Customer Reviews

Christmas Tree [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a charming look at paying attention to the needs of others. Papa Bear is determined to find the "perfect" tree so he takes the kids up the mountain on his quest. Every "perfect" tree is the home to another animal, bird, etc. The bears pass each by to let the animals keep their home(s). In the end, the tree expedition is stopped by a storm and the bears return home without a tree at all. When they arrive, their house has been decorated by all the animals whose homes have been spared. A message of sharing that grown-ups and kids alike should see.

This animated Christams tale, tells the story of Papa Bear's quest to find the perfect Christmas tree. But, oh no! The one he finds is home to so many animals. Will he learn to share? This movie is warm and family-spirited. Great enjoyment!

This is an "Emmy Award" winning half hour TV special. This VHS tape of the special was released in 1979, and is my favorite of all the Berenstein videos. It is out of print now, and has not been released on DVD as of the date of this review.

In the story, it is Christmas time where the Bear family lives in a hollow tree, in a town of bears. The family wants to decorate a tree, with all their favorite decorations and star. It is time to get a tree before it is too late. Mom wants Poppa to get a tree down at Gus's lot, but Poppa Bear wants to go out and find a tree in the woods and take the little bears with him. Momma does not want them to, since a snow storm is moving in, but the bears trudge up the mountain anyway. They find several "perfect trees", but in each case they find that other animals live in these tree already. Some of the animals are scary and chase the bears away, some are tiny and afraid to lose their home. The bears have to decide what to do about this as the storm is coming soon.

Produced in Canada, the character animation is smooth and well done. Voice actors were good. The art designs and backgrounds fit right with the story, and the bear home and town are really cute. I found that the music is well done, and fits the period the film was released. Overall a very nice addition to our own holiday show collection - a feel good story for all ages. It is a bit hard to find now, but I highly recommend a copy. I bought mine used from a third party seller here at Amazon.com and am very happy with it.

This show was produced in 1979 and was the inspiration for the later book of the same name--not a "shoddy" adaptation from the book as suggested by another ill-informed and undiscriminating reviewer(the book is no longer in print). It is an example of the classic traditional hand-painted animation style of the era. To those familiar with and appreciative of this sytle it is a beautiful example of a virtually lost art in this age of digitally manufactured animation. I recommend it highly for those nostalgic for a little old-fashioned Christmas charm. The songs, by the way, are terrific.

If you watched the Berenstain Bears Christmas special when you were young, you will not regret purchasing the DVD just for the dancing Christmas Tree song ("We Need! A Tree!") and to see Papa Bear get those "crazy eyes" again, then shed a tear when he looks in at the snowbird family's house (and yes, you will probably cry too). However, the quality of the DVD is not great. I have warm fuzzy memories of this classic, so that doesn't matter to me. But if you have no emotional attachment to Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister Bear, you might be disappointed with the quality.

We need ALL of these great Berenstain Bear stories, especially the holiday, on DVD!! PLEASE!!! These lesson-learning, wholesome stories are ageless and priceless. My girls loved them as children and now that I'm about to be a grandmother for the first time .... they are very limited or not available at all! Hope to see the holiday stories on DVD soon.

I really love this movie and the seller sent it to me in a timely fashion and in better condition than stated. I would most definitely do business with this seller again.

As a child of the 80s I spent probably too much time trying to track down the holiday 'classics' from my childhood. One of the few I was missing was the Bernstein Bears Christmas tree (which my mother taped off TV on BETA!). It was always a favorite of mine with the plastic pink '18-pointed' star, the snowbirds, Grizzly Gus' tree lot and Papa Bear's single minded vision of the perfect tree.

And this DVD is the complete, 80s-fantastic classic. (Don't be fooled by the 'newer' art on the cover) It's everything I remember. Also included are a few classic episodes (Trouble with Strangers, Forget their Manners, Stage Fright and Ice Monster (which I'd never seen)). All running, this DVD is about an hour long.

This is a great addition to your holiday classics...something your children (and you!) will enjoy over and over.

The Berenstain Bears: Christmas Tree is a GREAT video. The reason we picked it up is because we ran across the book and read it and loved it. The story seemed to be very similar to the Berenstain Bears Easter Surprise which we have on DVD. The Easter Surprise is one of our families ALL TIME favorite holiday videos so we were hoping the Christmas Tree one would be the same. IT IS!! and it follows the book perfectly and the style of the video is similar to the Easter Suprise. Now we have another holiday favorite! The voices of the bears are as I remember as a child--LOVED IT. However, on the DVD there are a couple other stories included...GREAT BONUS!!, but they are newer stories so they have little different voices on the characters. Not a big deal, but some people get weird about that...just don't watch that part if your looking for the old stuff. Otherwise, ENJOY...you get more stories for your buck!

In this special,it all starts with,"Will Pa Bear find the perfect Christmas tree before Santa comes?The BB Christmas Tree,by Stan and Jan Berenstain.Pictures by Jose Ramirez and Stan Berenstain.Music by Ned Stacey.Sound by Gaston LeRoux and Jean-Pierre Louis.Writin' by Quetzal Ramirjo.Produced and Directed by Stan and Jan Berenstain."This award-winnin'TV special which has won Genie Awards at the Canadian Animated Festivals in Montreal,Quebec,Canada since 1972,Oscars at the Hollywood Awards since 1989 and 4 Emmys.Now,you can own it on home video!