Advent Calendar House
Cricket on the Hearth
Episode Summary
Rankin/Bass presents a Dickens of a story, but not that one. Guest: Brian Earl.
Episode Notes
Experience Rankin/Bass’s first festive follow-up to “Rudolph” through our eyes as we explore the 1967 TV special, “Cricket on the Hearth,” based on Charles Dickens’s other Christmas story.
On This Episode
- Mike Westfall (@fallwestmike), chanteuse cat who has nothing to do with anything.
- Brian Earl (@XmasPastPodcast), from the Christmas Past podcast.
Topics and Tangents
- “Cricket on the Hearth” is the “Die Hard” of Dickens Christmas stories.
- The history of legends about crickets on hearths bringing good luck.
- Listen to the “Cricket on the Hearth” soundtrack.
- Brian’s Christmas Past episode on Golden Age Christmas TV Cartoons.
- Christmas TV History’s Joanna Wilson on Rankin/Bass Voice Actors.
- This special takes a bizarre, hard left turn into a song about “Fish ’n’ Chips.”
- A clearly implied, off-camera murder in the Christmas show for families, right before cutting to commercial.
Previous Episodes of This Podcast Mentioned
“Cricket on the Hearth” ©1967 Rankin/Bass Productions.
The Advent Calendar House is on the web at adventcalendar.house, on Twitter @adventcalhouse, and part of the Christmas Podcast Network.