Customer Reviews

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)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

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.

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

Depending on what you already own, this DVD collection is either the coolest thing ever or a huge disappointment. Everything here is an absolute classic and if you don't have them already, then you definitely should. "Classic Christmas Favorites" is a convenient and affordable way to pick them all up at an affordable price.

The problem is that this set continues an unfortunate practice of re-selling old material with a splash of new material that is available no where else, meaning that people who bought the previous releases are forced to buy them all over again if they want the other films. There is no way to buy the new material separately

It basically repackages three previously released DVDs, Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July, The Year Without a Santa Claus (Deluxe Edition)and Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Christmas. These are the exact same disks that you would have received before, with even the disk cover art intact.

The new material is included on the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" disk. This is an odd choice, as this is the only non-Rankin/Bass release and of course, this Dr. Seuss treasure has seen a variety of releases, including a recent 50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition special edition. Tagged onto the disk are three Rankin Bass rarities, "The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold", "Pinocchio's Christmas" and "The Stingiest Man in Town". All three are making their first appearance on DVD, and they are really what most people will be buying this set for. It is great to have them released at last, but I would have preferred an individual DVD.

There are still a few Rankin/Bass Christmas specials that have not had a DVD release, and I fear this being the wave of the future. The same problem happened with the Popeye and Batman cartoons (also by Warner Bros) series until definitive collections were finally released. Warner Bros just doesn't seem to get what fans want, and are more concerned with squeezing every possible dime out of their properties.

What I really want is a collection that gathers together all the Christmas specials together giving them the treatment they deserve, including putting the Rankin/Bass name up on top and giving them their due credit. That would make me really happy, even if it meant buying them for a third and final time.

It's wonderful to see all these Christmas specials in one package, and particularly the three that were previously unreleased on DVD ("The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold," "Pinocchio's Christmas," and "The Stingiest Man In Town."

NOW, as far as I know, there are only three Rankin/Bass Christmas specials not available on DVD: "The First Christmas," "The Little Drummer Boy, Book II," and "The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus."

All of which are owned by Warner Bros. SO, why did Warner skimp out on us and not include these three as well?? PLUS, they simultaneously released a new deluxe edition of "Jack Frost," which is awesome, but again, why didn't they bother to put it into this boxed set? They could have EASILY fit those three other specials onto the same disc.

Of course, from a sales standpoint, the answer to all these questions is obvious: give the public a little more of what they want each holiday season, and they'll just keep buying and rebuying ad infinitum. But this is seriously getting old, Warner. Why not just give us everything you've got at once, and stop being the REAL "stingiest man in town?"

Complaints aside, this is a wonderful set for anyone who doesn't own any of these specials. If you own last year's Christmas Television Favorites boxed set, you might want to hold out until next year when Warner is sure to pull another double, triple, fourple-dip on us. Hopefully then we'll get those other three specials, plus Jack Frost, all in one big Christmas DVD collection.

Studio: Warner Bros.
Episode(s):
Disc 1
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Leprechauns Christmas Gold
The Little Drummer Boy Book II
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.

If you purchased the Classic Christmas Favorites boxed set and have the 2006 live action remake of The Year Without a Santa Claus instead of the Rankin-Bass version, you can call Warner Customer Support at 800-553-6937 and they'll send you the correct version.

We just bought this set and the first one my dayghter wanted to see was "The Year Without A Santa Claus." Too bad this was not included as advertised (neither was Nestor the Long Eared Donkey or Rudolph's Shiny New Year). Instead there was some very bad live action version. NOT WHAT I ORDERED. Bad business practice on the part of WB.

When I got this set, I wanted to see "The Year Without A Santa Claus," my favorite X-mas show. Someone at the plant must have put the wrong disc in the box. Instead of the 1974 version, there was a live action version with John Goodman. What a rip off! Can I get the actual one that is advertised on the box?

We ordered this set, got it in a timely fashion, opened it and the second DVD was NOT the Rankin-Bass animated special as it is supposed to be (and as is described on the box), but an awful live action film of the same name ("the year without a santa claus") from 2006 starring John Goodman. I alerted Amazon, and they sent a second set. I opened it today and it has THE SAME PROBLEM. I am sending both back and do not want to go through this again. Someone was asleep at the packaging wheel and who knows how many more box these boxed sets have the same problem. Be warned.

After reading many reviews of this product, I decided to risk getting the wrong version of The Year Without a Santa Clause and buy this box set. When I opened my set I was pleased to see that I had been given the original stop motion version. This box set is a great buy. It comes with many great Rankin/Bass classics along with other great Christmas specials like The Grinch. I would definitely recommend this product for anyone looking to buy a good set of Christmas classics!