Twas the Night Before Christmas (TV special)

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Twas the Night Before Christmas, the 1974 Rankin-Bass animated Christmas television special, has very little to do with the famous 1823 poem that opens with this line.

In this television special, Santa Claus is offended by an anonymous letter written to him claiming that he doesn't exist. In response, Santa returns the entire town's letters (the letter was signed "all of us") to him unopened. When the anonymous letter is reprinted in the newspaper, Father Mouse (voiced by George Gobel) — a mouse living in a grandfather clock in the workshop of clockmaker Joshua Trundle (voiced by Joel Grey) — immediately suspects that his brainy son Albert as its author. Albert (voiced by Tammy Grimes) confirms his suspicions, repeating the letter verbatim to him.

Father Mouse and the Trundle Family devise a plan to win back Santa's trust by building a singing clock for him. Unfortunately, Albert enters the clock to explore it without permission, and inadvertently damages it seriously, thus rendering it inoperable. Confessing his mistake, Albert volunteers to repair it and Father Mouse tells Joshua of the situation before waiting at his bed with worry on Christmas Eve. Although Albert does not complete repairs until about one minute after the Midnight deadline, the clock does play its song within earshot of Santa which convinces him to visit the town after all.

The special aired for decades on CBS before moving to its current home network, ABC Family.