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Twas
the Night Before
Christmas
is a classic
Christmas cartoon
that I watched when
I was a kid that’s
now on DVD so a new
generation of kids
can enjoy it. It’s
not the best
Christmas cartoon
out there and I’m
not sure that it’s
on the must-watch of
the holiday season.
But when I was
little, I loved the
cartoon and watching
through it again-
this time with my
kids- it made me
realize why I loved
this cartoon so
much.
Twas
the Night Before
Christmas
is a non-traditional
take on the classic
poem. There’s some
considerable set up
time before they get
into that part of
the story. The story
takes place in
Junctionville, a
small town with an
eclectic mix of
residents. Evidently
half of them are
human and half of
them are mice. I’m
not entirely sure
how the two groups
co-exist, but they
do. Its a few days
before Christmas and
all of the residents
are going through a
crisis- all of their
letters to Santa are
getting returned to
them unopened. It
turns out there’s a
reason behind this.
A know-it-all little
mouse named Albert
wrote Santa a letter
and said that
basically said the
town doesn’t believe
in Santa. The town
comes up with a way
to save Christmas
with the local
clockmaker designing
an awesome clock
that plays a song
for Santa when he
passes by… only when
they go to test it…
the clock breaks.
Turns out Albert the
mischievous mouse is
behind this as well.
After Father Mouse
teaches his son what
it means to believe
in something magical
and shows him the
error of his ways-
it’s up to Albert to
right his wrongs and
fix the clock so
Santa will come to
the town- which he
does and which leads
to the poem.
The cartoon has been
upgraded and
transferred for the
new release and it’s
been transferred
well. The colors
have been upgraded
and polished so it
looks great. And
while I remember the
old broadcasts to be
slightly grainy-
that’s not the case
with this home
release. The sound
is good and the
colors are good-
it’s not brilliant
animation by any
means- but it’s a
good story with some
good music in it
that the kids will
love. There’s only
one extra feature on
the disc but it’s a
decent feature that
looks at how people
around the world
celebrate. It’s not
the best thing in
the world but it’s
better than nothing
and it’s not like
they have the
creator’s of this
show ready to do
commentary. It is
what it is- you’re
buying this for the
feature.
Twas
the Night Before
Christmas
is a fun Christmas
story that I enjoyed
when I was little
and I enjoyed
watching it again
with my little ones.
Sure, there are
flaws- but this 24
minute cartoon is a
great watch for any
family around the
holidays.
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