We are now three deep into Mondo’s line of 1:12 scale action figures based on The Real Ghostbusters. Well, we’re now six deep counting the ghosts, but I personally passed on both Boogie Man and now The Sandman who has been released in tandem with our third Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddemore. At this point, we know what to expect from Mondo with these figures. The Ghostbusters all share many parts and accessories and that is very much true for Winston. With Egon, we saw a new torso to elongate him some, or at least, a new neck. With Winston, we’re dealing with basically a carbon copy of Peter with a new head. That may mean Winston is a little less exciting to receive compared with the other figures, but it’s no less good.
Winston, like the previous characters, is a sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mark Bristow. He comes in the same ghost trap inspired box as the other single sets and stands at around the 6.5″ mark making him actually a little large for true 1:12 scale. He has his very pale blue/green jumpsuit with the no ghosts logo on the right sleeve. He has the same loop and gadget on his belt as Peter and Egon and his default portrait is a neutral expression. Curiously, mine appears to be looking up slightly given the position of the eyeballs and I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not. The promotional images seem to reflect a more head-on stare, but maybe this was a change or just a slight variation. I’m curious if other figures are the same.
He’s always looking up.
The paint for Winston is fairly clean and has a nice, soft, appearance. The paint isn’t perfect as the laces on the boots have some slop and the left elbow pad does too. There is some black linework which helps to give the figure an animated appearance and Winston has a bit of undershirt visible, like Peter. The portrait looks like the character from the show, in particular the earliest episodes. Winton’s alternate portrait is a slightly angry one with arched eyebrows and a hint of a scowl on his lips. The eyes on this one are also tilted up slightly. Considering he would be looking up at many of the ghosts encountered it makes sense.
Rosebud is a fun addition to the companion ghosts.
Winston’s other accessories are identical to Peter’s including his gear and the optional gloved hands. Paint on the proton pack and trap are crisp and clean and his effect part for the particle beam is the same as well. The only new items with Winston are the included small ghost and the trap effect. For the trap effect, he comes with Sandman since that’s the larger ghost he’s sold with in a two-pack. The sculpt and paint are quite impressive on this little guy and there’s some translucent electricity around him as well which looks nice. It fits a little more snug in the trap than the past two accessories and I can’t get this one to actually stand when in the trap either so that’s a little annoying. The companion ghost is Rosebud, a Citizen Kane homage in ghost form. He’s more static than Slimer and the intro ghost as his arms barely move, but the sculpt and paint look terrific and I love how he’s riding on a sleigh. He is slightly leaning to his right and I don’t know if that’s on purpose or just a variation in the production. He’s fun though and a nice addition to the other ghosts.
You’ll just have to pretend that they’re busting Sandman.
Winston’s articulation is identical to his co-workers which is to say it’s fairly basic. Unfortunately, Mondo hasn’t made any running changes to the production process to improve what’s here. The hips are still very tight, and in particular my figure’s left hip. The other joints are mostly okay while the head is still too restricted. The lower ball joint is set too deep in the neck to allow the figure to look down and the head doesn’t really tilt back either. Interestingly, he has the same ball joint as Peter for the head where as Egon had a larger, more mushroomed, one. The ball-peg shoulders are poor substitutes for butterfly joints and Winston will have to hold his proton wand across his chest to have a two-handed grip on it. He’s only going to hit the most basic of poses and if Mondo ever does do a vehicle for this line all of these figures will struggle to sit down in them.
Does busting make him feel good?
Winston is a pretty simple review: if you like Peter and Egon then you’ll like Winston. If you weren’t pleased by those releases then Winston will do nothing to change your mind. He is, for better and worse, the exact same aside from his portraits and a pair of accessories. And you’re certainly allowed to be picky and want more from a figure that retails for $101. These guys are not cheap, and while they do feel like they’re of a higher quality than a lot of figures in this scale, it’s hard to find $101 of value here as well given the articulation limitations and amount of reuse, but if you’re put off by the price tag with this line then that’s something you likely decided long ago. It’s why I’ve been picky with the ghosts as I don’t need them. The Real Ghostbusters was the first toy line I really got into as a kid so there’s a tremendous amount of nostalgia in it for me. I’ve wanted a set of Ghostbusters modeled after the show in a line like this and I’m mostly content. I look forward to receiving Ray in the coming months so all four are together at last.
