9 reviews
I have fond memories of this. The friendly mouse and dog team up to deliver a letter to Santa. They go all over town but keep running into store Santas or Salvation Army types or whatever. There are the usual Hanna Barbara songs, voicers (Daws Butler and Paul Winchell), treacly images of an ideal Christmas, etc.
And know what, I loved every single second of it. They'd put this on about 7:30 pm in December back in the 70s, and I can remember playing outside in the snow as a kid, coming into the house and seeing this come on. It was a perfect tandem show w/ the Grinch/Rankin Bass/Peanuts stuff that is now better remembered.
It's not a classic per se, but its not that bad, and if you ever get a chance to watch it, do so. You gotta like H-B from the 70s though. Fair Warning.
And know what, I loved every single second of it. They'd put this on about 7:30 pm in December back in the 70s, and I can remember playing outside in the snow as a kid, coming into the house and seeing this come on. It was a perfect tandem show w/ the Grinch/Rankin Bass/Peanuts stuff that is now better remembered.
It's not a classic per se, but its not that bad, and if you ever get a chance to watch it, do so. You gotta like H-B from the 70s though. Fair Warning.
It's Christmas Eve and little Timmy's letter to Santa was somehow forgotten. So his dog and a mouse desperately try to track Santa down and deliver the letter so Timmy will have a good Christmas. A cute Hanna-Barbera Christmas special that seems to be all but forgotten today. It's corny stuff but enjoyable for what it is. Good voice work from Daws Butler and Paul Winchell, among other fine voice actors like Don Messick. The animation is adequate (it was made for TV, after all). It's also from Hanna-Barbera so you know there's a lot of corny jokes and loud sound effects. Thankfully there is no laugh track but you don't have to use your imagination to see the spots where it seems room was left for it. There are a number of songs, some of which were reused for later Hanna-Barbera TV specials. This isn't likely to become a new favorite of yours but if you enjoy old animated Christmas specials, it's certainly worth giving a try.
As a one-off, unrelated to any franchise Special (it's also nothing to do with the 1983 movie with the same title) it's clear that A Christmas Story has fallen into massive obscurity. Quite rightly so, as it's a fairly bland story with nothing memorable about it whatsoever.
It begins in some quaint, little, snow-covered town with little Timmy being read to by his dad on Xmas Eve. But he's forgotten to mail his letter to Santa, so the dog and house mouse take off in search of the big-bearded gift-giver (who conveniently just happens to be down the street instead of anywhere else in the world) in order to give him said letter.
Limp hijinks follow. And it ends with a total cop-out, borderline illogical ending which pretty much negates everything that precedes it. But I guess I'm scrutinizing a 1972 Hanna-Barbera cartoon a little too closely.
Forget this one, and stick to Specials based on established franchises.
It begins in some quaint, little, snow-covered town with little Timmy being read to by his dad on Xmas Eve. But he's forgotten to mail his letter to Santa, so the dog and house mouse take off in search of the big-bearded gift-giver (who conveniently just happens to be down the street instead of anywhere else in the world) in order to give him said letter.
Limp hijinks follow. And it ends with a total cop-out, borderline illogical ending which pretty much negates everything that precedes it. But I guess I'm scrutinizing a 1972 Hanna-Barbera cartoon a little too closely.
Forget this one, and stick to Specials based on established franchises.
- CuriosityKilledShawn
- Dec 19, 2010
- Permalink
Here is a Hanna-Barbera Christmas TV special that my family and I loved and still do. But of course my parents refer to the title as "Timmy's Letter."
The special is set in a town and era almost like in Disney's Lady and the Tramp, and it was Christmas Eve. In one house, a little boy named Timmy (voiced by Andy Panda's voice actor, Walter Tetley) was read a Christmas story and tucked into bed. The resident mouse, Gumdrop (voiced by animation regular Daws Butler), while admiring the house all decorated for Christmas, noticed Timmy's letter to Santa on the floor. The letter must have fallen off the table and never been mailed. So he and the family dog, Gobber (voiced by Paul Winchell), set out to deliver the letter to Santa and save Christmas for Timmy.
I was very fortunate (and so is my family) to find it on TV and tape it because they don't show it anymore. So all I can say is that I loved this special from beginning to end. And I don't have any particular scene I like because I love this cartoon. I also love the songs in the special; three of them were replayed in later Hanna-Barbera Christmas programs.
The special is set in a town and era almost like in Disney's Lady and the Tramp, and it was Christmas Eve. In one house, a little boy named Timmy (voiced by Andy Panda's voice actor, Walter Tetley) was read a Christmas story and tucked into bed. The resident mouse, Gumdrop (voiced by animation regular Daws Butler), while admiring the house all decorated for Christmas, noticed Timmy's letter to Santa on the floor. The letter must have fallen off the table and never been mailed. So he and the family dog, Gobber (voiced by Paul Winchell), set out to deliver the letter to Santa and save Christmas for Timmy.
I was very fortunate (and so is my family) to find it on TV and tape it because they don't show it anymore. So all I can say is that I loved this special from beginning to end. And I don't have any particular scene I like because I love this cartoon. I also love the songs in the special; three of them were replayed in later Hanna-Barbera Christmas programs.
- ja_kitty_71
- Dec 10, 2009
- Permalink
I was lucky many years ago..to see this. It is NOT really all that memorable of a story..as other have stated. HOWEVER..I am quite SURPRISED..no one else noticed..that the opening song in the cartoon.."All on Christmas day". was RE_WORKED into the song played on the "Enchanted voyage" dark ride.. at the Amusement park Kings Island, near Cincinnati Ohio. That ride is LONG gone, redid several times..now "boo blasters".. But form 1971-1983.. it was the enchanted Voyage..and this tune with different words..about the " happy friends that live in my tv".. played throughout the dark boat ride !!.
For a longest time i always had this faint memory of some Christmas related cartoon, that i think i might have seen in sometime in my childhood. It must have only aired once (in my country at least).
But of course the internet saved the day on this upcoming Christmas and i could finally take a look at that almost forgotten flick.
And its just. bleh.
Story: Someone forgot sent poor Timmy's letter to Santa, so its up to a Clever little mouse and his Dog companion bring the letter to Santa, before he goes to Timmy's chimney.
And that's about it.
There's is not much to go for in this Hanna-Barbera flick except their typical cheap looking animation and their typical cheap slapstick. There was this one song that was enjoyable and Dogs voice actor is the one who played Tigger. But still i would not want to sit through this again.
But of course the internet saved the day on this upcoming Christmas and i could finally take a look at that almost forgotten flick.
And its just. bleh.
Story: Someone forgot sent poor Timmy's letter to Santa, so its up to a Clever little mouse and his Dog companion bring the letter to Santa, before he goes to Timmy's chimney.
And that's about it.
There's is not much to go for in this Hanna-Barbera flick except their typical cheap looking animation and their typical cheap slapstick. There was this one song that was enjoyable and Dogs voice actor is the one who played Tigger. But still i would not want to sit through this again.
- SayMyNameBitches
- Dec 16, 2016
- Permalink
- richard.fuller1
- Dec 17, 2009
- Permalink
Watched this in the 70s and loved it, as well. Mid 50s now and Christmas memories return through this show and many others. Feel like a happy kid again waiting for the big day.
- mjnaz-78066
- Dec 14, 2020
- Permalink
- ExplorerDS6789
- Jun 8, 2020
- Permalink