The Cricket On The Hearth

In 1967, Rankin/Bass Productions produced a 50-minute animated television adaptation of the story, featuring the voices of Roddy MacDowall as the Cricket, and father and daughter Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas as Caleb and Bertha, with various other characters voiced by Paul Frees and Hans Conried. This adaptation cuts several characters, including the central pair of John and Dot, focusing solely on Caleb and Bertha.[15] Television Corporation of Japan (now Eiken) provided the animation, while seven original songs were written and composed by Maury Laws and Jules Bass. Like The Daydreamer (1966), The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye (1972) and Marco (1973) which were all responsible for the use of stop motion "Animagic" segments, this special was a Rankin/Bass production produced with Danny Thomas/Aaron Spelling Productions that combines live-action segments hosted by Danny Thomas and animation by Rankin/Bass.