If you missed our other reviews of the figures in this line then see below:
It’s a Halloween miracle! The second figure in the Mondo The Real Ghostbusters line of action figures, Egon Spengler, had been bumped to November. Even when I got my shipping notification from Mondo it said a delivery date of November 1st. It felt almost cruel to receive a Ghostbusters toy the day after Halloween, but…
I didn’t do a big 2024 wrap-up type of post like I sometimes do, but if I did I would have awarded toy producer Mondo with the biggest reveal of the year when they debuted their line of action figures based on The Real Ghostbusters. The Real Ghostbusters was one of many 80s properties to…
The 1980s sometimes feel like they belonged to the Ghostbusters. That’s because, for me, the Ghostbusters were always around. The film came out when I was but a wee baby, but by the time I had a real interest in television The Real Ghostbusters (not to be confused with the Filmation series) was airing…
It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with its creation. I believe he contributed some broad concepts, but I don’t know the specifics or have long since forgotten them. Even though the anime is loved by few, some of its creations have endured. Namely, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Credited to Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, the concept of the transformation was to return the Saiyan race to a more primal state. It’s sort of like the great ape or oozaru form seen in Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z turned into its own version of a Super Saiyan. It was a drastic departure from the golden haired look of the prior Super Saiyan forms adorning Goku with red fur and returning to him his tail for the first time since early Dragon Ball.
This Goku is little, but not as little as past Goku.
When Toriyama decided to return to the world of Dragon Ball, he basically cast GT aside. I would not read much into that as far as what Toriyama felt about the show’s quality. It felt more like a case of returning to the end of Z after the battle with Buu was just the most logical launching-off point for a new story. The fact that Toriyama didn’t have an emotional attachment to the events of GT certainly helped. In his return which first began with the film Battle of Gods but quickly morphed into a whole new series in Dragon Ball Super, Toriyama (together with his protege Toyotarou) basically made the events of GT impossible to have occurred. A lot of that is due to the creation of the new Super Saiyan God power-up and its offshoots. Even so, the legendary manga writer and artist must have seen something in GT he liked because he decided to basically take its premise and turn it into the non-canonical Dragon Ball Daima.
It’s like some kid hanging out with the cool uncles he idolizes.
Daima was basically Toriyama’s final gift to Dragon Ball fans before passing on. At least, as far as we know. Like GT, it begins with the premise of a villain using the Dragon Balls to return Goku to a child, only with Daima all of Goku’s friends suffer the same fate. From there, it’s basically its own thing as the plot involves Goku and friends traveling to the Demon World to rescue Dende and prevent the new lord of the realm from amassing enough power to become a problem for everyone. It takes place in between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super even though there really wasn’t a whole lot of time separating the two to begin with. The series began in a mostly plausible manner as far as canon is concerned, but eventually became something that is clearly non-canon. And the most canon breaking event of the series is Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan 4.
For a 90s creation, Super Saiyan 4 does have a pretty 80s looking hairstyle.
If you have yet to watch Daima (and I recommend you do – it’s great), then apologies for that spoiler, but the mere existence of this figure is essentially a spoiler. Toriyama must have liked something about the form to use it himself in his new series, or he was just throwing a bone to the fans that did enjoy it. From what I have gathered, Toriyama is responsible for the look of Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Daima, but in truth it differs little from the version designed by Nakatsuru. Goku still regrows his tail and finds his body covered in red fur, only the shade is slightly more purple than the pinkish it was in GT. The hair on his head follows mostly the same shape, but now it changes to be the same color as the fur as opposed to black. His iris now turns red instead of gold and the heavy outline around his eyes is black instead of red. The most noticeable difference is the slight alteration in proportions. In GT, Goku basically retained his normal shape, but in Daima his hands and forearms become oversized giving him a slightly more ape-like appearance. He also remains a child when transforming while in GT he literally goes from a child to an adult by transforming. I’m not sure what the rationale for that was at the time, maybe because the oozaru form is basically the same size for an adult and child Saiyan, but it’s an odd quirk of the form.
You can’t touch this one.
For the toyline, Bandai opted to release this Super Saiyan 4 Goku figure via its Premium Bandai offshoot. Like other releases in the past, this largely means it’s just a more expensive, limited, version of a relatively standard quality figure for the S.H.Figuarts line. Because Goku does increase in mass with his transformation, none of the parts created for the other Goku Mini figures are reused here. He’s also taller than those releases at approximately 3″ where I envision the top of his head being and 4″ to the highest spike of his hair. Most of the figure is colored plastic with the paint hits reserved for the bare portion of the chest and abdomen as well as a small area on the forearms. The white laces on his boots are also painted and the details of the face. Bandai did a good job of matching the flesh colors between the painted parts and non, but the linework isn’t the sharpest as there’s some overlap on the chest. The faces look fantastic while the laces are just okay as it’s white over blue. The only cheap looking aspect of the figure are those orange pants. There’s no shading on them at all and it’s unfortunate. At least a little paint around the waist might have lessened the cheap look.
