Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) In this 25-minute short film from the holidays almost 35 years ago, you don't get any snow, but you get lots of green fields, funny little gnomes, not so funny evil creatures and lots of gold. "The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold" is another Rankin/Bass movie and writer Romeo muller should also be known to animation lovers for his contributions to Christmas-themed films. I thought the movements in here were sometimes a bit abrupt and this film did not flow as smoothly as I hoped, but it's still a decent watch. The story is okay and the animation is as well once you got used to the style. And it's also maybe worth a watch for being pretty different compared to other Christmas cartoons from around that era. Actually, you can watch this one very nicely in the other months of the year too. I recommend it. No greatness, but solid from start to finish, liked the Irish accents too.

Scarecrow-88 Cute, lesser known Rankin/Bass animated Christmas special has Art Carney narrating the tale of a sailor sent to fetch a pine tree from an Irish island which broke apart from its native country thanks to an earthquake. It has a leprechaun named Blarney Kilakilarney (voiced also by Carney) who has been away from his wife for far too long due to his insistence on keeping his gold stash from the clutches of a hideous witch (called a banshee) that shrieks and always cries tears. She must get her hands on the gold before Christmas day or turn into tears and through whatever tricks or spells she can muster will attempt to do so. Dinty Doyle, the boy sailor (voiced by Ken Jennings), is told he is in possession of all the gold when Blarney is able to outsmart Old Mag, the Hag's (Christine Mitchell) enchantment (a "generosity spell" she calls it)…she intended for him to give it all to her but Dinty thankfully was in the same vicinity. So Mag sets her sights on tricking Dinty and might just get the gold she has so coveted…like she did against Faye (Peggy Cass), the wife of Blarney (causing their estrangement), through the transformation into an angel, Mag will turn into a shipwrecked girl in the hopes of fooling Dinty into granting her his gold for a special Christmas island celebration. Good natured and sweet, The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold should be a perfect addition to the many Christmas animated specials that makes the cut during the holiday season. A few songs, the typically fine stop motion you are accustomed to for a Bass/Rankin production, and some memorable voiceovers provide a nice little short to enjoy each December. Dinty was responsible for accidentally releasing Mag from a trap concocted by Blarney and a wizard using the aforementioned pine tree, noticed by Dinty's captain on board their ship, adding a bit of irony to the entire short. Will Dinty be able to help stop her from seizing upon the gold?

jia This is a cute movie about friendship and loyalty.One does have to understand the myth and history about the Banshee to understand that the leprechaun can not give her the gold. It takes a brave man to stand alone while others turn their backs on you. This movie has a great moral to never give up on ones self and ideals just because the crowd is telling you to doing so. My family and I enjoyed the songs and made a night out of watching claymation Christmas movies. This was a great one to laugh at and enjoy. Other movies that a person may enjoy are Rudolh the red nose reindeer, Santa Claus is coming to town. The year Santa Missed.

Angel Meiru Why do you make a HORRIBLE christmas special like this? After good works like "Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" and "The Last Unicorn", you finally stoop low to swill like this?SLIGHT STORY SPOILERS (like you care)The plot begins with a clumsy sailor crashing on an island full of Leprechauns with fake Irish/British accents and tells him not to cut that tree down, ya know, the one the sailor crashes into. But does the saliro listen? No, of course not, he "knows" better. After cutting down the tree, he releases a Banshee and the Banshee wreaks havoc to the world with her annoying voice. So it is up to the Leprechauns to protect their gold and kill the Banshee.END OF SPOILERSMan, if this cartoon did not give you a headache already with plot holes and the Banshee's annoying voice (the moment I saw her, I wanted to beat her up for myself!), you are one brave soul (or sado-masochist).If you want good claymation specials or animated movies, look elsewhere!