''Christmas Comes But Once a Year'' is a 1936 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and released on December 4, 1936 by Paramount Pictures. It is part of the ''
Color Classics
''Color Classics'' are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color fo ...
'' series. The cartoon features Professor Grampy, a character from the '' Betty Boop'' series; this is the character's only appearance without Betty. The cartoon was restored from the original Paramount Pictures camera negatives by Jane Fleischer Reid’s company Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored and debuted on MeTV’s '' Toon in With Me'' on December 21, 2022.
Summary
The cartoon begins in an orphanage, where the orphans are all asleep in the dormitory, waiting for Christmas morning. Just then the clock chimes, and a puppy in the place of the cuckoo jumps out, slides down a ramp, and licks one of the orphans. The first orphan wakes up to shout to the others, "Merry Christmas, everybody!" They all jump out of bed and make their way to the hall, where they grab the toys from their stockings and get ready to play with them. However, they discover the terrible truth that the toys are old, worn, and already broken when they completely fall apart. The orphans are traumatized, and they burst into tears over having no other Christmas presents.
Meanwhile, Professor Grampy is outside, riding through the snow in his outboard motor-driven sleigh. He hears crying as he passes the orphanage, so he parks the sleigh, runs to the door, and peeps through the window to see the orphans wailing and tearfully heading back to their bedroom. Grampy feels distressed for the orphans and starts to think of a way to give them a better Christmas. He puts on his "thinking cap", and the lightbulb on his cap blinks, meaning that he has an idea. He sneaks in through the kitchen window and starts making new toys out of household appliances, furniture, and other kitchen paraphernalia (a washboard, a roller shade, the works of an old alarm clock, etc).
While the orphans are still crying in the dormitory, Grampy dresses up as Santa Claus (with bent stovepipes for the boots, a red tablecloth for the jacket, a pillow for the weight, a strop for the belt, a picture frame for the buckle, and a red purse for the hat), grabs a dinner bell, and surprises the orphans by ringing the bell and shouting, "Merry Christmas, everybody!" The orphans instantly stop crying, brighten and excitedly rush out to play with their new toys, and also sled and ski down what was their staircase, now turned into a makeshift winter wonderland.
Grampy completes the scene by making a Christmas tree out of green umbrellas. He places it on top of a phonograph, decorates it, and gathers all the orphans together. As they sing, a giant 1936 Christmas Seal stamp appears on the screen, showing Santa Claus and a "Holiday Greetings" message.
Production
The orphans were all animated based on a template of one of them, whose toy soldier falls through the sock. The short was directed by
Dave Fleischer
Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City.
Biography
Fleischer was the ...
and starred actor Everett Clark as the voice of
Grampy
Professor Grampy is an animated cartoon character appearing in the ''Betty Boop'' series of shorts produced by Max Fleischer and released by Paramount Pictures. He appeared in nine of the later ''Betty Boop'' cartoons beginning with '' Betty Boop ...
; it was Grampy's only appearance in which Betty Boop did not appear.
Along with many of the other ''Color Classics'', ''Christmas Comes But Once a Year'' is today in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
. On various
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
copies of the film, it is released with ''Hector's Hectic Life'', and a few other productions by Famous Studios, including ''Snow Foolin. Certain prints also contain ''Jack Frost'', a 1934 cartoon produced by
Ub Iwerks
Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentiou ...
and released through Celebrity Productions.
The film's title song would be slightly rewritten the following year for the
New Years
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
-themed
Popeye the Sailor
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.
Lyrics
Christmas comes but once a year
Now it's here, now it's here
Bringing lots of joy and cheer
Tra la la la la
You and me and he and she
And we are glad because
Why? Because, because, because
There is a Santa Claus
Oh, Christmas comes but once a year
Now it's here, now it's here
Bringing lots of joy and cheer
Tra la la la la
TCM Movie Database
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...