Simple Gifts

A collection of animated Christmas shorts: An original Maurice Sendak piece about a boy with nothing to give for Christmas -- An excerpt from the early part of Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" set in a time of extreme cold in Tudor England -- A short based on the Toonerville Trolley -- A bittersweet excerpt from Moss Hart's autobiography "Act One" narrated by Jose Ferrer -- A reading from the Christmas day entry from the diary of 11-year-old Teddy Roosevelt -- A reading of a letter by Captain Edward James Hulse describing the surprising Christmas Truce of 1914 -- An animated version by R.O. Blechman of his own book "Tutto Esaurito" (No Vacancy) about the travels of Mary and Joseph.

Top Billed Cast

Colleen Dewhurst

Self - Host

Hermione Gingold

Narrator (segment "The Great Frost") (voice)

José Ferrer

Narrator (segment "A Memory of Christmas") (voice)

Dean Wareham

Narrator (segment "My Christmas") (voice)

David Jones

Narrator (segment "December 25, 1914") (voice)