This cricket was supposed to bring balance to the holidays, not destroy them! If you ever see a cricket on the hearth, RUN! phelous.com / phelous Originally Released: December 14, 2014
Dickens was so obsessed with Christmas because he grew up in a rare time period where every year of his childhood had beautiful, snowy Christmases, but by the time he grew up that climate had returned to your typical wet, rainy British winters.
the cold climate during his childhood was caused by the same volcanic eruption responsible for the "year with no summer" which spawned such classics as Dracula and Frankenstein. Interesting how much an event like this can influenxe literature and by extent culturr
Kind of funny how at the beginning, Danny Thomas mentions how not many people know about Cricket on the Hearth and he'd just found out about it himself, but then he looks surprised when he thinks the audience never heard of it either.
Edward: "I've kissed your smiles away..." Edward was later charged and convicted of domestic abuse, and sentenced to watch over Old Man for the rest of his life. The lawsuits continue to pile up.
I honestly think that line is supposed to refer to a sad farewell kiss, since this Edward was leaving Bertha for the Navy. The farewell kiss only strengthens Bertha's melancholy and reduces any chance of future happiness unless Edward comes back. *Wait. Why am I trying to apply logic to this joke comment?!*
I had a bad enough day at work that I was crying when I came home. (I'm almost 30 and rarely show emotion.) So I decided to re-watch your "Cricket on the Hearth Review" for the god-knows-what-th time. And now I am crying from laughing so hard. Literally. Tears rolling down my face, can't breathe laughing. (It's been long enough since I saw this review that I'm reliving a lot of the jokes.) Thank your for this hilarity Mr. Phelous.
"Suggested by" basically means "very loosely based on." There was a cricket in the original, but just a regular cricket--certainly not a Jiminy-esque talking one who interacted with the human characters, let alone a bunch of other talking animals. There was a whole other plot cut out about a man who's led to believe his wife's unfaithful, but is set straight in the end. Caleb's blind daughter Bertha was originally the SISTER of missing Edward; his sweetheart May was a different character. They made her a composite for this version.
Fiona Herceg Heh, yeah. But it is fun to make that joke. And as a member of the LGBT community I can say that I find nothing offensive about it as such. : ) Thumbs up to your comment any way as a history nerd. Interesting how the meaning of words have changed.
And if you went missing and managed to come back. DON'T disguise yourself as an old beggar in order to test your fiance's love after suffering hysterical blindness! 🧔=🧑
I watch this every December while ironing Christmas curtains :D It's just a weird tradition I got because it was one of the first things I did after moving into this house a few years ago. And every year I get the goddamn sexy cat song stuck in my head for days.
We have _Cricket on the Hearth_ as part of a Rankin/Bass Christmas DVD boxset. The discs containing _Rudolph_, _Frosty_, _Santa Claus is Comin' to Town_, _The Little Drummer Boy_, and Bill Melendez's _Frosty Returns_ all share a case, which resembles a hardcover book. However, _Cricket_ has a separate case, as if the people making the set didn't really like the thought of putting it together with R/B's crown jewels.
I have that DVD set too, though we also have _Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol_ and _Cricket On The Heart_ is on the same disc as _Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer_ and _The Little Drummer Boy._
18:24 I think the exchange should've gone like this, Crow: we've got no place for true bugs around here. Cricket crocket: hey who are you calling a true bug, I am an orthopteran, and proud of it
Are we not even going to address the fact that while Bertha and Edward are lovers in this movie, they're brother and sister in the original book? Not cool, Rankin/Bass. XP
I haven't seen that many episodes of the Danny Thomas show- I don't remember any Rankin Bass stuff put in other episodes Still one of my favorite reviews- this cartoon has a lot of recognizable talent involved, based on an obscure book, and is absolutely fucking insane. Thus, it's perfect for a really hilarious review.
I stumbled upon this movie quite recently on a Christmas Classics collection. It was on the same disc as Rudolph. Yeeeeaah it is definitely a "classic"
Molly Awesomeness A "classic" meaning a poor excuse to fool you out of your money. And do you mean the 50s Rudolph cartoon with the poorly recorded voices? Imho That was awful!
My mom actually got this one about five years ago on dvd, it came in a collection of classic Christmas movies. Ones like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer & Santa Clause is Comin' to Town.
I was curious about Danny Thomas and found out that he was one of the 3 co-founders of St.Jude’s children’s hospital, which is heart warming. Also his daughter Marlo (who helps voice this special) was a successful actress herself, star of the hit 60’s show That Girl and ended up winning a bunch of Emmy’s.
Danny Thomas is also famous for starting the Saint Jude hospital where children can be treated for free of their illness.. they kind of beg others for donations now, but doctors are not free.
