ExplorerDS6789
Did you know the leprechauns celebrate the Christmas season too? No? Well, laddy, do pull up a shamrock and open your ears as Blarney Kilakilarney tells us the tale of how they brought Christmas gold back to the Emerald Isle. It was all thanks to a man named Dinty Doyle, a good-natured young cabin boy on the good ship Belle of Erin. Before they set sail home to Dublin on this fine Christmas Eve day, the captain wanted a Christmas tree on the ship, so he sends Doyle to a nearby uncharted island, on which he spots a pine tree, and tells him to dig it up. Unfortunately, Doyle discovers the hard way that one cannot pull up a tree with his bare hands. However, he was determined to prove that theory wrong. From nearby, a group of leprechauns spot him, knowing the dangers that await should he unearth that tree. Tis true, for when Doyle finally pulls out the tree, he unleashes an unholy banshee who casts a violent storm over the land. Suddenly, a rainbow appears in the sky. Doyle follows it to the end, to reveal a treasure in gold hidden beneath a patch of clovers. Begorrah, it be the leprechauns' gold! Guarding it was ol' Blarney himself, but when he sees Doyle didn't mean him any harm, he tells him a tale about his clan, the Kilakilarneys and how he hasn't spoken to them in over a century. So, our story within a story commences.Blarney and the missus were a happy couple, living amongst the other wee people who spent their time mining gold, buildin' shoes and growin' potatoes. There was one big problem, however, as their gold attracted rainbows, and where there rainbows, there were evil banshees, such as Old Mag. These were deceitful creatures who could change their appearances at a whim, but could always be spotted by the tears that were always flowing down their cheeks. Apparently, Old Mag has to get gold every Christmas Eve or...she melts away, or something. She can't steal it, as it only counts if it's given freely. So, Mag gets to Blarney's wife and convinces her to tell Blarney to give away his gold. He tells her she was bamboozled by the banshee, but she doesn't listen. They have a great big fight, and both declare their marriage kaput. Blarney next found himself to be the only gold miner left, as the others had become shoemakers. Oh...no? Mag corners him and demands the gold, when suddenly there was a violent earthquake that shook their patch of land right off of Ireland, thus making it its own little island. What to do about that pesky banshee? The Lord of the Leprechauns saves the day by convincing the banshee to show him how she can turn into tears. Yes, apparently banshees are made of tears and if they don't get gold on Christmas, they turn back into tears. What you be smokin' there in that pipe there, Blarney? However, the ruse worked. Rookie mistake, Old Mag. She turns to water and sinks in a hole, into which Blarney plants a pine cone, and from that pine cone, a pine tree did grow. So now all was well...until some bumbler dug up the tree and freed the banshee! Old Mag spikes Blarney's tea to make him turn over his gold to her, but she underestimated the wee man's intelligence, and so he gives the gold to Doyle. Old Mag vows vengeance. Well, Doyle may be rich, but he's up to his haunches in bad luck, for his rowboat was missing, stranding him on the island, and he meets a shipwrecked lass, all alone on the beach. She convinces him to give the gold to her so she can have the leprechauns build them a ship. He falls for it like a ton of bricks, for this is no lass. It's the banshee! As a way of thanking the stalwart lad, she puts him to sleep for 100 years. What happens next is nothing short of a miracle: Blarney and his wife make amends and love each other again, thus casting a magic rainbow in the sky that awakens Doyle, and just as Old Mag tries to claim her ill-gotten gains, the sun rises. She turns back to tears and is washed away by the tide. What's more, the Belle of Erin is right there on the shore! So Doyle and all of his new friends, all their gold and all their shoes set sail for Ireland. I wonder how he convinced the captain to bring on all that extra cargo? Probably just had to say "gold" and he was sold. This was one of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials I hadn't seen before, so I decided to sit down and watch it all the way through for the first time, and I thought it was pretty good. Not as memorable as Rudolph or Frosty or the Miser Brothers, but it's still pretty decent. A few good songs and a good story. Art Carney is our storyteller and he was very good as Blarney Kilakilarney. So, again, not one of RB's best, and it came out in the era where they were really winding down. The following special, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus in 1985 was their last. I guess they figured they'd told all the good Christmas stories by then and decided to stop while they were ahead. This Christmas, I suggest you check out The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold, it be an entertaining ride for all people, wee and big alike.
Templeton Moss
One of the more unsung Rankin/Bass stop-motion features, the story revolves around an Irish sailor who meets a leprechaun named Blarney Kilakilarney one Christmas Eve. After unwittingly setting a banshee free, the sailor learns that the monster's object is Blarney's Christmas gold. Together they thwart the wicked banshee and save the gold for the leprechauns, not to mention Blarney's marriage.Those who love Irish folklore and charm will enjoy this enchanting film. Though not as bright and cheery as its cousins, (it gets a litle dark, as most Irish tales do) it has the typical happy ending. And the highlight of the special is the performance of my personal favorite Christmas song, "Christmas in Kilarney."
CineMage
**DEFINITE SPOILERS AHEAD**A few people have mistakenly claimed that this ugly little Christmas special reminds them of Irish folktales. Having taught such folklore as a university professor, I can reassure people that this story with its shallow references to good and evil is nothing like the authentic tales, and any genuine fan of Irish and/or Celtic stories and myth will be disappointed by it -- and more than likely offended by the cod Irish "begora" stereotypes (despite affection for the voice actors themselves).The tale centers on a stereotypically-Irish leprechaun whose life is centered around his hoard of gold. The most important of his gold is his Christmas gold, gold made on or for Christmas. A banshee needs to obtain his Christmas gold in order to keep from dissolving into salty tears or seafoam, i.e. dying.In almost every other Rankin/Bass specials, so-called monsters are dealt with in a fashion befitting the Christmas season: redemption. The Abominable Snow Monster, Eon the Terrible, The Winter Warlock, et al. are brought to redemption despite their original status as 'monster', but not in this tale. The Banshee does nothing halfway as horrific as the Snow Monster's efforts to eat Rudolph's mother or Eon's kidnapping of an infant; outside of her trickery in her effort to save her life by obtaining his gold, no reason is given for labeling The Banshee as 'monster'. Yet the leprechaun in this tale has no interest in redemption, only in destruction.Rather than charitably sacrificing his gold as a life-giving measure of Christian generosity, the leprechaun keeps it to himself for no other reason given than *because* *it* *is* *his* -- even knowing this selfishness will cost the banshee her life. It takes a spell to get him to overcome his greed enough to give away anything he owns, and even then he manages to arrange things such that the banshee dies.A Christmas tale which valorizes greed, selfishness, and a self-righteous enjoyment in seeing one's opponent die? This is a far cry from the moral underpinnings of "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" and other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials!Rankin/Bass has produced a plethora of delightful children's specials with genuine heart, but this is one of the two worst Rankin/Bass specials made (the other being "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus").
