Trailer—Cricket on the Hearth

Cricket on the Hearth_720p(480P)

source: Cricket on the Hearth

If you grew up watching this movie, the nostalgia might make it work for you today, but for everyone else, I wouldn't waste your time. It's not exactly a cute children's story. It's sad, slow, cringey and slightly disturbing. I was immensely uncomfortable watching as a despicable older man tried to take advantage of a young blind girl (blind in more ways than one), while her father just sat back and allowed it. The characters are as dumb and unlikable as the story. The songs are outdated and depressing and there are so many of them. If you're feeling good and upbeat, don't watch this movie and let it spoil that.

I never heard of this film before, although I do heard that it was made by the same company Rankin Bass who made the timeless classic "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". So, my father got a DVD copy of this for me and my sibling to watch and we sat through it to see if it would enchant our hearts the same way their later efforts like "Frosty the Snowman", "The Little Drummer Boy", and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town". Later, we had a decent enough time watching it, but let me remind you all that I do have some problems with it. The 2D animation is completely standard. It has some beautiful pictures of the Nativity, but it's character animation's kind of awkward with some wonky movements. The characters, though, I thought they were decent. I liked the romance between Bertha and Edward and the main villain Tackelton is very creepy especially his pet raven. The main character Cricket did annoy me in the beginning, but it wasn't Roddy Macdowell's fault. I think he did a fine job voicing him with enough spirit and energy. In fact, the voice acting is pretty decent. The story isn't that bad at all either, although it does have some depressing moments especially the scene where a sailer captain shoots three animals off-screen which came across as a bit dark for kids. The other problem is that while the songs aren't that bad, there are still too many for me to remember them and slowed the movie down just a bit in some scenes. Overall, Cricket on the Heart isn't exactly Rankin Bass's strongest work and I haven't read the story from Charles Dickens, but this might be worth watching if all of you can give it a chance.

Cricket on the Hearth is a good family movie or for those who love Christmas and are romantic at heart. The movie is fairly short. It can be seen by the children in the afternoon or with the family at night in early prime time. The musical numbers are delightful. The story is okay. Cricket on the Hearth should be a movie staple at Christmastime, like A Christmas Carol. It is a movie that is light hearted and there is little conflict within the movie. Popcorn and soda would be good with this movie. Stringing popcorn for the tree and decorating the house is a good activity while watching this movie. It does move along quickly, but the plot is not a difficult plot to follow so you don't need to see everything -- just listen to the story and the music. Enjoy

Who would have thought that the father and daughter team of Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas would starred together in this holiday special based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same title. Not only does Danny Thomas hosted this but also stars in this animated special that was produced by Rankin-Bass Productions,the same company that brings us each season joyous holiday specials like "Rudolph,The Red Nosed Reindeer","Frosty The Snowman","Santa Claus Is Coming To Town",and many,many more. Based on the classic story by Charles Dickens,and produced by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass and executive produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas under their production company Thomas-Spelling Productions,the holiday special "The Cricket On The Hearth" originally aired as a special presentation in color for ABC-TV on December 18,1967. This is the only animated special that Thomas and Spelling ever did,since their production company was known for there live-action shows. This hour-long special,based on the Charles Dickens story which by the way is animated(with the storyline by Romeo Muller and Arthur Rankin,Jr.)concerns a cricket(voiced by Roddy McDowell)who decides to grace the home of Caleb(Danny Thomas),and his daughter Bertha(Marlo Thomas)at Christmas time. The good luck this cricket brings seems to have nothing but ill will to the happiness it brings. Then the elements kicked in when Celeb is suddenly blind and he and his daughter face bankruptcy and are forced to move to new surroundings. Along the way,Bertha almost ends up marrying Celeb ruthless and cunning not to mention creepy old miser,but she has her heart set on the man whom she loves,Edward whom she thought was lost at sea. The songs are really boring,and for a hour long special for its time in 1967 is very disturbing and quite depressing in all aspects,and about halfway through there are some scenes that may be too disturbing for children under the age of 12. There are some tender moments where Bertha finally finds out that Edward is alive and towards the end get married. As for the songs here,they're depressing with the singing talents of not only Danny Thomas but also from Ed Ames and Abbe Lane featuring The Norman Luboff Choir. With the additional talents of Hans Conreid,and former Rankin-Bass stockplayer Paul Frees. "The Cricket On The Hearth" has been aired by ABC numerous times. The last time this special was seen on a major television network was back in 1972,when the network stop running this special. Reason? You won't see this among the regular Rankin and Bass specials that aired annually. ABC Family aired it during the late 1990's. The last time it was ever shown was when Public Television pick it up and basically did a restoration of this with some scenes that were deleted out during its original broadcast. Not the best of the Rankin-Bass specials,but it is worth taking a look at the ONLY animated production Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling ever did.

Cricket on the Hearth is the second most famous of Charles Dickens' Christmas books. It's a lovely story, but this abomination isn't. I'm not surprised nobody wants to see it. Just read the book instead. You'll enjoy it a lot more.

Mind you, Cricket on the Hearth (1967) is no Rudolph either, but it's not unwatchable or a train wreck as these other reviewers would have you believe. It's actually a little better than I expected it would be: as maddeningly average as most of the film is, there is a darkness to it that gives the whole thing flavor. The animation is standard 1960s television fare: limited, stiff, and awkward at moments. The character design is mostly uninspired, but sometimes appealing. None of the songs are memorable, though the voice actors perform them well. Unfortunately, most of the songs do not move the story along and bring the special to grinding halt (I'm looking especially at that brief number in the bar... just why?). The one thing that stands out about this special is not its animation or songs, but the poignancy of the story. There's a lot of dark subject matter here: grief, poverty, blindness, kidnapping, exploitation, and even murder (yes, murder; three henchman get capped in one infamous scene). There's an undercurrent of despair that makes this rather pedestrian movie memorable, though of course there's a happy ending, this being a Rankin-Bass special after all. In the end, this is a decent Christmas special. I doubt most of today's children would go for it, but if you have nostalgia, then it should serve you well. It's certainly not incompetent, as others argue.

This movie is horrific and just poorly made. Don't let your children watch this. Don't. It's boring, disturbing, long, and hardly about Christmas. I can't believe people are giving this more than 2 stars, it honestly does not deserve that much! All the songs are boring ballads and completely unnecessary (so hard to sit through), there is a murder of animals (say whaaaat?!), and it is just plain depressing (a girl goes blind because her love is lost at sea, a creepy, fat, old man wants to marry her against her father's will, and many, many more disturbing, depressing moments). Don't let your kids watch this unless you want to ruin your Christmas mood, because it really will. However, this movie is so bad that my sister and I make it a tradition to watch it, but in fast mode. It makes all the songs sound like tango songs and it makes it a little easier to sit through and we just make fun of it. Honestly, I don't even know how we sat through it once at normal speed! Please stay away from this film unless you want to make fun of it for how un-child friendly it is. When you see the name "Cricket on the Hearth" on a box set, logically consider why you have never seen or heard of this special before. After all, what kid doesn't love to listen to 30 irrelevant ballads and see their furry friends get shot on a boat by some creepy guy?! That just screams Merry Christmas to me!