Tuesday, December 25, 2018

The Little Drummer Boy

Of the most notable Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated films dealing with the theme of Christmas, among them being Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, and The Year Without a Santa Claus, The Little Drummer Boy is arguably the worst. Fortunately, it's about half the running time of the others.

You likely can remember some of the songs for those other famous TV specials; you won't for this movie. Sure, there's the famous song of which the film is based on (here, it's sung by the Vienna Boys Choir), but that's it. And if you've heard that song before (which you likely have), you know the gist of the story. There's a young drummer boy out in the desert and he happens to stumble upon a group of Palestinian refugees. He plays his drum for the newborn baby because he has no other gift to give.

In this adaption, Teddy Eccles plays Aaron, the young drummer boy. He has a donkey, a camel, and a lamb, all of whom are meant to be comic relief (I think). Jose Ferrer plays the abusive traveling entertainer Ben Haramad, and Greer Garson narrates.

If you have a few minutes, listen to the song and avoid the film.

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