Cranberry Christmas

The art, characters, and storyline are pretty close to the charming original 1970s children's book by Wende and Harry Devlin. Mr. Whiskers is kind to children, who he lets skate on the pond by his house. Cyrus Grape is a crotchety old man who is mean to children, claims the pond is his, and won't let them skate there. Mr. Whisker's sister is coming to visit for Christmas, and if his house is as untidy as it was the last time she visited, she would like him to move in with her in the city. Maggie and her grandmother help Mr. Whiskers with both problems. Cranberries figure in via the setting in Cranberryport and the grandmother's cranberry cookies, a recipe for which is on the back cover of the book. There are a number of cute details from the book which get lost in the TV special, like Mr. Whiskers being a sea captain, and the source of his Christmas tree decorations.

The TV special starts with a depiction of the harvesting of cranberries from a bog, not surprising since Ocean Spray was a sponsor. The skating pond is an iced-over cranberry bog. Cyrus Grape is not just crotchety, but owns spying equipment, and vandalizes Mr. Whisker's house to the point of collapse. What the special does with him at the end is particularly unbelievable in light of that. More than a little inspiration was taken from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) (TV), I think.

Barry Manilow narrates and sings "Christmas is Just Around the Corner," and a song about Mr. Grape reminiscent of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

It's fairly cute, and at less than 30 minutes, nothing you'll be likely to regret watching unless you really resent the changes from the book. However, you would be much better off checking out the book, if you're unfamiliar with either!