meisterburger23 Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey is a sweet, yet sad Christmas Special.The story starts with our narrator Santa's donkey who explains his ancestor Nestor, Nestor was a donkey born with very long ears. The other animals on the farm where he lived were mean and made fun of him. Olaf the donkey owner was also cruel and called him insulting names. The only person who was kind to Nestor was his mother. One night Roman soldiers come to the farm and want some young donkeys. Olaf shows them all the young donkeys and they take them. they take Nestor but he puts up a struggle causing his long ears to be shown. The angry soldiers take the young donkeys for free and leave Olaf furious that he lost a sale. Olaf tosses Nestor out into a blizzard and his mother has enough and breaks out of her pen to rescue her son. Homeless and alone Nestor and his mother find a drift bank and his mother digs a hole so she can cover Nestor up with herself to keep him warm. Tragically Nestor's mother dies in the blizzard sacrificing her own self for her young son. Nestor wanders the world alone until he meets a cherub called Tilly who tells Nestor he must travel to Bethlehem.After a journey Tilly takes Nestor to a donkey dealer and Nestor spends the next months being ridiculed and abused by the other animals. One night Mary and Joesph arrive and want to purchase Nestor because they've fallen with his gentle eyes. The dealer gives Nestor for free. Mary Joseph and Nestor travel thru the desert and get caught in a sand storm, but Nestor uses his ears to hear the voices of angels and gets the two to Bethlehem where in a manger Jesus is born. Nestor returns to his farm where the animals and Olaf greet him with loving embrace.This special is sad because Nestor's mother obviously dies and also there is a little abuse among the animals but it is forgiven in the end. I recommend this special for kids and nostalgia adults. It also teaches how that you have a purpose and God created you for that special purpose

Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) Here is another Christmas special from Rankin/Bass that I love. It is about a little donkey with long, long ears named Nestor, who would become the donkey who would aid Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Now for those of you with sensitive hearts, you might cry at some scenes - just a reminder.I thought Rankin/Bass did a good job in creating another Christmas classic, with the soundtrack, the story line, the moral (which I do not mind at all); Roger Miller (voice from Disney's Robin Hood) was superb. There is even some real history in this on the Roman Empire. So overall, I love this TV special.

Woodyanders Tiny ostracized donkey Nestor has trouble fitting in because of his abnormally large ears. One fateful day Nestor gets thrown out into a raging blizzard, loses his mother, and hence has to fend for himself. Nestor embarks on a journey to Bethlehem. He's guided along the way by his helpful guardian cherub Tilly (given an endearingly hoarse voice by Brenda Vaccaro). This lovely, moving and uplifting fable about discovering your self-worth and achieving your destiny benefits greatly from its engagingly warm and simple story that has nice elements of the Disney classics "Bambi" and "Dumbo," a pleasant and positive tone, cool stop-motion animation, and a marvelous array of catchy and folksy songs (the titular number is especially charming and tuneful). Country singer/songwriter Roger Miller makes for a wonderfully amiable narrator and sings the aforementioned songs with his trademark infectiously hearty aplomb. Legendary voice actor supreme Paul Frees lends his gloriously mellifluous golden throat as both Nestor's cruel owner Olaf and a sleazy donkey dealer. Granted, this particular yuletide TV special starts out pretty sad and depressing, but eventually culminates in a truly touching happy ending. A sweet, sparkling little gem of a show.

ann_outsider 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!