Famous Christmas Donkeys Part 2 - Dominick the Donkey (1960)

 Dominick the Donkey is a Christmas song written by Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg and Wandra Merrell, and was recorded by Lou Monte in 1960 on Roulette Records. In a later release of the song it was retitled "Dominic the Donkey". The song is about a donkey who delivers Christmas presents to the children in Italy because the reindeer are unable to climb the hills there. Sure it's silly but the song is really catchy with the chingedy chang chorus and Dominick's hee-haws.
 I want to make it very clear, I love this song. However, there are questions. Why would  flying reindeer need to climb hills at all? Couldn't they just fly over them? We all know the toy factory is in the North Pole so why is Dominick delivering items made in Brooklyn to the fine boy and girls of Italy? This whole thing doesn't seem legit. My best guess would be that the mob told Santa Italy was their territory and they have their own jolly fat man who uses a donkey to deliver their poorly made goods. Just a theory. Would love to hear yours.

Video with lyrics

Lyrics

Hey! Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

It's Dominick the donkey.

Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

The Italian Christmas donkey.

(la la la-la la-la la la la la)

(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Santa's got a little friend,

His name is Dominick.

The cutest little donkey,

You never see him kick.

When Santa visits his paisons,

With Dominick he'll be.

Because the reindeer cannot,

Climb the hills of Italy.

Hey! Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

It's Dominick the donkey.

Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

The Italian Christmas donkey.

(la la la-la la-la la la la la)

(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Jingle bells around his feet,

And presents on the sled.

Hey! Look at the mayor's derby,

On top of Dominick's head.

A pair of shoes for Louie,

And a dress for Josephine.

The labels on the inside says,

They're made in Brooklyn.

Hey! Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

It's Dominick the donkey.

Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

The Italian Christmas donkey.

(la la la-la la-la la la la la)

(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Children sing, and clap their hands,

And Dominick starts to dance.

They talk Italian to him,

And he even understands.

Cumpare sing,

Cumpare su,

And dance 'sta tarantel.

When Santa Nicola comes to town,

And brings du ciuccianello.

Hey! Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

It's Dominick the donkey.

Chingedy ching,

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

The Italian Christmas donkey.

(la la la-la la-la la la la la)

(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Hey! Dominick! Buon Natale!

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

(hee-haw, hee-haw)

Famous Christmas Donkeys Part 1 - Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)

                                                                  

  Reindeer get a lot of praise and promotion around the Yule season. I'm guessing that's because they have really good publicists or may be doing "extra" work for the big guy. Oh...you know exactly what I'm talking about. "Extra" work. And that's why I am proudly dedicating the next few blogs to famous Christmas donkeys! They deserve the spotlight too!!

  Let's start with Nestor. He appears in the 1977 Rankin-Bass holiday special "Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey". As some of you may be able to surmise....Nestor is born with very long ears, it may or may not (probably) have something to do with his name. Not to get too sidetracked, but in this snow blogger's humble opinion someone really should look into the high incidence of birth defects at the North Pole. I mean come on people!! There is a large elf (little people is the pc term by the way Santa) population, red nosed reindeer, flying reindeer, abominable snow men, long-eared donkey's, snowflake girls named Suzy, living snowmen...trust me, the list goes on and on. Santa's probably been dumping his rocket sled fuel near the stables and what not and should be ticketed!

  In true Christmas special tradition, Nestor learns to over come his disability and accomplishes great things. I have to say though, if you are one of those emotional PETA types then you had best watch this special on ABC Family, it's currently aired there every year but is edited. That's right, a claymation style Christmas movie needs to be edited for today's mamby pamby audience. In 1977 people were made of tougher, more heartless stuff.

  The special starts off showing how Nestor is made fun of by all of his donkey brethren because he constantly trips over his own ears. Why this guy can't tie them up top like a bun is beyond me. One fine evening after some weird pagan animal solstice celebration Roman soldiers come and demand donkeys for the emperor. They buy them all of them, but get angry when they realize Nestor is such a freak! Using this as an excuse they take their money back from the donkey salesman or whatever he is and take the donkeys anyway, all except Nestor. Well the donkey vendor is obviously angry because he now has no donkey crop and is left with Nestor. He picks Nestor up and whips him at the barn wall! Then this beast of a man picks up the donkey and throws him out of the barn where he ricochets off a tree and is left presumably dead!! Hardcore!! Nestor's mom isn't having this so she leaps out of her stable thingy and runs away. She finds Nestor, but a blizzard comes along. Mom covers Nestor with her body while the storm rages on. Cut to the next day or season,,it's not really clear...and mom is dead!! Nestor cries and is about to give up hope when a cherub tells him to sack up, there's a special mission for him. He must go to Bethlehem. Eventually Nestor ends up on the outskirts of Bethlehem, and is purchased by a certain Joseph and Mary. They need to get to Bethlehem proper because baby Jesus wants out in a major way. Suddenly a sandstorm comes and the trio are blinded. Nestor's moms ghost who is also the Cherub and possibly the spirit of God or an angel (you figure it out and let me know) starts to sing a song that only Nestor's big ears can hear. By following the song he quickly gets the young couple to a manger just in time for baby Jesus to be born and becomes a donkey hero!

