Product Details

• Actors: Boris Karloff, Thurl Ravenscroft, Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Hans Conried
• Directors: Chuck Jones, Arthur Rankin Jr., Ben Washam, Jules Bass
• Writers: Bob Ogle, Carlo Collodi, Charles Dickens, Clement Moore
• Format: Animated, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner
• DVD Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Run Time: 393 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (315 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001H9N1AO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,975 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Classic Christmas 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)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It may not be what you think at first glance, but Classic Christmas Favorites is indeed a set of vintage holiday specials, mostly from the team of Rankin/Bass. Start with the one that's not Rankin/Bass, but is a flat-out classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), the Dr. Seuss tale about a curmudgeon who tries to stop Christmas from coming. From its Seussian zaniness to its humor to its music, Grinch is just about perfect in every way. The version included is the 2006 remastered version with Horton Hears a Who! (1970) and other material, and new for 2008 are three specials previously unavailable on DVD: The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981), Pinocchio's Christmas (1980), and The Stingiest Man in Town (1978). The next most famous special is The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), a stop-motion story in which Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney) decides to take the holiday off, only to have the movie stolen by Heat Miser and Snow Miser. The 2007 deluxe edition has some documentary material and the two specials that were on the previous DVD, Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977). On the third disc are the cel-animated Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976, narrated by Andy Griffith), in which Frosty gets a snow wife, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974), which uses the Clement Moore poem as an excuse to tell a story about a human and a mouse who have to make amends when an offended Santa decides not to visit their town.

Finally, the stop-motion Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) is a feature-length (105 minutes!) special that follows the reindeer and the snowman as they get jobs at a Fourth of July circus! One of the fun things about this special is how a number of the original voices return to give the programs a similar look and feel: Jackie Vernon puts in his third stint as the voice of Frosty, Billie Richards again voices Rudolph, Shelley Winters three-peats her role as Crystal (Frosty's wife), and Mickey Rooney returns as Santa.

The 2008 set Classic Christmas Favorites is an updated version of 2007's Christmas Television Favorites, adding the three new specials on disc 1. A quick look at the cover may lead one to think that this is all the original Rankin/Bass specials--Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, etc. These aren't those, but they're still vintage Rankin-Bass and many people think of them just as fondly. --David Horiuchi

Product Description

Disc 1:
-How the Grinch Stole Christmas
-Leprechauns Christmas Gold
-Pinocchio's Christmas
-Stingiest Man in Town
Disc 2:
-The Year Without a Santa Claus: Deluxe Edition. Includes Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Nestor, the Long Eared Christmas Donkey
Disc 3:
-Frosty's Winterwonderland, which includes Twas' the Night Before Christmas
Disc 4:
-Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars READ IF GOT WRONG DVD December 4, 2009

By QualityProductsAdvocate

Format:DVD

I purchased this DVD set and, like many others, received the wrong The Year Without s Santa Claus. I tried to exchange, but it did not help. I than went to other store's reviews on the product where someone listed a number to call Warner for a replacement. I called and explained what happened and am told the right disk will be mailed out to me and I do not need to send anything back.

Here is the information:
Warner Customer Support 800-553-6937

I also mentioned that their preview on Disk 1 about this product shows The Little Drummer Boy II (not Pinocchio's Christmas) on this set. The person I talked to said they have not heard any complaints on this yet, so nothing happened here. If anyone does find out about this other problem, please write a review back. Thank you.

Rating reasons: 2 stars for bad quality control at factory, 4 stars overall, since Warner will replace disk without the hassle of having to pay for shipping the old set back. Can't give 5 because of the Little Drummer Boy issue.

134 of 144 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars SHAMEFUL RELEASE FOR HOLIDAY CASH IN! November 11, 2008

By ! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

This is just another slap in the face to fans who grew up with these Rankin & Bass holiday classics! Fans of these specials have been wanting a complete box set done including all of these holiday gems, but instead we get a re-release of the same shows! Of course, we get 3 "never before available on DVD" specials only available on this set, so long time fans have to buy this set if they want the 3 new to DVD releases!?

To make matters worse 'Frosty and Rudolph's Christmas in July' is the same defective print where the voices are out of sync with the picture that was released a few years ago!

To make matters even worse than that, some copies have the wrong version of 'The Year Without A Santa Claus'!! I wish someone who cares about these films,, would pick up the ball and get these classic's done right!

Until then folks, I say leave this garbage in the bin and wait for someone who cares to release a proper set. Who wouldn't want a complete set of Rankin & Bass Holiday Classics totally restored?..... raise your hand!..............I thought so! :-D

94 of 103 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The same great story and songs but a terrible video transfer November 3, 1999

By A Customer

Format:DVD

I recently purchased this DVD and was immensely disapointed with the quality of the transfer. The colors were all over he place with the Grinch appearing as a yellow, then brown and finally slightly green creature. The transfer is terrible. I would not recommend it to anyone based upon this poor quality.