Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night

Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated featurette, inspired by the tale of the creation of the Christmas carol "Silent Night".[5] It was directed by Buzz Potamkin and stars the voices of Phil Hartman (in his final film role before his death in May 1998), Jim Cummings, Marie Osmond, Tom Arnold and (a then-unknown) Lea Michele, and the songs were written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.

Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night
Film poster
Directed byBuzz Potamkin
Produced byBuzz Potamkin
Written by
  • George Taweel
  • Rob Loos
Starring
Music by
  • Score:
  • John Van Eps
  • Songs:
  • Lynn Ahrens[1]
  • Stephen Flaherty[1]
Edited byCecil Hooker
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia TriStar Home Video[4]
Release date
  • October 13, 1998 (1998-10-13)
[4]
Running time
49 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

In 1818, two mouse musicians named Buster and Chauncey visit the Alpine town of Oberndorf, Austria,[6] where they plan to perform for the country's Queen during its annual Christmas pageant, which is organized by Oberndorf's Mayor Huffenmeier.[1] At Oberndorf, an orphan girl named Christina is given asylum on the local church as she intends to go to Vienna where her aunt and uncle live, but a pair of thieves, who claim to be the Duke of Raoche and his niece Lady Gretchen, watching over the preparations for the pageant, have their sights set on seizing the riches stored inside the church. Buster and Chauncey also get settled in the church for the preparations, but a cat chases them causing a mess inside the church that Mayor Huffenmeier blames Christina for, but the church priest, Father Joseph, doesn't think Christina caused the mess. However, the Duke and Lady Gretchen manage to steal the riches and also kidnap Christina, leaving her necklace on the place where the riches were so Father Joseph and Mayor Huffenmeier believe she stole them. Buster and Chauncey later help Christina escape and the Duke and Lady Gretchen are caught, with the riches being recovered, proving that Christina is innocent all along, but the previous chase caused damage to the church's organ. Later on, the melody Chauncey has been playing repeatedly on his violin inspires the organist. Father Joseph, who has written a poem, uses the melody to compose "Silent Night" and perform it for the first time. The Queen then offers to take Christina to Vienna and Christina says goodbye to her new friends, Buster and Chauncey.

Cast
Name Character
Jim CummingsBuster
Phil HartmanChauncey
Tom ArnoldFritz
Marie OsmondQueen Therese IV
Townsend ColemanFather Joseph
Gregg EdelmanFather Joseph (singing)
Harry GozMayor Huffenmeier
Lea MicheleChristina
Paul KandelDuke of Raoche
Judith BlazerLady Gretchen
Earl HammondAdditional voices
Ellen BernfeldAdditional voices
Peppy CastroAdditional voices
Madeline DohertyAdditional voices
Joy HermalynAdditional voices

Production and release

Silent Night was the first in-house animated production for Columbia TriStar Home Video,[1][7] and was produced by Buzz Potamkin through his own company, Project X Productions.[2] It featured Phil Hartman in his last film role; the film was released months after his death.[8] Marie Osmond, one of its stars, sang the title tune.[7] The film features Glee actress Lea Michele in one of her first film roles.

On October 13, 1998, Columbia TriStar released Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night on videocassette.[4] The film aired on the primetime lineup of cable's Disney Channel two months later.[9][10] Overseas, it was also shown in Canada (on national network CTV and cable station Teletoon).[11][12][13] On Latin America, the film airs occasionally on Cartoon Network since 2001, and most recently on Disney Channel since 2012;[14][15] on Great Britain's Five;[16] and on the Movie Channel in Israel.[17] The film was reissued on DVD on September 19, 2000;[18][19] by late 2002, the film had sold over 800,000 copies in the U.S.[20] Plans for a sequel were discussed shortly after the original release, but never materialized.[21]

Reception

Reviews were generally negative. At the DVD Verdict review site, "Judge" Gary Militzer gave it an overall score of 43. While criticizing the animation and storyline—along with puns relating to the word "mouse"—he added, "Think of all the great memories we have watching those enduring Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, or my personal favorite, A Christmas Story. Unfortunately [this film] certainly cannot stand alongside those timeless, beloved holiday classics."[22] Similarly, Brian Webster of the Apollo Movie Guide gave it a 42. "[This] is an example of a less ambitious animated film," he said, "[which] has more in common with Saturday morning cartoons than it does with recent animated successes."[23] Both he and Militzer not only observed the accents of the characters—the main characters speak like Americans, while the thieves and some townspeople have peculiar German tones—but also "out of sync" animation.[22][23] Lois Alter Mark of Entertainment Weekly commented, "Probably not [a good choice for youngsters]. The scattershot story and uninspired animation won't hold most kids' attention."[24] Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Lynne Heffley said, "The animation is standard, but the message about the meaning of the season, based on the writing of the soulful Christmas carol, comes through."[25]

