Product Description

The perfect way to get the Christmas season started. 4-disc gift set includes six of Rankin and Bass's most beloved Christmas specials plus two favorite Dr. Seuss stories.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHRISTMAS/CHRISTMAS Rating: NR UPC: 085391160779 Manufacturer No: 116077

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29140 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-10-02
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 322 minutes

Amazon.com
It may not be what you think at first glance, but Christmas Television Favorites is indeed a set of vintage holiday specials, mostly from the team of Rankin/Bass (all previously available on DVD). 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. 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. 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

The Grinch, and the Rudolph & Frosty Sequels
This serviceable DVD set contains the exceptional (Chuck Jones, Boris Karloff) "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" along with seven Rankin/Bass Christmas shows -- the '70s sequels to Rudolph and Frosty.

The true joy of this disk is the Grinch, which my kids watch over and over - much more than the (pretty good) Jim Carey movie.

The very same Grinch disc in this set is available separately --
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition). However, this 4-disc DVD set is only a few dollars more, with the assorted Rudolph & Frosty sequels. It's a very handsome bookshelf edition of four Christmas disks already separately published from the Warner Brothers library, three of them the Rankin/Bass sequels.

(If you want the original Rankin/Bass cartoons of Rudolph and Frosty, not the sequels, they're available on this terrific DVD: The Original Television Christmas Classics (Rudolph, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Frosty and Frosty Returns, Little Drummer Boy, and Cricket on the Hearth).)

DVD Contents:

Disc 1: Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Edition, 26 mins., 1966, animated)
Also includes
- Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (26 mins., 1970, animated)
- Special Features - From Whoville to Hollywood, Grinch Songs, Who's Who in Whoville, Grinch Pencil Test, TNT's Special Edition: Phil Hartman on making the Grinch (19 min), and Trailers

Disc 2: The Year Without a Santa Claus (Deluxe Edition, 125 mins., 2007)
Also includes
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year (50 mins., Stop motion, 1975)
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (24 mins., Stop motion, 1977)
- Special Features: We Are Santa's Elves, School of Stop Motion, & Trailers

Disc 3: Frosty's Winter Wonderland (24 mins., 1976, animated, with Andy Griffith) (Frosty takes a wife!)
Also includes
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (24 mins., 1974, animated, with Joel Grey)

Disc 4: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (97 mins., 1979, Stop motion, with Red Buttons, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, & Shelley Winters)

Mr. COLD MISER & Mr. HEAT MISER!!
OK, what can I say but here is the DVD you want for the holidays! It has "The Year Without a Santa Claus" and with the Mr. Cold Miser (My Favorite) and Mr. Heat Miser acts, plus Dr. Seuss and others listed! Boy do I love the Cold and Heat Miser songs!

Play this while you're putting up decorations, to help get into the Christmas mood! Buy it so you don't have to keep looking through the TV Listings to see when it'll be on to watch/record.

It's sad they don't make this type of Christmas shows anymore.

More classic Christmas specials on DVD
A multi-disc set of 4 recent releases.

From the Warner Bros Home Video website:

Studio: Warner Bros.
Pack Info:
Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Xmas (DVD) (SPD) (Multi-title) ( 1 ) [details: Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Christmas]
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Deluxe Edition (DVD) (SPD) ( 1 ) [details: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition)]
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas In July (DVD) (SPD) ( 1 ) [details: Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July]
Year Without A Santa Claus, The: Deluxe Edition (DVD) (SPD) ( 1 ) [details: The Year Without a Santa Claus (Deluxe Edition)]

Media Quantity: 4
Media Sub Format: Multi Disc
Packaging Type: Digi-Pack

Release date 10/02/2007