The Original Television Christmas Classics
4. The Cricket on the Hearth (1967, only available as bonus disc, & Limited Keepsake Edition)
5. The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
6. Frosty the Snowman (1969)
7. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970)
8. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974)
9. The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
10. The First Christmas (1975)
11. Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976)
12. Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)
13. The Little Drummer Boy, Book II (1976)
14. Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
15. The Stingiest Man In Town (or Christmas Carol, 1978)
16. Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)
17. Jack Frost (1979)
18. Pinocchio's Christmas (1980)
19. The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981)
20. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)
21. Frosty Returns (1992)
22. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Island of Misfit Toys (2001)
23. Santa Baby! (2001)
Comments:
Rankin-Bass Production, and their use of Animagic (a stop motion animation) and animation, have defined the festive holiday spirit with their classic children's specials. They are also known for the Return to Oz (1964), The Last Unicorn (1982), & The Coneheads (1993).
Original Television Christmas Classics (v1-Red): 1964-70 (Specials #1-5, 19)
1. Best Version: If you are going to buy it, the best offer was at Costco in 2006 for $20 (it included the Cricket on the Hearth DVD which also has 2 Music video's in the Animagic style). If you have done so, open the X-mas classics, take out the music CD on the right side, and move the Santa Claus DVD from underneath up to the top. Take the Cricket on the Hearth DVD from its separate box, and place it underneath. This way, all the animated specials are on the bottom and the Animagic specials are on top. Do as you wish with the music CD, but now you can toss the extra box since the information is not even really worth keeping. In 2007 with the release of "Favorites" a Limited Keepsake Edition came out boasting 7 holiday favorites. They added the 1962 animated "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" special, and the Cricket on the Hearth as well as a different music CD...expanding the collection to 6 discs.
2. (Original) Box Art: I like the book style that the box art contains for this collection. Once opened, two DVD's are visable, each fold outward to reveal another DVD underneath. The middle disks lock the boxset closed (which is a nice feature). There isn't a book included, and there are only three of the summaries on the back.
3. Irriataions: I like that this set includes the first five specials, but why Frosty Returns? Frosty Returns was created by CBS in 1992, and the actual Frosty Sequel is Frosty's Winter Wonderland.
Christmas Television Favorites (v2-Blue): 1974-79 (Specials #6-7, 9-10, 12, 14)
1. Irritations: (October 2 2007) This collection skips 3 specials (8. The First Christmas-1975, 11. The Little Drummer Boy, Book II-1976, & 13. The Stingiest Man in Town/or Christmas Carol-1978).
2. An Amazon image of the 4 discs hanging out of the cover implies that the "The Year Without a Santa Claus" disc is in fact the Deluxe Edition. I will double check, but I believe (like the prior collection had) it will contain all of those extras. That same Amazon image barely shows what could very well be the recently released "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas 50th Birthday Deluxe Edition." So, I will verify if all of that bonus content was included too. This collection's Dr Suess inclusions themselves are an added bonus like last volumes Frosty the Snowman (& Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol).
6. (Joel Grey) Animation based on the famous poem published by Clement Moore in 1823,
7. (Shirley Jones) Animagic. Loosely based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book,
9. (Andy Griffith) Animation, Sequel. 1:37:00.
10. (Red Skelton) Animagic,
12. (Roger Miller) Animagic based on the song by Gene Autry.
14. Animagic, Sequel (of Rudolph).
Christmas Television (Collection volume 3): With the re-release of the first volume to contain 7 specials, the second volume had 8, which could possibly lead to a 2008 release of if a third volume containing the last 9 specials (the 3 skipped and the last 6). Preferably they would have a green cover. Further Details: 8. (Angela Lansbury) Animagic, contains song "White Christmas." 11. Animagic, 13. Animation based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. 15. (Buddy Hackett) Animagic features "Billy Rose-Me And My Shadow" and "Mel Torme-The Christmas Song." 16. Animagic based on the classic fairy tales by C. Collodi. 17. Animagic, 18. Animagic final company special based on a 1902 children's book, written by "Wizard Of Oz" creator L. Frank Baum, 20. Computerized Animagic release.