Streep won the Academy Award for Best Supporting in 1979 for Kramer Vs. Kramer. She has since won the Best Actress Oscar for Sophie's Choice and The Iron Lady. Streep has also been nominated for 20 Oscars, a record for acting nominations.
I had never heard of The Night Before Christmas until I began researching programming to review for this Oscars tribute.
This short subject is more best described as a children's audio book accompanied by lots of beautiful illustrations. It was produced by Rabbit Ears Entertainment, a children's book company, which also published a book that features some of the drawings.
None of these illustrations are animated in the traditional sense of the word, the camera just pans over them or zooms in and out. A narrator (Streep) tells the viewers about her earliest recollections of the Christmas season. Her stories are frequently interrupted by Christmas songs performed by various singers and choral groups. Streep herself does a nice job singing "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear."
During the last six minutes of this twenty-one minute production, Streep reads Clement C. Moore's Twas The Night Before Christmas. Streep is famous for performing different accents and voices, and The Night Before Christmas gives her another chance to demonstrate this skill. She provides a convincing voice for Santa Claus. In fact, if I hadn't read the credits before watching that I wouldn't have recognized her voice!
It's a bit difficult to give this our typical "candy canes" rating, since it's very different from what's usually covered here. So I'll just say I recommend it.
I think The Night Before Christmas would work best as "Yule Log"-type background for Christmas morning, decorating a Christmas tree or wrapping presents. Streep's voicing of Santa makes it worth watching at least once if you're a fan of Streep or of Moore's poem.
J.A. Morris' rating:
Recommended.
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