“A Christmas Tree” is the 11th episode of the Rankin/Bass animated series, Festival of Family Classics. It premiered on December 9th, 1972.
Plot[]
Act 1[]
The episode begins in a town or city square (perhaps London itself, it is never specified) on Christmas Eve night, siblings Peter and Mary exalt in the sights, sounds and smells of the season, accompanied by their Christmas houseguest, the noted author Charles Dickens. He soon finds himself pummeled by Peter and Mary’s questions about Christmas in times past, in particular when he was a boy. He agrees to tell them a story about this after they have all gone back to their family’s house—but he stipulates that not only must they hear it, they must also live it, to which they gladly agree. They ask if there will be a Christmas tree involved, and he assures them that there is.
Back home, Dickens, upon being seated before the family Christmas tree, states that, when he was a boy, the trees seemed much larger and laden with toys all about, and a sense of adventure. As the story begins to take over, Peter and Mary see and play with the toys under the tree, one being a troll and one being a figure (namely Horatio the Giant, said to be Jack’s giant), among others. As Dickens explains that each toy and decoration has a name, including an evil wizard named Mantu with an ornament being his crystal ball, and a snow-breathing dragon named Orlando, the troll-looking one comes to life, saying that he was Peter Piper from the old fable and poem. He even confirms that he ate the pickled peppers as written, though not all that many. Piper warns that the essence of Christmas has been stolen by Horatio, who has taken it to the top of the beanstalk, which the Christmas tree transforms into. Determined to get back the essence, Peter and Mary proceed to climb the beanstalk.
At the top, amidst a forest of Christmas trees, Mary is fearful, but Peter claims he isn’t afraid of Horatio. Mary then spots a creature, a well-attired mouse named Percival, who hates being called Percy. Peter asks him if Horatio still lives in the land, and Percival tells them that his castle can be found at the end of the road before them. He also tries to warn them off, but the children thank him and make for the castle. They are greeted at the front door by a human-sized woman named Esmerelda, who is Horatio’s kindly yet worried housekeeper. She warns them that, ever since Jack got away with his treasure, Horatio hates children. She invites them inside to taste some of his Christmas dinner while he is asleep. She laments that she never gets to use her gigantic over, as Horatio only eats fried foods. At that moment, Horatio awakens and she bids the children to hide inside it, where they won’t be seen and will be safe since she is never able to use it. As Horatio approaches with his usual chant of “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum,” Esmerelda chastises him for using that same old tired rhyme. He apologizes, but his efforts at mixing it up go over no better, which Esmerelda uses to keep him distracted from the intruders he has sensed. Nevertheless, he wants his Christmas dinner and orders the oven be fired up to heat the place, much to Esmerelda’s shock. Peter and Mary try to escape up the flue with Percival’s help (since it is a very large oven), but the noise alerts Horatio, who forces them out and traps them in a corner, ready to exact his revenge after what Jack did to him.
Act 2[]
Thinking quickly, Peter throws Horatio’s pepper-grinder at his nose, causing him to sneeze and fall to the floor while they make their escape. Despite Esmerelda telling him to let the intruders go, Horatio chases after them as they attempt to make it back to the beanstalk. Peter tells Mary and Percival to keep going and uses a branch to trip Horatio in pursuit, temporarily slowing him down. Mary invites Percival to join them on Earth, but he indicates that he would not be understood in the real down if he climbed down with him. She thanks him, and she and her brother escape just as Horatio catches up to them. Esmerelda is delighted that the children got away, but Horatio cries and laments that he will be disgraced before the M.G.o.t.W. (Mean Giants of the World) as Esmerelda tries to comfort him.
Reaching the bottom of the beanstalk, Peter and Mary lament their failure to Dickens and Piper, only for them to say that, in fact, the real thief is a powerful magician named Mantu, who had stolen it from Horatio. Piper then goes on to reveal that Mantu lives in a castle to the east, and that three obstacles await Peter and Mary: the River of the Gaddywine, where elves have been corrupted into trolls by Mantu; Orlando, the Snow-Dragon of Okabar, and Mantu himself. Dickens then reveals that the star at the top of the tree will become their transport, enlarging itself to carry the children.
Peter and Mary soon come upon the River of the Gaddywine, where fierce rapids cast them off, where they are found by trolls. The Gaddywine King demands to know why they are there, and they reveal their quest to him. Fearing Mantu’s wrath, he orders his men to imprison the children. Afraid they have nowhere to go, they despair until they sight the star-transport by the shore. Overpowering the guards (which they resisted doing until they spotted the star), they escape with Peter saying what a close call it was, while Mary finds this adventure less appealing than she once did. Suddenly, they are knocked out of the sky by a large snowball. As a blizzard begins to brew, they encounter Orlando, the Snow Dragon.
Act 3[]
Orlando traps them in a cave, where his icy breath increases the cold temperature inside and hiss claw poke about feeling for them. Peter remembers he has a Christmas candle and some matches on him, and tells Mary to grab some holly branches from the sides of the cave. They warp the kindling around his claw and set it ablaze to give him a hot foot, which causes him to scream in pain and melt away into a puddle. Reboarding the star, they realize that the greatest danger, Mantu himself, lies ahead.
Unbeknownst to the children, Mantu is watching them in his crystal ball. Determined to stop them, he bids his guard to fetch a magic carpet, his own flying transport, along with the magic icicle. Confronting Peter and Mary in the air, he identifies himself and warns them of their impending doom at his hands, after which he launches the magic icicle. Like a homing missile, it pursues its target relentlessly, nearly knocking Peter off the star. Instead, he uses his momentum to launch himself at Mantu, holding him at bay with the candy-cane staff they took from the guards. This forces him to destroy his own icicle as it pursues Peter, who is holding Mantu in front of him. He steals back the bottle containing the essence, tossing it to Mary, who misses it. But it doesn’t matter for the bottle smashes upon the star, releasing the essence anyway, much to Mantu’s dismay. He wanted to capture the essence so he could do evil, yet after its release, he begins to feel good and the land around them brightens. Glad for Mantu’s newfound happiness, the children wish him a Merry Christmas and bid him goodbye.
The children soon find themselves waking up next to Dickens, who says they fells asleep while he told his story. They insist that they had a great Christmas adventure with him in it. They are glad this was in the Christmas past, and think that Christmas with him and his stories is the best Christmas. He counters that “this Christmas” will always be the best Christmas, as long as there are children to love the holiday. “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is sung as the episode comes to an end.
External links[]
A Christmas Tree on YouTube