"A Joyful Christmas" (1992)

A compilation of what seems to be public domain cartoons with the addition of live Christmas performances featuring Gloria Jean.

Whether you celebrate it or not, this was reviewed in addition to "Christmas in July" trend. By the looks of it, along with its included four short films, this tells us it's one of those tapes that have likely entered public domain. Some, if not all, may have already been posted and shared online with no copyright claims whatsoever (we haven't actually checked). Nevertheless, this is perfect for those who enjoy and remember these short films and cartoons back in the day.



This tape starts off with Hector's Hectic Life which is a little dog trying to be obedient and well-behaved around his owner to prevent being punished. That is up until a basket of puppies gets delivered to their home on the holidays. The puppies make themselves at home wrecking havoc every which way, as Hector tries to hide all the mishaps and destruction the puppies caused in order not to get in trouble. As this went on, Hector decided to get rid of the puppies completely only to feel guilty subconsciously, thus bringing them back in the house. After Hector's owner catches him with the mess he made, his puppy friends show themselves whence the owner realized it wasn't Hector himself that destroyed everything, sort of, but his owner thought the puppies were adorable and were happily welcomed in. The puppies loved and thanked Hector for being a good sport and taking good care of them, despite all the mayhem they caused.



The second short film is titled The Little King which is another animated film but in black & white. Funny thing about this is the king himself goes window shopping only to meet Santa Claus, and after a brief exchange, Santa promises to send the king some presents for Christmas. Who would've thought that even those in power also hope to get presents for the holidays? Anyway, as the king and two other men with him get ready to tuck in, Santa stops by as promised, plants a seed that grows into a fully decorated Christmas tree, and leaves behind amazing gifts for the gentlemen. One of them was a car and a plane. It sure pays to be good, huh?



Also in black & white, the third presentation looks to be a live musical performance! What a treat! Presented by Castle Films is The Music Album: Snowtime Serenade featuring Gloria Jean, The Milt Herth Trio, The Sportsmen and Lee, Lynn, Lou and Alpine Octet. Not only did they all sing and perform Christmas hits that many of us are familiar with, but this reminds us of the Motown days. It's very festive but also fun to watch. Also given it's not consistent with the animated films presented so far, we felt this was a nice addition—something different at least.




The last film, as odd as it may seem, did not have a Christmas theme to it and is titled The King's Tailor. We were a little bummed out by such thing as it would've been best if these compiled films stuck with the holiday theme. Anyway, this film is basically the king being chased by a big bad guy who grabbed and ripped the crown-wearer's pants trying to take him hostage. The king enters a tailor's shop and orders the worker to try and hem his pants. Well, the king didn't realize the tailor loves eating honey, and after a bee and his crew take charge eating off the tailor's bowl, they ended up hiding in the king's new pants. The king wore his newly-hemmed piece only to see he was chased by the bees. The king didn't like that and ordered his guards to take out the tailor, yet was able to escape, though the king, again, gets chased by the big bad guy at a lake. As the tailor witnessed all that has happened to the king, he decides to help out by dumping a bowl of honey on the big bad guy. Big bad guy didn't like it but ends up getting chased by the bees (talk about karma). The king forgives and shakes hands with the tailor, inviting him over to his castle to...help sew his pants again. The film ends albeit abruptly.



With the exception of the last film added, this is a very simple, low-budget tape presenting some presentations that, to our knowledge, hasn't been seen nor archived in a modern format (not sure if these have been remastered on DVD). Live-action performances of the holiday songs were a nice addition to this tape and felt it should've ended there. We are not sure why Castle Films added another animated movie that did not stick to the Christmas theme, but we felt it was added as a bonus along with the musicals. Regardless, it's an okay tape and should entertain young children and kids for the time being as they wait for that golden day where they all receive presents and gifts. As for the musical performances, we're sure those haven't been shown nor aired on TV, not even on hit shows like The Ed Sullivan Show nor American Bandstand, though we'll guess they may have performed on The Lawrence Welk Show. Anyway, for those who enjoy classic music back in the black & white days will find this to be a treat.

Overall, again, it's an okay tape at best. You get a good amount of content for the price of one. Certainly will appeal to those with a love of the old, cartoon classics.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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