Christmas Night

Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.

'Christmas Night', aka 'Pals', may not be a great cartoon and there are better ones based on the Christmas theme. Having said that, 'Christmas Night' is a pleasant enough watch and there's a reason why it's one of the better known The Little King cartoons. It's the fourth The Little King cartoon and the sixth of eleven Van Beuren cartoons (Fleischer did the twelfth as part of the Betty Boop series) adapted from the work of Otto Soglow, generally it is among the better efforts of the series and demonstrates why Van Beuren's cartoons adapted from Soglow's work are among the studio's better, more ambitious and more entertaining efforts.

The cartoon is not one to be seen if one is expecting a laugh a minute hilarious cartoon, there are not many laughs here but 'Christmas Night' does amuse at least when there is anything humorous if never more than that.

A scene with a black doll has been referred to negatively. Understandably, although not there for long and not as offensive as other racially stereotypical characters in cartoon history it felt rather misplaced here and jars.

However, one expects Van Beuren cartoons to generally not be well animated which tends to be the case. That's not the case with 'Christmas Night', the studio's Soglow adaptations come to think of it were all among their better-looking cartoons and showed more detail and crispness. It may not quite be as visually ambitious as 'The Fatal Note' but the improvement in quality is huge.

Music as always with Van Beuren, very nearly always the best thing about their cartoons and sometimes the only good thing, is lively and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated. Story-wise, while slight it is sweet and charming and in terms of content it is more reliant on cuteness than humour but it just avoids the saccharine sugar trap. The Little King is an appealing lead.

In summary, pleasant Christmas-themed cartoon. 7/10 Bethany Cox

. . . "Rub-a-dub-dub" was a wholesome recounting of a young lad's education regarding the niceties of his future responsibility to select an appropriate spouse to insure that the family farm could be passed down for a few more centuries. This instructive verse tradition did NOT make any references to MEN in a tub! Back in these simpler times, men could not monopolize the process of propagating Humanity. Females were required to take part, so every country fair featured the three basic types of ladies usually around a small town. These subjects were displayed in a natural state of undress, often in an otherwise empty trough or tub, so proper distinctions could be made between those too scrawny, those too padded and those "just right" for the performance of necessary vital farm chores. CHRISTMAS NIGHT plunges viewers into the darker waters of three MEN in a tub, totally destroying the rub-a-dub-dub ritual.

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).

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.

Even though I have the title "Christmas Night," it's also known as Pals here on this website. I found this cartoon to be the weakest on my DVD with Scrooge (1935 colorized version) as the main feature. While it may not be seen as offensive during the time it was released in 1933 long before the civil rights movement. Our country was still in the midst of the Great Depression and before World War II took place. This cartoon short may not be intended to be offensive with the black face but it would be seen that way by today's political correctness. I would just accept that it was the time period when this animated short took place long before change for the better took place. I wouldn't try to think too much or too seriously about animated shorts from the time period as offensive. I'm sure the early animators weren't intended to offend it's audience but complying to the time and period of it's history.