The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981)

It is a performances centric movie

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

In this 25-minute short film from the holidays almost 35 years ago, you don't get any snow, but you get lots of green fields, funny little gnomes, not so funny evil creatures and lots of gold. "The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold" is another Rankin/Bass movie and writer Romeo muller should also be known to animation lovers for his contributions to Christmas-themed films. I thought the movements in here were sometimes a bit abrupt and this film did not flow as smoothly as I hoped, but it's still a decent watch. The story is okay and the animation is as well once you got used to the style. And it's also maybe worth a watch for being pretty different compared to other Christmas cartoons from around that era. Actually, you can watch this one very nicely in the other months of the year too. I recommend it. No greatness, but solid from start to finish, liked the Irish accents too.

Why do you make a HORRIBLE christmas special like this? After good works like "Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" and "The Last Unicorn", you finally stoop low to swill like this?SLIGHT STORY SPOILERS (like you care)The plot begins with a clumsy sailor crashing on an island full of Leprechauns with fake Irish/British accents and tells him not to cut that tree down, ya know, the one the sailor crashes into. But does the saliro listen? No, of course not, he "knows" better. After cutting down the tree, he releases a Banshee and the Banshee wreaks havoc to the world with her annoying voice. So it is up to the Leprechauns to protect their gold and kill the Banshee.END OF SPOILERSMan, if this cartoon did not give you a headache already with plot holes and the Banshee's annoying voice (the moment I saw her, I wanted to beat her up for myself!), you are one brave soul (or sado-masochist).If you want good claymation specials or animated movies, look elsewhere!

One of the more unsung Rankin/Bass stop-motion features, the story revolves around an Irish sailor who meets a leprechaun named Blarney Kilakilarney one Christmas Eve. After unwittingly setting a banshee free, the sailor learns that the monster's object is Blarney's Christmas gold. Together they thwart the wicked banshee and save the gold for the leprechauns, not to mention Blarney's marriage.Those who love Irish folklore and charm will enjoy this enchanting film. Though not as bright and cheery as its cousins, (it gets a litle dark, as most Irish tales do) it has the typical happy ending. And the highlight of the special is the performance of my personal favorite Christmas song, "Christmas in Kilarney."

**DEFINITE SPOILERS AHEAD**A few people have mistakenly claimed that this ugly little Christmas special reminds them of Irish folktales. Having taught such folklore as a university professor, I can reassure people that this story with its shallow references to good and evil is nothing like the authentic tales, and any genuine fan of Irish and/or Celtic stories and myth will be disappointed by it -- and more than likely offended by the cod Irish "begora" stereotypes (despite affection for the voice actors themselves).The tale centers on a stereotypically-Irish leprechaun whose life is centered around his hoard of gold. The most important of his gold is his Christmas gold, gold made on or for Christmas. A banshee needs to obtain his Christmas gold in order to keep from dissolving into salty tears or seafoam, i.e. dying.In almost every other Rankin/Bass specials, so-called monsters are dealt with in a fashion befitting the Christmas season: redemption. The Abominable Snow Monster, Eon the Terrible, The Winter Warlock, et al. are brought to redemption despite their original status as 'monster', but not in this tale. The Banshee does nothing halfway as horrific as the Snow Monster's efforts to eat Rudolph's mother or Eon's kidnapping of an infant; outside of her trickery in her effort to save her life by obtaining his gold, no reason is given for labeling The Banshee as 'monster'. Yet the leprechaun in this tale has no interest in redemption, only in destruction.Rather than charitably sacrificing his gold as a life-giving measure of Christian generosity, the leprechaun keeps it to himself for no other reason given than *because* *it* *is* *his* -- even knowing this selfishness will cost the banshee her life. It takes a spell to get him to overcome his greed enough to give away anything he owns, and even then he manages to arrange things such that the banshee dies.A Christmas tale which valorizes greed, selfishness, and a self-righteous enjoyment in seeing one's opponent die? This is a far cry from the moral underpinnings of "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" and other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials!Rankin/Bass has produced a plethora of delightful children's specials with genuine heart, but this is one of the two worst Rankin/Bass specials made (the other being "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus").