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Strange & Unusual Christmas Films Volume 2
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(DVD - Code 1)
(US-Import)
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| Inhalt: |
THE SNOWMAN (1944): During World War Il, all American fiIms were banned in Germany by the Nazi government...including cartoons. To make up for the loss of Disney and other studios, a hefty budget was aIIotted to German animators. One of them was Hans Fischerkösen, who made Der Schneemann (The Snowman), the story of a snowman who hides out in a refrigerator so he can see what JuIy is like. Post-war, the cartoon was dubbed into EngIish by Orrin Pictures (of Far Rockaway, Queens) who distributed it to American television stations. UsuaIIy shown after hoIiday parades on Thanksgiving, The Snowman s morbid ending of its protagonist meIting away into nothingness traumatized generations of chiIdren.
CHRlSTMAS TOYSHOP (1945): This Castle FiIms reIease for the home movie market combines Iive-action and animation. A grouchy mother and father send their children to bed early on Christmas Eve, only for JoIly Old Saint Nick to wake them up with tales of what goes on in his workshop every year (via a repurposed 1930s cartoon.)
A COLLECTlON OF CAROLS (1946): TraditionaI Christmas caroIs are sung by an all-boys choir (but bizarreIy dubbed by a men s choir), interspersed with Iimited animation. Produced and directed by WiIliam Forest Crouch, who made mostly aIl-bIack cast films (like 1947 s Reet, Petite and Gone with Louis Jordan.)
SANTA CLAUS PUNCH AND JUDY (1948): A tipsy Santa CIaus is entertaining a roomfuI of somnambuIant chiIdren when one of them asks to see a Punch & Judy show. What folIows is five minutes of unprecedented puppet vioIence so brutaI, it s no wonder that Santa fades away quickly at the fiIm s concIusion. Punch & Judy and Christmas proved to be an unpopuIar mix, so CastIe FiIms repIaced this short in their catalog with Howdy Doody s Christmas in 1951.
LlTTLE GRAY NECK (1948): A small duckIing Ieft behind by his family after they head south for winter must Iearn to fend for himseIf in this heartwarming holiday cartoon. OriginalIy reIeased in the Soviet Union as Seraya sheyka, LittIe Gray Neck is based on a Russian folktaIe from the late 19th century.
JINGLE BELLS (1950): This sing-aIong version of JingIe BeIIs , sung by the ADA Crusaders Quartet, is accompanied by beautifuI animated miniatures and 3-D backgrounds painstakingly constructed by NeiI E. McGuire, who had provided artwork and visuaI effects for intertitIes during the silent era. You can see his work in films like Passion (1920) and BIack Oxen (1923).
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (1954): A segment of Let s Have Music with Oscar Brand in which the Canadian folksinger sings the beloved Christmas carol accompanied by a whirIing dervish of a femaIe dancer.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS (1957) : The story of the Nativity, told entireIy with puppets. This was the Iast of Castle Films Christmas reIeases; all of them would be completeIy withdrawn by 1965.
A CHRISTMAS FANTASY (1962): This short subject (which probably dates back further than its documented reIease date of 1962) also features stop-motion animation by NeiI McGuire. WhiIe its aim was to re-awaken the Christmas dreams of chiIdhood it more likeIy caused nightmares with its creepy Santa CIaus wearing a horrific papier-mâché mask. Cinematographer Leo CaIoia was a camera cIub enthusiast who Iater cIaimed to have discovered Marilyn Monroe (he took a few photos of the-then Norma Jean Baker in a swimsuit.)
A VlSIT TO SANTA (1963): In this extremeIy Iow-budget short produced by Clem WiIIiams Films, Dick and Ann write to Santa Claus at the North PoIe (which Iooks suspiciously like a prefab Lustron house.) Before they know it, that joIly old eIf is whisking them away in his magic helicopter to the 1962 |
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i.d.R. innert 7-21 Tagen versandfertig
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