Cricket on the Hearth (1967)

Cricket on the Hearth is a forgotten animated Christmas special from Rankin-Bass in the late 1960s. Starring Roddy McDowell, Danny Thomas, and Marlo Thomas (whose otherwise sweet voice does that squeaky weepy thing that was a precursor to Fran Drescher), it's a pleasant Christmas story that's mainly a nostalgic peek at 1960s animation and holiday spirit. Musical numbers range from sentimental to throwaway but the whole show is arguably a keeper. Granted it's not as popular as its immediate predecessor, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but it's cute in a sappy sort of way. I had to get this disc through Blockbuster because Netflix doesn't even list it, so here is the story: Cricket (McDowell) narrates and stars in the tale of a "cricket on the hearth" who brings luck to the happy home -- and toy shop -- of a widowed toymaker and his beautiful young daughter. Bertha is engaged to be married to a Navy officer who is lost at sea, and in her sorrow she goes blind. She and her doting father are eventually put out on the street, though a miserly employer takes them in to take advantage of them. To protect his daughter, the father tells her glowing things about his scabby employer and their lodgings. The fat old cur proposes marriage, which Bertha (thinking the world of him) accepts. Cricket gets the runaround but returns to save Bertha just in time for Christmas Day. It's nice to see a Christmas special that not only depicts Christian symbols (church with cross, priest officiating over wedding) but where the script detracts from material gifts, affirming that the true spirit of Christmas is in the loving heart. Moreover, Danny Thomas frames the program with a narrative intro and close that further affirms the message. 3 stars.