Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 10/30/2008 Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7627 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2008-10-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 402 minutes

Amazon.com
It may not be what you think at first glance, but Classic Christmas Favorites is indeed a set of vintage holiday specials, mostly from the team of Rankin/Bass. Start with the one that's not Rankin/Bass, but is a flat-out classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), the Dr. Seuss tale about a curmudgeon who tries to stop Christmas from coming. From its Seussian zaniness to its humor to its music, Grinch is just about perfect in every way. The version included is the 2006 remastered version with Horton Hears a Who! (1970) and other material, and new for 2008 are three specials previously unavailable on DVD: The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981), Pinocchio's Christmas (1980), and The Stingiest Man in Town (1978). The next most famous special is The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), a stop-motion story in which Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney) decides to take the holiday off, only to have the movie stolen by Heat Miser and Snow Miser. The 2007 deluxe edition has some documentary material and the two specials that were on the previous DVD, Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977). On the third disc are the cel-animated Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976, narrated by Andy Griffith), in which Frosty gets a snow wife, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974), which uses the Clement Moore poem as an excuse to tell a story about a human and a mouse who have to make amends when an offended Santa decides not to visit their town.

Finally, the stop-motion Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) is a feature-length (105 minutes!) special that follows the reindeer and the snowman as they get jobs at a Fourth of July circus! One of the fun things about this special is how a number of the original voices return to give the programs a similar look and feel: Jackie Vernon puts in his third stint as the voice of Frosty, Billie Richards again voices Rudolph, Shelley Winters three-peats her role as Crystal (Frosty's wife), and Mickey Rooney returns as Santa.

The 2008 set Classic Christmas Favorites is an updated version of 2007's Christmas Television Favorites, adding the three new specials on disc 1. A quick look at the cover may lead one to think that this is all the original Rankin/Bass specials--Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, etc. These aren't those, but they're still vintage Rankin-Bass and many people think of them just as fondly. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Fantastic shows, bad business practices
Depending on what you already own, this DVD collection is either the coolest thing ever or a huge disappointment. Everything here is an absolute classic and if you don't have them already, then you definitely should. "Classic Christmas Favorites" is a convenient and affordable way to pick them all up at an affordable price.

The problem is that this set continues an unfortunate practice of re-selling old material with a splash of new material that is available no where else, meaning that people who bought the previous releases are forced to buy them all over again if they want the other films. There is no way to buy the new material separately

It basically repackages three previously released DVDs, Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July, The Year Without a Santa Claus (Deluxe Edition)and Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Christmas. These are the exact same disks that you would have received before, with even the disk cover art intact.

The new material is included on the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" disk. This is an odd choice, as this is the only non-Rankin/Bass release and of course, this Dr. Seuss treasure has seen a variety of releases, including a recent 50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition special edition. Tagged onto the disk are three Rankin Bass rarities, "The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold", "Pinocchio's Christmas" and "The Stingiest Man in Town". All three are making their first appearance on DVD, and they are really what most people will be buying this set for. It is great to have them released at last, but I would have preferred an individual DVD.

There are still a few Rankin/Bass Christmas specials that have not had a DVD release, and I fear this being the wave of the future. The same problem happened with the Popeye and Batman cartoons (also by Warner Bros) series until definitive collections were finally released. Warner Bros just doesn't seem to get what fans want, and are more concerned with squeezing every possible dime out of their properties.

What I really want is a collection that gathers together all the Christmas specials together giving them the treatment they deserve, including putting the Rankin/Bass name up on top and giving them their due credit. That would make me really happy, even if it meant buying them for a third and final time.

Wonderful, but why didn't Warner go all-out??
It's wonderful to see all these Christmas specials in one package, and particularly the three that were previously unreleased on DVD ("The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold," "Pinocchio's Christmas," and "The Stingiest Man In Town."

NOW, as far as I know, there are only three Rankin/Bass Christmas specials not available on DVD: "The First Christmas," "The Little Drummer Boy, Book II," and "The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus."

All of which are owned by Warner Bros. SO, why did Warner skimp out on us and not include these three as well?? PLUS, they simultaneously released a new deluxe edition of "Jack Frost," which is awesome, but again, why didn't they bother to put it into this boxed set? They could have EASILY fit those three other specials onto the same disc.

Of course, from a sales standpoint, the answer to all these questions is obvious: give the public a little more of what they want each holiday season, and they'll just keep buying and rebuying ad infinitum. But this is seriously getting old, Warner. Why not just give us everything you've got at once, and stop being the REAL "stingiest man in town?"

Complaints aside, this is a wonderful set for anyone who doesn't own any of these specials. If you own last year's Christmas Television Favorites boxed set, you might want to hold out until next year when Warner is sure to pull another double, triple, fourple-dip on us. Hopefully then we'll get those other three specials, plus Jack Frost, all in one big Christmas DVD collection.

SHAMEFUL RELEASE FOR HOLIDAY CASH IN!
This is just another slap in the face to fans who grew up with these Rankin & Bass holiday classics! Fans of these specials have been wanting a complete box set done including all of these holiday gems, but instead we get a re-release of the same shows! Of course, we get 3 "never before available on DVD" specials only available on this set, so long time fans have to buy this set if they want the 3 new to DVD releases!?

To make matters worse 'Frosty and Rudolph's Christmas in July' is the same defective print where the voices are out of sync with the picture that was released a few years ago!

To make matters even worse than that, some copies have the wrong version of 'The Year Without A Santa Claus'!! I wish someone who cares about these films,, would pick up the ball and get these classic's done right!

Until then folks, I say leave this garbage in the bin and wait for someone who cares to release a proper set. Who wouldn't want a complete set of Rankin & Bass Holiday Classics totally restored?..... raise your hand!..............I thought so! :-D