Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
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Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass. It was first aired in 1977.
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[edit] Full Review
The film is narrated by Santa Claus's donkey, Speiltoe, voiced by Roger Miller. He tells the tale of a donkey with abnormally long ears named Nestor, who lived in the days of the Roman Empire. Every animal in the stable disliked Nestor because of his ears. One day the animals in the stable are celebrating the winter solstice. Nestor's mother gives socks to Nestor to cover his ears.
That night when Nestor is asleep, soldiers come from the Roman Empire saying they need strong donkeys. They pick a bunch of donkeys, including Nestor, but not his mother. Nestor tries to get away and one of the soldiers grabs the socks on Nestor's ears. They come off. The soldiers thought the owner of the stable was trying to trick them. The owner, Olaf, says he will give them Nestor for free, but the soldiers are angry so they force him to give him all the donkeys for free and do not take Nestor. The soldiers leave. Olaf is angry at Nestor because he did not get any money and at the same time lost all of his donkeys, and he throws Nestor out the door, saying that he doesn't care if Nestor freezes to death and tells him to never come back. Nestor's mother escapes the stable and finds Nestor. There is a blizzard going on outside by then, so Nestor's mother finds shelter and uses her body to cover Nestor up. He wakes up in the morning to find his mother frozen to death. Nestor cries over the loss of his mother and walks away.
A little while later, something falls out of the sky. It looks like a little girl, but a little girl would freeze to death in the blizzard. The being says she's a cherub, calling herself Tilly. She says they need to travel to Bethlehem, but she cannot tell Nestor why. Tilly also says it will take a long time to get there. They travel for many months across distant lands and even a sea. When they get finally get to the outskirts of Bethlehem, Tilly tells Nestor to stay there. Nestor finds a stable to stay in and still nobody will buy him.
One day a couple comes in. Their names are Mary and Joseph. Mary is expecting a child, so she cannot walk the miles to Bethlehem and they do not have much money. They take Nestor because of his "gentle eyes". Mary rides Nestor to Bethlehem and they find a stable to stay in. Mary gives birth to Jesus and Nestor finds his way back to the stable where he was born. When he returns home, he is considered a hero and all the animals become friends with him.
The story itself has strong resonances with Christian themes such as it is those who are marginalized and outcast by the world who are often chosen for divine service, the concept of sacrificial love, and faith and call as journey.
[edit] Voice cast
- Roger Miller - Spieltoe/Narrator
- Shelly Hines - Nestor
- Brenda Vaccaro - Tilly
- Paul Frees - Olaf/Donkey Dealer
- Linda Gary - Nestor's mother
[edit] DVD details
Released with The Year Without a Santa Claus
- Release date: October 31, 2000
- Full Screen
- Region: 1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Audio tracks: English
[edit] Notes
- This was the first animated television program that Brenda Vaccaro, who voiced Tilly, worked on; in later years she would become the voice for Bunny Bravo on the TV series Johnny Bravo.
- This special currently airs on ABC Family annually.
- A portion of the opening scene is actually taken from a previous Rankin-Bass animated special, The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974). Elves Jingle and Jangle, the protagonists in the earlier special, are seen waving goodbye to Santa at the beginning of "Nestor"--this clip appeared towards the end of The Year Without a Santa Claus.
