'Twas the Night Before Christmas: Deluxe Edition'
(DVD / G / 2010 / Warner Bros.)
Overview: In the newly re-mastered, deluxe edition of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, for some unexplained reason, letters to Santa Claus are being returned to the children of Junctionville. It seems some resident has angered St. Nick, calling Christmas “a fraudulent myth!” Skeptical Albert Mouse has to be brought to his senses “and let up a little on the wonder why.”
DVD Verdict: This delightful Christmas special, the Rankin Bass presented "Twas the Night before Christmas," is based on the poem by Clement Moore adapted and written for the show by Jerome Coopersmith and produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. It features charming songs by Maury Laws and lyrics by Jules Bass. Some of the most memorable songs are, "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" and "Calling Santa," among others.
There is a reading of the poem in the beginning of the show and when it gets to the part of "... not a mouse was stirring," Father Mouse played by George Gobel catches us up on the events at hand. That being the hope that everything will turn out right in Junctionville and Santa will still visit and everyone can be happy again. Of course I could tell you all the details but you're better off watching it unfold yourself as to not spoil it if you haven't seen it before.
Now on to this deluxe edition at hand. Truth be known, I'm a bit fed up with the majority of these deluxe editions from WB because the extras have nothing or hardly anything to do with Rankin Bass and it's talents. Just who is WB marketing these deluxe editions to? Certainly not real Rankin Bass fans. It leaves me perplexed. They have removed the Frosty's Winter Wonderland special from the last incarnation on this DVD so basically they're asking us to double dip it seems on this special being remastered and the extras.
So let's see 25 minutes and a bunch of so-so extras. Now give us some real extras like interviews and retrospectives with the creators, a talk and show with Paul Coker who did the character designs here as he did before in Frosty as well, maybe he could draw some of the characters in a quick sketch showing his brilliance. [SD] This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Feature of:
Christmas: A Global Holiday – An animated comic book that explores Yuletide traditions around the world.
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