''A Christmas Story'' is a 1972 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

Christmas television special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

which was broadcast in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

on December 9, 1972.

Summary

As a family gathers around the tree on Christmas Eve, their son Timmy has made a special wish in his letter to Santa Claus. But the letter is found – unmailed – by the lovable family dog Goober and his friend, Gumdrop the mouse. Together, they set off into the snowy night to deliver the letter to Santa. Overcoming many perils – including a lurking gang of alley cats – they finally find Santa. Timmy's letter is delivered, Gumdrop and Goober make it home safely and a boy's special wish magically comes true on Christmas.

Featured songs

The songs featured in ''A Christmas Story'' included: *"Sounds of Christmas Day" *"

O Come, All Ye Faithful "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (originally written in Latin as "") is a Christmas carol that has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (1645–1692), King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656), and a ...

" *"Where Do You Look for Santa?" *"Hope" *"Which One is the Real Santa Claus?"

"Sounds of Christmas Day'" uses the same melody as "Those Happy Friends Who Live in My TV," from the Enchanted Voyage attraction at The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, which opened the same year at King's Island in Cincinnati, Ohio. "Which One is the Real Santa Claus?", "Sounds of Christmas Day" and "Hope" were re-used five years later in the 1977 TV special '' A Flintstone Christmas''. "Hope" was also re-used in ''
Yogi's First Christmas ''Yogi's First Christmas'' is a 1980 animated musical television film starring Yogi Bear and produced by Hanna-Barbera which first aired in syndication through Operation Prime Time on November 22, 1980. Throughout the 1980s it was offered to U. ...
'' (1980).

Voices

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Ho ...

– Gumdrop, Second Dog *

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...

– Goober, Sleezer, Runto *

Walter Tetley Walter Tetley (born Walter Campbell Tetzlaff; June 2, 1915 – September 4, 1975)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 260. was an ...

– Timmy, Boy *

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from ''Batt ...

– Timmy's Mother, Girl *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

– Timmy's Father, Squirrel * John Stephenson – Polecat, Postman, First Dog * Hal Smith – Santa Claus, Fatcat

Production credits

*Produced and Directed By

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

*Associate Producer:

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the cart ...

*Story:

Ken Spears Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-found ...

Joe Ruby Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as the creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they c ...

*Voices:

, Hal Smith, John Stephenson,

, Paul DeKorte, Randy Kemner, Stephen McAndrew, Susie McCune, Judi Richards *Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols *Production Design:

Iwao Takamoto Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as ''Cinderella ...

*Layout: Mike Arens, Ric Gonzalez, Dan Noonan *Backgrounds: F. Montealegre, Gary Niblett *Animation:

Ed Barge Edward John Barge (August 29, 1910 – September 29, 1991) was an American animator. Barge was born to Alfred Edward and Margaret G. Barge in San Jose, California. In 1916, the family moved to Bakersfield, where his father was employed by t ...

, Bill Hutten, Tony Love, Jerry Hathcock,

Ed Love Edward H. Love (May 24, 1910 – May 6, 1996) was an American animator who worked at various studios during the Golden age of American animation. He is well known for animating Walt Disney Animations' shorts ''Mickey's Trailer'' and ''Fantas ...

, Don Patterson, Ray Patterson *Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek *Musical Director:

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with ''The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his ret ...

*Technical Supervisor: Frank Paiker *Ink & Paint Supervisor: Roberta Greutert *Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West *Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty *Editorial Supervisor: Larry Cowan *Music Editor: Pat Foley *Effects Editor: Earl Bennett *Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer *Post Production: Joed Eaton *Camera: Charles Flekal, Roy Wade

Home media

Released by AVCO Broadcasting Corp. in the early 1970’s for use with

Cartrivision Cartrivision is an analog videocassette format introduced in 1972, and the first format to offer feature films for consumer rental.VHS as part of the ''Hanna-Barbera Super Stars'' video collection by Hanna-Barbera Home Video on November 9, 1989, and re-released again on September 26, 1995 by

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

. On July 31, 2012,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

released ''Hanna-Barbera Christmas Classics Collection'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in region 1 via their

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

burn on demand service. This collection features a trilogy of Christmas specials: ''A Christmas Story'', ''

The Town Santa Forgot ''The Town Santa Forgot'' is a 1993 animated Christmas television special produced by Hanna-Barbera, narrated by Dick Van Dyke and originally broadcast on NBC. It is an adaptation of the poem '' Jeremy Creek'', written by Charmaine Severson. Sinc ...

'' and ''

Casper's First Christmas ''Casper's First Christmas'' is a 1979 animated Christmas television special and crossover produced by Hanna-Barbera. It features Casper the Friendly Ghost and his friend Hairy Scarey from the animated series '' Casper and the Angels''. The speci ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas Story, A 1972 television specials 1970s American television specials 1970s animated short films 1970s animated television specials Christmas television specials Hanna-Barbera television specials Films scored by Hoyt Curtin Fictional dogs Fictional mice and rats Santa Claus in television First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Animated Christmas television specials 1972 films 1970s American films