The Little Drummer Boy (1968) — A newborn King to see.
+ TV special, !@ 25m
A v
Family Suitability
+ ✅4️⃣ OK for younger kids. (Grades K+) | Approved
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎4️⃣ Excellent/Very Strongly Favorable
+ Based on song “Carol of the Drum” (1941) ⭐ by Katherine Kennicott Davis
+ 6️⃣/32 Rankin/Bass TV specials ⭐
+ 3️⃣/? in Rankin/Bass holiday multiverse ⭐
+ 2️⃣/? in Rankin/Bass stop-motion holiday universe ⭐
+ 1️⃣/2 Little Drummer Boy TV specials ⭐
The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
Grade: A v (12.0) / HOF: 2
EQ 👍A- | 📖A- 👥B+ 📽️B+ 🎼B+
DW 😎😎10.0 | 🌚10 🌝10
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R ☮️n/a ◀️n/a ▶️n/a 🛐n/a
This is the sixth TV special made by Rankin/Bass Productions, creators of the classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. It’s their third with stop-motion animation and just their second Christmas special made with stop-motion. It’s their third Christmas special overall. After Rudolph, the second was a standard animation adaptation of “The Cricket on the Hearth”, a novella by Charles Dickens. We skipped it on this 2024 Christmas Tour, wanting to view just the cream at the top, but we will go back to review more of the Rankin/Bass offerings, holiday and otherwise, in the future.
Back in my past, I remember that I really liked “The Little Drummer Boy” as a child. It’s a good adventure story for a little boy and certainly still good for kids today. Unfortunately it lacks any humor that adults can laugh at, a key ingredient that makes some programs which are already great for kids much more watchable by their parents.
Sadly, this film has not been able to be restored to HD as beautifully as some of the other Rankin/Bass works, such as Rudolph. That's because the original 35mm negative was lost and a 16mm print was restored instead. You still see a better picture with more detail than you would have seen as a child, but it’s a shame it can’t get the Rudolph treatment. It also looks like maybe the animation was at a slower frame rate causing more jerky movements. But maybe that's another artifact from the restoration issue.
The go-to formula for Rankin/Bass after Rudolph outperformed the hearth cricket, was to continue to base specials on popular Christmas songs.
Now I’ve met people who rank “The Little Drummer Boy” among their least favorite holiday tunes. Personally, I often like it, having heard some great renditions by a variety of singers and bands. In this special it’s performed by the Vienna Boy’s Choir. While I’ve enjoyed singing in choirs in my lifetime, choral music is low on my list of listening preferences. It dips even lower when you’re talking about a boy’s choir who, um, haven’t dropped yet... into their lower vocal register, that is. A couple of the other non-choral songs in the special were good, but not particularly memorable.
Rankin/Bass may have taken notice of the success of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Or perhaps they simply wanted to be faithful to the lyrics that blend the fictional story of the title character with the nativity story from the Bible. Whatever the reason, there’s more Bible-themed content here than in the Peanuts special. A few hard-line purist Christians could complain about adding to the story and getting some of the Bible’s facts wrong. But most Christians will celebrate the favorable treatment in this special—of Christian doctrine in general, and of the King of Kings in particular.
Conversely, if I have any readers with a gripe against Christianity, when it comes to grading “The Little Drummer Boy”, you should expect your own opinion to come in at least a letter grade below my grade. The basic message delivered is universal, so you aren’t likely to quibble with the package, but you may not approve of the thoroughly Christian wrapping.
Now, if you haven't seen “The Little Drummer Boy” ever, or in years, it’s got a few flaws and moves slowly. The ending though is inspiring and worth the wait for Christians, even adults. But yes, it’s better for children of a Christian family. Your kids will learn a little by seeing the nativity animated, and will be too captivated by the cute animals (and the peril they are in!) to notice any presentation flaws. If you have a little rum-pum-pum-pum while they’re watching, you may enjoy it more too.
Onwards!
+ last viewed (~4) 2025-12-10, HDX7, 1.33, 1D
+ first viewed ~1960s, bw?, sd2, 1.33, 1
+ ⏳👨👩👧👦🎈🎄🎅🎶🛡️😥🐾🐾🐪🫏🐑
Family Suitability Detail
+ ✅4️⃣ OK for younger kids. (Grades K+) | Approved
+ 😡+3^ 😵💫+4 🤬+4 🤭+4 🫣+4
Judeo-Christian Values Detail
+ ❎4️⃣ Excellent/Very Strongly Favorable
+ ✝️ +4 ➕✝️✝️✝️😇😇😇❤️❤️❤️🩸
+ ✡️ +4 ➕✡️✡️✡️🌗🌗🌗💎💎💎
+ 🗽 +1 ➕🏦💛
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