Christmas Night

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On Christmas Eve, the Little King sneaks two tramps into the castle. The next morning, the three men are thrilled by the presents Santa left behind.

Not very good. Seems to me this film was an experimental animation short. You can always stream this for free & "That's good". It is not worth buying.

Christmas Night (1933)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Little King was a very popular comic strip in The New Yorker Magazine and it eventually found its way to the big screen. This short from the Van Beuren Studios starts off with Santa getting people to write down what they want on a piece of paper. Later that night several of the characters are playing around with their toys when chaos follows.

This certainly isn't a great short by any stretch of the imagination but it's a pleasant and charming film that I'm sure kids would enjoy watching on Christmas. As other reviewers have pointed out, there's one stereotype scene that many will object to today but it can also be seen as a learning tool to teach how things once were. I found the animation to be quite good throughout and the B&W images really jump off the screen with their detail at times. There aren't any major laughs but the film will at least keep a smile on your face.

Just rewatched this cartoon from the Van Beuren Studios on YouTube. The version I saw had the title Christmas Night which was the same title I witnessed when I first got this on VHS during the '80s. It stars The Little King, a popular comic strip character who is mute though other characters occasionally speak to him. Here it's Santa Claus who does the honors as he takes the King's request to deliver some presents to his palace for him and a couple of tramps he picks from a sidewalk window as they all look at the toys displayed. What they watch there is a little blackface doll tap dancing which is probably the only scene that would be offensive today in the entire cartoon though there is also a scene where all three are in a bathtub. Not too much in laughs though I was highly amused when one of the tramps revealed he wore a bra underneath his shirt! Best scene is the climax as all three ride in their cars or plane and wreak some stuff in the palace joyfully! So on that note, I guess I'm recommending Pals (or Christmas Night).

This is a wonderful little cartoon that had been pretty much forgotten for decades until it recently started showing up in vintage cartoon DVD sets under the title it was given in the 1940's, "Christmas Night." Otto Soglow's comic strip character, The Little King, had just been created in 1931, and this is one of the first times he appeared on screen. The Little King is an adorable and endearing character--a king who prefers to live like his working class subjects. In this cartoon, he befriends two very gritty bums on Christmas Eve, and together they prepare for Santa's arrival. The animation is beautiful. Sometimes blocky and abstract, while at other times more cutesy and full of detail. While almost entirely free of dialog, the cartoon is entertaining, completely understandable, and moves a brisk, enjoyable pace.

Sadly, it may have been the lack of dialog and simplicity of The Little King (in the comic strip, the king never spoke and ancillary characters did only rarely) that caused it to never really become successful in moving pictures. By the '30s, talkies were all the rage, and cartoon characters were expected to crack jokes or sing witty songs in addition to physical comedy.

As a history teacher and lover of films, I occasionally like watching cartoons that have been banned, as they tell us a lot about our society and how far we have come over the years. What was perfectly acceptable decades ago is now, in some cases, seen as gross and inappropriate. Occasionally, these cartoons which have been removed from screening aren't particularly offensive but often, as in the case of this cartoon, they are so god-awful it's hard to imagine that people would have laughed at and enjoyed these films! Thirteen of these cartoons have been packaged together on a DVD entitled "Cartoon Crazys: Banned and Censored" and while the print quality of many of the cartoons is less than stellar, it's a great chance to see how sensibilities have changed.

This cute little cartoon stars the comic strip character "Little King" and on Christmas Eve he picks up a couple hobos and treats them like friends in his home. The action is pretty cute and for a 1930s cartoon, it's pretty good.

Now as to why it was pulled, the main reasons are silly. In one scene, the three men are bathing together and some people at the Hays Office apparently were worried about perceived homosexuality!!! Come off it, folks--this is ridiculous. Other than that, there was a 3 or 4 second scene where the three are looking in a shop window and there is a "Sambo doll" in the window that would surely offend some viewers, though it also could easily be removed and the film still shown to modern audiences. I sure wish this did happen, as it is a cute little film.