Leprechaun's Christmas Gold RECAP

Thanks to AMC purchasing the rights to many of Rankin Bass's holiday specials, I spent the weekend binge watching a lot of the stop motion specials including some which Freeform chose to not air during the 25 Days of Christmas for the past two years in a row, among the four specials that never aired on Freeform durning the nearly two year run, were The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold, Pinocchio's Christmas, Little Drummer Boy Book II and The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

 Possibly one of the most strangest Rankin Bass Holiday Specials, I don't ever recall watching The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold special unless it was 2007 and I was in the middle school at the time. Yet I can see why this special isn't remembered fondly unlike other Rankin Bass Christmas Specials like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman and The Year Without A Santa Claus.

The special itself is confusing, it feels more like a St Patrick's Day special than a Christmas special, It's also confusing what the timeline is unless it is supposed to be in the 15th or 16th century Ireland. Anyways a cabin boy name Dinty Doyle goes to an uncharted island to pull up a pine tree for his captain who plans to use the tree as a Christmas tree. While on the island, Dinty finds out he isn't alone as he spots a family of leprechauns peaking through the bushes. Unintentionally Dinty pulls up the pine tree and out pops a banshee called Old Mag the Hag, finally free from her prison she casts a storm that causes Dinty to get shipwrecked on the island. However the storm briefly stops and a rainbow appears that lures Dinty to a secret shamrock patch where it opens to reveal a horde of leprechaun gold.

Dinty starts to go crazy over seeing a bunch of gold and encounters Blarney the head leprechaun who at first gets territorial over his gold, and later invites Dinty for tea and to tell him the story of how Old Mag the Hag terrorized the leprechauns for their gold even causing a part of Ireland to split off the mainland and end up in the middle of a sea until the lord of the leprechauns tricked Mag into turning into tears which of course is how the pine tree was planted to keep Mag trapped there forever. There is also a story of Blarney having an argument with his wife over Mag's disguise as a fairy godmother and they break up. Dinty confesses to having pulled up the tree and releasing the banshee and Blarney is distressed so he drinks his tea which unbeknownst to him was spiked with a potion by Mag the Hag herself. However even though he is drugged he gives the gold to Dinty and makes him promise to never give Mag the gold.

While trying to get off the island, Dinty encounters at the beach a girl named Colleen who claims she was the only survivor of a shipwreck, Dinty is too stupid to realize Colleen is Old Mag the Hag herself as she continuing sheds tears which is a give away for banshees but he tells her about the leprechauns and how he became in possession of their gold. Colleen suggests he give the gold to her so she can give it to the leprechauns and have them build a boat for Ireland. Dinty agrees and gives her the gold and Colleen transforms into her true form as Old Mag the Hag herself, she casts Dinty into a deep sleep of a hundred Christmas and goes to get her Christmas gold but before she can do anything the sun for Christmas morning has risen and her time is up, Dinty awakens from his sleep, Mag transforms into tears and is washed away by the waves, Blarney and his wife make up and the ship Dinty was on appears on the horizon that carries everyone away back to Ireland.

The special itself is forgettable and why do the leprechauns care if Old Mag the Hag takes their gold? Is she going to enslave the leprechauns? Overall it's not a great special, It's cute but that's about it. Many of the songs like Golden Gold of Ireland, the Killarney's shoes etc are forgettable and have nothing to do with Christmas. Christmas in Killarney is alright,

Take it for what it is 5/10