Day 12: The Little Drummer Boy

"Look upon the newborn king." 

If you ever wondered how 1968 did stop motion, cue up The Little Drummer Boy. As you might guess, most of the animation is not so hot. The motions are jerky, the characters are kind of creepy, and sometimes it sounds like the music is streaming through a warped record player. Tempting, right? Bear with me - there's a reason why my family still watches this short movie every year.

Of course we laugh a lot at the dated production value. We imitate how the Drummer Boy shouts every line. "OH FATHER! MOTHER! DID YOU BRING ME SOMETHING?" But all joking aside, the reasons we genuinely love The Little Drummer Boy are twofold. First, the movie is narrated by Academy award winner Greer Garson. She's like the female Sam Elliott — she should narrate everything. Second, the soundtrack (aside from a couple goofy songs) is courtesy of the awe-inspiring Vienna Boys Choir. Their rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy" is uplifting perfection, and it makes the last five minutes of the movie entirely worth all of the silliness that preceded it.