Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Both Christmas Comes But Once a Year and 1948's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer have great nostalgic value, and to me still hold up as Christmas classics(as well as classics as cartoons in general) now as a 22-year old. What were especially good in Christmas Comes But Once a Year were the animation and the story. The animation is wonderful and unmistakably Fleischer, not only rich in colour with a real eye for detail and atmosphere but it also looks amazingly real, especially the animation for the inside of the orphanage and the effect of the rotating Christmas tree. The latter was a visual wonder and fairly ahead-of-its-time back then. The characters are cutely drawn too, Grampy comes across quite well in colour. And it is difficult not to like the story too, seeing the children upset over the broken toys was a heart-breaking sight while Grampy's actions are enough to warm up the iciest of hearts, they make for funny stuff and his inventing is quite clever here. It is an adorable story if not quite escaping the inevitable trap of falling into schmaltz and a fun and touching one as well, perfect for Christmas and puts you in a good mood. Grampy- beautifully voiced by Jack Mercer- is a great lead character, he comes across as very kindly and good-humoured and he's also quite lovable. The orphan children are genuinely sweet and not too annoying at all(which is not easy for orphan children in cartoons). The dialogue makes one smile, the pacing is nice and controlled and the music is lusciously orchestrated and lively in tempo. The title song is also irresistible, with a very catchy melody that is easy to sing along to, since viewing the cartoon on Christmas Day I can still sing the song and remember the lyrics. All in all, a Christmas classic that every Fleischer fan should see at least once. 10/10 Bethany Cox