I own a copy of this DVD. While the 15 minute sequence is billed as “animated”, it’s generally several (very pretty) multi-plane shots. Since this was just a few years after Sleeping Beauty, you can easily see that Earle used the same basic style and his years of designing Christmas cards is apparent. This TV special was ground breaking in that it was an hour long Christmas show hosted by singer “Tennessee” Ernie Ford and was shown without commercials. Something unheard of in 1963.

The show was also aired “Live” meaning for the animation sequence, they ran the film with a live chorus singing songs. I remember watching it in B&W.