This is my 8 year old daughter's favorite holiday DVD. We discovered it on HBO approximately five years ago and I was delighted to find the DVD at WalMart the following year. The children are charming, and the music and videos are perfect. I really appreciate that it is not just about Christmas, but Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are also represented. I don't think my daughter would have learned about the other holidays and their traditions and music before. I love to listen to her singing the different songs around the house. She giggles every time she watches the movie. Kudos to this excellent movie. My only complaint is that it is not long enough.
2 Reviews
A precious holiday special that's over too soon
waynel-5976514 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I was going through the new arrivals at my local FYE and stumbled upon the DVD for this special. I instantly got hit with a wave of nostalgia as I've grown up watching HBO Family with many happy memories watching shows like A Little Curious, Crashbox, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Babar and so on. And I didn't have any recollection of seeing this special so I decided what the hey, it's only $3 and its from HBO Family so why not.
I watched it and oh boy what a nice special.
There's really no plot exactly but a collection of interviews of children giving their thoughts on the holidays, animated sequences of popular holiday songs from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong and Macie Gray. It doesn't sound like much but the special comes together to create something warm and sweet and absolutely precious.
For the kid interviews, it starts off kind of slow but it gradually gets more interesting as kids talk about standard stuff like Santa visiting their houses, but also showing love and appreciation for their loved ones and just being a good human being. Some stand out moments is one girl mentioning how she never had a visit from Santa because she lives in an apartment so she doesn't have a chimney and her dad won't let her leave the window open over night. Another child says he thinks Santa talks to polar bears in a special language, another girl says her dad is sort of Christian and her mom's sort of Jewish so she's kind of all over the place. And on that, I really really love how it doesn't just talk about just Christmas but also touches base with Kwanza and Hanukkah, as one moment with the kids is this one girl points out that she celebrates Kwanza and the girl next her celebrates Hanukkah which warmed my heart as I love seeing people of different faiths accepting one another and being at peace with each other. It's sweet.
But the interviews also get rather emotional as some of the kids discuss the deaths of loved ones in their lives, this is one of the more poignant moments in this special hearing how that these young innocent children have experienced such a loss.
There's also a moment where they interview a girl with leukemia who's Christmas wish is to go home for the Holidays. Her doctor gave her her present, being ruby red slippers and told her that her dream might come true, and it did. And then we get shown home video footage of her dancing around her living room on Christmas Day and it's just wonderful to see her happy.
There's also the animated sequences for songs which are just beautifully done. The ones that in particular stand out to me are the sequence for The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole which is simply a glimpse at people going through their day during the holidays, giving to the needy, going holiday shopping, a great holiday feast, kids looking out the window to see Santa and a couple dancing together on the ice. Just so warm and sweet, I love it.
And the sequence for Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland. It shows a white rabbit on boat at sea which is shown on the DVD case. He takes the boat's sail and turns it into the shape of a Christmas tree and the water splashes onto it making ornaments that show rabbits hugging each other inside. He tears up. It's then revealed that he was simply a snow globe and out side of the globe is a mother rabbit sitting by the fire as her many children sleep by her. Just lovely.
Other moments besides the interviews from the kids and the animated sequences, are also the reading of The Night Before Christmas by Louis Armstrong which I can imagine being a lot of kids first exposure to the man. A moment where these little girls dressed as angels very nervously sing Silent Night at a church, a sequence that is so precious. Another moment is a clip show of kids meeting Santa with the song Santa Baby playing and kids playing in the snow with the song Jingle Bells playing over that. And a nice moment where a child explains what Kwanza is as well as some African drum music and dancing.
So as a whole this special is just a delight. A delight that is over too soon. The special goes for about 30 minutes or so and by the time it ended I was like that was it? Not as in bad but as in I was really enjoying this and it ended so soon. This special is so good that I didn't want to leave it just yet. It's such a warm and sweet special that perfectly captures the joy and love that the holidays bring.
Only the coldest of hearts will find nothing to like in this.
It's a precious holiday special that anyone with any amount of holiday spirit should give it a watch as its massively underrated. And even if the holidays are over it's just a warm wholesome sweet special that never ceases to make me happy.
My favorite holiday special, and I hope you all enjoy it:)
I watched it and oh boy what a nice special.
There's really no plot exactly but a collection of interviews of children giving their thoughts on the holidays, animated sequences of popular holiday songs from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong and Macie Gray. It doesn't sound like much but the special comes together to create something warm and sweet and absolutely precious.
For the kid interviews, it starts off kind of slow but it gradually gets more interesting as kids talk about standard stuff like Santa visiting their houses, but also showing love and appreciation for their loved ones and just being a good human being. Some stand out moments is one girl mentioning how she never had a visit from Santa because she lives in an apartment so she doesn't have a chimney and her dad won't let her leave the window open over night. Another child says he thinks Santa talks to polar bears in a special language, another girl says her dad is sort of Christian and her mom's sort of Jewish so she's kind of all over the place. And on that, I really really love how it doesn't just talk about just Christmas but also touches base with Kwanza and Hanukkah, as one moment with the kids is this one girl points out that she celebrates Kwanza and the girl next her celebrates Hanukkah which warmed my heart as I love seeing people of different faiths accepting one another and being at peace with each other. It's sweet.
But the interviews also get rather emotional as some of the kids discuss the deaths of loved ones in their lives, this is one of the more poignant moments in this special hearing how that these young innocent children have experienced such a loss.
There's also a moment where they interview a girl with leukemia who's Christmas wish is to go home for the Holidays. Her doctor gave her her present, being ruby red slippers and told her that her dream might come true, and it did. And then we get shown home video footage of her dancing around her living room on Christmas Day and it's just wonderful to see her happy.
There's also the animated sequences for songs which are just beautifully done. The ones that in particular stand out to me are the sequence for The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole which is simply a glimpse at people going through their day during the holidays, giving to the needy, going holiday shopping, a great holiday feast, kids looking out the window to see Santa and a couple dancing together on the ice. Just so warm and sweet, I love it.
And the sequence for Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland. It shows a white rabbit on boat at sea which is shown on the DVD case. He takes the boat's sail and turns it into the shape of a Christmas tree and the water splashes onto it making ornaments that show rabbits hugging each other inside. He tears up. It's then revealed that he was simply a snow globe and out side of the globe is a mother rabbit sitting by the fire as her many children sleep by her. Just lovely.
Other moments besides the interviews from the kids and the animated sequences, are also the reading of The Night Before Christmas by Louis Armstrong which I can imagine being a lot of kids first exposure to the man. A moment where these little girls dressed as angels very nervously sing Silent Night at a church, a sequence that is so precious. Another moment is a clip show of kids meeting Santa with the song Santa Baby playing and kids playing in the snow with the song Jingle Bells playing over that. And a nice moment where a child explains what Kwanza is as well as some African drum music and dancing.
So as a whole this special is just a delight. A delight that is over too soon. The special goes for about 30 minutes or so and by the time it ended I was like that was it? Not as in bad but as in I was really enjoying this and it ended so soon. This special is so good that I didn't want to leave it just yet. It's such a warm and sweet special that perfectly captures the joy and love that the holidays bring.
Only the coldest of hearts will find nothing to like in this.
It's a precious holiday special that anyone with any amount of holiday spirit should give it a watch as its massively underrated. And even if the holidays are over it's just a warm wholesome sweet special that never ceases to make me happy.
My favorite holiday special, and I hope you all enjoy it:)
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