Santa and the Three Bears

No it's not modern animation and the music is not hip-hop, but this is a very effective leisurely-paced Christmas tale, that I only ran across for the first time on tv a few years ago, then I found the video. What's cool: Nakomi and Chinook are bears who know nothing of Christmas and are just dying to meet Santa. Their eagerness and impatience is quite realistic (even though they are bears). Very well-voiced.

The visuals during the songs have that late '60s psychedelia to them with weird colorful screen wipes, and during the one number where the Park Ranger has fallen asleep and we see the flames of the fireplace begin to sing to him, it is positively inspired. The scenes of the Ranger caught in the snowstorm are very effective. One gets chilled to the bone just watching them. It crosses the mind that the Ranger, despite his good nature, is a pretty lonely dude.

The mother bear (as noted, the voice of Wilma Flintstone), is pretty frank with the kids that there is no Santa. She's portrayed as slightly bitter, although it is because she just wants some sleep. Despite what others have said, the songs are really cool. They are old-timey, of a choral nature, but super-catchy and dare I say, haunting. All told, it may not be something today's kids would sit still for, but saps like me enjoy the heck out of it.