostalgia memories to pass it on to your kids. Not only did the makers manage to pull together the remaining classic Rankin Bass holiday cartoons (including The Year Without A santa Claus, the woefully grim Nestor The Long Eared Christmas Donkey, Twas The Night Before Christmas, the Frosty's Winter Wonderland that SHOULD have been in the previous set instead of that execrable Frosty Returns, and the feature-length Rudolph's & Frosty's Christmas In July), but somehow also added How The Grinch Stole Christmas---all in one pretty blue box for under $20.

All of the discs contain the features that would also be included if they were bought seperately, such as the featurettes and bonus cartoon of Horton Hears A Who! What more could animation/Christmas junkies need?!

I bought this primarily for "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey." I loved it when I was little and haven't seen it for a very long time. It's a little weird but cute. Like Rudolph, Nestor is picked on for a characteristic that ends up allowing him to save Christmas. I remember all the other shows on this set from childhood and I'm glad to have them all together in a nice package.

I can't recommend this one enough. If you want a more thorough collection, buy The Original Christmas Classics along with this one. I think that between the two collections, they have just about every Christmas special that I remember from childhood. These stories are great too. They make a whole world out of Santa Claus and friends and show how good must continually struggle to deal with the less kind energies of the universe. When you see them for the first time, you never know exactly how the stories will turn out. Once you see them, you'll want to watch them every Christmas!

These where among my childhood favorites; as much part of the Christmas traditions as our tree, cookies, fudge, and caroling. As I grew into adulthood, I feared these treasures would be lost all because a few on the religious right started their War on Santa complaining that shows like these weren't biblical and not 'Christian'. The networks buckled and fewer and fewer of these shows were broadcast. But thank goodness for DVDs and the wonders of American Capitalism. Turns out there are plenty of adults like me who grew up with these shows, now buy them on DVD to share with our children, continuing the tradition. I love these shows for their innocence and simplicity. Perhaps they're not biblical, but who cares. The message of love, giving, and fellowship is stronger here than the often hatefilled messages emanating from those who tried to bury these shows.

A multi-disc set of 4 recent releases.

From the Warner Bros Home Video website:

Studio: Warner Bros.
Pack Info:
Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Xmas (DVD) (SPD) (Multi-title) ( 1 ) [details: Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Christmas]
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Deluxe Edition (DVD) (SPD) ( 1 ) [details: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition)]
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas In July (DVD) (SPD) ( 1 ) [details: Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July]
Year Without A Santa Claus, The: Deluxe Edition (DVD) (SPD) ( 1 ) [details: The Year Without a Santa Claus (Deluxe Edition)]

Media Quantity: 4
Media Sub Format: Multi Disc
Packaging Type: Digi-Pack

Release date 10/02/2007

I enjoy watching these toons, especially the one with Mr. Heat Miser and Mr. Snow Miser (HILARIOUS)! So "Christmasey" and nostalgic, I play these discs on Christmas Eve while helping my mom with the finishing touches of cooking and cleaning. My nieces and nephews also enjoy watching these toons. If anyone grew up watching the classic Rankin/Bass toons, and really enjoyed them (as my siblings and I do/did), I recommend buying this set! This will be a GREAT addition to your holiday collection of films!

This is a must have for everyone. Great all time favorites that will last forever!

My wife and I bought the red box Christmas shows with the classics such as Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Clause is coming to town, etc... Well this is all the one' they left out of the first pack. It even has the real sequel to Frosty where Frosty gets a wife, Crystal!