DVD review: 'The Original Christmas Classics'
Arts & Entertainment // Movies
Mick LaSalle Feb. 19, 2012
Blu-ray disc cover ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS CLASSICS
Photo: Vivendi Entertainment, amazon.com
This Blu-ray set brings together three Christmas shows, made for television using stop-action animation: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1964), "Frosty the Snowman" (1969) and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (1970). The classic of the bunch is "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which I frankly am in no position to objectively assess - unless it's for other adults who were children in the late 1960s. Yet those people already know: To be 6, 7 or 8 years old back then was to actively look forward to "Rudolph," to see it in the TV Guide and count the days, to greet it as a harbinger of Christmas, as one more event that brought the great day closer. So revisiting this Christmas show practically feels like apprehending the sacred. At the same time, it's objectively fascinating to watch, in that the pacing is so languorous compared to what kids (and adults) see these days. I have no idea if this would still have a hold on children today. Finally, and this is almost too poignant for words, the Blu-ray makes incredibly evident and clear what was completely obscured on our black-and-white televisions back then, and that's that Rudolph and the other characters were little stuffed figures. Yes, we knew that. But on Blu-ray you can actually see the threads and the contour of the fabric. There's less illusion, but somehow that's more beautiful: To think such little things could be invested with such life and inspire such emotion.
The Original Christmas Classics
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Mick LaSalle is the film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, where he has worked since 1985. He is the author of two books on pre-censorship Hollywood, "Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood" and "Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man." Both were books of the month on Turner Classic Movies and "Complicated Women" formed the basis of a TCM documentary in 2003, narrated by Jane Fonda. He has written introductions for a number of books, including Peter Cowie's "Joan Crawford: The Enduring Star" (2009). He was a panelist at the Berlin Film Festival and has served as a panelist for eight of the last ten years at the Venice Film Festival. His latest book, a study of women in French cinema, is "The Beauty of the Real: What Hollywood Can Learn from Contemporary French Actresses."
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