• The Little Drummer Boy is an American stop-motion animated Christmas television special from the Rankin/Bass production house, taken from the song of the same name. It originally aired on the NBC television network and is now found in syndication on ABC Family. Please check our Christmas television schedule for actual show times.

• Fast Facts

  1. Premier date: December 19, 1968
  2. Producers: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
  3. Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr., Takeya Nakamura
  4. Screenwriter: Romeo Muller
  5. Source material: The Little Drummer Boy song by Katherine K. Davis
  6. Voice cast: José Ferrer, Paul Frees, June Foray, Ted Eccles, Greer Garson
  7. Running time: 25 minutes
  8. Distributor: Rankin/Bass Productions
  9. Original network: NBC,
  10. Current network: ABC Family
  11. Sponsor: American Gas Company
  12. Sequel: The Little Drummer Boy, Book II

• Adding A Story To A Classic Carol

  Katherine K. Davis's simple song of a boy who has no gift for the newborn Jesus Christ and instead plays a drum for him needed a bit of fleshing out to become a beloved seasonal television special. Romeo Muller added a backstory of a boy who has come to hate the world because of the violence in his life, until the gratitude of the the baby Jesus erases the anger from him.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  The Little Drummer Boy, Book II | Christmas | Rankin Bass Christmas Specials | Christmas Special Schedule | Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer | Rudolph's Shiny New Year | Frosty the Snowman | Frosty Returns | Frosty's Winter Wonderland | The Year Without a Santa Claus 1974 | Jack Frost | The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey | Pinocchio's Christmas

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