Customer Reviews

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town/The Little Drummer Boy

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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I am so pleased to see these two Christmas specials packaged on one disk. What a great holiday treat.

"Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" is an animagic classic. Fred Astaire pulls up the holiday express to narrate the story of young Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney)and the children of Sombertown, and the story of how Kris became known as Santa Claus. Kris meets the evil Winter Warlock and melts his icy heart. The Burgermeister Meisterburger will not be so easy. This is a true holiday treat, and covers all of the familiar ground. Why do reindeer fly? Why does Santa climb down chimneys and leave toys in stockings? Why does he wear a beard and red clothing? How does he know if you've are sleeping, know if your awake? And what is Mrs.. Claus name, anyways? Find out in this DVD.

"The Little Drummer Boy" is based on one of my favorite holiday tunes. Aaron, the little drummer boy, is filled with hatred for all people. His parents have been murdered and his home burned to the ground. However, his gift for drumming enchants the animals and they dance about when he plays. Based on this talent, he falls in with a bad crowd when he meets Ben Haramed, the King of the Desert Showmen. How do things turn out for Aaron? Listen to the song, and watch the DVD. Bah-rump-bum-bum-bummmm.

In a previous review of the tape version of this wonderful Christmas show, I told all the reasons this is my favorite holiday show. Now it has been released on DVD in a wonderful remastered version. I won't repeat all the great things about the story and delightful songs, but will comment on the wonderful DVD transfer. The picture is excellent, crystal clear with deep rich colors. The sound is excellent. A viewer can now appreciate the details of the puppets and sets more than on the tape version.

A bonus for the DVD over the tape is that "Little Drummer Boy" is included on the disk. While it is stated on the case that this is a remastered version, the color and picture are not as sharp as in the remastered "Santa". However it is much better than the tape version. The two commercial tapes I have of this production do not have really sharp pictures and the color is a bit washed out. On the DVD, the color is better than the tape, but not as good as might be wanted. Since both the tape and the DVD pictures are not the best quality, I suspect that there is no longer a really top notch master available from which to make the tapes and DVDs. Even with the less than perfect pictrure, it is still a great show.

Even if you have these two stories on tape, the DVD is the version to have. Getting the two productions on a single disk is a definite plus.

The old, separate, VHS versions of these two holiday movies were what I watched when I was in the single digits, and now they're better than ever on a timeless DVD.

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a humorous new twist on the entire life of one Santa Claus, and is worth the viewing for kids and adults alike.

Me, though, I bought the DVD for the Little Drummer Boy, which is what I think is one of the best Christmas movies, EVER. Hands down.

So, come on down, and spend a little money on a couple mini-movies that have already survived for decades and are sure to last for many more to come.

I watched these Rankin and Bass Christmas productions on TV when I was a child and I loved them, I especially like The Little Drummer Boy which is narrated by Greer Garson and is a beautiful heart-stirring story about the true meaning of Christmas! Santa Claus is Coming to Town is good too about how this boy grew up to became Santa Claus and I highly recommend this DVD set!

If you're a big fan of SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN and have only a peripheral interest in THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, this is the DVD for you. SANTA looks terrific, and the original name of the penguin ("Topper") has even been restored on the DVD (for some reason he's "Waddles" in syndication). If, however, you're like me and love both stories, especially if you've been watching LITTLE DRUMMER BOY since it was originally broadcast on the network, you're going to be super disappointed in the quality of that program. Another review mentioned DRUMMER BOY as being "grainy." "Grainy" is not the word. Although I understand it was made from the original film negative, it looks like they took the worst print copy to make a transfer from. There are white dust flecks all over the print. In some places the sound effects are missing: for instance, before Aaron sings "Why Can't the Animals Smile" there was a lead-in and lead-out of him beating his drum. On the DVD there is big empty silence instead. The noise and jeers of the crowd are also gone. In another spot, a man's voice is reading Greer Garson's narration. The night scenes seem murky; when Aaron comes up to the gates of the town, I remember being able to see the name "Bethlehem" over the gate. The DVD scene is so dark you can't make it out. In short, I'm not tossing out my DRUMMER BOY videotape. If SANTA didn't look so crisp and nice I'd probably get rid of the DVD. Disappointing...sorry, Rankin-Bass.

