Happy St. Patrick's Day! As we celebrate Irish heritage today, we can reflect on the many influences Irish culture has had on Christmas traditions. Not only do we have Bing Crosby's hit song "Christmas in Kilarney" but we also enjoy the 1981 Animagic classic TV special The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold. This stop motion animated special sometimes airs on Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas marathon schedule each year--and clips are often available for viewing on youtube.
This half-hour complex story is derived from Irish folklore and includes characters such as leprechauns, a sailor and a terrible banshee. It also features the recognizable voice talents of Art Carney and Peggy Cass. Of course, you may remember Art Carney as the actor who played the neighbor Ed Norton on The Honeymooners. He also appeared in everyone's favorite Christmas episode of The Twilight Zone--1960's The Night of the Meek. But cult TV fans will remember Carney for his role as the trading post owner in the much maligned The Star Wars Holiday Special. Here, Carney voices the leprechaun narrator Blarney Kilakilarney.If you haven't seen it in a while, here's a TV preview. Enjoy.
That was AWESOME.thanks for sharing that. I'd never seen it before and I so love anything to do with Christmas and with a wee bit of the Irish ( descendants from County Cork) in my background made it all that more special, Once again thank you so very much for posting that show.(The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold)
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Diana