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Movie:		4.0
Picture:		7.0
Sound:		3.0
Extras:		6.0
Score:		5.0

Director(s):	Dave Barton Thomas
Writer(s):	Eddie Guzelian
Starring:	Mickey Rooney • George S. Irving • Brad Adamson • Juan Chioran
Genre:	Animation • Children & Family
Release Date:	December 01, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $13.99
Amazon:

This may be as close to “updating” a Rankin-Bass production as possible without causing outcry from fans of the classics. ABC Family commissioned an all new feature in the style of the beloved holiday films, and quite frankly they did a stellar job of recreating it all. The original molds of the two main characters were used to create new and noticeably polished duplicates. Now, maybe it’s just the higher quality of the recording format but the feature has a sharper visual aesthetic, smoother motions and the same old campy cheer that made the old ones so popular. At first glance, the only real shortcoming of A Miser Brothers’ Christmas is the story which seems disingenuous in the face of the animation style which carries with it a long tradition of folksy charm; after a little bit of retrospection, however, the holes in this new take on Rankin-Bass begin to show.

After their brief appearance in The Year Without a Santa Claus, the Miser brothers get their shot as leading men in yet another story about Santa’s absence on the big night. However, unlike last time, his absence isn’t due to a vacation but an injury seemingly inflicted by the ongoing bickering of the intemperate duo. Heat Miser (George S. Irving) and Snow Miser (Juan Chioran) stare at each other from the elementally respective castles casting fiery and icy glares, respectively, in the other’s direction. As fireballs and icicles begin to fly, Santa (Mickey Rooney) finds his new rocket-powered sleigh caught in the crossfire. Yet, the true cause of Santa’s crash has nothing to do with Miser mischief; instead it’s the doing of their brother the North Wind (Brad Adamson) who’s eager to claim the title of replacement Santa given to him by Mother Nature. But North Wind’s dreams go unfulfilled as the Misers are called to replace Santa as they’re the perceived cause of his injury, leading North Wind to put another plan into motion using the disagreeable nature of the brothers to weasel his way into the position.

For only 44 minutes, it’s an awfully convoluted story. On top of that, the music which normally elevates these productions just drags it down. The main theme song of the brothers, taken in part from The Year Without a Santa Claus, lacks any of the magic and wistfulness of the older features. Furthermore, the song is more annoying than it is entertaining, so the fact that they reprise it later on just makes the experience doubly grating. Where the songs fail, the faithful recreation of the characters helps to repair the damage. There’s a noticeable sheen and texture to the characters and for the most part they’re the same models but with bolder colors and smoother exteriors. However, the appearances aren’t without their drawbacks. Because they used high-definition cameras for A Miser Brothers’ Christmas there was a pressing concern to keep all the characters absolutely spotless and squeaky clean – and that’s great – but it means that any lines that may have been used in past productions to give the faces of characters more expression were seen as risks for dust and grime. Thus everyone’s face is sparkling clean and free of contour lines but look stunning and pristine in the hi-def camera lens. It’s a trade-off but not necessarily the right one if you’re looking to maintain the folk element.

The performances range from the absurdly bad to the barely decent. Brad Adamson infuses the North Wind with a level of flamboyance which incurs a bit of eye rolling yet keeps with the character’s preening pretentiousness. George S. Irving sounds like he has a cookie stuffed in his cheek throughout all his line readings, he’s comprehensible but with a level of bass and gruffness that makes his singing voice similar to that of a bear with emphysema. The most intolerable performance in the lot, and I hate to say this considering Mickey Rooney maintains that “it’s for the children” attitude that’s spot on for a production like this, comes from Santa who sounds an awful lot like Nixon – if Nixon believed in Christmas spirit and liked children.

DVD Bonus Features

The featurette on the disc is half the runtime of the feature and makes the disc worth a look. It chronicles the creation of the puppets, the acting, the choreography and the grueling task of filming stop motion films. Everyone involved with the film gets their say on their favorite puppets. It’s actually really neat to hear all the crew members talk about the tricks used to keep North Wind’s hair intact, the collars of clothes fluffy and all the characters spotless for the high-definition camera. Even if the film evens out to a mediocre effort, this is one of t he most in-depth coverages of the Rankin-Bass production sequence I’ve ever seen.

Director Dave Barton Thomas has crafted a decent recreation of the Rankin-Bass style but in updating the concepts for modern production something got lost. The crew obviously maintains a reverent sense of wonder for the legacy of productions such as this, but it may have been that sense of awe which distracted them from the level of critical thinking necessary to make A Miser Brothers’ Christmas a standalone film and not just a second-rate tribute to films we all know and love.