Friday, Dec. 16, 2011
Christmas Comes But Once a Year
Orphans cry and cheer in Christmas Comes But Once a Year, the bubbly Max Fleischer animated silent short that, still some 72 years after its release, has won over more than 80,000 YouTube regulars. Set in an orphanage where a group of poor young tots find themselves distraught after opening a series of defective toys (including a working pistol which falls apart, probably for the best), the holiday is saved by a roaming inventor who just so happens hear their cries while driving by. Converting household appliances into makeshift toys for these Depression-era boys and girls, the inventor is a hopeful figure, suggesting that even in dark economic times, we can still find a way to make the spirit bright.