Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions which features the famous 1823 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, the opening line of which is the source of the title of this animated special. The special first originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974 where it aired annually until 1994, when The Family Channel (now Freeform) took over its syndication rights. AMC took over syndication rights for the special in 2018.
Although the opening credits mention "told and sung by Joel Grey", it is really narrated by George Gobel, as there is more emphasis on the point of view of Father Mouse, with Moore's poem read by Grey as a secondary plot.
Plot
The program is set in the fictional town of Junctionville, New York, around the turn of the 20th century. Santa Claus is offended by an anonymous letter printed in the town's newspaper (and signed "all of us") claiming that he doesn't exist. In response, Santa returns the entire town's letters to them unopened. Upon reading the anonymous letter printed in the newspaper, Father Mouse — a mouse assistant to the human clockmaker Joshua Trundle — immediately suspects that his brainy, college student son Albert is its author. Albert confirms his suspicions, repeating the letter verbatim to him.
Father Mouse and the Trundle Family devise a plan to appease Santa by building a singing clock tower for him, built with a special recording to play a song to coax him not to bypass Junctionville on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Albert enters the clock to explore it without permission, and inadvertently causes it to malfunction in front of the whole town, seriously damaging Trundle's professional reputation. Furthermore, the Mayor, publicly embarrassed at the clock tower's failure, refuses to give Joshua access to it for repairs.
Confessing his mistake, Albert volunteers to repair it himself and Father Mouse tells Joshua of the situation before waiting at his bed with worry on Christmas Eve. Although Albert does not complete his task until about one minute after the midnight deadline, the clock does play its song within earshot of Santa which convinces him to turn around and come to town after all.
Cast
George Gobel as Father Mouse (primary narrator) Joel Grey as Joshua Trundle (secondary narrator) Tammy Grimes as Albert John McGiver as the Mayor of Junctionville
Additional voices
Robert McFadden as Substation Operator, Councilmen, Handyman
Allen Swift as Santa Claus
Pat Bright as Sarah Trundle/Mother Mouse
Christine Winter as Girl/Girl Mouse
Scott Firestone as Boy/Boy Mouse
The Wee Winter Singers as the Chorus
Crew
Written by Jerome Coopersmith, Larz Bourne
Based on the Poem by Clement Moore
Music: Maury Laws
Lyrics: Jules Bass
Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass
Associate Producer: Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin
Editorial Supervision: Irwin Goldress, Vincent Juliano
Design: Paul Coker Jr. Sound Engineers: Don Hahn, Tom Brennand, John Curcio Sound Effects: Tom Clack Animation Production - Topcraft, Japan Storyboard Artist: Takashi Hisaoka Animation Direction: Tokiji Kaburaki, Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Hidemi Kubo Key Animation: Katsumi Aoshima, Hiroshi Oikawa Animation: Toru Hara, Tsuguyuki Kubo Layout Artist: Yoshinori Kanemori Background Designs: Minoru Nishida Background Artist: Kazusuke Yoshihara Technical Direction: Kôichi Sasaki, Katsuhisa Yamada Musical Director: Maury Laws
Songs
There are three musical numbers in the program:
"Give Your Heart a Try" - Father Mouse (George Gobel) "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" - Joshua Trundle (Joel Grey), Albert (Tammy Grimes) "Christmas Chimes are Calling (Santa, Santa)" - Chorus
In popular culture
"Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" later appeared on South Park in the Season 4 episode "A Very Crappy Christmas". Similar to its use in the original special, the song is sung by Kyle to Stan and Kenny during a seemingly hopeless situation. At one point, Joshua Trundle's face is even superimposed over Kyle's face.
Production
Like many of Rankin/Bass' other animated TV specials, this special was animated in Japan by the animation studio Topcraft, which was rolled into Studio Ghibli in 1985.