He’s got some big old paws on him. They’re not quite as big as adult Goku hands, but they’re close.
The sculpt and overall proportions are very good here. At first I wondered if the hands actually could have been made even a little bigger, but in returning to the anime it looks pretty accurate. The length of the legs and torso look good and the hair sculpt is great. Like many other releases in this line, the hair is quite sharp and pointy so do be careful when posing or swapping faces. I do enjoy the oddball nature of the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. I’ve always liked the concept of the Saiyan harnessing their primal side in a focused, contained, manner. The switch from black hair to red is also one I approve of as the black haired look of the old transformation always created a bit too much of a contrast for me with the reddish fur. The redesigned proportions also work well here, especially on the kid version of Goku. It actually adds a little cuteness to the design and it’s hard not to draw a comparison to the video game character Tomba.
Sorry Vegeta, I don’t have an appropriate bad guy for him to fight so you’re going to have to take one for the team.
The expressions included offer a nice range for this character. We get a cocky smirk, stoic, teeth gritting with a side eye, a yelling, and a more exaggerated yell. They all seem to serve a purpose and it’s hard to resist the cocky expression. The face-printing is all excellent with some nice linework between and under the eyes. The paint is clean on the teeth and inner mouth for the yelling expressions. For hands we get a mostly stand array with fists, chops, martial arts posed, open, and Kamehameha hands. There’s also a set of hands for the standard Goku Mini (which would also work with the Super Saiyan version) that have little, translucent, yellow, orbs in them like a blast about to be fired. There’s also an extra, right, Kamehameha hand with a flame effect molded into it. This effect is done with translucent orange plastic with a hit of yellow paint. It’s intended to connect to the effect part – a Kamehameha blast. The blast is made of translucent blue plastic with hits of white. There’s also two translucent, orange, flames encircling it for a neat look. There’s an included post in clear acrylic to help it stand and it keys into the effect hand in two ways allowing the hand to be on top or under. I found getting the hand onto Goku as well as the post into the blast difficult without heat pretty difficult, but keying the two parts together is simple and effective. It’s probably the nicest blast effect part I’ve yet received from Bandai topping Beast Gohan’s beam cannon.
He comes with two of these little ki blast hands for the previous Goku Mini.
Goku’s articulation is mostly the same as the prior mini versions, with some differences including one that was a bit odd. He has the usual joints in the usual spots: head, neck, shoulder, butterfly, bicep, elbows, wrists, diaphragm, waist, hips, thighs, knees, ankles, and tail. The very small size can make utilizing some of these joints tricky. The diaphragm, for one, is hard to work independent of the waist and the butterfly joint sometimes doesn’t move as far as it looks like it can. The head is pretty locked down by the hair, but he can turn his head some and look down. The two, lower, rear pieces of his hair do move, but it doesn’t really free anything up much. The front pieces that come over the shoulders are not independently articulated like they were with the GT figures. The tail is just a ball peg and loves to fall off which is annoying. The elbows are double joints, but they don’t bend past 90 degrees due to the forearm size. The knees are single joints. The wrists were the most surprising part as they are just ball pegs. There’s no hinge so the hands just move on that ball, and for the most part, only rotate. I haven’t really missed the hinge, but it was a surprise to see. Range at the hips is pretty typical of the line, but he does have a diaper piece now so there’s some restriction. He won’t do anything truly spectacular, but he seems to be able to hit the key Goku poses.
I almost hate it when an effect is this good – how could I possibly display him without it?
This release is a pretty typical Premium Bandai release. It’s a good sculpt with good enough articulation. The accessory load-out is slightly better than a general release item while the price is higher. This one was $70 plus $10 shipping so he was essentially an $80 figure. That’s pretty steep for a figure of this size. It’s not as if much more went into it when compared with the $35 Goku Mini so a value buy it most certainly is not. It was exclusive though so if you want it now it will likely cost you even more. I do like the figure and I like this look for Goku. That’s the main motivation for buying it. If you like this version, then you’ll be content with the figure. It won’t blow you away, and I feel like I say that a lot more often these days with Bandai, but it won’t really disappoint either. Unless you end up paying $130 for it or something, then it might let you down because it certainly isn’t worth that.
