The Small One
Also last night I bought on eBay a VHS tape of The Small One, one of the greatest Disney cartoons ever made, about the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem. Can I say that? You're not supposed to know that until the end, and I suppose it's technically a spoiler, but I guess the chances of any of you seeing it are pretty slim if you haven't already, seeing that The Disney Channel never shows anything decent anymore, and that this thing is very out of print. Yes, it is now out on a DVD, along with "Pluto's Christmas Tree" and Mickey's Christmas Carol - but I sadly discovered that it's been "edited for religious content." I mean, come on! It's a kids' cartoon! And the Christian references are very, very subtle! Apparently, they redrew the Christmas star, which very much resembled a cross; they changed a line or two in a song sung by some greedy merchants, evidently worried about offensive Jewish stereotypes; and they excised another entire song. It's not even the same cartoon that I knew and loved. I have never in the past agreed with all of the conservative hype about the "War on Christmas," but this is ridiculous. (I was tempted to order that DVD just for the other two cartoons, which were also great, but I didn't on the principle of the thing.) When I get the tape, I'm going to digitize it and upload it for you all. (For all I know, the video is already floating around somewhere out there on the Web. If you're so inclined, you ought to look for it.)