Overrated

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In the Golden Age of Network Television they gave us all sorts of programming around the holidays. We would get lots of Variety Television Specials with the A List Entertainers. Julie Andrews Johnny Cash Perry Como and more. We would also get BETTER television movies. "The Gathering" and "An American Christmas Carol" to name a few.Every year we would also get some sort of new Animated Special. The good ones became television staples like "Rudolph" and "Charlie Brown". Some were good but never caught on as much as those two. That is the case in point of this cartoon. "Twas The Night Before Christmas".'Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and based on the famous 1823 poem that opens with this line. The special first originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974 where it aired annually until 1994, when The Family Channel (now Freeform) took over its syndication rights.Although the opening credits mention "told and sung by Joel Grey", it is really narrated by George Gobel, as there is more emphasis on the point of view of Father Mouse, with Moore's poem read by Grey a secondary plot.The program is set in the fictional town of Junctionville, New York around the turn of the 20th century. Santa Claus is offended by an anonymous letter printed in the town's newspaper (and signed "all of us") claiming that he doesn't exist. In response, Santa returns the entire town's letters to them unopened. Upon reading the anonymous letter printed in the newspaper, Father Mouse — a mouse assistant to the human clock maker Joshua Trundle — immediately suspects that his brainy son Albert is its author. Albert confirms his suspicions, repeating the letter verbatim to him.Father Mouse and the Trundle Family devise a plan to appease Santa by building a singing clock tower for him, built with a special recording to play a song to coax him not to bypass Junctionville on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Albert enters the clock to explore it without permission, and inadvertently causes it to malfunction in front of the whole town, seriously damaging Trundle's professional reputation. Furthermore, the Mayor, publicly embarrassed at the clock tower's failure, refuses to give Joshua access to it for repairs.Confessing his mistake, Albert volunteers to repair it himself and Father Mouse tells Joshua of the situation before waiting at his bed with worry on Christmas Eve. Although Albert does not complete his task until about one minute after the midnight deadline, the clock does play its song within earshot of Santa which convinces him to turn around and come to town after all.There is many lessons in this little special. The hidden one I love the most is "Good and Bad Actions Have Consequences". I look forward to seeing this when it pops on again!

This is quite possibly the best Rankin/Bass Christmas movie ever! I am so upset that this is rarely on TV anymore and I have yet to find it on DVD or even VHS! Great songs, great characters, wonderful story....this has it all. The previous commenter was right when he said that this movie makes you feel good after you watch it. This should be a new TNT holiday classic! What's not to love? A smart alack mouse thinks he knows so much that he believes Santa does not exist. Unfortunately, he believes this so much that he writes a letter to a newspaper expressing such. This causes Santa to cross the whole town off his list. Enter Joshua Trundle, the local clockmaker. He builds a clock that, on the stoke on midnight, plays "Christmastime is Calling, Santa, Santa...."(great song, by the way). Well, the smart alack mouse breaks the clock so it won't work. Blah, blah, blah, mouse gets taught about Christmas and Santa, fixes the clock while singing "Even a miracle needs a hand"(another great song). Santa returns and all is well. They even end the movie with the cartoon animated to a reading of "T'was the night before Christmas" What a great Freakin' Christmas Movie!!!!

This has got to be one of the most underrated, under-appreciated Christmas specials out there. Granted, the animation isn't fantastic, but the story and songs more than make up for that. I watch it every year and the songs "Give Your Heart a Try" and "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" still make me tear up when I hear them. It's a simple message of following your heart instead of your head even when you should know better. It's not as well-known as Frosty or Rudolph (both of which I love, by the way), but given the choice among the three I'd watch "Twas the Night Before Christmas" every time. A great special not only for kids but for adults who want to feel like kids for 25 minutes or so.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas has always been one of my favorites. The story about a clockmaker who creates a singing clock to help convince Santa that people still believe in him might seem a little odd now, but the message is still clear. The songs are fantastic in this special. "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" is one that I am singing year-round. As a kid, I always looked forward to watching this every Christmas. It wasn't until recently that I found it on VHS.South Park did a parody of this show a few years ago in an episode of "A Crappy Christmas." I'm sure that 90% of the South Park audience didn't even get the parody, and that's a real shame.'Twas the Night before Christmas stands tall right along with all of the other Rankin/Bass holiday classics.