As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This is another Christmas production by famous animation directors Rankin and Bass from over 40 years ago. Jerome Coopersmith adapted Clement Moore's poem for this 23-minute holiday special. Mice and men appear in here and one of the human central character is voiced (and sung) by Joel Grey ("Cabaret") shortly after his Academy Award win in the Supporting Actor category. The story is a bitter pill for all children out there. A critical little mouse sends a letter to Santa accusing him of only being a figment of people's imagination (what a cruel thought!). Consequently, Santa has enough and decides to no deliver presents this year to children all over the world. But with a bit of help by his father and by a couple humans, the boy sets things straight again. He learns to listen to his head instead of his heart and in the end everything is fine again. Everybody, men and mice, has a happy ending and everybody also gets their presents. It's a solid Christmas special, not a bad watch, but not among my favorites for the season either. Still, I recommend it.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A small town learns that Santa isn't coming because a know-it-all mouse wrote him an insulting letter telling him that he wasn't real. The people of this town must try and find a way for Santa to change his mind while the trouble maker's father teaches him a lesson on why even if you don't believe you shouldn't ruin the fun for everyone else. This is yet another charming short from the Bass-Rankin team who were masters at bringing this Christmas tales to television. This one here certainly isn't one of my favorites but there are enough nice characters to make it worth watching. The animation here is quite crude but I think this works in the film's favor and it certainly helps bring the mice to life. I thought the father-son mice were very good and their story was certainly the most entertaining thing here. The human characters weren't nearly as interesting but we are treated to a couple nice tunes and there's no question that the message is a good one and it gets across very nicely.

I would recommend this to anyone, especially to people wanting to teach their small children about having faith. Awesome movie - I grew up watching it with my family. I can sing along and I definitely tear up at a few of the parts. I also wanted to comment about how sad I was when they took out the song "Give your heart a try" (I think that's the one they cut) so I bought it on DVD (the DVD is called Frosty's Winter Wonderland but Twas the Night Before Christmas is on it). I was so thrilled to find it!!! Now that's what I show to my kids.My son really enjoyed it too! (My daughter is 1 - she liked dancing around the room with me to the songs). Definitely an underrated, superb movie about faith, love, and the miracles of Christmas!

I have always loved this cute little cartoon. So this isn't the best drawn cartoon, but it has a nice story and wonderful songs. Christmas is my favourite time of year. Full of giving, laughing, and seeing people acting kind to one another, even if it is just once a year. Rudolph and Frosty already had songs about them that really help build stories around their cartoons. This one was fresh and inventive. BELIEVING, even when common sense tells you not to. Closely tied to another classic at this time, Miracle On 34th Street. So pour a cup of nog, cuddle up under your blanket, and turn on the telly. Now all together...."Christmas bells are ringing Santa, Santa..Every heart repeating Santa, Santa...."