''A Very Merry Cricket'' is a 1973 Christmas animated television special. It was directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

. It originally aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on December 14, 1973. who also wrote the teleplay with George Selden. It was a sequel to their acclaimed adaptation of the 1960 book ''

The Cricket in Times Square ''The Cricket in Times Square'' is a 1960 children's book by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams. It won the Newbery Honor in 1961. Selden gave this explanation of what was the initial idea for the book: Plot On an early summer eve ...

'' and was followed in 1975 by another sequel, ''

Yankee Doodle Cricket ''Yankee Doodle Cricket'' is a 1975 American television animated special directed by American animator Chuck Jones. June Foray was the voice of Queen Bee. It originally aired on ABC on January 16, 1975. The special was released on VHS, and Laserdis ...

''. The show included two original songs by

Dean Elliott William Lorenzo Bunt (May 11, 1917 – December 31, 1999), known professionally as Dean Elliott, was an American television and film composer. Career Elliott was born William Lorenzo Bunt on May 11, 1917 in Sioux City, Iowa to George Leroy Bunt ...

and Marian Dern (Jones' wife): "Christmas in New York" and "What If Humans Were More Like Mice?"

Plot

It is Christmastime in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, but the loud mean-spiritedness of its

human population Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

is making it a misery for best friends, Harry the Cat and Tucker the Mouse. They resolve to try to bring back the holiday's warmth with the help of their friend, Chester C. Cricket, the musical insect. Chester agrees to this idea, but, against this kind of noisy urban negativity, it will take a miracle for this trio to make a difference.

Availability

The special was released on VHS in 1985, in 1989 as part of the ''Christmas Classics Series'', in 1992 on a Double Feature VHS also containing the Canadian Christmas special ''Bluetoes the Christmas Elf'', and in 1999 by

Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was founde ...

. It was released on DVD for the first time with another Chuck Jones special, ''

Mowgli's Brothers "Mowgli's Brothers" is a short story by Rudyard Kipling. Chronologically it is the first story about Mowgli although it was written after " In the Rukh" in which Mowgli appears as an adult. The story first appeared in the January 1894 issue of ' ...

'' in 2005, and later as part of the ''Chuck Jones Collection'' DVD in 2007, both released by

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...

Cast

Les Tremayne Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was an English actor. Early life Born in Balham, London, he moved with his family at the age of four to Chicago, Illinois, where he began in community theater. His mother was Dolly Trema ...

as Chester C. Cricket / Harry the Cat *

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

as Tucker R. Mouse / Alley Cat

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Very Merry Cricket, A 1973 television specials 1970s American television specials 1970s animated television specials Television shows directed by Chuck Jones Santa Claus in film Santa Claus in television American animated television films American children's animated fantasy films Christmas television specials Animated films about insects New York City in fiction Films scored by Dean Elliott Animated television specials Animated Christmas television specials American Broadcasting Company television specials American Christmas television specials