  The songs in this special were sung by Roger Miller. I don't really know him. According to Wikipedia he's won a few Grammy's and is in the country music hall of fame. Not too shabby. I really do like most of the music in this special. The theme song has been covered by Marty Robbins. There is also a funny Riff Trax version available on their web site.

  The song "Don't laugh and make somebody cry" is edited out of the ABC Family version, possibly due to copyright restrictions or because it sucks. Some of the donkey abuse is gone from their broadcast version as well. I would recommend picking up the dvd version if you're a ghoul like me and want to see Nestor getting flung around or if you really enjoy the song "Don't laugh and make somebody cry". Nestor can be found either on the Warner Brother's release "The Year Without a Santa Claus" which has "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" and "Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey" as bonus features or it can also be found on a Warner Archives Collection dvd with the movie "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus".

      Marty Robbins version of  Nestor's song with clips from movie

 

          Sample of the Riff Trax episode of Nestor

The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot (1937)

  I stumbled on this song a few years back. Believe me little helpers, I've heard some depressing Christmas songs over the years, and this one is up there in my top 5 of all time for sure. It's not the king singing about a blue Christmas, or a soldier singing about their Christmas in Vietnam (trust me we'll get to that song some other time), it's a song about a boy who has no father that was forgotten by Santa! Ahhhhh...mazing!! And then you ask....how do I know he has no father? Well silly, it's mentioned in the song of course! I guess in 1937, while this country and the world was in the midst of the great depression, being forgotten by the one guy who shouldn't forget anyone wasn't enough. Gee guys while you're at it why not burn down this kid's house and condemn him to repeat this day over and over a la Groundhog's Day?
  Of course the Christmas ghoul in me finds such glee and delight in the sheer sadness of it. This poor kid hasn't been naughty, he was just so insignificant that Santa completely forgot to go by his home or orphanage or box car or whatever. I mean come on!!! Santa, the jolly old fat man who keeps track of all of the good boys and girls, Santa who has a massive city at the North Pole staffed with thousands of elves, helpers, mystical all seeing crystal balls and light up reindeer somehow missed this guy? And that's not to mention that he supposedly checks his list twice. Two list checks and this kid doesn't make the cut! It makes me wonder are their others Santa has missed? Are there thousands of children who have slipped through the yule cracks due to the North Pole's inefficiency? Maybe, just maybe there is a child army who vow vengeance on the man in the red suit! Or maybe Santa just decided he really didn't like the kid in this song and gets a kick out of his sadness. Who can say?
  According to Wikipedia - "The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" is a 1937 song written by Michael Carr, Tommie Connor and Jimmy Leach; most notably performed by Vera Lynn. It is also known for the use of her version in the opening scene in the Pink Floyd film Pink Floyd—The Wall.
Other people who have recorded it include Johnny Adams, Billy Mackenzie, Elsie Carlisle, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Billy Cotton, John Farnham, Alex Harvey, and Arthur Tracy. A portion of the song was sung by Jim Belushi in the 1996 film Jingle All the Way.
                                                    
Lyrics

He's the little boy
That Santa Clause forgot,
And goodness knows,
He didn't want a lot.

He sent a note to Santa
For some soldiers and a drum,
It broke his little heart
When he found Santa hadn't come.

In the street he envies
All those lucky boys,
Then wanders home
To last year's broken toys.
I'm so sorry for that laddie,
He hasn't got a daddy,
The little boy
That Santa Clause forgot.

Spoken:
(You know,
Christmas comes but once a year
For every girl and boy,
The laughter and the joy
They find in each brand new toy.
I'll tell you of a little boy
That lives across the way...
This little fella's
Christmas is just another day.
He's the little boy
That Santa Claus forgot,
And goodness knows,
He didn't want a lot.)

In the street
He envies all those lucky boys,
Then wanders home
To last year's broken toys.
I'm so sorry for that laddie,
He hasn't got a daddy,
The little boy
That Santa Clause forgot

 

So, there you have it Christmas fans. Stay tuned for more of my favorite Christmas things!

 

Unofficial video of the song, the Nat King Cole version