''The Night Before Christmas'', also known as ''Santa's Toys'', is a 1933 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
animated short film produced by
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
and released by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
. Part of the ''
Silly Symphony
''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...
'' series, the film is an adaptation of
Clement Clarke Moore
Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas."
Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature ...
's 1823 poem "
A Visit from St. Nicholas
''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...
", popularly called "The Night Before Christmas".
The film was directed by Disney animator
Wilfred Jackson
Wilfred Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' and '' Silly Symphonies'' series of cartoons and the ''Night on Bald Mountain''/''Ave ...
.
Plot
In a loose adaptation of
Clement C. Moore's famous poem,
St. Nick is seen delivering the toys that he made in Disney's ''
Santa's Workshop
Santa's Workshop is the legendary workshop where Santa Claus and his elves are said to live and make the toys and presents given out at Christmas. The exact "location" of Santa's workshop varies depending upon local culture. There are at lea ...
'' (1932) to a house full of sleeping children. The toys come alive, and they dance around and have fun. The kids awake to find a beautiful Christmas tree with many toys.
Home media
The short was released on DVD on December 19, 2006, on ''
Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two''.
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See also
* List of Christmas films
References
External links
*
*
1933 films
1933 short films
1930s Disney animated short films
Santa Claus in film
American Christmas films
Animated Christmas films
Films directed by Wilfred Jackson
Films produced by Walt Disney
Films scored by Leigh Harline
Silly Symphonies
1933 animated films
Films based on poems
Works based on A Visit from St. Nicholas
1930s Christmas films
1930s American films
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