First let me state that I consider each entry in Rankin/Bass' library of holiday-specials nothing short of excellent and time has proven them to be iconic as they are permanently woven into the fabric of the Christmas season. However, I prefer the style of their earlier work which was firmly rooted in fairy-tale fantasy and classic Christmassy vibes. As time went on, they seemed to veer more and more into the wizardry/magic/sci-fi side of the fantasy world; ultimately culminating in this, their last Christmas production, which almost completely tosses aside all the things usually associated with Santa Claus and instead thwarts him into a Lord-Of-The Rings type universe. (Let's pause here to remember that R/B produced some of the earliest film versions of Tolkien's tales in "The Hobbit" and "Return Of The King").
Taking place in "The Forest Of Burzee" with a cast of wood-creatures and green-haired-nymphs who each control different elements of their world, all under the rule of their leader "The Greak Ak", this special tells a different tale of the child mysteriously dropped off into that forest who eventually grows up to be Santa Claus. And the plot revolves around his impending death!? I kid you not! Should the forest creatures vote to bestow the "mantle of immortality" upon him or no? Well, let the Great Ak tell you the entire strange alternate Dungeons-and-Dragons version of the life story of St Nick, including getting on the bad side of some evil monsters who can make themselves invisible, eventually building up to an all-out war against the inhabitants of the Forest of Burzee. Whew! Pretty crazy, huh?
The "Animagic" stop-motion animation is, as always, breathtaking and so beautifully detailed and immersive that sometimes the plots don't even matter. These are fantasy worlds that seem so real, you want to jump right into the screen and explore them. At this trait, Rankin/Bass only improved as time went on, even if the stories did get a little less charming and a lot more bizarre. The songs also follow suit and are less catchy and jingly-jangly than those in "Rudolph, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" or "Frosty", with the exception of "Big Surprise" which is a great catchy Christmas tune in the style of the best offerings from the pantheon of wonderful timeless tracks from these specials. But the rest of the music is still enchanting, albeit in a more ethereal kind of way.
Even though it isn't my favorite from R/B (or even in the top 10) I still regularly rewatch this one almost every year. As I stated, the entire library from these masters of enchantment are fantastic with even the least of their output being magical and heads-and-tails above 99.9% of anything produced in the last four decades. And it may actually be more appealing to some others who love that early 80's sci-fi fantasy world encompassing things like He-Man, She-Ra, Smurfs, and two anime series produced by R/B themselves: Thundercats and Silverhawks!
Taking place in "The Forest Of Burzee" with a cast of wood-creatures and green-haired-nymphs who each control different elements of their world, all under the rule of their leader "The Greak Ak", this special tells a different tale of the child mysteriously dropped off into that forest who eventually grows up to be Santa Claus. And the plot revolves around his impending death!? I kid you not! Should the forest creatures vote to bestow the "mantle of immortality" upon him or no? Well, let the Great Ak tell you the entire strange alternate Dungeons-and-Dragons version of the life story of St Nick, including getting on the bad side of some evil monsters who can make themselves invisible, eventually building up to an all-out war against the inhabitants of the Forest of Burzee. Whew! Pretty crazy, huh?
The "Animagic" stop-motion animation is, as always, breathtaking and so beautifully detailed and immersive that sometimes the plots don't even matter. These are fantasy worlds that seem so real, you want to jump right into the screen and explore them. At this trait, Rankin/Bass only improved as time went on, even if the stories did get a little less charming and a lot more bizarre. The songs also follow suit and are less catchy and jingly-jangly than those in "Rudolph, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" or "Frosty", with the exception of "Big Surprise" which is a great catchy Christmas tune in the style of the best offerings from the pantheon of wonderful timeless tracks from these specials. But the rest of the music is still enchanting, albeit in a more ethereal kind of way.
Even though it isn't my favorite from R/B (or even in the top 10) I still regularly rewatch this one almost every year. As I stated, the entire library from these masters of enchantment are fantastic with even the least of their output being magical and heads-and-tails above 99.9% of anything produced in the last four decades. And it may actually be more appealing to some others who love that early 80's sci-fi fantasy world encompassing things like He-Man, She-Ra, Smurfs, and two anime series produced by R/B themselves: Thundercats and Silverhawks!