The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (Rankin-Bass Productions)
I was very pleased to finally have this Rankin/Bass animagic film on DVD. I've waited over a decade to replace the poor quality bootleg VHS copy I had.
I would say that of all the Rankin/Bass Christmas-related stop motion "animagic" work this one is the most strikingly unusual. It has some excellent qualities that are lacking in other productions by the company.
A thumb high up for the script by Julian P. Gardner that manages to reduce the original source material by L. Frank Baum into a concise and remarkably true-to-spirit reworking.
The score by Bernard Hoffer is excellent. Including original songs (with lyrics by Mr. Gardner) that are a welcome departure from other productions that employ Jules Bass as a lyricist. I have no complaint with Maury Laws, the musical director of works like "The Year Without A Santa Claus", his work is always of a high standard. Unfortunately, Mr. Bass often produces labored and strained-for-a-rhyme lyrics to Law's...
This is one of only three stop motion Christmas classics left to be released
This movie is a Rankin/Bass classic and should be treated as such. (This is a DVD-R, unrestored version). About two years ago, WB finally released The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold and Pinocchio's Christmas in a boxed set with other Rankin/Bass classics.
The only Rankin/Bass stop motion Christmas classics that have not been restored and released on DVD as of today (Dec 11, 2009) are:
1. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
2. The First Christmas (aka The Story of the First Christmas Snow)
3. The Little Drummer Boy Book II
All three are owned by WB. Sooooo, hopefully these three will be released in a new Christmas boxed set - perhaps as early as next year - Christmas 2010!!
Why no DVD?
With all of the other DVDs of the old Rankin & Bass shows that are out, you'd think they would have found room for this one by now, but noooo...
Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum, creator of "The Wizard of Oz," this unique interpretation of the Santa Claus legend is a stop-motion animation film by the same people who created the classic versions of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman." Young Claus is a human child found and raised by fairies, battling monsters and finding joy in bringing gifts to children. There was a traditional animated version in 2000 which was okay, but this stop motion version is a real masterpiece if you can find it.
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