The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow

1975
6.8| 0h24m| en
Details

A young shepherd, Lucas, is blinded by lightening, and some kindly nuns at a nearby abbey take him in. Sister Catherine describes snow to Lucas, who has never seen it. Lucas gets chosen to play an angel in the abbey's Christmas pageant, and the Christmas snow that falls during the pageant works a small miracle.

Director

Producted By

Rankin/Bass Productions

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Reviews

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
utgard14 Angela Lansbury stars in this gem, one of the lesser-known TV specials Rankin/Bass made. The story is about a young shepherd boy who is blinded by lightning and taken in by some nuns, led by Lansbury's Sister Theresa. As the boy recuperates, Sister Theresa tells him about snow, which he had never experienced firsthand. It's a lovely story with a touching ending that I won't spoil here. The stop-motion animation is wonderful. The music is quite nice with some decent songs, including the timeless "White Christmas," sung by Lansbury. I never get tired of Rankin/Bass specials. They're uplifting, heartwarming entertainment for all ages. This one isn't as famous as many others but it's a good one worth taking a look at if you enjoy Rankin/Bass' other classics.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow" is another holiday-themed production by Rankin/Bass, the most known duo the United States had to offer in 1970's television animation. And this is one of their better works I believe, even if it was not Emmy nominated. Angela Lansbury is certainly the most famous voice cast member here in this 24-minute short film. The story is pretty good, the Christmas miracle at the end is nice, Father Thomas adds some solid (unintended?) comedy in his scenes and the main character is just really sweet with his bright blue eyes. There are sad moments in here, but mostly, this is a story about hope and positivity. I must say I enjoyed the watch and I recommend it. Check it out during the holidays, it must be shown somewhere, even if it is not too well-known anymore. Thumbs up.
fromthedarkstream This is the kind of show that you'll never see made again - something that is about Christianity and has a good moral for the children it's geared towards. Today it would be protested and replaced with Danny Phantom's Holiday Special or some crap like that. My seven year old boy loved it and counts it amongst his favorites. All the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials are enjoyable for young and old alike. This is probably one of the lesser known and harder to find ones. I love the claymation style they use - it would be great to see something new in this vein. Maybe one day they will release all the specials on one DVD - If you have small kids - catch it if you can.
atomicseasoning I just recently saw this special again and it made me realize what a heart warming story it is.Oh yes little Lucas is blinded in a thunderstorm and is taken in by an Abbey of nuns, one of which as voiced by Angela Landsbury. I loved how Lucas had to deal with his disability while still being a shepherd, worryng about whether or not he gets to stay at the Abbey, finding the right gift for Angela's nun character, befriending a girl named Louisa, finding his lost sheep, and being in the Christmas pageant, where two miracles happen. What a story!I loved too how they incorporated not only the typical Christian Christmas story, but also Jesus' Parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15:3-7 into the plot-line of his story, which makes it especially special.If you can find it (and ABC Family often broadcasts this special during their 25 Days of Christmas every December) I think this is one special to watch.