Little Drummer Boy

Little Drummer Boy is an American stop-motion animated Christmas television special from the Rankin/Bass production house. It originally aired on the NBC television network and is now found in syndication.

Fast Facts

1. Premier Date: December 19, 1968
2. Producers:
   1. Jules Bass
   2. Arthur Rankin Jr.
3. Directors:
   1. Jules Bass
   2. Arthur Rankin Jr.
   3. Takeya Nakamura
4. Screenwriter: Romeo Muller
5. Source Material: The Little Drummer Boy song by Katherine K. Davis
6. Voice Cast:
   1. José Ferrer
   2. Paul Frees
   3. June Foray
   4. Ted Eccles
   5. Greer Garson
7. Running Time: 25 minutes
8. Distributor: Rankin/Bass Productions
9. Network: NBC, ABC Family
10. Sponsor: American Gas Company

Adding A Story To A Classic Carol

Katherine K. Davis's simple song of a boy who has no gift for the newborn Jesus Christ and instead plays a drum for him needed a bit of fleshing out to become a beloved seasonal television special. Romeo Muller added a backstory of a boy who has come to hate the world because of the violence in his life, until the gratitude of the the baby Jesus erases the anger from him.

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