The Classic Christmas Specials - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Classic Christmas Specials



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
I’ve been joking that ever since Universal started releasing these classic Christmas stories on Blu-ray over the years they’ve been getting smaller and smaller. The original Classic Media 2 disc release had 7 films (which was reprinted several times over the years) with the 2017 Universal repressing and remastering having only 5 films (missing only Mr. Magoo’s Christmas and Frosty Returns), and this time for the 4K UHD release Universal has skipped the shorts Cricket on the Hearth and The Little Drummer Boy, opting for the big 3 as the upgrade to 4K.

Starting off the list we haveSanta Clause is Coming to town, a nice little story narrated by Fred Astaire, who tells the tale of how Kris Kringle gained his red suit and hopped up on his sleigh for the very first time. Smart as a whip and filled with a lot more than just a children’s story, it chronicles the tale of a little child who is dropped off in the old German town of Somberville, lorded over by the grumpy Mayor Burgermeister Meisterberger. Kicked out by the old man he is accidentally dropped off to the Kingle’s, a group of elvish toymakers. Locked on the other side of the mountain from Somberville, the Kringle’s make their toys, but without the joy of seeing them distributed to little boys and girls everywhere. However, when Kris grows big enough, he traverses the forest and snow (along with a Winter Warlock who haunts that forest) in an effort to bring the denizens of Somberville some modicum of happiness.Santa Clause is coming to town is a bit more complex than just a simple children’s tale. Like many old classics it deals with social issues and the ideas or what is worthwhile in society. Burgermeister Meisterburger may seem goofy and over the top, but he represents a period that was suffering from over abusive leadership as well as making fun of all the little things that human beings find as “bah humbug” instead of focusing on the little bits that bring us joy.

The Second disc is the small little Frosty the Snowman, and I find it a bit strange that a little 20 odd minute film got it's own disc instead of being mixed in with one of the others. Based off the classic song of the same name, Frosty the snowman is suffering from the problem of melting on hot days. Setting off on a trip to the North Pole, he and a young child brave the issue of the north as well as an evil magician who desires Frosty’s hat. Not everything works in the tale, but it is cute and a bouncy little film.

The 3rd disc brings us to probably my second favorite, but still most enjoyable film of the entire set. Yes, that’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Ahhhh, THIS is one of the finest remembrances of my young childhood. Watching the VHS over and over again till I could basically quote the whole 50 minute movie verbatim. Rudolph is well thought out and well-crafted children’s film that manages to stuff a LOT into the short sub hour runtime. There are three MAIN stories at play here. The first is that of Rudolph, a misfit reindeer who has decided to run away due to having his shiny nose made fun of. Off into the cold of the North Pole, he and elf friend Hermy venture. Hermy himself is a bit of a misfit, an elf who hates making toys. Made fun of for his career desire in dentistry, Hermy aligns himself with Rudolph as the two run off together.

Their first stop nearly gets them killed, as they run into the Abominable Snowman, but are rescued by the intrepid miner, Yukon Cornelius. A man of the north who’s after GOLD GOLD GOLD!! (well, and silver, but it depends on the mood). Looking afte the elf and the reindeer, Yukon Cornelius escapes the Snowman with the two and runs across an island filled with misfit toys. There Rudolph realizes that he has to set out on his own, as his nose has become an attractant to the snowman. Only problems is that once he gets home, Rudolph is met with an empty home. It seems that his family have ventured out into the snow to find him, and that means they are now at the mercy of the very Abominable Snowman that Rudolph has been narrowly escaping.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is only a hair breadth below Santa Clause is Coming to Town as the best film of the classic Christmas films. Smart and funny, it breeds memorable characters that really stand out. Who doesn’t love Yukon Cornelius is by far the standout character in the little film, as his over the top antics are endearing to children everywhere. There IS a bit of an annoyance in the film, as it pertains to Rudolph. The movie ascribes to the old Ugly Duckling scenario where someone is made fun of up until the point they prove themselves useful, as does Rudolph. It’s a little cliche that has bothered me for many a year and still does to this day. It was used a lot back in the older generation of children’s filmmaking and seems to have been mainly eradicated in modern days (although we have a plethora of other problems of our own to work out as a result).




Rating:

Rated G for General Audiences




Video:

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
Tossing the 4K disc in for Rudolph it was pretty obvious that this new disc literally blows the previous Blu-ray iterations out of the water, and that isn’t even remotely subjective. The disc literally runs circles around it’s predecessors in terms of clarity and sharpness, showing a much sharper and cleaner look than even the Universal Blu-ray did back in 2017. The tangled fur in the abominable snowman, the red mustache and beard in hunter, and even the little nuances on the hand sewn puppet characters just stands out shockingly well. The HDR 10 enhancements are much welcomed as well, with brighter color saturation levels, and the blackness doesn’t showcase any of the banding that was present on the older discs.

Only a few minor flaws keep this from being perfect, such as the interlacing effects at around the 6:30 minute mark where Rudolph shakes his head (it’s been in every iteration of the film I’ve ever seen) or some minor clumping of grain during the snowstorm. Luckily both errors are very brief and barely noticeable for the average viewer, making this an incredible looking 4K UHD upgrade.

