Hardrock, Coco and Joe facts for kids

Hardrock, Coco and Joe — The Three Little Dwarfs is a short animated cartoon from 1951. It uses a special animation style called stop motion. This means objects are moved tiny bits at a time and photographed, making them look like they move on their own! The cartoon is based on a fun song by Stuart Hamblen. It tells the story of three of Santa Claus' special helpers who ride with him on his sleigh every Christmas.

This short film has become a beloved "Christmas Classic" that many people watch each year. It first became popular on Johnstown, PA WJAC-TV. Later, it was shown on Chicago's WGN-TV. The film is quite old, so it's entirely in black-and-white.

The cartoon was made by Centaur Productions. A talented artist named Wah Ming Chang did the stop-motion work. The film is very short, lasting less than three minutes. This cartoon is often shown along with two other short Christmas cartoons: "Suzy Snowflake" and "Frosty the Snowman".

Meet Hardrock, Coco, and Joe

The story of the cartoon comes from the song it's based on. Each of the three helpers has a special job on Santa's sleigh.

Who Does What?

• Hardrock: He is the one who drives Santa's sleigh. He makes sure they get where they need to go!
• Coco: She is the navigator. Coco uses maps to guide Santa and Hardrock on their journey.
• Joe: Santa doesn't really need Joe for a specific job. But he takes Joe along because he loves him so much! Joe is the smallest of the three. He looks very boyish. It's funny because he has a very deep, bass voice.

The Famous Song Chorus

The cartoon features a catchy song that helps tell the story. Here is the chorus:

Oh-lee-o-lay-dee, o-lay-dee-I-ay

Donner and Blitzen, away, away

Oh-lee-o-lay-dee, o-lay-dee-I-oh

I'm Hardrock!

I'm Coco!

I'm Joe!

You can find this program on DVD from the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Cartoon Parody

Many years later, a new group of animation fans discovered this Christmas classic. It happened through a TV show called TV Funhouse. This show was a spin-off from the cartoons on Saturday Night Live.

Christmas With Tingles

In one episode of TV Funhouse, called "Christmas Day", the Hardrock, Coco, and Joe short was made fun of. This type of humor is called a "satire" or "parody." In the parody, the cartoon was called "Christmas With Tingles." Instead of spreading Christmas cheer, an elf named Tingles magically spreads tension and guilt during the Christmas season.

The parody cartoon looked a lot like the original. It used black-and-white stop-motion animation. It also had spoken lyrics with a singing group, just like the original.

Yo-dee-yo-die-deedle, deedle-ee-dee

Awkwardness and anxiety,

Yeedle-dee-doo-deedle, dee-deedle dension

"I'm Tingles the Christmas Tension!"

The song in "Christmas With Tingles" sounds almost exactly like the song from the Hardrock, Coco, and Joe cartoon. This cartoon was also mentioned in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.