Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I was only five years old when my brother and I sat in front of the TV, mesmerized by this cartoon with so much feeling and such a beautiful, loving message. I would like to have a copy of this movie for my children to experience. I would like to know if it is going to be shown this holiday season. There are certain experiences that leave marks on our memories and hearts and this movie is one of them. I am not sure why the TV stations would not want to show this cartoon. I don't understand how they could show The Drummer Boy and not show this cartoon afterall, there is Christ in Christmas-that's what it is all about!

cant remember much about this cartoon but i know its stuck with me ever since i saw it in the seventies, every Christmas when the holiday TV books come out the first thing i do is to look to see if any of the channels are showing this, as usual there not, this should be shown every Christmas , like the wizard of oz is, the Christmas cartoons they show now are rubbish compared to the seventies ones, another great Christmas cartoon thats just recently come out on DVD is Santa clause and the bears anyone remember that, so there could be hope of getting the night the animals talked on DVD that would be one great Christmas present, anyone know what studio made this maybe if we all bombard them with messages they might have it released, would be worth a try anyway, lets hope it comes out soon and start to get back to the traditional Christmas cartoons about the birth of Christ etc

I've been looking for a copy of this for years! I vividly remember seeing it on TV among all the other Christmas specials(must have been about seven years old at the time), and to this day can recall certain scenes. I remember my sister and I watching avidly, and crying because we were so touched by the animals' plight as they tried to share good news. Over the years, I've searched the net.... have even rung TV stations to see if they had any details about it in their archives. This site is the first time I've tracked down any useful information. It would bring back a lot of happy memories if I could ever secure a copy of this film to watch with my family. A true little gem - considering how much junk is displayed on TV at this (and every other!) time of year, it's a great pity that this has never been shown again on Australian television.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**I have not seen this cartoon in far too many years, and that is a shame. While I agree that in the United States Christmas has become a secular nation-wide holiday to be shared by Christian, Jew, Muslim, Pagan, Hindu, Atheist, etc., and while I enjoy the spirit of generosity and playfulness it inspires across religious lines, it seems fitting that the occasional Christmas special actually deal with the Christian origins of that holiday."The Night the Animals Talked" is a cartoon depiction of the legend that, on the day Jesus Christ was to be born, the animals suddenly found themselves with the power of speech! The animals immediately pick up human foibles along with speech in the best tradition of Aesop's Fables and Orwell's _Animal_Farm_, and what results is a surprisingly honest look at the strengths and foolishness of human nature.I have not seen this cartoon since I was a kid, yet I will always remember that sequence when the animals run around trying desperately to tell people about the miracle happening in their midst only to be ignored into silence as they lose their one day of speech. The gentle critique of human nature in that moment has stayed with me my entire life.