Frosty the Snowman
The only hand animated film of the bunch, Frosty the Snowman looks a bit grungy even in 4K. It was always the weakest of the bunch visually, and the 4K UHD increases while nice, aren’t exactly going to shock and awe you. Textures are light and mild, but still visible, and the mild line art haloing around character faces is still present. The fine film grain is very amenable, with good texturing and only minor instances of swarming. Contrast levels are much improved from the old disc, with sharper colors from the HDR 10 inclusion. There’s some yellow tinges to faces inside, and some mild spattering of aliasing, but overall the 4K UHD disc still outclasses the very gritty looking Blu-ray from years ago (and even the newly remastered Blu-ray found in this set).


Santa Clause is Coming to Town
The 2nd stop motion film in the bunch, Santa Clause is Coming to Town is probably the best looking one of the bunch, barely edging out Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It’s bright, clean, and fully of richly saturated primary colors that really pop off the screen. The bright red of Chris’s outfit really shines with incredible clarity, with white snow and blue highlights accenting it beautifully. The vivid color palette is gorgeous to look at, and you can see every bit of stop motion details available. My only complaint is a few moments of grain swarming and some mild crushing in the Warlock’s cave. Otherwise this is a great looking 4K UHD disc (as is the remastered Blu-ray included in the set as well).









Audio:

The old Dolby TrueHD encodes for the original Classic Media releases of these films were ditched for a comparable DTS-HD MA audio track for all the films back in 2017 when Universal released the Blu-rays. The same audio mixes are crossed over and used for the 4K UHD release, and my comments below will mirror when I thought when I reviewed those Blu-rays. All of them sport a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track. HOWEVER, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph have an additional 2.0 DTS Mix mix as an addition, otherwise they're all seemingly VERY similar to the Paramount disc. All of them display decent sound for the age they were recorded in. there is hisses and pops in crackles in most of the audio, with solid vocals.The rest of the films have some issues, but mainly they are just low budget animated and stop motion films that were given a miniscule budget even back in the day.







Extras:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:
• The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass
• Restoring the Puppets of Rudolph
• Reimagining Rudolph in 4D
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Attraction Film
• T.E.A.M. Rudolph and the Reindeer Games

Frosty the Snowman:
• The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass
• Original Pencil Test
• Commentary by Animation Historian Mark Evanier

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town:
• The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass
• Commentary by Animation Historian Greg Ehrbar

Final Score: ​

As usual, it’s a treat to see these classic Christmas films, and while I do wonder why the two Shorts were not included this go around, the main 3 getting the 4K treatment is more than I expected. With how “decent” the last several Blu-rays looked, I was exactly a whole ton out of the 4K re-releases. In fact, my gut reaction was that this was simply a cash grab to keep recycling the same material on a new format over and over again with very little NEED to get any of them again. But color me wrong when the new 4K UHD discs for the big 3 were WAY better than I expected. In fact, they breathed new life into the aging discs and are the definitive editions. Fans of the series will probably want to keep their older discs for the missing shorts and the missing Frosty Returns/Mr Magoo’s Christmas, but I highly recommend the set for 4K lovers of classic animation 100%.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Burl Ives, Mickey Rooney, Jan Hooks, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Directed by: Arthur Ranking Jr., Jules Bass
Written by: Various
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, English, Spanish, French DTS Digital Surround 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Studio: Universal
Rated: G
Runtime: 128 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November, 1st, 2022

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

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[SRW1000]

Nice review. I remember anxiously looking forward to watching these each year around Christmas time (before the days of VHS). It's remarkable just how much story was fit into each of the stop motion films at less than an hour each, they feel as rich as a full-length movie. Even watching them as an adult, they're as charming as ever.

I didn't buy the Blu-rays, but it sounds like these 4K versions are well worth picking up.

Scott

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I remember watching these on TV.. I doubt they are on anymore but they were enjoyable.. Will have to revisit these holiday classics.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

It's too bad about the interlacing artifacts. I'm guessing the original camera negatives are long gone for these and they're simply processing a video-based master. It's good to see them making the effort.

 

[Michael Scott]

It's too bad about the interlacing artifacts. I'm guessing the original camera negatives are long gone for these and they're simply processing a video-based master. It's good to see them making the effort.

it's only one scene for like 2 seconds max... just something to point out vs. it being an actual ongoing problem on the disc

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

it's only one scene for like 2 seconds max... just something to point out vs. it being an actual ongoing problem on the disc

I was only pointing out as an indicator that the camera masters were no longer an option. I've watched these annually on the blu-ray and never noticed it, so it's obviously. not a crucial error. Just too bad there's never hope of a full-scale recreation from the ocn.

 

[Michael Scott]

I was only pointing out as an indicator that the camera masters were no longer an option. I've watched these annually on the blu-ray and never noticed it, so it's obviously. not a crucial error. Just too bad there's never hope of a full-scale recreation from the ocn.

ahhh, yeah, most likely the case. the remasters seem to have come from really good sources, but there's still some odd quirks going on.