Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas Everybody!

Inspired by Nick Park's Oscar-winning 1989 short Creature Comforts, this special Christmas episode, from the contemporary TV series of the same name featuring stop-motion animation from the U.K.'s Aardman Studios (of Wallace and Gromit fame), finds the collected wisdom of “the great British public” regarding holiday traditions and interpretations of “The 12 Days of Christmas” carol voiced by a variety of plasticine animals, such as chickens, mice, bats, dogs, birds, turkeys, mussels, and slugs. The anthropomorphism of the creatures is spot on, and the rambling yet delightful discussions about midnight mass, the North Star, family gatherings (a hamster talks about his relatives' customs, including the “large tumbler of alcoholic beverage habit”) and the Queen's Royal Christmas Message are nicely mixed with dissections of the “12 Days” (getting confused about the words, analyzing the symbolism of the partridge, etc.). Recommended. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)