1972 brought Rankin-Bass' next Christmas production. I say "production" because it wasn't a special, but an episode of Festival of Family Classics, a television program Rankin-Bass ran for 20 episodes, spread over 1972 and 1973. The series used traditional animation by Japanese animation studios.
Like Cricket on the Hearth, a work by Charles Dickens is loosely adapted. And we mean very loosely as the original text is a man's nostalgia of Christmas, first looking back to his childhood, then looking on it as an adult, then looking on it as an old man. Not really a story. The Rankin-Bass adaptation, penned by Ken Donnelly, is almost entirely original, only taking a bare concept from the tale and turning it into its own adventure. Indeed, when the episode was released on VHS, the packaging did not mention it was part of a series, and Dickens' name didn't appear on the front. It's yet to be released on DVD or Blu-Ray, and the rights are with Dreamworks and their current owner, Universal.
Still, it's an animated Christmas production by Rankin-Bass, and it's on YouTube, so let's check it out.
Brother and sister Peter and Mary meet their house guest, Charles Dickens. Taking them to their home, he begins to tell them a story they must also live that involves a Christmas tree. The toys and decorations become characters until one, Peter Piper, comes to life and tells them that the giant Horatio, the one that Jack defeated, has stolen the essence of Christmas. The Christmas tree transforms into the beanstalk and Peter and Mary go after it.
Aided by a mouse named Percival, they find the giant's castle, where his housekeeper Esmeralda hides them in an unused oven when Horatio comes home. He smells humans, and tells Esmeralda to light the oven to warm the place up. Percival helps Peter and Mary escape into the stove pipe, but Horatio catches them. They make a run for it and head back down the beanstalk, narrowly avoiding the giant, who confesses to a fear of heights.
Dickens and Peter tell them that the giant didn't have the essence, but it was stolen by the evil magician Mantu, and they must reclaim it. The star at the top of the tree grows to giant size and takes them to Mantu's magical realm, where a king imprisons them so as not to get on Mantu's bad side, but they find the star and head off. They're stopped by a snow-breathing dragon named Orlando (which honestly sounds pretty cool), but manage to evaporate him by exposing him to fire. Mantu himself flies after them on a flying carpet and shoots a magic icicle at them, which follows their moves. Peter jumps onto the carpet, making the icicle fly at Mantu, forcing him to destroy it. Peter steals the essence, throws it to Mary, who breaks the bottle, releasing it to the world.
The essence makes Mantu feel good, and Peter and Mary prepare to return home, only to wake up and discover they fell asleep during Dickens' story. They tell him of their adventure and assure him that his stories will help make Christmas great. He counters that Christmas will always be great as long as there are children to love it.
It's a rather fun, fluffy adventure that didn't really need Charles Dickens to help sell it. But at 22 minutes, I'd rather watch this than Cricket on the Hearth.
Yes, Rankin-Bass would eventually get to that other Dickens Christmas story, but it wouldn't be for a while.
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