10:46 I see this quite a bit in kids cartoons when a talking animal/insect friend is helping humans with important work using these really complicated tiring methods, and I question the efficiency of it all. I mean, instead of sitting around doing nothing until asked, then jumping into a little circus act, Cricket could be simply refilling a bowl with tacks or mixing paints at his own constant pace. That way Caleb and Bertha could keep a work flow going and Cricket could not waste so much excess energy. But then, Caleb could not be an ass and keep the important parts like the wheels of a toy wagon next to him.
Not surprising Danny Thomas would put his daughter Marlo in the show! You might know her as Rachel's mom from "Friends" and took over as chairwoman of St. Jude's Childrens Hospital, the foundation her father started, after he passed away.
Holy shit I actually had this on a DVD collection as a kid. For the longest time i thought it was a hallucination or I got it mixed up with the Cricket of Times Square books but then the song kept getting stuck in my head at random times
I’ve been Wondering for years what the name of that book was! I remember reading it in third grade and bits and pieces of the story remain in my head specifically the Chinese restaurant part.
enlistment? i guess the victorian navy gave out incredibly elaborate uniforms to simple enlisted troops, especially considering the period's general povery and disregard for the grunts of society. (seriously this guy's clearly at least an officer of some kind)
The cricket is easily one of the most evil creatures Phelous has faced! Name me any being so evil, it will try to ruin the lives of people who saved it!
So... Since the cricket showed up Birtha's fiancé died at sea, she went blind from grief, Caleb stopped working to care for her, he went into debt from paying doctors to fruitlessly examine her condition, they got evicted from their home and Caleb was forced to take a non-profit job for an asshole who gave him excessive work loads and makes them sleep at the workshop and live off of table scraps. WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF LUCK IS THAT?
Most of the problems weren't luck. They were just Caleb being utterly braindead, and the author of this adaptation's script (or of the original story if this element is in it) not understanding how hysterical blindness works. (For the record, I don't either, but I know it's not this.) Though I _suppose_ the latter could be considered bad luck, so I'll let you have her blindness as "bad luck" if you want it. Still, only her blindness and the ultimately false report of this soldier guy's death are bad luck, the rest is all just sheer stupidity.
I could probably request another review at this point, but he did such a great job, nothing ever comes to mind. It was an extra feature in the $10 bargain bin "Rudolph" stop motion movie DVD I randomly had one Christmas. Few months later... I realized it was kinda the perfect material for a Phelous review. But, seriously, he found more hilarious material from it than I ever thought possible.
I love it when you do these horrible animated films! I keep forgetting Danny Thomas had his own show. I think this is why God the animation is hideous "EGO ON THE HEEAAAAARTH" Roddy McDowell's too good for this Danny and Marlo Thomas as English people. Oh boy. The Old Man running gag is still hilarious. HIEEEEEEEEEEEEE I love all the "inviting people in" jokes. The fish one was my favorite Well, that's a random animated musical number. Most of these musical numbers are out of nowhere and have nothing to do with anything and don't make sense whatsoever BLINDNESS DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY Stupid villain is stupid. And stupid heroes are even dumber Can't wait for part 2!
There actually is a condition called "hysterical blindness" which means you can go blind after a traumatic or devastating event. It's to do with emotional responses blocking the signals between the eyes and brain temporarily. It sounds quite melodramatic, but there it is.
How is Old Man classified? Is he a meme? A character? Should he and like characters have their own sub-section with a new name, devoted to characters with personalities derived from implications in their behaviors from what they were originally in?
Are you sure she was struck blind before the news of her dead fiance? Even before that happens, she never looks like she's looking at anyone. She always has this blank stare.
I'm only now noticed that Berta (or whatever is her name) looks like shes blind from begining, stare into nothing, when Caleb's eyes, on other side, looks fine.
Now I wonder why this little gem of Dickens didn't get that much love? I mean come on! Also thanks for keeping "Old Man" as a character on this show, There were a lot of laughs to come from this old ass. DOYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Im up at 3 am even tho im extremely ill watching this video because youre my lullaby, Phelous. 🥺 thanks for being there when everyone in my house is aslerp
I try to not watch Phelous's Chistmas reviews outside the season, but they are just so entertaining I can't help myself. But this one I haven't watched in a long time, and it is nice to watch it now. It is my own personal Christmas tradition to watch Phelous's Christmas videos at this time tough.
1. 5:39: Why is he winking so much? And so slowly? 2. Danny Thomas is rockin' that velvet jacket. 3. Damn, Edward could crush coal into diamonds with that jaw... but instead, he's too busy kissing smiles away (seriously, WTF?!). 4. 10:52: Should I even bother pointing out how they got the principle of the whole "spoon as a catapult" thing wrong? You know what? Not worth it. 5. 12:16: Holy crap, is the Ice Cream Bunny approaching?! 6. 12:41: "I seek shelter from the bitter cold... oops, wrong movie, never mind."
Love rewatching this every Christmas, I hope he gets to do more of the Rankin Bass specials. The Jack Frost one is pretty hilariously bad and rich for riffing material.
