Customer Reviews

Cricket on the Hearth

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The cover looks nice BUT Should say A RANKIN/BASS Classic at the top BUT CLASSIC MEDIA and SONY WONDER continue to package the RANKIN/BASS catalog in a very generic way (NOT sure why, it only hurts sales). Anyway, this was originally a 1967 TV Special, which features a very nice LIVE introduction and closing by DANNY THOMAS. Not one of the better Cel Animated RANKIN/BASS specials BUT not bad either. The soundtrack is enjoyable and it is GREAT to hear MARLO THOMAS work with her dad. For this price, I definitely recommend it to any RANKIN/BASS fan!

Another Rankin Bass classic released. Enjoy it, but it doesn't last long.
Running time is less than an hour, which makes me wonder about the price. The company should really put out several of Rankin-Bass's unreleased specials and features as a box set, with 2 or 3 features to a disk.
LET'S SEE MORE PLEASE. There are still so many that haven't come out yet.
Releasing the "Festival of Family Classics" series, one volume at a time as "Classic Adventures" doesn't do it justice. Put the full series out on DVD, please.
Let's have their other unreleased features and their 70s serieses like "Smokey Bear," "Osmonds", etc.
Don't let them sit on vault shelves for more decades.
Peter

Enjoyable soundtrack. Great to hear Danny Thomas and daughter Marlo Thomas working together. A must-have for Rankin/Bass fans.

I am a RANKIN/BASS fan so I had to add this movie to my collection. It has good songs and a happy ending like always. The one part that bothers me about the movie is the kidnapping scene. I thought the movie could have left that part out.

Danny Thomas, check. Marlo Thomas, check. Roddy McDowall, double check. Then why oh why is this cartoon disturbing?? OH, because real crickets make better music than the soundtrack. Usually when Im on the home computer with a tv show in the background to keep me company, it usually keeps my mind preoccupied and motivated. With this one I wanted to throw a rock at the tv, the music is horrible and even the female cat scratches a wretched note. The main tune is a long dreary song bent on pure sentiment. Awful. Give me "Holly Jolly Christmas" any day. The Cricket On The Hearth remains a story better left before bedtime from a quiet book. Parents please note.

PLOT: Danny Thomas stars as Caleb, a toymaker who discovers a cricket (delightfully played by Roddy McDowell) on his fireplace hearth at Christmas which is supposed to be a sign of good luck. His daughter Bertha, (played by his real life daughter Marlo Thomas who makes her first musical performance in this show), is sadly seeing her fiance Edward off to war so luck is not with them yet. Edward is gone for months, and finally news arrives that he is dead, but the grief strikes Bertha blind. Caleb who was already very poor only seems to do worse. He is forced to work for Grugg Tackleton (voiced by Hans Conried who also voiced Captain Hook for Disney), a mean Scrooge like character, who only pays room and board. He is a crow named Caw (voiced by Paul Frees who also voices the Sea Captain). Since Bertha cannot see, the toymaker tells his daughter they are in luxurious surroundings and he is being paid very well. He meets an old and hungry stranger and brings him home to eat. The evil Tackleton decides he wants to marry Bertha, and the cricket joins with the toys that are brought to life to defend her honor. Songs include "Don't Give Your Love Away", "Smiles Go With Tears", "Through My Eyes", "The First Christmas", "That Was Yesterday", "Fish and Chips", "Parade of the Toys", and "A Waltz for Christmas".

BACKGROUND INFO: This one hour format television special was first aired on NBC on December 18, 1967. It was created by Rankin/Bass Studios in association with Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. Music by Maury Laws, and lyrics by Jules Bass. This was the 5th television special from the studio, and their first Christmas holiday show after Rudolph. This was the first time Danny and Marlo Thomas appeared together for a television show, and it was shown again later during an episode on the Danny Thomas Show. Marlo was on television in her own popular show the same year this was in producion. The script was written by Rankin Bass regulars, Romeo Muller and Arthur Rankin.

It has great cel animation art, and a good story. By the way the horrible artwork on the box pictured here is not from the actual film, so do not let it scare you off. This rights to the show are currently owned by Golden Books, and they have done a great job recently with DVD's with the other shows they have in their catalogue from Rankin/Bass who brought us such memorable holiday classics such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Year without a Santa Claus, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Mad Monster Party, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mouse on the Mayflower, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, the Stingiest Man in Town, Jack Frost, Pinnochio's Christmas, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, the First Easter Bunny. Rankin/Bass also made non-holiday films such as The Hobbit, Flight of Dragons, and The Last Unicorn. It is incredible that one company is responsible for all those TV specials, 95% of the ones we see every year. Their work includes standard animation, stop-motion animagic, and live action. I have bought all the other Rankin/Bass that have been released on DVD.

Like most people I'd never seen this special (though being a Rankin & Bass fan I knew of it) and as it was included in the collection I was finally able to see it. I have to say though, that it's not difficult to understand why it has rarely been seen since it's release. Unlike the rest of the Rankin & Bass specials, this one somehow looks dated and doesn't quite have the charm of the rest of their efforts. I don't think the character design was the best they'd ever done either. It was good up to a point and had some good music for the kids so I won't give it a zero but I didn't find it all that interesting and what happened next totally turned me off to it forever.

About halfway through, there is a scene (which I can't understand why it wasn't cut or wasn't changed in some way) that I was very, very disappointed to see. At one point the cricket is kidnapped by the typical bad-guy henchman and delivered to a sea captain and when they ask to be paid the sea captain says "I have your payment right here' and pulls out a gun and murders them!!! Bang! Bang! Bang! Are you kidding me??? I couldn't believe what I was seeing!!! They don't actually show it but you see a long shot of the boat and the flashes from the gun muzzle. Unbelievable.

I can't tell you how uncomfortable it is on Christmas Eve trying to explain what just happened to your two young children who were expecting to see a nice Christmas video with their parents. If you like that sort of thing then give it a look but we won't be watching 'The Cricket On The Hearth' in our house anytime soon.

Cricket on the Hearth misses the mark by today's standards. It may have been fine in its day; however by today's standards it does not hold children's attention. The plot is predictable, the music and story dull.
My grandchildren were bored after 3 minutes.

When you compare this to today's animated Christmas stories, or especially to the 1968 restored version of "The Night Before Christmas", the production misses the mark! This proves the old adage, you really can't go home again!

I BOUGHT THIS DVD VERSION OF A VHS THAT I ALREADY HAVE BECAUSE IT STATED THAT IT HAS CLOSED CAPTION. WHEN I GOT IT HOME IT DID PLAY BUT IT DID NOT HAVE CLOSED CAPTION. I TRIED THE DVD ON 4 DIFFERENT DVD PLAYERS AND IT NEVER WORKED. IF YOU DON'T NEED CLOSED CAPTION, THEN IT'S FINE. BUT IF YOU NEED IT, THEN IT'S NOT WHAT YOU NEED. STICK TO THE VHS.

I was very dispointed with this video. It had great potential at first being rankin-bass and voiced with Danny and Marlo Thomas, but that was until the gunshot murder scene took place on the ship which made my 4 yr old cry. Never watching it again.