Cricket on the Hearth.

 

                                         Cricket on the Hearth.

This is another Rankin/Bass jewel, they really did a great job with the 

story. The animation was well done for 1967. A lot of religious leaders 

back then thought that they were trying to give black eye to Christianity 

and yes there was a little god stuff in it but not enough to push it on 

people or bash it in any way. They really knew how to tell a story 

though. Cricket on the Hearth has been around a really long time and 

although many have tried to make there mark nobody ever gets it right 

like Rankin/Bass did, they will go down in history as the greatest stop 

motion animation company ever created, even them knot being around 

anymore companies trying to make a name for them selves always look 

to there work for inspiration. So, with that, lets get to the story shall we:

The special begins in England where the chorus sings the title song. Our 

main character, Cricket Crocket, goes inside to warm up and tells us how 

he became a part of his human family. 

It was springtime and he was looking for a proper family to "adopt". Just 

then, he spots a toy shop and meets its owner, Caleb Plummer. Caleb 

suggests to him if he could stay with him and his family for a little while, 

and Cricket accepts his hospitality.

Cricket enters and sees Caleb's daughter, Bertha weeping as she 

hugs her fiancée, Edward. Edward is a sailor in the Royal Navy and must 

leave for a voyage lasting several years. The two share a tearful farewell 

and Bertha promises to always be faithful to him "Don't Give Your Love 

Away". Later, Caleb and Bertha, with some help from Cricket, build some 

toys. Bertha sings "Smiles Go With Tears". Once she's done, Jeremiah 

Bleak drops in to inform the family that Edward has died at sea. The 

shocking news makes Bertha suddenly and inexplicably go blind. Caleb 

does all he can to make Bertha feel better, but nothing works. He hires 

doctors to try to cure her blindness but they cannot. Caleb loses his 

passion for work and takes out loan after loan. When he's unable to pay 

the mortgage, he has no choice but to pack up and leave.

Caleb, with Cricket and Bertha, try to find a bit of work. As he's about to 

give up, Cricket spies a toy shop in need of employment "Through My 

Eyes". Caleb meets the greedy toyshop owner Tackleton and his pet 

crow Uriah and urges him for a job. Tackleton signs on Caleb and tells 

him that he can sleep on the premises and eat leftovers but won't be 

paid. Caleb also learns he's the only toymaker working for Tackleton and 

must do quadruple the usual workload on his own. In their new home, 

Caleb pretends they're living with other workers and that their situation 

isn't quite so grim so as to not worry Bertha. Later that night, as Caleb 

and Bertha are sleeping, Uriah appears to chase Cricket around and tries 

to eat him, until Tackleton calls him back to his cage. The next day is the 

week before Christmas. Caleb starts to work night and day to keep up 

with the demands of the season and Tackleton's penny-pinching orders. 

Two days before Christmas, Caleb bumps into an old man who is really 

Edward in disguise. Caleb invites him to come home with them, and 

Bertha is surprised when this supposed stranger knows her name. Caleb 

declares that they are all one family, and that Christmas is a time for 

mankind to come together "The First Christmas". On Christmas Eve, the 

trio builds toys until Tackleton and Uriah stop by to give them a 

Christmas bonus of a few shillings. What Tackleton really wants, 

however, is to make Bertha his wife. He gives her an hour to think it 

over. Bertha, unaware of Tackleton's true nature and age, is honored, 

though Caleb initially refuses since he still sees her as just a child. She 

tells Caleb that he must accept the fact that she is grown-up now "That 

Was Yesterday". Edward arrives intending to finally tell Bertha the truth 

about him, but Bertha happily tells him that she's decided to marry 

Tackleton. Edward leaves in heartbreak.

Cricket is determined that Bertha doesn't yes to Tackleton's proposal, so 

he calls on his friends to sabotage her meeting with him. After it ends 

with Tackleton running out sneezing as Cricket put black pepper in his 

tea, Tackleton orders Uriah to get rid of the cricket by any means 

necessary. Uriah goes to an animal bar down by the docks and meets his 

associates, a dog and monkey named Strangler and Slink. They listen to 

a cat named Moll sing "Fish and Chips".

After the song, they go over plans to eliminate Cricket. Slink proposes an 

alternate solution to killing him: they can capture him and sell him to a 

sea captain who's keen on capturing and selling crickets for their luck. 

Uriah, Strangler, and Slink kidnap Cricket and bring him to the captain's 

ship in a cage. The captain, however, shoots them and sets sail to China, 

intending to sell Cricket Crocket there for a pretty price. Eager to return 

home to his family, Cricket plays dead and successfully tricks the captain 

into throwing him out of the boat. He makes his way back to land with 

the help of a whale, a pelican, and various helpful fish.

When Cricket finally makes it back to the toyshop, it's midnight. The toys 

start to come alive, which they can only do on Christmas Eve when there 

are no people present they inform Cricket Crocket that crickets don't 

count. Cricket asks for their help in preventing Bertha's marriage to 

Tackleton, which they agree to since Bertha and her father have looked 

after them so well. They take Cricket to Edward, who is sleeping outside, 

and remove his disguise. The toy elephant explains that Edward didn't 

drown when his ship went down. He built himself a raft, sailed to an 

uncharted island, and lived there for two years before a whaler found 

him and brought him back to England.

Edward wakes up and Cricket demands to know why he never told 

Bertha and Caleb who he was. Edward says he came directly to Bertha 

once he returned home, but blamed himself for her sudden blindness. He 

felt guilty stepping back into her life after what he feels he did to her, so 

he adopted the disguise so he could still Bertha with her without anyone 

knowing. He finally gathered up the courage to tell her the truth, only to 

see how happy she was when Tackleton proposed to her and decided not 

to take that happiness away from her. He came back tonight to have one 

last look at Bertha before she is married. Cricket insists that Bertha will 

happy that he's alive and wakes her. Just as Cricket said, she is thrilled 

to find Edward again and the two are married right away. On Christmas 

morning, Tackleton is shocked to see Bertha has already been wed to 

Edward. He cries over how nobody loves him, but Bertha tells him that 

there will always be a place in her heart for him. Tackleton is suddenly 

moved by Bertha's kindness and happily changes his ways. Caleb tells 

Cricket that he was the luckiest thing that ever happened to anyone.