Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey

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Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey

TV-G

1977

23m

Kids & Family

Holiday

Adventure

Animation

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

60%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Guided by his guardian cherub, an orphan donkey realizes his destiny on the road to Bethlehem.

AV Club Staff

AV Club

12/06/2018

Nestor isn't the best Rankin-Bass special, but it's worth seeing for its serious midsection and gratifying conclusion.

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Erik Adams

AV Club

12/05/2018

This is the best way to tell the Christmas story in Animagic: with the proper amount of pathos and levity -- and fun character design, too.

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Emily St. James

Vox

12/05/2018

Muller's script is willing to go for the jugular in terms of pathos. Plus, watching this one lets you realize how much terror of being made fun of as a child animates Rankin/Bass.

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Rachel Wagner

rachelsreviews.net

04/17/2019

6/10

It's harmless enough.

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Ryan Voyles

Paste Magazine

12/05/2018

As a whole, Nester is a well-intentioned (if lesser) version of the "misfits can make a difference" story that Rankin/Bass did much better in Rudolph. The story is thin and sometime struggles to fill the brief 22-minute running time.

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Gavin Jasper

Den of Geek

12/05/2018

A terrible rewrite of Rudolph without any of the magic.

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Michael T

11/28/2024

Greatest Xmas Movie!

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01/14/2021

It was sweet, but kind of pointless. Nestor was cute, but the story was just too funny to really be taken seriously. And the songs! They were hilarious. Good for kids, but not much above that.

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12/25/2020

Classic Rakin & Bass. The story of the donkey that carried Mary.

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12/16/2019

I loved the movie, will watch the movie with my kids and grandkids.

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12/05/2019

This looked like a cute Christmas story, unfortunately Nester's mother dies at the the beginning. My daughter, who was 3 at the time was inconsolable. Did not see that coming. Fortunately, at the end Nester's Mom's spirit appears and the issue was resolved. It's not bad as a Christmas movie. Just a warning, if you have young kids who may be easily upset, you might wanna skip this one for a couple of years.

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12/27/2018

A solid Rankin/Bass effort.

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Jules Bass

Director

Arthur Rankin Jr.

Director

Roger Miller

Speiltoe

Eric Stern

Nestor

Brenda Vaccaro

Tilly

Paul Frees

Olaf

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Synopsis

Guided by his guardian cherub, an orphan donkey realizes his destiny on the road to Bethlehem.

Director: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Screenwriter: Romeo Muller
Rating: TV-G
Genre: Kids & Family, Holiday, Adventure, Animation
Release Date (TV): Dec 3, 1977
Runtime: 23m