User Reviews

I can only remember this film as seen through my child-eyes. Perhaps it would not seem so "excellent" to me now, after so many years. But I wholeheartedly agree with the general consensus regarding the sweet poignancy of this work. As one who never heard the legend before seeing the movie, I was enchanted by the simple dialogue, the profound reasoning, and the genuine wonderment expressed by the animals. So carefully crafted was this portrayal, that I was completely taken by surprise when the Christ Child was born and the animals rushed to share their gospel experience with the world.

Indeed, I cried when the animals lost their gift of speech, scattering out of the barn and into the night, "praising" God in their "native" tongues. My husband has a similarly fond memory of this film, and not a Christmas goes by that we don't recall it, ponder it, and long to see it again. Sadly, it likely would not withstand the politically correct climate in which we live today.

I thought I had already reviewed this childhood memory. Certain I had.

Standout characters were the gentle dog, the wise ox and the discriminated pigs.

Most of the animals, the cow, the goat, they were hateful and hostile, reflective of the times.

They didn't want to share their manger with humans. They didn't want to share their manger with the pigs. Pigs were disgusting.

It seems the pigs spent much of the cartoon trying to peer over the gate to see what was happening with the humans and the birth.

After the birth, the animals opinions softened.

The pigs, still struggling to see over the gate door, suddenly burst into the manger, afraid of how the other animals would react to them being there.

The other animals turned to look at the pigs, then calmly stepped aside, so the pigs could see the baby Jesus as well. Slowly the pigs approached, and they too smiled happily.

Now came the part where the animals decided they must tell humanity about the birth of Christ, and they took to the streets, yelling as loud as they could, and suddenly, one by one, each animal returned to his assuming voice.

The dog began barking, the goat began baaing, the rooster began crowing.

They all sadly made their way back to the manger.

The ox, as quickly as possible with his lumbering self, sought to summarize the events, until he too began mooing.

Effective cartoon. Deserving of the ten.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

I have not seen this cartoon in far too many years, and that is a shame. While I agree that in the United States Christmas has become a secular nation-wide holiday to be shared by Christian, Jew, Muslim, Pagan, Hindu, Atheist, etc., and while I enjoy the spirit of generosity and playfulness it inspires across religious lines, it seems fitting that the occasional Christmas special actually deal with the Christian origins of that holiday.

"The Night the Animals Talked" is a cartoon depiction of the legend that, on the day Jesus Christ was to be born, the animals suddenly found themselves with the power of speech! The animals immediately pick up human foibles along with speech in the best tradition of Aesop's Fables and Orwell's _Animal_Farm_, and what results is a surprisingly honest look at the strengths and foolishness of human nature.

I have not seen this cartoon since I was a kid, yet I will always remember that sequence when the animals run around trying desperately to tell people about the miracle happening in their midst only to be ignored into silence as they lose their one day of speech. The gentle critique of human nature in that moment has stayed with me my entire life.