The Sounds of Christmas

By Mitchell

OK, we know that Christmas doesn't really start until December 25, and then it runs for twelve days. But we also know that for many, Christmas begins as soon as Thanksgiving ends. As I mentioned last week, I like to keep Thanksgiving as its own holiday - no need to rush through it. But, seeing as how it is December 1, as far as I'm concerned it's fair game from here on in.

To help put you in the mood, from now until the 25th we'll be offering occasional video clips of our favorite Christmas moments from television, movies and music. Some of them may be familiar to you, but we're willing to bet that you'll be seeing a lot of them for the first time.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about the Tennessee Ernie Ford special "The Story of Christmas." First shown in 1963, it seemed destined to be a Christmas classic, but after a couple of showings it just faded away. Thought to be lost forever, it was rediscovered and brought back on video a few years ago. The highlight of this special was an 18 1/2 minute animated sequence depicting the story of the Nativity, and Pfeffer Photos kindly brought to our attention this clip, depicting a portion of that segment. The artist is Eyvind Earle, the music is by the Roger Wagner Chorale, and the song is What Child Is This? Enjoy!