The Great Rupert, is a 1950
comedyComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
/
family filmA family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families. To attract these diverse audiences, film makers often create works that operate simultaneously on several levels of appeal...
, produced by
George PalGeorge Pal , born György Pál Marczincsák, was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer, principally associated with the science fiction genre. He became an American citizen after emigrating from Europe....
, directed by
Irving PichelIrving Pichel , was an American actor, and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry...
and starring
Jimmy DuranteJames Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer and movie icon, pianist, comedian and actor, whose distinctive gravel delivery, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose – his frequent jokes about it included a frequent self-reference that became his nickname:...
,
Tom DrakeTom Drake , born Alfred Sinclair Alderdice in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor. Drake made films starting in 1940 and continuing until the mid-1970s, and also made TV acting appearances....
and
Terry MooreTerry Moore is an American actress.-Early life:Born January 7, 1929, in Glendale, California, as Helen Luella Koford, Moore grew up in a Mormon family in Los Angeles, California. She worked as a child model before making her film debut in Maryland...
. It is based on a story, written by
Ted AllanTed Allan was a Jewish Canadian writer, several of whose books were made into motion pictures.Ted Allan was born in Montreal as Alan Herman. In the 1930s he fought against fascism in Spanish Civil War, along with another Canadian, Norman Bethune...
, which has also been published as a children's book under the title "Willie the Squowse".
The story revolves around a little animated
squirrelA squirrel is one of many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English-speaking world, squirrel commonly refers to members of this family's genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, indigenous to Asia, the Americas and Europe....
who, with lots of charm, accidentally helps two economically distressed families overcome their obstacles.
George Pal's stop-motion animation used in creating the illusion of a dancing squirrel (Rupert) was so realistic that he received many inquiries as to where he located a trained squirrel.
In 2003,
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
and
Legend FilmsLegend Films, a San Diego-based company, was founded in August 2001. The company specializes in the restoration and colorization of classic black and white films for DVD, HDTV and theatrical release. Legend also produces the DVD, designs the packaging and menus, and creates all value-added...
revived the (now)
public domainThe public domain is a range of abstract materials—commonly referred to as intellectual property—which are not owned or controlled by anyone. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose...
film with a
colorizedFilm colorization is any process that add color to black and white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black and white films, or to restore color films...
special editionThe terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
of the film, under the title
A Christmas Wish.
The Great Rupert, is a 1950
comedyComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
/
family filmA family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families. To attract these diverse audiences, film makers often create works that operate simultaneously on several levels of appeal...
, produced by
George PalGeorge Pal , born György Pál Marczincsák, was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer, principally associated with the science fiction genre. He became an American citizen after emigrating from Europe....
, directed by
Irving PichelIrving Pichel , was an American actor, and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry...
and starring
Jimmy DuranteJames Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer and movie icon, pianist, comedian and actor, whose distinctive gravel delivery, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose – his frequent jokes about it included a frequent self-reference that became his nickname:...
,
Tom DrakeTom Drake , born Alfred Sinclair Alderdice in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor. Drake made films starting in 1940 and continuing until the mid-1970s, and also made TV acting appearances....
and
Terry MooreTerry Moore is an American actress.-Early life:Born January 7, 1929, in Glendale, California, as Helen Luella Koford, Moore grew up in a Mormon family in Los Angeles, California. She worked as a child model before making her film debut in Maryland...
. It is based on a story, written by
Ted AllanTed Allan was a Jewish Canadian writer, several of whose books were made into motion pictures.Ted Allan was born in Montreal as Alan Herman. In the 1930s he fought against fascism in Spanish Civil War, along with another Canadian, Norman Bethune...
, which has also been published as a children's book under the title "Willie the Squowse".
Plot
The story revolves around a little animated
squirrelA squirrel is one of many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English-speaking world, squirrel commonly refers to members of this family's genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, indigenous to Asia, the Americas and Europe....
who, with lots of charm, accidentally helps two economically distressed families overcome their obstacles.
George Pal's stop-motion animation used in creating the illusion of a dancing squirrel (Rupert) was so realistic that he received many inquiries as to where he located a trained squirrel.
In 2003,
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
and
Legend FilmsLegend Films, a San Diego-based company, was founded in August 2001. The company specializes in the restoration and colorization of classic black and white films for DVD, HDTV and theatrical release. Legend also produces the DVD, designs the packaging and menus, and creates all value-added...
revived the (now)
public domainThe public domain is a range of abstract materials—commonly referred to as intellectual property—which are not owned or controlled by anyone. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose...
film with a
colorizedFilm colorization is any process that add color to black and white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black and white films, or to restore color films...
special editionThe terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
of the film, under the title
A Christmas Wish. For that release, Terry Moore provided an
audio commentaryOn disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
track.