The Little Drummer Boy (TV special)

This article deals with the television special. For the song it was based on, see The Little Drummer Boy.

The Little Drummer Boy
Written by	Romeo Muller
Directed by	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr.
Starring	Teddy Eccles Jose Ferrer Paul Frees June Foray
Narrated by	Greer Garson
Theme music composer	Maury Laws
Country of origin	United States Japan
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr.
Cinematography	Takeo Nakamura (uncredited)
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Rankin/Bass Productions
Release
Original network	NBC (1968–1984) CBS (1985–1988) ABC (1989–2006) ABC Family (present)
Original release	December 19, 1968
Chronology
Followed by	The Little Drummer Boy, Book II

The Little Drummer Boy is a 1968 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was followed by a sequel in 1976.

Plot

A poor young boy is summoned by the Magi to the nativity where, without a gift for the infant Jesus, he plays his drum while remembering "I played my best for Him" and "He smiled at me". The special expands on this limited story to include events before the birth of Jesus.

In the special, the narrator (Greer Garson) tells of a young boy named Aaron, who's a misanthropic orphan who only finds enjoyment from playing his drum for his friends Samson (a donkey), Babba (a sheep, also known as BaaBaa), and Joshua (a camel); originally, Aaron was a happy child who lived with his parents who gave him his very own drum as a gift. One night, bandits (in an attempt to take the family's sheep) killed Aaron's parents and razed his house down, thus making him hate all humanity. Due to his playing causing the three animals to dance, Aaron is forced to join Ben Haramad's circus with rather inept performers. When performing in Jerusalem, Aaron becomes infuriated by the townspeople's amusement and lashes out at them, causing them to become angry; Ben and the rest retreat.

Sometime later, they come upon the Three Wise Men's caravan who are following a bright star in the sky. Seizing his chance, Ben greedily attempts to perform for the Wise Men, but they are uninterested as they try to make haste to get to the star's destination. One of the caravan camels becomes too weak to continue traveling, so Ben bargains with them that they use Joshua in exchange for some of their gold; Aaron is upset at this. Later, Aaron and his animal companions later escape (even though Ben couldn't care less since he has plenty of gold and doesn't need him anymore) and joins up with the Three Wise Men as they journey toward Bethlehem. There, upon recognizing Joshua and trying to reunite with him, Babba is hit by a Roman chariot and Aaron takes the gravely injured sheep to the Wise Men to be healed, but they can't do anything, one of the men insists that maybe the baby could be of help. Having no material possession to give to the baby, Aaron decides that his "gift" to him and his parents will be his playing his drum for them. As gratitude, Babba is healed and runs into Aaron's arms as he feels kindness for the first time since the death of his parents.

Broadcast history

The 1968 television special is a stop motion animated film produced by Rankin/Bass. Originally sponsored by the American Gas Association, the film premiered on December 19, 1968 on NBC, where it aired annually for many Christmas seasons. NBC halted it in 1984. CBS aired it annually from 1985 to 1988, until ABC began to air it. ABC cut it from its Christmas schedule in 2006. It still continues to air in the U.S. on the ABC Family cable channel (heavily edited including one key song cut that was performed by Ben Haramad), and it has been airing annually on Canadian channel Treehouse TV since 2005.

Voice cast

• Greer Garson as the Storyteller
• Teddy Eccles as Aaron
• Jose Ferrer as Ben Haramad
• Paul Frees as Ali, Aaron's father, the Three Wise Men, Meshaw, Jamilie, and other male roles
• June Foray as Aaron's mother
• The Vienna Boys' Choir singing the title song.

Credits

• Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass
• Written by Romeo Muller
• Based upon "The Little Drummer Boy" by Katherine Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone © 1958 by Mills Music, Inc. and International Korwin Corp.
• Music by Maury Laws
• Lyrics by Jules Bass
• Designed by Charles Frazier and Don Duga
• Musical Director: Colin Romoff
• Recording by Phil Kaye and Jim Harris
• Production Supervisors: Takeo Nakamura (uncredited) and Hiroshi Tabata (uncredited)

1976 sequel

In 1976, Rankin/Bass produced a sequel, titled The Little Drummer Boy, Book II, again sponsored by the American Gas Association. It premiered on December 13, 1976 on NBC and like its predecessor, has also aired on the ABC Family cable channel. In this sequel, written by Jules Bass (under the pseudonym Julian P. Gardner), Aaron and his animal friends team up with Melchior, one of the Three Wise Men, to protect silver bells, made to ring for Christ's arrival, from a band of greedy Roman soldiers. Warner Archive released The Little Drummer Boy Book II, in a collection called Rankin/Bass TV Holiday Favorites Collection.

Voice cast

• Greer Garson as Our Storyteller
• Zero Mostel as Brutus
• David Jay
• Bob McFadden
• Tom Bosley
• Ray Owens
• Allen Swift

Credits

• Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass
• Written by Julian P. Gardner
• Based upon "The Little Drummer Boy" by Catherine Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone © 1958 by Mills Music, Inc. and International Korwin Corporation.
• "Do You Hear What I Hear?" - Words and Music by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne
• Music by Maury Laws
• Lyrics by Jules Bass
• Sound by John Curcio, Don Hahn, Dave Iveland and Tom Clack
• "Animagic" by Akikazu Kono and Satoshi Fujino

External links

• The Little Drummer Boy at IMDb