Prologue to R.O. Blechman's animated television special "Simple Gifts" . This prologue piece is designed by Maurice Sendak, animated by Ed Smith , with watercolor by Sara Calogero. Music composed by Arnold Black. The entire special was directed by R.O. Blechman. The quality on this clip is not the greatest since it is from an old VHS tape recording of the show. As far as I know PBS has not aired this again in recent times. It's a beautiful Christmas special that really should be released on DVD.
Richard O'Connor has posted an original drawing from this sequence on his blog :
O'Connor relates this about animator Ed Smith:
Once I asked Ed Smith (who animates in ink) what he does when he makes a mistake.
His response: "I'll let you know when that happens."