This Christmas film, created as a special for television broadcast throughout the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania viewing region, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton and her husband Les for Bell Telephone Company and first aired in 1953. Following a short live-action opening portion, featured are two extended marionette segments, the first dramatizing Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas", the second reverently telling the Nativity story; the two stories are staged in classic, traditional style. From 1953 onward, for several years, The Spirit of Christmas was broadcast in the intended region multiple times per holiday season. It was also available as a 16mm film licensed to schools for showings to students. This film often is misstated to have originally been broadcast in 1950.
When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.
Garfield, the fat, lazy, lasagna lover, has everything a cat could want. But when Jon, in an effort to impress the Liz - the vet and an old high-school crush - adopts a dog named Odie and brings him home, Garfield gets the one thing he doesn't want.
The story of a Christmas tree is told through the 'voice' of the tree itself. The tree has big ambitions, doing everything it can to grow so tall that it reaches the sky.
Babe is a little pig who doesn't quite know his place in the world. With a bunch of odd friends, like Ferdinand the duck who thinks he is a rooster and Fly the dog he calls mum, Babe realises that he has the makings to become the greatest sheep pig of all time, and Farmer Hoggett knows it.
J. T. Gamble, a shy, withdrawn Harlem youngster, shows compassion and responsibility when he takes on the care of an old, one-eyed, badly injured alley cat days before Christmas and secretly nurses it back to health.
The true meaning of Christmas comes home to the Rivera household in a very unexpected way. With Mom expecting a new baby and Dad facing work challenges, young Josie takes it upon herself to make sure the family has a Christmas they'll never forget.
The previously untold origins of Olaf, the innocent and insightful, summer-loving snowman are revealed as we follow Olaf’s first steps as he comes to life and searches for his identity in the snowy mountains outside Arendelle.
Pete, a young orphan, runs away to a Maine fishing town with his best friend a lovable, sometimes invisible dragon named Elliott! When they are taken in by a kind lighthouse keeper, Nora, and her father, Elliott's prank playing lands them in big trouble.
During the holiday season, when the animals of the Central Park Zoo are preparing for Christmas, Private, the youngest of the penguins notices that the Polar Bear is all alone.
A father and son must team up to save Christmas when they discover Santa Claus sleeping in their garage, having crashed his sleigh and found himself on the run from the police.
Alternative movies trailers for The Spirit of Christmas
More movie trailers, teasers, and clips from The Spirit of Christmas:
The Spirit of Christmas - Mabel Beaton Marionettes and Bell Telephone AT&T
This video is a classic favorite on Philadelphia TV. It airs every year at Christmas time on WHYY-TV12. The film is narrated by Alexander Scourby and preformed ...
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS 1951
Marionettes performing "A Visit From Saint Nick" and "The First Noel" ... Christmas's
The Spirit Of Xmas Aka The Spirit Of Christmas (1947)
CU three separate shots of spires of the Churches of various denominations of the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem Palestine / Israel with their bells ringing.
Popular movie trailers from 1953
These some of the most viewed trailers for movies released in 1953:
Engineer Adel's journey from Europe ends and he returns to Cairo. He begins searching for his beloved Wedad, whom he had proposed to the wealthy lady, Nemat.
Mickey Rooney, plugging his latest Columbia film, stops by Ralph Staub's editing room and film vault, and the two of them watch clips from Rooney's films, dating back as far as the Mickey McGuire comedies.
Twins (both played by Infante) are separated while very young, one raised as a singer by their widowed mother and another as the heir to one of Mexico's richest families.
Swindler in jail devises a scheme to blackmail the family of recently deceased people, threatening to tell supposedly incriminating facts about their dead relatives' lives.
A jeweller is killed in a gang robbery leaving the daughter as the only witness. When the police can't build a case against him she decides to go undercover to infiltrate the home of the killer's brother.
