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Special Features
- Also includes:
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)
- Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
- New featurettes:
- We Are Santa's Elves: profiling Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass
- Stop Motion 101: the Chiodo Brothers show how it's done, step by step
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Product Description
Customer Reviews
The picture on this disc is unbelievably bright and sharp -- undoubtedly worlds better than it looked when we all watched the original CBS transmission in 1974. It makes me wonder if they did any digital processing and cleaning up of the original print. I really enjoyed the "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" DVD release earlier this year, but the picture quality on TYWSC is far superior both in terms of clarity and vividness, and the animation and set design are also more detailed and elaborate than in "Rudolph." While not of Nick Park caliber, perhaps, the stop-motion animation is more than adequate: Both our 7- and 3-year old were transfixed throughout the whole show. You will be surprised by how great the picture looks. The original mono soundtrack is well balanced, with no audible hiss; both the characters' speech and the (many) musical numbers come through very clearly.
The "extras" include two additional Rankin-Bass holiday specials, making this disc a triple feature and a great value. They include "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" and "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey." Both are of similarly high technical quality. Notwithstanding its goofy name and lower profile in the Rankin-Bass pantheon, "Nestor" is a half hour, animal-based gem that gives a welcome nod to the religious underpinnings of the Christmas holiday.
Whether for nostalgia value or your own youngsters, this DVD is a fine purchase.
I was looking forward to upgrade from my older DVD of YWASC to this "Deluxe Edition" since I was keen on seeing a couple of documentaries and noted the product being advertised as "Newly Remastered". Well, in looking at the ORIGINAL 2000 DVD release, I realized that it is quite sharp in picture, as well as having a decent mono audio track. I noticed there were scarcely any grain or dirt on this print. So maybe I could not see a need to upgrade after all, and, as it turns out, I was correct in my assumption. I rather like to make picture comparisons with different DVD releases of a favorite movie, and I did the same with YWASC. Much to my surprise, the image is not only NOT an improvement, but to my eyes, in some instances has less sharpness and is duller in the colors! Again, in the first DVD release, one can see the finest details in say the puppet's hairs. Great clarity. With this new edition, there are periodic (though admittedly minor) inconsistancies in image. It is indeed puzzling that such a reduction in clarity (and I do know that the overwhelming majority of folks wouldn't know of them--and further, would not detract from their viewing enjoyment).
Sorry, I know I could get flack for what might be considered a minor quibble, but I feel that, apart from two (fairly interesting) documentaries, one could just as well not bother to invest in this repackaging of what was an already very adequate DVD release.... Read more ›
"Year" is great fun from start to finish. The producers achieve a nearly perfect balance of musical numbers, fantasy, sentiment, and humor. Booth is outstanding as Mrs. Claus (who also narrates the tale). She gives a particularly spirited rendition of the fun song "I Could Be Santa Claus" (in which Mrs. C contemplates taking the reigns of Santa's sleigh on Christmas night). The vocal performances are excellently complemented by the whimsical stop-motion puppets and other superbly realized visual elements.
This film also introduces two of the most unforgettable characters of the Rankin-Bass mythos: Heat Miser and Snow Miser, the respective overseers of hot and cold weather phenomena. Each one is accompanied by his own chorus line of look-alike mini-Misers, and each gets his own outrageous theme song.
"Year" has a subtle feminist twist, since Mrs. C is such a pivotal character, and also because Mother Nature emerges as perhaps the most powerful figure in the story. Religious fundamentalists will probably dislike the fact that this special seems to distance the Christmas holiday from its traditional religious implications (some may even see a touch of goddess-worshiping neo-Paganism in the character of Mother Nature). But for most audiences, I believe that this holiday special will be an entertaining delight.
Was not disappointed
Thank you so much for making it available
Shirley Ingram
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