The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 24, 2015

For millions of Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers, the holiday season wasn’t the holiday season without at least a glance at a Rankin-Bass stop motion animated special. Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass may not have risen to the name recognition level of, say, Hanna and Barbera, but their impact and achievements are quite notable, with a series of top rated animated fare appearing throughout the 1960s and 1970s which included many of the titles included in this new collection. The Original Christmas Classics Gift Set was originally released in 2010, offering Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town in high definition, along with the sequel Frosty Returns in standard definition and a soundtrack CD. Classic Media has returned to the snowy holiday well and brought back all of the above in this new collection, along with Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol (previously released as a standalone entry), Cricket on the Hearth and The Little Drummer Boy, as well as a few other new supplemental features including Frosty Returns now in high definition.

For reviews of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town please see our original The Original Christmas Classics Gift Set Blu-ray review by my colleague Ken Brown. For thoughts on Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, please see my original Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol Blu-ray review.

This new set offers the following features in high definition on its two discs:

Disc One

• Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1080p; 50:47)

Note: Please see our news posting about a problem affecting some but not all of the discs.


• Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1080p; 52:28)


• The Little Drummer Boy (1080p; 25:14). Years ago one of the all time favorite Christmas cards I sent featured a reproduction of an advertising image featuring a 1950s era housewife, clad of course in pearls and a stylish dress (and apron, if I recall correctly), shrieking in horror at something I assume was something like “waxy yellow build up” or the like. Upon opening the card, the reader was greeted with the cheery holiday message, “No more Christmas music!” Despite the ubiquity of festive melodies which seem to appear earlier and earlier every year, the fact is “new” Christmas standards don’t really appear with that much regularity. “The Little Drummer Boy” actually took a while to gain its evergreen popularity, finally bursting big time into the mainstream in 1958. This Rankin-Bass production based upon the tune came along ten years later, and it struggles to build even a half hour special out of the sparse narrative of the tot percussionist who is able to offer a personal gift to Jesus. In order to fill out the running time, the little drummer boy Aaron (Teddy Eccles) is more or less kidnapped by scheming carnival impresario Ben Haramad (Jose Ferrer), who is intrigued by Aaron’s ability to “talk to the animals” with his drum. Danger is pretty handily thrown by the wayside so that Aaron can join the Three Wisemen in their trek to find the Christ child. The Little Drummer Boy is a sweet trifle and will probably be best appreciated by younger children.

Disc Two

• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1080p; 51:44)


• Frosty the Snowman (1080p; 25:23)


• Frosty Returns (1080p; 23:08). Ken Brown wasn’t too impressed with Frosty Returns, but I tend to cut the special a little bit more slack. This is not a Rankin-Bass Production, and in fact shows the influence of its co-director Bill Melendez, who invests the special with much the same kid-centric quality he brought to the many Peanuts television outings of the 1960s which he also helmed. The cast and crew is also notable, including Jonathan Winters as the narrator, John Goodman as Frosty, a young Elisabeth Moss (!) as one of the kids, and Andrea Martin and Jan Hooks as various adults. The score is by Mark Mothersbaugh, who offers some playful tunes along the way.





The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 




The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition is presented on Blu-ray with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.34:1. For assessments of the video quality of the previously released material, please refer to the above linked reviews. The two new high definition offerings in this set are The Little Drummer Boy and Frosty Returns. The Little Drummer Boy looks pretty ragged quite a bit of the time, and may have been sourced from a dupe element as evidenced by its swarthy grain field, dark ambience and less than convincing contrast. Elements have faded somewhat, giving the special a less than vivid appearance. Things are quite soft throughout the presentation, which, when coupled with the very heavy grain field and overall darkness, tends to deplete midrange shots of much detail. Even some close-ups don't offer a wealth of detail. Frosty Returns fares much, much better. The transfer is by and large very crisp and precise looking, with good, stable line detail and wonderfully bright and colorful palette. There may have been some very minor high frequency filtering employed, but there is still a fine grain field on display, albeit one that's slightly variable. I'd rate The Little Drummer Boy in the 2.5-3.0 range and Frosty Returns in the 3.5-4.0 range for video quality.




The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 




The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition has replaced the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin to Town and Frosty the Snowman with essentially identical DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes. Similarly, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol's previous Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track has been converted to a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, with no appreciable differences. Both The Little Drummer Boy and Frosty Returns feature DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks, both of which encounter minor but noticeable crackling and distortion at times. Despite occasional minimal spikes of damage, overall the tracks sound fine, if boxy, with dialogue probably coming closer to contemporary levels of fidelity than the music (especially with regard to the older Little Drummer Boy). That said, it's Jonathan Winters' narration that encounters the most (again minor) crackling in Frosty Returns. Both tracks rate a 3.5 for audio quality.




The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 




Disc One

• Cricket on the Hearth (480i; 49:20) features the Danny Thomas bookending segments.


• Santa Claus is Comin' to Town offers the following supplements:

  Be an Artist and Create (1080p; 25:36) is a sweet group of featurettes starring Joe Vance, Director of Character Art at DreamWorks, who helps to show kids (and maybe even adults) how to draw various characters.

  Kringle Jingle (1080p; 00:56) offers some kids singing a certain well known tune.

  Santa Special Delivery (1080p; 17:23) is another nice piece that offers some historical factoids about Santa Claus, trivia about the television show and song, as well as some interstitial interviews with kids.

Disc Two
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer offers the following supplements:

  Rudolph Pop Up Book (1080p; 2:48)

  Holly Jolly Sing Along (1080p; 1:22)

  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Sing Along (1080p; 00:53)

  Learn to Draw features Dave Burgess of DreamWorks Animation in the following segments:

  Intro (1080p; 1:14)

  Rudolph (1080p; 11:14)

  Hermey (1080p; 11:32)

  The Abominable Snow Monster (1080p; 9:35)

  Rudolph Unwrapped (1080p; 16:42) is another trivia track of sorts akin to the Santa Special Delivery featurette on the first disc.



• Frosty the Snowman offers the following supplements:

  Frosty Returns (1080p; 25:03) is also accessible under the Extras menu for this special.

  Be an Artist and Create (1080p; 25:53) is another set of fun lessons with Joe Vance of DreamWorks Animation.

  Magical Melody (1080p; 1:53) is another sing along featuring an iconic tune.

  Frosty Snowflake Surprises (1080p; 19:30) is this special's set of trivia factoids and interviews with kids.

The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition has a nice selection of Rankin-Bass productions, and the good news is this new release offers everything the previous release did, along with a handful of new items and (especially) supplemental features. For those who haven't yet purchased this set, this new version is obviously the one to get, but I'd also suggest that even some who may have gotten the first version might consider double dipping, especially if they have burgeoning artists at home, as those kids will no doubt delight in the drawing lessons from two DreamWorks Animation stalwarts included as part of the supplemental package. Highly recommended.