Christmas Cracker (French: Caprice de Noël) is a 1963 animated short about Christmas, co-directed by Norman McLaren, Gerald Potterton, Grant Munro and Jeff Hale. The film consists of a playful clown who presents three segments: a rendition of "Jingle Bells" in which cutout animation figures dance, a dime-store rodeo of tin toys and a story about decorating the perfect Christmas tree with a Christmas star. Between each segment, the clown does a short transition while a chiptune rendition of "The Holly and the Ivy" plays.
| Christmas Cracker | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jeff Hale Norman McLaren Grant Munro Gerald Potterton |
| Produced by | Tom Daly |
| Starring | Grant Munro |
| Music by | Maurice Blackburn Eldon Rathburn |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada (NFB)[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 9 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
The first of three segments presented by the clown displays two cutout animation figures dance together while a guitar rendition of "Jingle Bells". The figures are wearing trapezoids as clothing with boots. As the guitar progresses, the cutout animation figures’ dancing accelerates.
The second segment is stop-motion animation of toys coming to life.[2] In this short film is a tin butterfly, alligator, bird, robot, clown, and cat. The background music is a fast guitar, accompanied with a bass guitar playing jazz. The clown then joins back into the movie following electric music.
The final segment is a little cartoon man decorating the ultimate Christmas tree.[3] The music unlike the two other segments, strays away from guitar and is played by an organ. This adds dramatic effect to the decoration of the Christmas tree. This segment was later expanded into a half-hour special by Gerald Potterton called "George and the Christmas Star", which followed the same basic premise.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, this film without words garnered seven awards including the prize for Best Animated Short at the 1964 San Francisco International Film Festival and a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 37th Academy Awards.[4] It was also spoofed by RiffTrax on December 13, 2021.[5]
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