For more Daima and Super Saiyan 4 goodness, check these out:
When Akira Toriyama sadly passed away in 2024 it shocked the world of manga and anime. While his passing was sudden to those confined to the fandom, he at least had one more adventure to deliver in the world of Dragon Ball that would be unveiled later in the year: Dragon Ball Daima. I’ll talk…
We’re back with another action figure review from everyone’s favorite version of Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball GT! And really, the only thing people remember from Dragon Ball GT is the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Designed to bring the Saiyans back to their more primal roots, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is pretty much on an…
In the world of Dragon Ball, there are varying opinions on which version of the anime is superior. Dragon Ball Z is unquestionably the most popular, but there are people (like me) out there who swear by the original Dragon Ball that came before it. More recently, Dragon Ball Super has entered the fray and…
Yes, I’m afraid this is another toy review that needs to begin with a word about tariffs. It was the talk of 2025 in the toy collecting community because it caused considerable delays, disruptions, and worst of all, increased prices across the board. One line impacted by the introduction of these new costs more than most was Mondo’s line of sixth scale action figures based on the Marvel cartoons X-Men and X-Men ’97. These figures, being around a foot tall and consisting of unique parts, extravagant paint apps, and numerous accessories already carried a hefty price tag. Most had settled into the $235 range, but with free shipping that made it slightly more palatable. That was all out the window once extraordinary tariffs were introduced. Mondo was forced to add a tariff fee to its products to help offset the costs which, for this line, typically ran $20. Then there was the removal of the de minimis exemption on shipments under $800 which blew up Mondo’s shipping policy to ship directly from the factory to your door. Now, they had to go the shipping container route, bring everything to port, truck it to a warehouse, and then ship it from there. Free shipping was gone replaced with an option totaling over $20 and then add on the usual sales tax and you end up with a line that now runs over $300 a pop.
Even at sixth scale, he’s a bit of a little guy.
Nightcrawler was the first victim of this new world. When he initially went up, it was the limited version with a price tag of $245. When I went to check out, the total came out to over $300 and gave me a great deal of sticker shock. Mondo’s line appeals to me as a fan of X-Men ’97, but it appeals to me even more as a fan of the original cartoon. That’s the collection I want to assemble on my shelf, but Nightcrawler wasn’t really essential to such a display. He appeared in a mere two episodes during that original run, and while I like both, the space requirements of such a display and the cost gave me pause. I wanted to think it over and also wondered what the standard version would cost, but before Mondo revealed that the limited one sold out. I guess others weren’t as indecisive as I was. Eventually, the standard version was put up for sale and it cost $230, a nice price break, but it came at a cost. The X-Men ’92 portrait that was included with the limited version was omitted making this standard version truly an X-Men ’97 release. I admit, this frustrates me. The line began as one based on the original show and it was a request by Marvel to add the ’97 branding. For most characters, Nightcrawler included, there isn’t a big difference between the look so it’s easy enough to please both customer bases, but locking the ’92 version behind the limited paywall betrays that spirit. I complain, but obviously I gave in because I do like Nightcrawler an awful lot and knew I’d regret not having him on my shelf.
Nightcrawler is so popular he even has his own in-universe toy.
Nightcrawler comes in the same box as the rest of the line with new artwork by Dan Veesenmeyer and production artwork behind that. Even though this figure is truly an X-Men ’97 release, all of the production art is from the original series episode “Bloodlines” which is kind of amusing. There’s a character bio from Eric and Julia Lewald on the inside of the cover flap and there’s the usual display window behind it. Nightcrawler is a sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mara Ancheta. He is one of the smaller figures in the line just barely outdoing the most recent Wolverine at around 10.75″. He’s far less chunky than the Canadian and quite lithe giving him a similar in-hand feel to the line’s smallest release, Jubilee.
He’s also well-armed.
Nightcrawler is depicted in his classic red, black, and white costume which is true to both shows. Paint is clean and it’s accentuated with blue linework which is how he’s shaded in both shows. The face has an abundance of black shadows cast across it which looks excellent and is how every Nightcrawler figure should be done at any scale. He has that tuft of hair which is the most recognizable aspect of the ’97 look and the eyes are a bright yellow. His black hair has some streaks of blue in it which helps convey the highlights we see in the show and I love how the white hands and feet stand out against the darker colors of the costume. I don’t know if it’s said enough, but Nightcrawler really is one of the best designs in comics (hat tip to Nightcrawler’s creator, Dave Cockrum). There’s a reason why he’s rarely strayed from this look which dates back to his original appearance from the 1970s. I love that X-Men ’97 added him to the main cast partway through the inaugural season and it appears that he will remain in the main cast going forward. That’s a terrific pickup as, next to Morph, Nightcrawler is the one I would have most wanted to see added to the roster.
