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[Jesus4me]

I was wondering what people are thinking of the updated shows for Old Time Christmas. I loved "It's a Wonderful Life". There was a story, it had heart, laughter and joy and set itself apart from all the other shows in Branson. And the new music for the Christmas Carol has no heart and I do not know why they made the change. Just my opinion but want to know what you think.

[biscuitcreek]

Change in music for A Christmas Carol was made due to copyright issues. I wasn't a fan of It's a Wonderful Life and not a fan of the replacement. So I can't vote in the poll because there is not a good option for me to select.

[Jesus4me]

The new songs for the Christmas Carol are terrible, and they would be better off with a whole new show. It is unwatchable,

[ThemeParkFan]

I actually didn't like IAWL. To me, it wasn't a good adaptation of the story, and it had a nasty habit of showing all of George's bad sides and just telling us about the good ones. By contrast, the new show last year was a breath of fresh air and exactly what the park needed IMO. Wonderful singing and just a pleasure. The fact that it is apparently getting changes makes me wonder if I'm in the minority on that, but for me it was exactly the sort of show the park needed. I'm not entirely sure why it apparently wasn't received well enough to stick around in the same fashion as it was last year.

Christmas Carol with the changes wasn't as good, but I understand they didn't really have a choice. Honestly, it might have been stronger if they had changed more of the story around the songs too-it felt all the more jarring and noticeable since essentially everything other than the songs stayed the same.

I'm guessing no one will agree with me, but I think MORE of the park's Christmas entertainment could stand to be overhauled-some of it's a bit musty. Not that they need to chuck everything they're doing out entirely, but see what they can do to freshen some of it up a bit. Some of those shows have been around seemingly unchanged for well over a decade.

[Lampie]

I'm guessing no one will agree with me, but I think MORE of the park's Christmas entertainment could stand to be overhauled-some of it's a bit musty. Not that they need to chuck everything they're doing out entirely, but see what they can do to freshen some of it up a bit. Some of those shows have been around seemingly unchanged for well over a decade.

I agree. I might get crucified for this opinion but I'd like to see almost every Christmas show get some refreshing. Including the train and the parade. Before the haters come at me, I'm not saying don't tell the story of Jesus. Keep telling the story of Jesus, just in a new way.

[Jesus4me]

The park claims they changed the music in the Christmas Carol because of copy right laws. Well ALL the other shows on the Branson Strip seem to have no problem with "copy rights"? I think another Great idea would be to replace the Christmas Carol with "Santa Claus is coming to Town." A Broadway show with popular songs as "Santa Claus is coming town, Toymaker of the King and One foot in Front of another. Would be great. The park has the "rights" to Rudolph the Reindeer, why not add on to this with Santa Claus is coming to Town.

[ThemeParkFan]

It depends on what the songs are that would make them subject to copyright. A lot of classic Christmas carols and songs aren't really under copyright, and so wouldn't be affected.

But SDC, off the top of my head, used over the last several years:
1. You Got a Friend in Me
2. POTC theme music
3. Somewhere in My Memory from Home Alone (Christmas Carol)
4. Money Makes the World Go Round (It's a Wonderful Life)

Probably some others I'm not remembering too, but point is, they got caught/dinged/whatever and that caused them to reassess.

Perhaps the other shows in Branson were properly paying to license songs, or the songs just weren't under copyright. A lot of Christmas staples aren't. But you can't just, say, use songs from Disney movies, not pay for it, and expect that it won't catch up with you. That's entirely on them.

If they wanted to do Santa Claus is Coming to Town, they would likely need to license all of that separately. Additionally, the fact that they are licensed to use the Rudolph characters in a certain context does not likely mean they can do whatever they want with the Rudolph story. That would likely be separate. Chances are they have permission to use the characters in a few clearly specified instances and nothing more.

[Preachin_Bill]

The park claims they changed the music in the Christmas Carol because of copy right laws. Well ALL the other shows on the Branson Strip seem to have no problem with "copy rights"? I think another Great idea would be to replace the Christmas Carol with "Santa Claus is coming to Town." A Broadway show with popular songs as "Santa Claus is coming town, Toymaker of the King and One foot in Front of another. Would be great. The park has the "rights" to Rudolph the Reindeer, why not add on to this with Santa Claus is coming to Town.

Its a cop out.
Not only did they change the show but they fired the two best actors.
Anyone know of a video of the old dickens show?

[kbosch1]

Anyone know of a video of the old dickens show?


https://youtu.be/jEziL39bHgc

[palallin]

I agree. I might get crucified for this opinion but I'd like to see almost every Christmas show get some refreshing. Including the train and the parade. Before the haters come at me, I'm not saying don't tell the story of Jesus. Keep telling the story of Jesus, just in a new way.

I do not believe it is possible to improve on Luke 2.

[palallin]

I think another Great idea would be to replace the Christmas Carol with "Santa Claus is coming to Town."

There is already far too much emphasis on the twisted figure who is the antithesis of the real Reason for the Season.  Santa Claus stands for everything Christmas should NOT be.

[runner1960]

I never really liked Dickens either way. Guess I have seen that story in so many different forms for so many years I just was burned out on it. If my group went to it I usually napped during it . I really enjoyed the new show last year but will not see it this year since we are not going during OTC. I can handle the train and Grandpa story since it really does not shove religion down your throat. To each his own I guess but we come mainly for the lights and rides and not the shows.

[Jesus4me]

The park claims they changed the music in the Christmas Carol because of copy right laws. Well ALL the other shows on the Branson Strip seem to have no problem with "copy rights"? I think another Great idea would be to replace the Christmas Carol with "Santa Claus is coming to Town." A Broadway show with popular songs as "Santa Claus is coming town, Toymaker of the King and One foot in Front of another. Would be great. The park has the "rights" to Rudolph the Reindeer, why not add on to this with Santa Claus is coming to Town.

Its a cop out.
Not only did they change the show but they fired the two best actors.
Anyone know of a video of the old dickens show?

This is the real Christmas Carol show. https://youtu.be/jEziL39bHgc not the counterfeit garbage they have now. The park does not have a Rudolph meet and greet area either this year and the parade was not as good. It is probably the last year for Rudolph in the park.

[shavethewhales]

It certainly feels like some of the Christmas event is falling off at the park. It's just so crowded plus staffing issues make it hard to put on as good an experience as we enjoyed in the past, and that's before we get into all the issues with the shows. I think they might have to reboot some things soon, especially shows, but right now they are still trying to get the park to the point where it can handle the crowds better. Give it a couple years and I think they'll go back to refreshing and featuring shows again.

[sirwillow]

It depends on what the songs are that would make them subject to copyright. A lot of classic Christmas carols and songs aren't really under copyright, and so wouldn't be affected.

But SDC, off the top of my head, used over the last several years:
1. You Got a Friend in Me
2. POTC theme music
3. Somewhere in My Memory from Home Alone (Christmas Carol)
4. Money Makes the World Go Round (It's a Wonderful Life)

Almost every song in Dickens, with only a couple of exceptions like Ave Maria, are under copyright from other parties and they have to pay licensing fees to use those songs.  Some in Dickens were from the Polar Express, some from the musical movie Scrooge, and a few others.

I've heard 2 different things- either they hadn't been paying the licensing fees for those songs in the past and were hit with a cease and desist order, or the holders of the copyrights raised the amounts they were wanting for SDC to use the songs by a large amount.

Either way, SDC decided what they would have been charged to use those songs wasn't worth the cost, and that's why they are no longer used in the show.  Using them would result in a costly lawsuit.

That's not true for many Christmas carols, which are in public domain. But those songs most definitely are not.