Thanks for the blast from the past! I remember seeing this as a kid in the ‘70s. It kind of freaked me out at the time. Seemed very dark and sinister at the time. Turns out that it was animated in the Soviet Union.
It seemed a bit dark for me, too. Especially for a children’s film. However, remembering Linkletter, and his fondness for children, felt the film would be well received. Interesting to note that not only the US celebrates Christmas. The fact that to some degree 1950s Russia acknowledged it as well.