Christmas is not a time for complexities. In fact much of the charm of this time of year is its childlike simplicity. The abundance of childlike simplicity is what makes Santa and the Three Bears a perfect watch for Christmas.
This movie's story revolves around two bear cubs (voiced by Chris Gilmore and Bobby Riha) and their mother (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl (the voice of Wilma Flintstone)) living in Yellowstone park. It is winter time and time for all bears to hibernate. However the cubs can't sleep and see the park ranger (Hal Smith (Otis on The Andy Griffith Show)) cutting down a big tree. They decide to find out what is going on. The ranger tells them all about Christmas including the story of Santa Claus. The cubs then decide they are going to stay up until Christmas Eve to see Santa.
This movie takes a simple story and tells it well. The film is completely full of charm and Christmas spirit. The pure innocence and simplicity takes us back to a simpler time, when Christmas meant everything to us. While the animation is low budget and simplistic it is very appealing. The characters are designed perfectly and the animators knows how to make the most out of its low budget. Having Hanna-Barbera veterans such as Tony Love, Bill Hutten, Volus Jones and director Tony Benedict working on the movie shows perfectly why this aspect works so well, as these people had already done much work on some of the best low budget animation of the era. The voice work is equally excellent and Hal Smith's voice as the ranger embodies the warm Christmas-y feeling of this movie. However criticism where criticism is due, I must admit the songs do feel bland and lazily written. Part of what I like about this movie is there is no need for a villain and Christmas never has to be saved. It is a simple story that doesn't need any of that excess.
This film was originally released in theatres with live action opening sequences. These scenes were directed by Barry Mahon, out of all people. The reason this is surprising is that most of his filmography is comprised of pornography. However when this movie was issued to TV these and more where cut out. These cuts lead the movie from being 63 minutes to 46. This version is what most of us will see today. That version is available on YouTube and you can watch it below.
All in all this is a charming little movie that I enjoy watching every Christmas season.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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