From Rankin/Bass comes the stop-motion animated Christmas special _The Little Drummer Boy_. The story follows an orphan named Aaron who’s kidnapped and forced to perform in a carnival, but makes a deal with the carnival owner to gain his freedom in exchange for performing for three traveling kings. The animation and character designs, while not bad, aren’t as good as Rankin/Bass’s previous efforts. And the story that they’ve cobbled together is rather weak, and kind of misses the point of the song. Still, the musical numbers are kind of fun and Greer Garson’s narration brings a certain gravitas. _The Little Drummer Boy_ is a mediocre holiday special that’s mildly entertaining.

Wait until Aaron finds out that he too is also of the same species that killed his parents.