The luck a cricket brings will completely destroy your life but it'll sort of level off a bit in time for the holidays! phelous.com / phelous Originally Released: December 17, 2014
That even in...this ("Ego on the Hearth", "Cricket Crocket: The Sexist Cricket", "Focus Issues? In the first three seconds? On a cartoon!?")...there's a diamond in the rough line like that is indicative of why Rankin/Bass' greatest hits STILL have a large slice of the Christmas Special culture.
you know, Crockett could have still been passed off as lucky if he was introduced to the family AFTER bertha went blind. at least then you can give him credit that his luck was the reason they even found work and Edward found his way back.
+CaptainJZH In a secret underground laboratory underneath the Pentagon, where the goverment is conducting a secret military programm to revive people from a time far away. With the goal to produce specimen that are practicall invincible, a black ops unit called B.E.A.S.T. is trying to create an unstoppable special force. But a Cricket on the Hearth is bringing anything but good luck. Specimen:0-5-3 only known as the "Old Man" doenst seem to fit in the program and is about to be terminated, unfortunately he breaks free from his cryosleep programmed with one simple command: Seek and Destroy. While a young laboratory trainee called Alice hides in the long dark hallways she cant really see but only hear "...be our guest, be our guest. Eat our food, leave us dead..." Old Man 2000: "You thought he was he was completely useless now?" *jumpscare* HHHHHEEEEEEEEeeeeee....
A Completely Useless Christmas Carol! Old Man gets a visit from three ghosts: the Slut Duck Narrator of Christmas Past, the Drunk Raccoon of Christmas Present, and the Snowdin the Snowman of Christmas Future ("Yuck!") In place of Bob Cratchet, we have Wordsworth, the underling Old Man mistreats when reading his Creepypastas.
Yeah unless she kept fondling his face, what was the beard even for? And why did he have to play this stupid charade even after seeing she was blind from grief?
The ending of this movie needs some fixing... here we go: Bertha: There'll always be a place in my heart for a fine, kind and noble and handsome gentleman such as you. Tackleton: Nobody ever told me such nice things before! Cricket: Ooooh, you-you-youuuu nincompoop! Paying any attention to the words of a gushing female. Tackleton: *Weeps* Nobody loves meee~~! *Credits roll*
+Annausagi2 I imagine after she said that to Tackleton: Tackleton: Nobody ever told me such nice things before! Edward: Me neither!! (She seems eager to complement Tackleton very nicely whenever Edwards in the same room quite a bit.)
Apparently in the original novella, Tackleton really did suddenly have a change of heart after receiving a compliment from Bertha. But then, Dickens sure loved his contrivances.
I love how it's already bizarre enough and then we have " That cricket made a fool of me! Uriah, get professional help!" and then it just goes off the rails. "I'm watching a movie where they seriously just put a hit out on a cricket"
This is Rankin-Bass. Logic is thrown into the wood chipper frequently with their stuff, as they struggle to get these things to a proper runtime. How else to explain the BS about Edward sticking with that ridiculous disguise?
Then there was that Brazilian thing about Noah's Ark with the nightclub-singer sexy lady panther singing her version of "I Will Survive" (Bobsheaux reviewed it -- El Arca I think it's called) -- I wonder if this inspired that bit?
+Milo Ilo Yeah, we've got sociopathic princes, another prince being turned into a vicious bear, a fairy getting her wings severed, the deconstruction of a superhero motivated by the death of a loved one, and that's just Disney nowadays.
Did Berta actually regain her sight by the end? Because if not, maybe the people standing at the wedding are the imaginary servants her father made up? Which might be even sadder then having no one present...
Wow, that's messed up o.o Reminds me of how Golden Films' Little Mermaid ended with Lena never getting her voice back...And they lived happily ever after? lol
Was amazed to recognise Hans Conried's voice as Captain Hook & Mr Darling from Disney's Peter Pan. Such a recognisable voice, given I haven't watched Peter Pan in over a decade.
He was Thorin Oakenshield in the Rankin Bass Hobbit, and he's the main reason to watch the 1,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Guy got around. Not as prolific as say Mel Blanc or June Foray or Paul Frees or Jim Cummings, but he got around.
when I was in high school I put together a terrarium for pet slugs/snails and brought in dirt and moss and rocks and stuff from outside and apparently there were cricket eggs/larva/whatever in it, so teeny tiny crickets hatched out. they didn't bring any luck but they did sing.
I didn't believe this was how the actual story went, so I went to the Wikipedia entry on it. Needless to say, this is a very loose adaptation, but the original wasn't much more sensical. Apparently Vladimir Lenin famously walked out on a production of it. Say what you will about Marxist revolutionaries that set the stage for genocidal totalitarian dictatorships, but I think Lenin had the right idea on this one.
Kay, not gonna lie, the Sexy Cat Song is actually really catchy. I can't get it out of my head. I think I need professional help. Anyone know a crow I can ask for help?
The only reason I can see why Christopher's disguise worked on Cricket was because they had barely met before, otherwise this makes no sense why no one recognized him.
I now need a Christmas Carol adaptation involving talking toys, and animal nightclub where a hit on another animal is negotiated and three of them are murdered.
What if this final mr. Green moment is actually the hint what happy ending exists only in Berta's head, when in the real life she is still blind, her father is still poor and her fiancee is still dead?
