The Little Drummer Boy (1968)

The Little Drummer Boy is a stop-motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was first televised December 19, 1968, on NBC, and was followed by a sequel in 1976.

Plot
In the special, the narrator (Greer Garson) tells the story of a young Jewish boy named Aaron, who is a misanthropic orphan who finds enjoyment only from playing his drum for his animal friends: Samson the donkey, Joshua the camel and Baba the lamb. At one time, Aaron was a happy child who lived with his parents who gave him a drum for his birthday. But one night, bandits of the desert stole all the livestock, killed Aaron's parents (before they can try to intervene), and burned their house down, causing him to hate all humanity. Because his drumming can make the three animals dance, Aaron is forced to join Ben Haramed's caravan with rather inept performers. When performing in Jerusalem, Aaron becomes infuriated by the townspeople's amusement and lashes out at them for being thieves and knaves.

Some time later, the troupe comes upon the Magi's caravan who are following a bright star in the sky. Seizing his chance, Ben greedily attempts to perform for the Magi, but they are uninterested as they try to make haste to get to the star's destination. One of the caravan camels becomes too weak to continue traveling and the Magi has no extra camel, so Ben seizes Aaron and bargains with them that they use Joshua in exchange for some of their gold, but Aaron refuses to take any gold from Ben and runs off. Later, Aaron and his remaining animal companions escape, climb the tallest hill and join up with the Magi as they follow the star and journey toward Bethlehem. There, upon recognizing Joshua and trying to reunite with him, Baba is hit by a Roman chariot and Aaron takes the dying lamb to the Magi to be healed. However, they can do nothing. One of the men insists that maybe the baby could be of help. Having no material possession to give to the baby, Aaron decides that his "gift" to him and his parents will be his playing his drum for them. As a sign of gratitude, Baba is healed and runs into Aaron's arms. Aaron finally feels kindness for the first time since the death of his parents.

Other Languages

 * リトル・ドラマー・ボーイ 少年と奇跡の太鼓 (Japanese)
 * El Niño del Tambor (Spanish) (Latin America)
 * El pequeño tamborilero (Spanish) (Spain)