'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974)

I have always loved animation and Christmas specials. Rankin/Bass had already done some of my absolute favourites like Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman and Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, and I remembered Twas the Night Before Christmas from childhood. So I thought to myself, why not revisit it? I am so glad I did. It really is a treasure. I personally would loved for it to be a tad longer, however the story still charms and the message still resonates. The animation perhaps is not the best I've seen from Rankin/Bass but it does have a certain warmth to it.I just love the music. All the Rankin/Bass specials have great music, and Twas the Night Before Christmas is no exception. The incidental music sparkles and of the songs Even a Miracle needs a hand makes me sing along and I have to say I forgot how emotional Give your heart a try was.Twas the Night Before Christmas has very good writing also, with the reciting of the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas bringing me back to my mum reading it at Christmas Eve to help us sleep and several parts coming across as touching. You really relate to the characters as well, even Albert, who wouldn't love talking mice though? The voice acting is very dynamic, with Joel Grey especially impressive. In conclusion, a Christmas treasure that brought all those memories back. 9/10 Bethany Cox

There are many Christmas animations for children during the holidays. We know the originals (Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Coming To Town, Rudolphs Shiny New Years etc..) Two of my favorite that don't get shown as much are "A Year Without A Santa Claus" and this gem "Twas the Night Before Christmas." It tells the tale of two families just before Christmas. One is a human family with a father who is a clock maker. The other is a family of mice with an intelligent male mouse named Albert who doesn't believe in Santa Claus. After Albert writes a letter to Santa Claus, telling him that he and the townsfolk no longer believe in him, Saint Nick decides to blacklist the town and remove them from his itinerary.When the clock maker finds this out from Father Mouse he decides to make a special clock that at midnight will chime and sing a wonderful song to apologize to Santa and bring him back to the town.The animation isn't anything special, but the story and voice acting is terrific. It really grabs your attention and keep you watching. The songs and music are also great and little kids will love it. It's still one of my favorite Christmas specials. For some reason it doesn't come on every year anymore. If it does, it's only shown once and I must miss it. I just ordered the DVD off of Ebay. It comes with the sequel to Frosty the Snowman. I'll let me 2 year old watch it this Christmas. A must see for the whole family. Watch for it this holiday on T.V.

I would recommend this to anyone, especially to people wanting to teach their small children about having faith. Awesome movie - I grew up watching it with my family. I can sing along and I definitely tear up at a few of the parts. I also wanted to comment about how sad I was when they took out the song "Give your heart a try" (I think that's the one they cut) so I bought it on DVD (the DVD is called Frosty's Winter Wonderland but Twas the Night Before Christmas is on it). I was so thrilled to find it!!! Now that's what I show to my kids.My son really enjoyed it too! (My daughter is 1 - she liked dancing around the room with me to the songs). Definitely an underrated, superb movie about faith, love, and the miracles of Christmas!

This may quite possibly be the best Christmas special out there. It is just like Braveheart, except minus the warriors and plus Christmas, Mice and a Clock Maker. My sister and I are in our mid-twenties and we watch this movie multiple times a year. Who doesn't love singing mice? It is a heartfelt tale that will encourage children of all ages to believe in Santa. Claymation is great, but few things are as Christmas-y as animated mice and humans co-habituating. You will laugh, you will cry, you will eat all three flavors out of the holiday popcorn tub that your mom bought you. Stay up late to catch it, or hunt online to buy it, it is a must have for every Holiday movie collection.