I am so pleased to see these two Christmas specials packaged on one disk. What a great holiday treat.

"Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" is an animagic classic. Fred Astaire pulls up the holiday express to narrate the story of young Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney)and the children of Sombertown, and the story of how Kris became known as Santa Claus. Kris meets the evil Winter Warlock and melts his icy heart. The Burgermeister Meisterburger will not be so easy. This is a true holiday treat, and covers all of the familiar ground. Why do reindeer fly? Why does Santa climb down chimneys and leave toys in stockings? Why does he wear a beard and red clothing? How does he know if you've are sleeping, know if your awake? And what is Mrs.. Claus name, anyways? Find out in this DVD.

"The Little Drummer Boy" is based on one of my favorite holiday tunes. Aaron, the little drummer boy, is filled with hatred for all people. His parents have been murdered and his home burned to the ground. However, his gift for drumming enchants the animals and they dance about when he plays. Based on this talent, he falls in with a bad crowd when he meets Ben Haramed, the King of the Desert Showmen. How do things turn out for Aaron? Listen to the song, and watch the DVD. Bah-rump-bum-bum-bummmm.

....like a shot of hot cocoa with a shot of peppermint schnapps!

"SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN" is my favorite of all the Rankin/Bass specials (and they are all excellent). Many people get all the "Animagic" cartoons confused...so I'll try to pinpoint this one. This is not the one with Rudolph ("...the Red-Nosed Reindeer") and not the one with the Heat Miser and Snow Miser ("Year Without A Santa Claus"). This is the one with the toy-hating Burgermeister Meisterburger and.....the Winter Warlock!!

We get to see Santa Claus go from an orphaned baby raised by elves to a groovy, hip young adult who's outlawed for delivering toys to finally becoming the toy making/giving king of Christmas! We also get to see Mrs Claus as a groovilicious babe in her own right and she finally gets a name, Jessica. Some charmingly dated scenes only add to the warm innocence of this show: like when Jessica realizes "her own town has turned against her" and begins singing of her love for and desire to be with Kris Kringle....transcending into a cornucopia of hippy-trippy flowers, swirls and polka-dots and finally catching a glimpse of her paper cutout reflection in the water fountain in the center of town. Remarkable!!

But, the show's main message is one of love and the courage to follow your heart and do what you know is right regardless of the obstacles that come in your way. There are some very touching moments, like when Kris and Jessica are married in the forest because no town would have them and one of the final scenes where we are shown the contrast of those who have no holiday spirit to Santa Claus, who gives of himself each year.

Also inlcuded on this DVD is "THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY" which is another wonderful but much more serious puppet-animated Christmas classic. It tells of a young boy, Aaron, who grows to hate all mankind after seeing his house burned and his parents killed by bandits. His only possession, a drum, has magical qualities which make his animal friends dance. After being kidnapped and forced to perform in a traveling sideshow, his hatred grows even stronger. But at the same time, a newborn babe is being laid in a manger - can the magic of Christmas show Aaron that all people are not bad and that love truly does exist in the world?

Both specials have never looked better than they do on this digitally-restored DVD. ("Little Drummer Boy" retains a grainy quality that I believe was present when the show first aired). A must-have for any Christmas video collection.

You remember - you wait every year until that one showing of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and if you miss it? How awful do you feel? Now, you have the opportunity to watch it whenever you want. What a great example of the tremendous work of Rankin Bass. Fantastic story, great music and a great transfer to DVD (considering the age). This is one not to be missed - and of course you won't when you own it!

The DVD includes two classics for almost the same price as one. Also, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town includes the full length version that is not seen on television any more because of commercials. On TV there are two scenes deleted that you will get on this DVD.

This is a magical, clever re-telling of the Santa Claus story that explains how St. Nick became who he is, doing what he does. It's more substantial than the usual Christmas fare, but still fun and sometimes silly for kids. Enjoy!