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The Little Drummer Boy (TV special)

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The Little Drummer Boy
Official logo
GenreChristmas
Based on"The Little Drummer Boy" Katherine Davis
Jack Halloran
Written byRomeo Muller
Directed by
Starring
Narrated byGreer Garson
Theme music composerMaury Laws
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Japan
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers
CinematographyTakeo Nakamura (uncredited)
Running time25 minutes
Production companyRankin/Bass Productions
Original release
NetworkCTV Television Network
NBC
ReleaseDecember 19, 1968 (1968-12-19)
Related
The Little Drummer Boy, Book II

The Little Drummer Boy is a stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was first televised in Canada on December 19, 1968, on the CTV Television Network, followed four days later by its American nationwide release on NBC. A sequel was broadcast in 1976.[1]

Plot

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A Jewish boy named Aaron lives a peaceful life on a farm with his parents and three animals – a donkey named Samson, a lamb named Baba, and a camel named Joshua. Aaron is given a drum on his birthday, which makes the animals dance with joy when he plays it. One night, bandits attack the farm and kill Aaron's parents. Aaron survives, but is left emotionally scarred and vows to hate all mankind. Aaron's drumming abilities catch the attention of Ben Haramed, who kidnaps him and makes him join the caravan with rather inept performers against his will. When performing in Jerusalem, Aaron becomes infuriated by the townspeople's amusement and lashes out at the townspeople, accusing them of being thieves and knaves, for which Ben verbally castigates him before they continue on their way.

Some time later, the troupe comes upon the Magi caravan who are following a bright star in the sky. Seizing his chance, Ben greedily attempts to perform for the Magi, but they are uninterested as they try to make haste to get to the star's destination. One of the caravan camels becomes too weak to continue traveling and the Magi has no extra camel, so Ben seizes Aaron and bargains with them that they use Joshua in exchange for some of their gold, but Aaron refuses to take any gold from Ben and leaves for Bethlehem with Samson and Baba. Later Aaron and his two remaining animal companions Samson and Baba escape, climb the tallest hill and join up with the Magi as they follow the star and then journey toward Bethlehem. There, upon recognizing Joshua and trying to reunite with the camel, Baba is struck by a Roman chariot. Aaron takes the injured lamb to the Magi to be healed, but they insist that maybe the baby can help. Having no gift to give to the baby, Aaron decides that his "gift" to Him and His parents will be his playing his drum for them. As a sign of gratitude, Baba is healed and rushes into Aaron's arms, filling Aaron's heart with joy at last.[2]

Voice cast

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Reception

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An original release advertisement.

The Little Drummer Boy received an approval rating of 75% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Little Drummer Boy is a mature addition to the Rankin-Bass catalogue, with a powerful conclusion that compensates for the special's dour storytelling and unpolished animation."[3] Contemporary reviews rated it highly, with a 1970 viewer survey ranking it among the best Christmas specials to air that year.[4]

Restoration problems

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In 1998, a restoration of The Little Drummer Boy by the company Classic Media was hindered because the film's original 35mm negative went missing, according to Rankin/Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt. A 16mm print was located, as well as an unreleased stereo soundtrack. However, the latter was missing several sound effects, most notably a piece of narration in the final scene, which instead used a scratch track by Paul Frees.[5]

1976 sequel

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In 1976, Rankin/Bass produced a sequel, titled The Little Drummer Boy, Book II, again sponsored by the American Gas Association. It premiered on December 13, 1976, on NBC, and like its predecessor, has also aired on Freeform and separately on AMC as of 2018.[6] Warner Bros. is the show's current distributor through their ownership of the post–September 1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library via Telepictures.[7] In this sequel, written by Jules Bass (under the pseudonym Julian P. Gardner), Aaron and his animal friends team up with Melchior, one of the Magi, to protect silver bells, made to ring for Christ's arrival, from a band of greedy Roman soldiers.[8] Warner Archive released The Little Drummer Boy Book II, in a collection called Rankin/Bass TV Holiday Favorites Collection.

Voice cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 169. ISBN 9781476672939.
  2. ^ "The Little Drummer Boy". 19 December 1968. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
  3. ^ "The Little Drummer Boy". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  4. ^ Williamson, Clarke (January 28, 1970). "Top View". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 40. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Goldschmidt, Rick (December 17, 2006). "Rankin/Bass-historian: THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (1968)". Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  6. ^ "AMC Presents Its Largest Slate of Holiday Programming With 'AMC Best Christmas Ever'". 8 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  7. ^ "The Little Drummer Boy Book II". IMDb. 13 December 1976. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
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