The Little Drummer Boy (TV special)

{{Infobox television

| image = Little Drummer Boy logo.jpg

| caption = Official logo

| genre = Christmas

| creator =

| based_on = {{based on|"The Little Drummer Boy" Katherine Davis
Jack Halloran}}

| writer = Romeo Muller

| screenplay =

| story =

| director = {{plainlist|

}}

| starring = {{plainlist |

}}

| narrated = Greer Garson

| theme_music_composer = Maury Laws

| country = {{plainlist |

United States
Japan

}}

| language = English

| num_episodes =

| producer = {{plainlist |

}}

| editor =

| cinematography = Takeo Nakamura (uncredited)

| runtime = 25 minutes

| company = Rankin/Bass Productions

| budget =

| network = CTV Television Network
NBC

| released = {{Start date|1968|12|19}}

| related = The Little Drummer Boy, Book II

}}

The Little Drummer Boy is a stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was first televised in Canada on December 19, 1968, on the CTV Television Network, followed four days later by its American nationwide telecast on NBC. A sequel was broadcast in 1976.{{cite book |last1=Crump |first1=William D. |title=Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476672939 |page=169}}

Plot

A Jewish boy named Aaron lives a peaceful life on a farm with his parents and three animals – a donkey named Samson, a lamb named Baba, and a camel named Joshua. Aaron is given a drum on his birthday, which makes the animals dance with joy when he plays it. One night, bandits attack the farm and kill Aaron's parents. Aaron survives, but is left emotionally scarred and vows to hate all mankind.

Aaron's drumming abilities catch the attention of Ben Haramed, who kidnaps him and makes him join the caravan with rather inept performers against his will. When performing in Jerusalem, Aaron becomes infuriated by the townspeople's amusement and lashes out at the townspeople, accusing them of being thieves and knaves, for which Ben verbally castigates him before they continue on their way.

Some time later, the troupe comes upon the Magi caravan who are following a bright star in the sky. Seizing his chance, Ben greedily attempts to perform for the Magi Melchior, Casper, and Balthazar, but they are uninterested as they try to make haste to get to the star's destination. One of the caravan camels becomes too weak to continue traveling and the Magi has no extra camel, so Ben seizes Aaron and bargains with them that they use Joshua in exchange for some of their gold. Aaron refuses to take any gold from Ben and leaves for Bethlehem with Samson and Baba.

Later Aaron and his two remaining animal companions Samson and Baba escape, climb the tallest hill and join up with the Magi as they follow the star and then journey toward Bethlehem. There, upon recognizing Joshua and trying to reunite with the camel, Baba is struck by a Roman chariot.

Aaron takes the injured lamb to the Magi to be healed, but they insist that maybe the baby can help. Having no gift to give to the baby, Aaron decides that his "gift" to Him and His parents will be his playing his drum for them. As a sign of gratitude, Baba is healed and rushes into Aaron's arms, filling Aaron's heart with joy at last.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063230/|title=The Little Drummer Boy|date=19 December 1968|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=28 June 2018|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616104319/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063230/|url-status=live}}

Voice cast

Greer Garson as "Our Storyteller"
Teddy Eccles as Aaron
Jose Ferrer as Ben Haramad
Paul Frees as:
Ali
Aaron's father
Melchior
Casper
Balthazar
Samson
Baba
Joshua
Guards
Male townspeople
Driver
Tumblers
June Foray as:
Aaron's mother
Female townspeople
The Vienna Boys' Choir singing the title song.

Reception

File:The Little Drummer Boy - advertisement.jpg

The Little Drummer Boy received an approval rating of 75% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Little Drummer Boy is a mature addition to the Rankin-Bass catalogue, with a powerful conclusion that compensates for the special's dour storytelling and unpolished animation."{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012419_little_drummer_boy|title=The Little Drummer Boy|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2020-12-13|archive-date=2020-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031112731/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012419_little_drummer_boy|url-status=live}} Contemporary reviews rated it highly, with a 1970 viewer survey ranking it among the best Christmas specials to air that year.{{Cite news |last=Williamson |first=Clarke |date=January 28, 1970 |title=Top View |pages=40 |work=Fort Lauderdale News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/272948692/?terms=grinch&match=1 |access-date=December 12, 2023}}

Restoration problems

In 1998, a restoration of The Little Drummer Boy by the company Classic Media was hindered because the film's original 35mm negative went missing, according to Rankin/Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt. A 16mm print was located, as well as an unreleased stereo soundtrack. However, the latter was missing several sound effects, most notably a piece of narration in the final scene, which instead used a scratch track by Paul Frees.{{Cite web|url=https://enchantedworldofrankinbass.blogspot.com/2006/12/little-drummer-boy-1968.html|title=Rankin/Bass-historian: THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (1968)|first=Rick|last=Goldschmidt|date=December 17, 2006|accessdate=August 9, 2024|archive-date=February 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227095133/http://enchantedworldofrankinbass.blogspot.com/2006/12/little-drummer-boy-1968.html|url-status=live}}

1976 sequel

In 1976, Rankin/Bass produced a sequel, titled The Little Drummer Boy, Book II, again sponsored by the American Gas Association. It premiered on December 13, 1976, on NBC, and like its predecessor, has also aired on Freeform and separately on AMC as of 2018.{{cite web |title=AMC Presents Its Largest Slate of Holiday Programming With 'AMC Best Christmas Ever' |url=http://www.amcnetworks.com/press-releases/amc-presents-its-largest-slate-of-holiday-programming-with-amc-best-christmas-ever/ |access-date=27 November 2018 |date=8 November 2018}} Warner Bros. is the show's current distributor through their ownership of the post–September 1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library via Telepictures.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074805/|title=The Little Drummer Boy Book II|date=13 December 1976|publisher=IMDb|access-date=28 June 2018|archive-date=9 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909014613/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074805/|url-status=live}} In this sequel, written by Jules Bass (under the pseudonym Julian P. Gardner), Aaron and his animal friends team up with Melchior, one of the Magi, to protect silver bells, made to ring for Christ's arrival, from a band of greedy Roman soldiers. The Little Drummer Boy, Book II received a rare approval rating of 0% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Little Drummer Boy, Book II is even more adolescent than its predecessor, with one of the most dire problems in writing, and the animation is way inferior."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/movies|title=Movie Reviews|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 December 2017|access-date=29 January 2018}} Warner Archive released The Little Drummer Boy Book II, in a collection called Rankin/Bass TV Holiday Favorites Collection.