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The original showing in 1964, had Silver & Gold. That segment was replaced by the Fame & Forune Song the next (and subsequent years). The dvd I have has Silver & Gold in the show, and the Fame & Fortune segment as an extra.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I...
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Brain freeze typo. Of course I meant Couple of Misfits, not Silver & Gold. :b
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I...
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
Dredging up this old thread to let everyone know one more Rankin/Bass Classic can be crossed off the list.
Cricket on the Hearth was released in September as a single disc. I also saw it attached in a separate case (thinkpak, none-the-less) to the big Rudolph/Frosty/Santa Claus box set at Best Buy.
Here it is at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Cricket-Hearth...?ie=UTF8&s=dvd
Still MIA:
- The First Christmas (1975)
- The Little Drummer Boy, Book II (1976)
- The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)
- Pinnochio's Christmas (1980)
- The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981)
- The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)
mike.
Do it Right or Don't Do it at All.®
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
Thanks for the post, this would have slipped under my radar otherwise.
While not a Christmas special, I'd like to see the Rankin Bass feature Willie McBean & His Magic Machine (1965) on DVD someday....
\"It is the unique power of cinema to allow a great many people to dream the same dream together and to present illusion to us as if it were strict reality. It is, in short, an admirable vehicle for poetry.\"
-Jean Cocteau, The Testament of Orpheus
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Eric Peterson
- Eric Peterson
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
Do the unreleased titles usually air on TV during the holidays? If so, what channel do they usually air on? I would like to at least Tivo them and rip them to a DVD.
"Shoot a few scenes out of focus. I want to win the foreign film award."
Billy Wilder
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
Here's everything you need to know on Rudolph:
1998 restored release contains a longer version of "We Are Santa's Elves", a duet reprise of "We're A Couple Of Misfits", plus additional narration by Burl Ives and two short scenes towards the end resolving Yukon Cornelius' quest for gold (he discovers that all he was really searching for was a peppermint mine) and Santa's lead reindeer Donner looking up at Rudolph in the air and proclaiming "That's my buck". The version that originally premiered on NBC in 1964 had these sequences minus the Island Of Misfit Toys ending (where Santa and company return to the Island to rescue the toys that had been left behind earlier in the story)--that was animated, filmed, and used for the 1965 re-release (and all subsequent television and video releases through 1997) after viewer protests demanded a resolution of that storyline. The original version also had a different main title that does not mention "Rankin/Bass present" (as it had already been established it was originally a General Electric presentation--GE had been the show's original sponsor), and an end credits sequence where the elves show the technical credits on gift boxes before dumping them on the ground to their destinations. The 1965-1997 re-edit has the "Rankin/Bass present" subtitle at the beginning, and an alternate end credits sequence with the elves putting their gifts under flying umbrellas to take them to their destinations (as the techincal credits are superimposed on the screen), while omitting the instrumental bridge to "We Are Santa's Elves" and the "Peppermint Mine" & "That's my buc" dialogue sequences, and finally replacing the "...Misfits" reprise with the song "Fame And Fortune" (which appears on the current DVD release as a separate supplement). The Island Of Misfit Toys ending was later incorporated into the 1998 restored version, which (as of 12/02) continues to air annually on CBS
Dugger
Check out - CONFESSION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0NqK1tzPbQ
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
I feel really embarrassed for saying this, but I LOVE these films around the holidays. They really put me in the Christmas spirit. I don’t care if they look like crap on DVD as long as they’re on DVD. I bought most of them on DVD a few years back and they get dusted off every year and watched. It reminds me of being a kid. Looks like they’ll be popped in the player once December rolls around!
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus was never one I remember seeing as a child, but it certainly is the pinnacle of the Rankin/Bass' Animagic process. Amazing animation, but overall kinda a little freaky. I would add it to the collection in a heartbeat.
As an aside, does anyone know when CBS plans on airing Rudolph in hi-def this year? I missed the HD broadcast last year and don't intend to do so this year...
mike.
Do it Right or Don't Do it at All.®
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
The one thing painfully clear is that everytime The Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas showing of the Little Drummer Boy, it's clear the the quality of the picture is really, really bad. Don't know why it can't be restored, but when you compare it to LDB2, LBD2 looks like a high def transfer. Maybe that's why LDB is not on DVD.
Listen Up People.., Rack Em and Pack Em.., We're Phantoms in 15.
- Joined: August 2005
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
At the above mentioned blog is this post (October 31, 2006):
"looks like THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS is not coming out on DVD...WARNER BROTHERS dropped the ball on a box set."
This seems to imply that a box set was announced/rumored at some point?
\"It is the unique power of cinema to allow a great many people to dream the same dream together and to present illusion to us as if it were strict reality. It is, in short, an admirable vehicle for poetry.\"
-Jean Cocteau, The Testament of Orpheus
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RolandL
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Dugger
Here's everything you need to know on Rudolph:
1998 restored release contains a longer version of "We Are Santa's Elves", a duet reprise of "We're A Couple Of Misfits", plus additional narration by Burl Ives and two short scenes towards the end resolving Yukon Cornelius' quest for gold (he discovers that all he was really searching for was a peppermint mine) and Santa's lead reindeer Donner looking up at Rudolph in the air and proclaiming "That's my buck". The version that originally premiered on NBC in 1964 had these sequences minus the Island Of Misfit Toys ending (where Santa and company return to the Island to rescue the toys that had been left behind earlier in the story)--that was animated, filmed, and used for the 1965 re-release (and all subsequent television and video releases through 1997) after viewer protests demanded a resolution of that storyline. The original version also had a different main title that does not mention "Rankin/Bass present" (as it had already been established it was originally a General Electric presentation--GE had been the show's original sponsor), and an end credits sequence where the elves show the technical credits on gift boxes before dumping them on the ground to their destinations. The 1965-1997 re-edit has the "Rankin/Bass present" subtitle at the beginning, and an alternate end credits sequence with the elves putting their gifts under flying umbrellas to take them to their destinations (as the techincal credits are superimposed on the screen), while omitting the instrumental bridge to "We Are Santa's Elves" and the "Peppermint Mine" & "That's my buc" dialogue sequences, and finally replacing the "...Misfits" reprise with the song "Fame And Fortune" (which appears on the current DVD release as a separate supplement). The Island Of Misfit Toys ending was later incorporated into the 1998 restored version, which (as of 12/02) continues to air annually on CBS
Dugger
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My wife remembers when this was first aired on TV the scene where Burl Ives character comes down the snowbank on an electric shaver. She was disappointed that the scene was not included on the DVD.
Roland Lataille
Cinerama web site:
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Re: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
I recently got a copy of a DVD boxed set called The Original Television Christmas Classics with Rudolph , Frosty and Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town and others in it. I haven't watched it yet, but is the version of Rudolph the restored 1998 version?
I've got to confess I only got the set just to see my all-time fave TV holiday special, Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town complete and w/o commercials. I was only five years old when I saw its premiere telecast in 1970, and it still holds up! As a grownup and a fan of classic Hollywood, I'd like to think of SCICTT as the closest we will ever get to an MGM Christmas musical: you've got Fred Asatire as the singing postman/narrator, and the ageless Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus. If only Judy Garland or Debbie Reynolds had provided the voice of Jessica/Mrs. Claus, it would've been really spectacular. BTW, why didn't MGM do a Christmas musical? They had a great smash with Easter Parade, but Paramount wound up doing White Christmas, stealing Metro's thunder. But still, with all the talent the studio had under contract, you'd think they would've done a really good Yuletide songfest directed by the likes of a Minnelli or Berekeley.......
Bring "The continuing story of PEYTON PLACE" home on DVD: the one that started it all- from Dallas and Dynasty to Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl!!! Starting this May, see the legendary saga starring Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal, Barbara Parkins, and Oscar-winner Dorothy Malone on DVD thru Shout!...
