| Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration |
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| Directed by | Will Vinton |
| Produced by | David Altschul Will Vinton |
| Written by | Ralph Liddle |
| Starring | Tim Conner Johnny Counterfit |
| Music by | Patric Miller |
| Release date(s) | December 21, 1987 |
| Running time | 24 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration is an Emmy Award-winning Christmas television special originally broadcast on the American CBS TV network in 1987. The special featured stop motion clay animation and was produced and directed by Will Vinton.
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Situated in a facsimile of London's Christmas Square, the special is co-hosted by Rex (Tim Conner), an erudite and intellectual tyrannosaurus, and Herb (Johnny Counterfit), a dimwitted, bespectacled styracosaurus with a voracious appetite.
Recurring characters in Vinton's films dating back to 1980, Rex and Herb introduce several stand-alone videos of Christmas carols and standards and discuss the origins of each song relating to different holiday traditions around the world.
The songs featured were:
Throughout the program, Rex futilely attempts to clarify the true pronunciation and meaning of the term 'wassail', featured in the Christmas carol Here We Come A-Wassailing. As the show progresses, Rex is dismayingly accosted by different groups singing the song, though each version is lyrically incorrect.
Though Rex is convinced his own definition is correct, he finds himself continually being questioned by the others, including Herb when he's not busy excessively partaking of the various Christmas treats offered by each group. Finally, near the program's end, a large truck loaded with cider-swilling townsfolk arrives on the scene, singing the correct version of the carol, validating Rex's theories much to his delight. After one of the townies explains the real meaning of wassailing—going around the neighborhood singing Christmas Carols, and getting treats and cordials, the entire cast performs Here We Come A-wassailing, and then We Wish You a Merry Christmas as the end credits roll.
This special was released on the Henstooth Video DVD Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Plus Halloween & Easter Celebrations in 2003.
1988—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program given to Will Vinton (executive producer/director), David Altschul (producer) and Ralph Liddle (writer)
This special was spoofed as Christmas with the California Prunes in the 2003 Christmas episode of The Simpsons ("'Tis The Fifteenth Season")
The Prunes sing "O Pruney Night" (a parody of "O Holy Night") which includes the lines:
(Lisa remarks that the song is "offensive to Christians and Prunes!")
A companion soundtrack album was released by Atlantic Records in 1988 and was originally available on Vinyl, Cassette, and Compact Disc. The album contains six songs not featured on the special, including an alternate version of "Angels We Have Heard On High." The song "O Christmas Tree", as featured in the special, was excluded from the soundtrack.
Track List:
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