Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Cricket on the Hearth oddly enough does have some things that are good. The stylised painting style visuals during the songs were quite nice, far more appealing than the animation style of the rest of the movie(though understandably some may find it jarring). Danny Thomas does an excellent job, the voices are done with professionalism and the moments with Bertha and her father are lovingly tender, which I did love. Unfortunately, the rest of Cricket on the Hearth I did find horrible. I found the songs unmemorable and with no sense of life at all and some even don't have anything to do with the story or what's going on in the scene. The writing has no charm and heart and the more humorous parts are very unfunny. The characters are shallow, the only character with some essence of likability is Bertha, the cricket is annoying and mean-spirited and the villain is similarly insipid. The animals also had no relevance to the story. The animation for much of the special has a lot of dull colours which make the already uninteresting backgrounds all the more drab. The character designs are equally unappealing with everybody drawn in a deflated way. But it was the story that fared worst. If I had not known that Cricket on the Hearth was a loose animated adaptation of A Christmas Carol I honestly would never have known it was to do with Christmas. Instead of warming my heart or amusing or moving me, it bored and depressed me with its often mean-spirited(murder, kidnapping), all-over-the-place and weird storytelling. Bertha and her father have some tender moments, but they are not enough to inject any kind of warmth. Those of her and Edward were the kind that we have seen so many times before and explored much more convincingly, it was all too bland and clichéd. All in all, horrible save a few things, one of the worst Rankin/Bass have ever done. 3/10 Bethany Cox

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.

What an awful piece of Christmas special history. Songs are horribly depressing (as well as the storyline). Animation is the worst of all R/B creations (IMO). Let's forget it was made, shall we?

The next time you see a cricket chirping around your house, LEAVE HIM BE! It is well known that cricket's bring good luck. And if you are lucky enough to have a cricket on your hearth, so much the better. In fact, if you are lucky enough to have seen "The Cricket on the Hearth" you're luckier than most.This cell-animated special was released by Rankin/Bass right after their first big hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and, I think anyway, it's almost as good. It's a great shame that it's so hard to come by. Look for it on ABCFamily's "25 Days of Christmas."Based on the Charles Dickens story (no, not THAT Dickens story) Roddy MacDowall plays the Cricket, who decides to grace the home of Caleb and his daughter, blinded after suffering tremendous grief. The highlight of this special is the wonderful vocal performance of Danny Thomas (joined by real life daughter, Marlo) and the wonderful song he sings.I like this special, and if you aren't convinced, this entry didn't even EXIST on the database until I suggested it a few weeks ago. Merry Christmas one and all and may you be as lucky as a Cricket on the Hearth.