Friday 24 November 2006

Collection of holiday classics now on DVD

It's not quite "silver and gold", but you're sure to have a "holly, jolly Christmas" with the new boxed set of Rankin/Bass Christmas classics on DVD. The six-disc set ($39.98), which is packaged like a book-bound keepsake, includes "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", "The Little Drummer Boy" and a double-feature of "Frosty the Snowman" and "Frosty Returns". "Cricket on the Hearth", a 1967 cartoon featuring the voices of Marlo Thomas and Roddy McDowall, is packaged separately and included as a bonus disc.

Though the six animated features comprise some of the most memorable holiday classics ever produced by Arthur Rankin and partner Jules Bass, the creators' names are nowhere to be found. Due to some contractual problems between Rankin/Bass and Classic Media, which secured the DVD rights to the features a few years back, the set is simply called "The Original Television Christmas Classics". An introduction by Rankin, which had appeared on earlier releases, has been cut.

The centerpiece of the collection is "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and the holiday favorite is one of the few with any DVD extras. It contains a "Rudolph" trivia game and a musical segment, "Fame and Fortune", that was cut from the original production. There is also an animated music video of Destiny's Child performing Johnny Marks' reindeer classic as a sort of bump 'n' grind number that seems out of place in the family classic revered by baby boomers. Likewise, an animated Mariah Carey version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" adds nothing to the set.

On the plus side, the package contains a bonus music CD that contains 12 of the more popular songs from the holiday films, including newly recorded versions of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "A Holly Jolly Christmas", "We're a Couple of Misfits" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town".

While CBS has done a digital restoration of the original "Rudolph" print for its TV broadcasts, the animated films collected here seem to be the same snowy copies we've come to expect while watching them year after year on TV. Despite their age, the features hold up well. If you don't already have copies of the movies, which feature the collective voice talents of actors and singers such as Burl Ives, Jimmy Durante, Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Jose Ferrer and Jonathan Winters, it makes for a nice stocking stuffer.

(Daily Southtown)



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