Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey

TV Movie
1977
TV-G
24m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)

Stop Motion Animation Animation Drama Family Fantasy Musical

An outcast donkey in Roman era Judea with overlong ears finds his destiny on the way to Bethlehem.An outcast donkey in Roman era Judea with overlong ears finds his destiny on the way to Bethlehem.An outcast donkey in Roman era Judea with overlong ears finds his destiny on the way to Bethlehem.

Directors
- Jules Bass
- Arthur Rankin Jr.
Writer
- Romeo Muller
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.6K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Jules Bass
- Arthur Rankin Jr.
Writer
- Romeo Muller
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Top cast8

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Roger Miller

Speiltoe
(voice)
…

Brenda Vaccaro

Tilly
(voice)

Paul Frees

Santa Claus
(voice)
…

Don Messick

Roman Soldier
(voice)

Linda Gary

Nestor's Mother
(voice)

Iris Rainer

Young Donkeys
(voice)

Shelly Hines

Young Donkeys
(voice)

Eric Stern

Nestor
(voice)

Directors
- Jules Bass
- Arthur Rankin Jr.
Writer
- Romeo Muller
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews43

Featured review

Available on DVD (Secondary to "A Year Without a Santa Claus")

For those of you who have never seen this show, please try to find it on DVD. I bought my favorite Rankin/Bass Christmas shows on DVD this year. I was very pleasantly surprised to find this favorite from my childhood on the same DVD as "A Year Without a Santa Claus" (another real fave of mine).

Sure, there are some sappy moments in Nestor, but the story is very touching and heart-warming. I wish there were more Christmas shows on television brave enough to acknowledge the birth of our lord and savior Jesus Christ as the reason for the season.

And a short response to another poster about the blizzards in Rome... the beginning of the story sets it in Europe during the Roman rule and occupation... the cherub then guides Nestor over a long period of time to a stable closer to Bethlehem. As a child I never picked up on Nestor having to wait for a while to go to Bethlehem, but seeing it as an adult it touched me that we all at times have to wait for our opportunity to serve in some way and it might not come when we want it to, but when our Father does. But I digress.... a great Christmas treat!

ann_outsider
Nov 26, 2004
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Trivia
Features multiple non-speaking cameos from characters from other Rankin-Bass specials, including Jingle, Jangle, and Mrs. Claus from The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), the Three Wise Men from The Little Drummer Boy (1968), and Rudolph from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and other productions.

Goofs
The Roman guard pays Olaf the donkey dealer with a 20th-century American nickel. The nickel is upside-down and the viewer can see the outline of Thomas Jefferson's home "Monticello." However, the resolution of 1977-era television was poor compared to that of later decades. The signal was analog, there were no "flat screens," LCD panels or High Definition Television (HDTV) sets. The viewer watched TV on a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display. All this said, in 1977, the viewer would not have been able to discern that the coin was a U.S. nickel.