Simple Gifts

A collection of animated Christmas shorts: An original Maurice Sendak piece about a boy with nothing to give for Christmas -- An excerpt from the early part of Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" set in a time of extreme cold in Tudor England -- A short based on the Toonerville Trolley -- A bittersweet excerpt from Moss Hart's autobiography "Act One" narrated by Jose Ferrer -- A reading from the Christmas day entry from the diary of 11-year-old Teddy Roosevelt -- A reading of a letter by Captain Edward James Hulse describing the surprising Christmas Truce of 1914 -- An animated version by R.O. Blechman of his own book "Tutto Esaurito" (No Vacancy) about the travels of Mary and Joseph.

Discover

Colleen Dewhurst

Self - Host

Hermione Gingold

Narrator (segment "The Great Frost") (voice)

José Ferrer

Narrator (segment "A Memory of Christmas") (voice)

Dean Wareham

Narrator (segment "My Christmas") (voice)

David Jones

Narrator (segment "December 25, 1914") (voice)

Paul Dooley

(segment "Lost & Found") (voice)

Claudette Sutherland

(segment "Lost & Found") (voice)

Directing

R.O. Blechman

Director

Michael Sporn

Assistant Director

Steven Parton

Assistant Director

Editing

Production

R.O. Blechman

Producer

Sound

Writing

Theodore Roosevelt

Original Concept

Edward Hulse

Original Concept

Moss Hart

Novel

Fontaine Fox

Original Story

Directing

R.O. Blechman

Director

Michael Sporn

Assistant Director

Steven Parton

Assistant Director

Editing

Production

R.O. Blechman

Producer

Sound

Writing

Theodore Roosevelt

Original Concept

Edward Hulse

Original Concept

Moss Hart

Novel

Fontaine Fox

Original Story