Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974 TV special)
| Twas the Night Before Christmas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Animation |
| Based on |
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore |
| Written by | Jerome Coopersmith |
| Directed by |
Arthur Rankin, Jr. Jules Bass |
| Starring |
Joel Grey George Gobel Tammy Grimes John McGiver |
| Narrated by |
George Gobel (main story) Joel Grey (poem sequence) |
| Theme music composer | Maury Laws |
| Country of origin | United States Japan |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Rankin, Jr. Jules Bass |
| Cinematography | Toru Hara Tsuguyuki Kubo |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Rankin/Bass Productions Topcraft |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
'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 clockmaker Joshua Trundle — immediately suspects that his brainy son Albert is its author. Albert confirms his suspicions, repeating the letter 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.
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