Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa (found CGI animated Christmas special; 2002)
Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa is a musical 2002 CGI Christmas special from Wolf Tracer Studios Inc. and J Rose Productions that aired on The WB on December 25th, 2002.[1][2]
Premise
Believe in Santa was to be the start of a franchise introducing a group of kids known as the "Rapsittie Street Kids." During the special, Nicole, a spoiled and cynical girl, receives a teddy bear as a gift from her classmate Ricky. Nicole sees no value in the bear and trashes it until she learns the sentiments behind the gift and the "true meaning of Christmas." Nicole and her friends attempt to hunt down the trashed stuffed animal before it's too late.
Reception
The special was met with overwhelmingly negative criticism regarding its storyline and poor graphics and animation. Many viewers took to the internet to express their disbelief that the special had aired with that quality of computer graphics.[3] Believe in Santa featured several high-profile voice actors including Mark Hamill, Nancy Cartwright, and Paige O'Hara.
Rarity
The special was increasingly obscure because it was aired sporadically at the discretion of local affiliates across the US. The special never aired again after its 2002 airdates and has never been released on any form of home media.
A soundtrack featuring Whitney Houston that was advertised during the special was not released either (it is unknown if songs from the alleged soundtrack were from Houston's One Wish: The Holiday Album), although a Christmas album titled Through a Child's Eyes features songs from the special (the titular song being played in the end credits).[4]
The special ended with a teaser for an Easter-themed follow-up called A Bunny's Tale. However, it was never produced.
Before resurfacing, the only footage that had been recovered of Believe in Santa was from a Wolf Tracer demo reel that also includes footage of their other CGI animated film Dinosaur Island (which was also lost but then found).
On September 13, 2015, Lost Media Wiki founder Dycaite was given a copy of the special and released it during Found Media Week.
Production
The daughter of one of the creators has stated that Wolf Tracer, the company that animated the special, provided concept art of significantly better quality than the final product. Her father trusted the animators and in fact, never checked in on their work. His first time seeing the animation was on the night the movie premiered. He had spent around $500,000 USD on production.[5]
The project was first known as The Bash Street Kids, and the name was changed to Rapsittie (inspired by "Rhapsody") to avoid legal trouble with The Beano's "Bash Street Kids" comic strip. The characters were animated with a program called 3D Choreographer, which the animators frequently struggled with using.[6]
Gallery
Footage
Videos
See Also
- 3D Choreographer (found build of CGI animation software; 1992-2006)
- The Rapsittie Street Kids in A Bunny's Tale (lost production material of cancelled CGI-animated television Easter special; 2003)
External Links
References
- â promarktv.com's Believe in Santa page. Retrieved 28 Feb '16
- â Official Believe in Santa website. Retrieved 06 Mar '14
- â CG Society Believe in Santa thread. Retrieved 06 Mar '14
- â Tweet showcasing Through a Child's Eyes CD. Retrieved 03 Dec '20
- â Kennedy Rose's Tumblr post about her father's involvement with the special. Retrieved 26 Dec '16
- â The Making of the worst Christmas special of all time Retrieved 29 Dec '20