ManiakJiggy
This is How Movies Should Be Made
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
ilcorago-97740
I loved watching this magical program as a child. I was mesmerized by those puppets!According to the TV section of the Philadelphia Inquirer from that year, "The Spirit of Christmas" was first broadcast on December 22, 1951 and was aired 5 times that holiday season. The Wikipedia article and the blog source it quotes are wrong.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Spirit of Christmas" is a 27-minute short film from 1950, so this one is already over 65 years old. According to IMDb, it is the only effort by writer and director Mabel Beaton. The title makes clear that this is one for the festive season of course, but even if it may look like that, it is not an animated movie, but it is all about the marionettes in here. I am certainly a bit biased as this is not to my liking: the strange movements, the static face expressions etc. Admittedly, this one here handles these issues better than most others, so I was tempted to give it a better rating until eventually they included advertisement during the live action parts at the very end. Oh well, these were when the film really did hit rock bottom. The marionette parts were certainly better, also because they included some decent music and the narration wasn't too bad either. And of course the religious references (Bible) gave a bit of a purpose to the entire project, but on the one hand my subjective preference and on the other some absolute no-gos cannot be equalized by some of the better aspects. At least not for me. I do not agree with the high rating at all and give this one a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.
angelafranklin-27341
This Christmas program is not going to please many people because it lacks a huge WOW FACTOR in terms of visuals. What it does so wonderfully is that it lets you use your imagination. Mabel Beaton uses puppets in this program to great effect. The story is pace beautifully. The film is made "WITH GREAT LOVE" which is apparent.The way this program was made and produced I am sure was the inspiration for the well know "Rankin-Bass" Christmas Specials. If you have kids watch this with them during the holidays. It may play on some PBS stations but it is however worth buying. Trust me it is GREAT.
Mary Peterpuffer
One of the Greatest all time films of Christmas. this immortal classic is a story which is in two parts. The First is - The Night Before Christmas and the second is - The Nativity. both stories are beautifully recited and are staged with a musical background in classic and traditional style. The Marionettes are created for this 1950's TV Christmas classic probably represented the cuttingedge of creativity in puppeteering.These classic Christmas tales will be enjoyed by young and old alike. A Christmas must see. this puppteering may have provied inspiration for future successes like Howdy Doody, Kukla Fran & ollie, and much later, the Jim Henson family of characters. You and your family will rediscover the warmth and charm of these classic.
