The Very First Noel (2006)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I just got this movie because the cover looked cute. My son, husband, and I watched it and fell in love. It is short and straight to the point. My son did not lose interest at all, in fact we had to watch it several more times. Truthfully, this might be the best animated Christmas film we've ever seen. And it doesn't hurt that the score was done by the amazing Brothers Cazimero. Robert and Roland Cazimero are well known Hawaiian entertainers, in Hawaii at least. Robert has the voice of an angel. I recommend this movie to all ages. It has awesome graphics, beautiful music and is the greatest story ever told. And Andy Griffith fit so well as the narrator because he has such a calming voice.

I watched this with my young kids and I thought it was beautifully executed. Great writing, great compositions, great color, great acting, good voices... splendid. Most remarkably, the range of ages who enjoyed it were from three to eight! How often does THAT happen? I will buy this for sure. Sonny Jim Bottomly, I have seen mediocre children's fair and I've even had to work on some, and this is not mediocre at all. When our recording of it from the broadcast was lost with a new audio/video installation I was actually sad about it. Now who says this is not great, huh? Let them produce even a shadow of this quality for the same budget and I will eat my robe! Oh yeah, if you don't have kids, don'y bother commenting on this one... even if you're just an overgrown kid.

We all know the story-- no spoiler warning needed here. What a great animated short film-- the music is captivating and the rhyme reminds me of Twas the Night Before Christmas. Andy Griffith is a great choice for narrator. My daughter loves it and that's probably the best predictor of a movie's popularity in our house. She loves to play with her toys and then take a 23 minute break and watch this movie. The film is honest, funny, and purely enjoyable. What a great way to introduce my children to the birth of Christ. My only gripe is that I wish it was longer. I hoped it would be more of a feature film length than merely 23 minutes.