The Night Before Christmas
About The Night Before Christmas
Title cards use lines from Clement Clarke Moore's poem. Santa, played by Harry Eytinge, feeds real reindeer and finishes in the workshop. Children in a city house hang stockings, cannot sleep, and start a pillow fight. Santa rides out. A miniature sleigh crosses hills and the moon on a painted backdrop. He comes down the chimney, leaves the toys, and the children come downstairs.
Cast & crew
More about The Night Before Christmas
Edwin S. Porter directed and photographed it for Edison. It is the first film of the 1823 poem. Edison copyrighted it on 16 December 1905 (H70072–H70081). The release length is 800 feet, about 9 minutes. Porter shot 1,670 feet and used 798. AFI notes a re-release in December 1907. Kino included it on the DVD A Christmas Past.
Themes
Look
Porter shot the rooms and the workshop, then a separate miniature pass for the sleigh against the moon.
Preservation
A copy is on the Internet Archive and on Wikimedia Commons. Kino issued it on A Christmas Past.
Notes
- The reindeer in the feeding scene are live animals, not puppets.
- The flight over the moon is a miniature against a painted cloth.
- Copies are on the Internet Archive and on Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes
- The children abandon sleep for a pillow fight before Santa arrives.
- The miniature sleigh crosses the moon, then Santa comes down the chimney.
Influenced by
- Clement Clarke Moore's A Visit from St. Nicholas
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheNightBeforeChristmasSilentMovie)
