Customer Reviews

Spirit of Christmas

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember watching "The Spirit of Christmas" around Christmas time in the 1960's while growing up in Philadelphia. We looked forward to watching it each year. When this special was shown, I loved watching the Norelco Electric Razor commercial* of Santa sliding up and down snow covered hills. Especially when we had tons of our own snow right outside of our windows for us to play in the next day.

I've been living on the West coast since 1969 and caught the tail end of this classic in 1995. I saw it was sponsored by The Bell System company and contacted them. They graciously sent me a free copy on VHS that also includes The Nativity story. I received it the day before Thanksgiving. It was a shear joy to see it again after so many years.

I thought it was only shown on the East coast, but a friend said that he remembers seeing it while growing up in California during the 1980s. (?)The VHS tape I have also has an intro from a blind institute showing volunteers making Braille Christmas books with stuffed Santas and reindeers on the pages for blind children.

I would say, buy it for your kids that are younger than six and only show them the classic once a year during Christmas. That way they will anticipate seeing it and will have fond memories of this great and wonderfully simple telling of the story, "The Night Before Christmas." Especially compared to what is available now.

I'm looking forward to receiving this version on DVD. It is mentioned that it was taken from Mabel Beaton's original print.

As another treat, add the DVD Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy" (1954). It's available on Amazon. It's done with stop action puppetry. It's a great intro to Opera for children and fun to watch around Halloween and even Christmas.

[...]

This might be a bit slow for modern audiences, but for those old enough to remember this kind of show, it has a charm that today's digital animation could never duplicate. It's the kind of thing you should only watch on Christmas Eve, or maybe the night before, because it reminds me a lot of the programs they used to show on pre-cable TV the day or two right before Christmas, after a lot of the other stuff had already been aired in previous weeks. My main complaint about the presentation is that they took out the original Bell commercials, which is a shame because the introductions tease you about them and then don't deliver. However, it's fun to see the old Bell logo in the opening credits. (Bell sounds a lot more friendly than today's successors, by the way.) The Mabel Beaton interview is extremely slow -- grainy, with one camera, and she's up in years by the time it was done. But it does give you some insight into the whole puppeting process. I'd watch that once and stick to the Christmas specials yearly after that.

This movie was shown at school on an old reel-to-reel projector when I was in the third and fourth grade (I'm half a century in age). There are two marionette shows: one, The Night Before Christmas and two, The Nativity. The Night Before Christmas is funny as this was produced at a time when marionettes still possessed a jerky type of movement; yet, no one can be blaise about the skill it took to produce a quality film. Surely the producer and the puppeteers were masters of their craft at the time. The Nativity is a sweet film that would be especially good for very young children. I still watch this film with the same intensity that I felt when I was watching it in our school auditorium. This is a cinematic jewel and only a Scrooge would discount the films value in terms of creative and clean entertainment. If you are NOT nostalgic for an old-fashioned Christmas, keep your money; however, if you have children or grandchildren....or, if you are a child at heart, buy this delightful film. It might even become a Christmas tradition in your home and in your heart.

I am a self proclaimed Christmas fanatic. I watch Christmas movies all year long and have an extensive collection of holiday films. Every year I try to find one worthy enough to add to my collection and this little special fits the bill.


I discovered the movie on a site called TV Party and after reading the short blurb on the site and viewing the screen cap that was included, my curiosity was piqued. So I went over to youtube to sample it, as I do with most films before buying them, and I instantly fell in love with its simplistic charm. The puppetry is primitive in a sense and yet brilliant for the time this was produced. Its very nostalgic, before the age of cgi and all those distracting special effects. From a gentler, simpler time.

I especially enjoyed the nativity segment and bought it just for that. Though there have been hundreds maybe even thousands of yuletide movies made since the dawn of cinema, there are few that touch on the nativity story. Even though the nativity segment is a mere 15 minutes, its the best interpretation I've ever seen.

My husband was searching for this for years for his mother. She remembered it fondly and when he finally found it and gave it to her as a birthday gift we got to see what she was talking about. It doesn't have any "bells and whistles" and kids today would find it boring but it has such a nostalgic feel to it, it reminds you of how nice it was when things were simple and it holds a timeless heartwarming feel to it that made me really appreciate this simple Christmas classic.

The "baby boom" generation grew up with black & white television, three or four channels (max!) and sometimes "snowy" t.v. signals. Every December, as Christmas approached, a local Pittsburgh station would air this puppet show, brought to you by "The Telephone Company" (yes, there was only ONE!) I always thought it was very well done, with puppet faces that seemed to display true emotion. Little matter that you could actually see the strings or sticks, holding the creations upright. Alexander Sourby's superb narration of both "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and "The Nativity" short stories is a major "plus" here. Even though the half hour program was filmed for television in 1952, the producers had the foresight to film the show in color. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the original "Ma Bell" commercials, integral to the flow of the show, have been edited out for this DVD release. This lends itself to some "choppiness" in editing, especially in the scenes with "our host" and the female telephone operator, who seems to appear out of nowhere at the end of the program! Aside from that, it is nice to view this classic, once again. An added bonus is another holiday related short subject with Santa driving a rocket ship, instead of his reindeer! Dated, but the kids may still show an interest in it. This DVD is perhaps more for the adults of the 'Boomer" generation, than for today's youngsters, who might find it entertaining, but slow paced. An extensive one hour interview (from 1984) with the puppet's female creator, gives some background and insight into the production techniques of the 1950's. "The Mayflower Mouse" was a similar production, and some short scenes are shown from that "Scholastic Magazine" award-winning film, during the interview.

Absolutely beautiful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas - I will never enjoy another holiday without watching it again and again with my family!

I remember this when I was a kid. It's "The Nignt Before Christmas" and the "Nativity Story" on one DVD, all done by marionettes.

As a Baby Boomer who grew up in the 50's and 60's, I remember Christmas wasn't Christmas without this program on TV. We only had 3 channels - my kids are dumb founded by that statement. My family would gather and watch this show every Christmas. I had long since lost track of the show,but I always wanted to see it again. I searched like crazy to find it and was very pleasantly surprised to find it on Amazon in DVD. It is just as I remember it. My kids are now to old to appreciate it the way I did. It is truly a happy trip down memory lane

I actually purchased four of these dvd's for myself and my siblings. I remember as a child watching these two special movies while my mother and my sisters were making our Christmas cookies. I thought as a child how wonderful they were, and as I grow older, I wanted to bring a special part of our lives back again. It took me a while to find these treasures, but after watching them, I am so excited. I have four children of my own who are now starting to have families of their own. I am so excited to be able to show them all my past and having them enjoy these great videos. I am so happy I found them and the quality of them are wonderful. Thank you. All have a wonderful holiday!!!!! Marlene B. Sarver, PA