Did they name Tackleton's bird after Uriah Heap from "David Copperfield"? If they did then the literature nerd in me has to applaud the writers on this special.👏
I can't help but wonder what the thought process might have been for Arthur Rankin & Romeo Muller to include those animals getting shot. "Okay, Romeo, so in the next scene, after the animals turn the cricket over to the captain, the captain then double-crosses the animals and shoots them dead." "But, Mr. Rankin, sir, wouldn't Mr. Tackleton notice that his pet crow never returned after getting rid of the cricket and wonder where he went?" "Pfft, no one will care about something that ridiculous! We've already made the story this dreary and miserable, so why stop now?" "Yeah, I guess you're right..." Also, that Quantum Leap sketch with Aladdin, Paige and Wordsworth was hilarious and really well edited.
Phelous, sometimes critics forget that something was a TV special, and ignore the pacing that they take for commercial breaks, as well as the pace they keep to vary the story for the audience. Doug Walker did it with the Star Wars Holiday Special, ignoring that it's a thanksgiving special and not a Christmas one. You wonder what the deal is with the big musical number ending. In stage plays, that's the halfway mark at the end of act II. Rankin Bass productions was known for writing their specials like plays, and if you ever watch them, regardless of how they are animated, that is how they tend to break down. There is usually a 3-4 act structure, a narrator that starts off each act, different scenes making up each act that move the story along, and lots of twists and turns. They knew how to fill up that time-slot with some contrivances and intrigues. I saw one the other night that had Rudolph and Frosty in the desert with a wizard and cowboys. Then there was one where spirits of the elements created Santa or something.
8:00 If The Great Mouse Detective can get away with the sexy mouse at the bar while everyone is drunk (in a Disney film), I think this movie can get away with a sexy cat song
I think the difference is that GMD established its world as a seedy underworld of London with anthropomorphic animals right from the getgo, while this seems like a straightforward period Dickens adaptation with just a little supernatural stuff (like the Cricket) up until it throws a night club in there from literally nowhere.
Years later, I just realized that the Jesus birth scene appears to be taking place in the Amazon for some reason? Not sure why Tenochtitlan is in the background there.
I have a theory that in the original story, the reason the doll Bertha was working on did not have eyes was because the doll was supposed to represent her. The doll was in a wedding dress because Bertha was planning on getting married and the doll had no eyes because Bertha was blind.
I might have to put this one in my regular Xmas rotation. The look of it is pretty unique and charming, it shares voice actors with other Rankin Bass 'toons I like (such as the Hobbit), and it just has that wonderful spark of insanity to it.
Rankin-Bass' 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' is almost the same way: the mouse family actually knows crucial information that could help the clockmakers' family, but they DO NOTHING for months. Seriously, Rankin-Bass' idiocy makes Hanna-Barbara's idiocy look like Warner Brothers level of lunacy!
After having this special on the Rankin Bass Blu-ray collection for several years, and watching Phelous’ review several times I actually sat down and watched this special start to finish the other day. Honestly I enjoyed it for what it was, as hokey and strange as it is at times. The music is definitely the best aspect of this special.
Almost none of the actual plot of Dickens's "COTH" seems to have made it into this cartoon version. Yes, I realize that oftentimes characters must be consolidated and minor plot-lines be dropped, but aside from the existence of a "guardian angel cricket," there's not much that they stayed true to.
I’ve made it a tradition to watch this review every year around Christmas ever since it originally came out. It’s honestly one of my favorites of yours. Glad I’ve stuck around watching your stuff for this many years.
Fun Fact the evil boss was voiced Hans Conried (Disney`s Captain Hook). And people have the nerve to bash Secret of Nimh 2 for going of the wall in it`s third act, clearly they need to see this.
+Dalibor Jovanovic Are you fucking kidding me?? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? WHA...BU..."CRICKET ON THE HEARTH"'S THIRD ACT IS COMPAREBLY MORE SANE THAN "SECRET OF NIMH 2"'S!!! D8S At least Rankin/Bass didn't go into as surreal territory as MGM did.
Nah. Don't get me wrong, this movie is bad, but it's not "this cool and neat cartoon that has themes about animal experimentation and blends fantasy elements to it has a shitty sequel that in the end becomes fucking Pinky and the Brain".
Do you think you could try dubbing a really crappy cartoon? You seem to be pretty good at working with what the animation gives you in terms of syncing lip movements and your own voice.
What's it with low-budget Christmas movies having actual character deaths? *Edit:* No, low-budget children's movies in general. Why the hell do they have so much death?! *Edit 2:* honestly, I didn't notice the old man was Edward until Phelous pointed it out. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to him.
17:53 "So ... we are not told whose gift was gold, and whose was the gift of myrrh?" Well that only leaves frankincense, which STINKS, and we ALL know whose "gift" that was. DICKENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS!!!!
13:27 Hey wait an minute. He build himself a raft and THEN sailed to an island. Don't castaways usually build rafts to get out of islands? So he build himself a raft, jumped of the ship with it, and got lost.
That club scene with the singing cat is totally NOT a rip-off from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, RIIIIIGHT? Wait a minute... this movie came out before Roger Rabbit... so... media.giphy.com/media/glmRyiSI3v5E4/giphy.gif
But was this really the first time the toys were seen by a bug? Bugs are everywhere! Heck could have been fun to see the cricket fight away silverfish and houseflies. Heck if he is a katytid he could have eaten them! Wouldn't have been as shocking as a triple homicide of anthropomorphic animals.
I love how you can just show the two clips of the nightclub cat and the animal thugs getting shot completely out of context and go "This is a Christmas musical based on Charles Dickens!"
“Wow, if I had a nickel for every time a shapely furry character had a random musical number in the middle of a period film, I’d have three nickels - which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened three times”.
20:19 your pain isn't, but your entire review has become one of my all time favorites and part of my Christmas youtube watchlist! Merry early X-Mas, Phelous!
