I've written about Disney's The Small One , which is a special about a donkey in biblical times, that came out in 1978. This is a Rankin-Bass special about a donkey in biblical times, also around the first Christmas. Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey first aired on ABC on December 3, 1977. The special is written by Romeo Muller, like a few other R-B specials. It's apparently based off a 1975 Gene Autry song.
The special starts in "present time" with Santa's Donkey, Spieltoe, who explains to us why Santa has a donkey. (Not having a Ford pick truck do his snow plowing apparently) Spieltoe is voiced by country singer-songwriter, Roger Miller. That's the man who did "King of the Road" . This special goes with a Nashville Sound country singer for its narrator which is something different than other R-B specials.
Santa has a donkey instead of using a Toyota Tundra / Copyright Warner
He mentions a great ancestor of his named Nestor. Nestor was a donkey with a unique feature- really long ears. They are a bane to existence, he trips over them, the other animals make fun of him, even the stable owner is rude. It's like Rudolph but if Santa also beat him up. Rankin Bass specials do have sense of harshness in them sometimes. They have a boy get his parents killed off to drive the plot and have him hate humans. This special gives Nestor some trails to go through.
Nestor is made fun of, but then at wintertime (remember no Christmas yet) the animals give gifts and apologize to Nestor. His sweet mother, the only one who really showed him care, gives him some things to put on his ears to keep the warm and apparently from dragging on the ground. This special is 24 minutes long , without ads (wow) so this being like in the first quarter means we're not done yet.
Those sock like things on ears cause a problem when some Roman soldiers come and donkeys, when they grab Nestor and notice that his ears are long when the sock thing falls off they think they were being scammed, and take all the donkeys for free. The stable owner is mad and throws Nestor in the snow; Nestor's mother joins him, she covers him and the snow and dies. That's right, they killed off Nestor's loving donkey mother. His mother was voiced by Linda Gray She worked on Hanna-Barbera projects, she was also the voice of Muffy Vanderschmere in TaleSpin. Her voice provides a nice balance of motherly affection and some sternness when needed to make a good mother.
Nestor has to continue off alone to find a purpose in life. It's a brutal special to a point and really wants to you to hope the best for Nestor. (of course, this special spoils what happens at the end in the first song, so good work) Nestor meets a cherub named Tilly who tells him God (though they don't say that outright, which is interesting) has a plan for him thanks to his special ears. It's a message of God giving you something that is supposed to be something you can use to do great things. Tilly is voiced Brenda Vaccaro , a Broadway actress, TV and movie actress as well. Her husky-voice is great for the role of Tilly.
They also use Miller to do the songs for the specials because why not? Tilly and Nestor end up near Bethlehem, but it's not time to be there in Bethlehem yet so he's a stable. The things we saw at start where animals are rude to him continues. This time, Nestor is being patient but he really does want to get away from this place.
Just then a couple, hmm I wonder, come around looking for a donkey, they want Nestor and this couple happened to be Mary and Joseph. The stable owner tries to commit price gouging but then he's seen the light and gives Mary- Nestor for free. There's a big sandstorm and he uses his large ears to be guided by the voice of his mother and angels to get to Bethlehem without seeing where he is going. It's a beautiful scene. Mary and Joseph are able to make it to the city, Nestor even helps them find a stable.
I think would have been a great ending, but apparently there's like 2 minutes left and Nestor decides to back to the place he started from -for some reason. Apparently, the first stable owner got his donkeys back? And Everyone knows he helped Mary and Joseph? Then it cuts back to the North Pole where everyone is dancing around and the Nestor song finishes.
This is another religious based Rankin-Bass special, which weren't many but they did do them. Like "The Small One" it goes for a donkey that is somewhat out of the normal for a donkey. Too small or too long ears, in this case. Then it connects the donkey that Mary would have ridden to the story here. In this case it's the Rudolph like story Nestor is ridiculed by others because of his long-ears, but also doesn't know his own purpose.
This special is again tough in the sense it not sugar coating. Nestor's mother dies in a brutal cold death, that is just harsh. It leaves Nestor without the one person who supported him, it was nice he was able to hear her spirit later on, as she guided him to show the idea she's always apart of him. The special using country music is interesting, but you get a country music signer, you sure as heck do country. It might not fit with the time the story is taking place, but they had characters sing White Christmas before the song was even made so... let them have some fun. There are somethings you probably shouldn't question about this special, you'd be here all week and go mad. With that, I do recommend this one as much as "The Small One" so I'm glad we have two great donkey and biblical based Christmas specials.
That's it for now, tune in next time when we meet Santa's Chevy Silverado that's built like a rock.