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See also

References
  1. McCormick, Moira (July 25, 1998). "Musical mice enliven 'Silent Night'". Billboard. VNU/Nielsen Business Media. 110 (30): 74. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  2. "Obituaries: Buzz Potamkin". Variety. Reed Business Information. May 9, 2012.
  3. Hettrick, Scott (January 13, 2004). "Miramax adds to DVD-premiere list". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  4. "Columbia TriStar Home Video will release Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night Oct. 13". Video Week. Warren Publishing. June 29, 1998.
  5. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 36. ISBN 9781476672939.
  6. Liebenson, Donald (December 3, 1998). "Kick Off The Season! Supp[l]y Of New Videos Will Stuff Even The Biggest Stockings". Chicago Tribune. p. 3 (Tempo). Retrieved July 13, 2012. Adding poignancy to Columbia TriStar's "Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night" is the participation of the late Phil Hartman, who in one of his last projects, voices the character of a 19th-century Austrian mouse who inspires the immortal carol.
  7. Zad, Martie (November 8, 1998). "TV 'Lion King' Sequel Shows Pride of Simba — Kiara". The Washington Post. p. Y05.
  8. Graham, Jefferson; Wloszcyna, Susan; Gundersen, Edna (October 9, 1998). "Video: Late Hartman brings 'toon mouse Chauncey to life". Coming Attractions. USA Today. p. 01E (Life).
  9. Jevens, Darel (November 26, 1998). "Holiday TV faves you'd better watch". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 61. Retrieved July 13, 2012. (subscription required)
  10. Sodergren, Rebecca (November 26, 1998). "A Couch Potato Christmas / Deck Your Halls with This Exhaustive Guide to Holiday TV". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. G1 (Arts & Entertainment). Buster and Chauncey's Silent Night," DISN, 7:35 p.m.
  11. "Clip And save guide to holiday TV; Get ready for Rudolph and other holiday classics". The Hamilton Spectator. Metroland Media Group. December 1, 1999. p. E.06. Retrieved July 13, 2012. Buster and Chauncey's Silent Night (5 pm Teletoon) Phil Hartman, Tom Arnold and Marie Osmond voice story of Silent Night. (subscription required)
  12. Malleck, Bonnie (December 22, 1999). "Special viewing". The Hamilton Spectator. Metroland Media Group. p. F.04. Retrieved July 13, 2012. Buster and Chauncey's Silent Night (8 pm on CTV, CKCO) (subscription required)
  13. "Tonight in T.O." Toronto Star. December 11, 2001. p. D.05. Retrieved July 13, 2012. The animated Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night stars the two famous mouse musicians (CTV at 8). (subscription required)
  14. Jasso, Alejandro (December 22, 2001). "¡Una Navidad de caricatura!". El Norte (in Spanish). p. 31.
  15. "Diciembre en Disney Channel". Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  16. "A feast of films for the holiday season". The Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent: Northcliffe Newspapers Company. December 23, 2002. p. 52.
  17. Ben-David, Calev (December 22, 2000). "Cutting Arik down to size". Jerusalem Post. p. 16.B. Retrieved July 13, 2012. ...the Movie Channel has decided to show next Monday three obscure Christmas children's movies[, among them] Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night... (subscription required)
  18. Davis, Cynthia, ed. (August 31, 2000). "Video Charts". Chicago Tribune. p. 6 (Tempo). Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  19. Fry, Ted; Hartl, John (September 14, 2000). "Videos". Seattle Times. p. D3.
  20. "Small Producer Finds Comfortable Niche, Former Akron Man's Company Does Well with Videos, Programs Espousing Traditional Values". Akron Beacon Journal. October 19, 2002. p. B4 (Metro). Retrieved July 13, 2012. Another film, Buster and Chauncey's Silent Night, sold about 800,000, [Mr. Loos] said. (subscription required)
  21. Beck, Marilyn; Smith, Stacy Jenel (November 5, 1998). "Staying tooned". Daily News of Los Angeles. p. 12 (L.A. Life).
  22. Militzer, Gary (September 22, 2000). "Review of Buster And Chauncey's Silent Night". DVD Verdict. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  23. Webster, Brian. "Review of Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night". Apollo Movie Guide. Apollo Communications. Archived from the original on February 9, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  24. Mark, Lois Alter (November 20, 1998). "Parents' Guide: Richie Rich, Rugrats, and more are video options this holiday season". Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner (459). Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  25. Heffley, Lynne (November 26, 1998). "Look and Listen: Appealing 'Richie Rich' Gets Wonderful Wish". Los Angeles Times. p. 55 (Calendar). Retrieved July 13, 2012.
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