The Night Before Christmas (1968)

Directed by: Jim Pabian

Synopsis: A fictional story about how Clement C. Moore was inspired to write his famous poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas.

Cartoon Cat: As the poem section of the special begins, an orange and white cat is sleeping in front of a fireplace.

The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat sleeping in front of fireplace

A mother mouse puts her children to bed behind a fireplace brick and then curls up on the cat’s tail to sleep.

The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat sleeping in front of fireplace with mouse on tail

The cat wickedly flicks the mouse up into the air where she lands in a stocking.

The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat sleeping in front of fireplace flicking mouse off tail

When Santa Claus arrives, he does not disturb the sleeping cat.

The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat sleeping in front of fireplace with Santa

Through a strange series of incidents, the mouse ends up in father’s nightcap and crawls across the floor. The cat awakens to see the cap crawling towards him and freaks out.

The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat scared

Jumping into Santa’s beard for safety, the cat is bounced up and down by Santa’s laughter.

The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat jumping into Santa's beard
The Night Before Christmas - orange and white cartoon cat being jostled in Santa's beard

Eventually St. Nick sets the cat down on the floor and gently encourages him to walk away. The animation in the “real” part of the special is a bit stilted but more realistic. In contrast, the “story” portion is done in an exaggerated, cartoonish style, obviously to set it apart as a story being told by Moore. Even so, the animation done on the cat is particularly over the top and silly.

The Night Before Christmas - Santa petting orange and white cartoon cat
The Night Before Christmas - Santa setting orange and white cartoon cat on floor

Final Mewsings: Cats would rather have peace and quiet for Christmas.

Relevant Links:

IMDb logo




To discuss this show and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Share this with your cat and movie loving friends!