terrible... so disappointed.

Don't Believe the Hype

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I grew up with this nice Christmas special, in fact, I was 8 years old when it was released in 1970.Two bear cubs named Nikomi and Chinook are anxious to enjoy their first Christmas, but whether or not they have one at all depends on the park forest ranger (who is dressed up as Santa Claus). His ability to successfully travel through the season's worst blizzard will decide the outcome. Colorful storyboards and quaint animation accompany a pleasant soundtrack.Hal Smith (Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show) provides the voice for Mr. Ranger. Sweet TV-special improves with age.

I first saw this film with my Mum back in the 80's on VHS and was enchanted by its Christmas message and the story of Father Christmas. When I saw it was available on DVD a few years ago I couldn't believe my luck! It's now a family tradition for my family to sit down on Xmas eve and watch this wonderful movie every year. In an age where children lose their innocence at such a young age it's nice to be able to view a movie which captures the magic and joy of the Xmas season. A heartwarming tale that is sure to be enjoyed by children of all ages with a few musical numbers chucked in for good measure! Make this your family Xmas film now- you won't regret it!

While I hate to be a scrooge, this is by far the worst Christmas special I've ever sat through. From the soporific score to the glacial pace of the story, there was very little in this film to make it worth watching. There was a standard, feel good Christmas message in the story, but the way it was told made it hard to get that message across.We sat down a few nights before Christmas to watch this video with three adults and two children (under 6). By the time it was over, all three adults had drifted off at some point, and both children were growing increasingly bored. You could have tightened this story up and made it much more watchable if you took out a lot of the musical numbers (which tended to be very repetitive and didn't add much to the story), and brought it down to about 25 minutes rather than its 45 minute running time.My recommendation: Don't waste your time, there's too much good Christmas entertainment out there to bother with something like this.

I remember watching this film as a child and thinking that it moved a bit slow, especially when compared to the Rankin & Bass Christmas specials. Unlike R & B specials it has no evil villain to fear or hero to cheer for. The songs were not as catchy either.However, now as an adult I seem to enjoy the laid back simple story. The songs are good and I like the introduction and ending with live actors. I think what makes me appreciate this special even more are the so called Christmas specials that are produced today. I have children of my own now and neither they or I like what we see today. Thankfully they too like the Christmas specials I remember from my childhood.This Christmas special is not aired that often anymore and it seems to drift in and out of availability for DVD and VHS purchase. If you see that it is airing on television you may want to record it as it hard to come by these days.