Why 1968’s “The Little Drummer Boy” Was Taken Off TV ?

For many Americans, Rankin/Bass holiday specials are as familiar as eggnog and twinkling lights. But “The Little Drummer Boy” (1968)—a stop-motion Christmas special loosely built around the famous song—has had a rockier broadcast history than classics like Rudolph. The short version: it wasn’t “banned” nationwide, but controversy over racial stereotyping—especially its portrayal of Arab characters—led some stations to drop it and many broadcasters to avoid making it a yearly staple.

What “The Little Drummer Boy” Was
Produced by Rankin/Bass, the special first aired in December 1968, with an early broadcast in Canada followed by a U.S. telecast on NBC.
The story centers on Aaron, a Jewish boy, whose life is shattered after bandits kill his parents. He’s later forced into a performing caravan and eventually encounters the Magi on the way to Bethlehem—bringing the narrative directly into the Nativity tradition.

Why It Became a Target for Removal
The main reason the special was “taken off TV” (as people commonly describe it) traces back to public criticism that the film depicted Arabs using racist stereotypes. In 1991, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) criticized the program for portraying Arab characters as greedy kidnappers with exaggerated features, arguing it sent harmful messages—especially to children.

That year, a Detroit station, WJBK-TV, responded to complaints by withdrawing a scheduled rebroadcast after having already aired it—an incident widely cited as the moment the special’s TV footprint started shrinking.
Importantly, reporting at the time also noted that Detroit appeared to be a rare case of a market pulling it outright, even though the complaints were part of a broader pattern.

Why It “Disappeared” From Regular Holiday Lineups
Once a title becomes controversial, broadcasters often decide it’s not worth the risk—especially for family programming with plenty of alternatives. Over time, the special shifted from being a possible annual network repeat to something that surfaced sporadically, depending on local programming decisions and distribution windows.

There were also practical hurdles. A later attempt to restore the film ran into serious archival problems: the original 35mm negative reportedly went missing, limiting the quality and ease of modern re-releases.

Is It Still Available Today?
Even if it’s no longer a universal broadcast tradition, the special has not vanished completely. The property has continued to circulate through changing distributors, and related Rankin/Bass programming has aired on cable in more recent eras.

Bottom line: “The Little Drummer Boy” wasn’t erased from TV everywhere. But public backlash over stereotyping—especially the 1991 protests and station pull—helped push it out of mainstream holiday rotation, and restoration/distribution complications made a full comeback harder.