He passes the crouch test.
Mondo had a challenge in bringing a character like Nightcrawler to plastic. The other characters from this line can get away with being a little stiff when it comes to posing, but Nightcrawler is a literal acrobat. He needs to articulate better than the rest. Mondo had a similar challenge before it with Spider-Man and, in my opinion, mostly dropped the ball there. With Nightcrawler, I’m happy to say they faired much better. He doesn’t have much in the way of additional joints, but the functional ability of what’s there is improved. What’s not is the head and diaphragm. The head is still really tight as the lower ball joint in the neck doesn’t like to move. The diaphragm joint is similarly stubborn, though it fares a little better with Nightcrawler than it did with Spider-Man. What works well is the waist which rocks in all directions quite well. His hips have more range and the double-jointed knees and elbows are super smooth. The same is true for the ankle hinges which border on being so smooth they’re loose, but I never had any issues standing Nightcrawler. He can get into a crouch which is necessary for such a character and he’s even better at doing so than his Marvel Legends counterpart thanks to the addition of toe hinges. His tail is also done with a wire and it’s perhaps the most poseable wired joint I’ve ever encountered. These figures typically aren’t much fun to pose, but Nightcrawler is the rare entrant who actually is.
Bamf! effects in action.
To accentuate those poses we have a slew of alternate parts and accessories. For portraits, there’s a neutral one and a smiling one. While the neutral one is executed very well, it’s the smiling portrait that I am almost certain to display exclusively. The limited version came with the original series head as well as one based on the pilot of the original X-Men cartoon, “Pryde of the X-Men.” I really want that ’92 portrait, but oh well. For hands, he has a set of fists, gripping, open, and style posed hands. For effect parts, he has a trio of “bamf!” effects. These are all cast in translucent, pink, plastic with one intended to clip on his shoulder and the other two on each arm. You could probably put them on a leg too if that was your preference. They’re sculpted to resemble the smoke that appears when Nightcrawler uses his teleportation powers and if you got the limited version you would have received a fourth piece that’s intended as a base. They’re easy to make use of and add a nice visual splash to a display.
These two proved to be a formidable pair in X-Men ’97.
If you watched X-Men ’97 then you undoubtedly recall Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s defense of the mansion during the eighth episode. In it, Nightcrawler finally was given a sword to wield which. Even going back to his original Toy Biz figure, Nightcrawler has been associated with blades for quite some time. And in that scene he had a saber, or cutlass, that resembled that old figure and Mondo included it here. It has nice paint effects on the blade and slots into a gripping hand quite easily. Nightcrawler, being an ambidextrous acrobat and accomplished sword wielder, wasn’t content to just handle one sword. He also found some decorative fencing blades in a study and took them down from the wall. He has one to grip in his other hand, but that still wasn’t enough for Nightcrawler. That prehensile tail of his needed a weapon too so that’s where the third sword went. Mondo included an extra tail where the end is coiled like a fist. The third sword separates where the handguard meets the pommel and can slide effortlessly into the extra tail to outfit Nightcrawler with all three weapons. Even if I had that coveted ’92 portrait, I would have been hard pressed not to pose Nightcrawler with all three swords in hand (and tail).
The stand, plus Nightcrawler’s poofy hair, lends itself well to inverted poses.
Feeling that wasn’t enough to really capture the spirit of the character, Mondo also used this occasion to provide collectors with an improved stand. It’s a badly kept secret that Mondo’s doll stands it includes with all of its sixth scale figures is pretty crappy. I almost never use them and many have never even been removed from the package. For Nightcrawler, we get a new model that includes a poseable post and a gripping claw for the end. The base is still the standard circular base with the X-Men logo painted on. The post plugs into that and the claw…goes on somehow. I don’t know what the intention was, but I had to remove the crotch piece and unscrew the clip in order to get it onto the post. It was still a tight fit and I reassembled it once on the post. Some instructions would have been helpful. Once assembled, it works as intended. The claw has some nice tension and the gripping part is lined with a soft material that should protect the paint. The crotch piece adds some stability, though it might not really be needed though could come in handy with heavier figures. This is the stand we should have received with Spider-Man and I hope it’s the standard going forward even for characters that don’t necessarily need it. It’s unfortunately not coming with Mr. Sinister, but is with Storm. Lastly, Nightcrawler comes with a Bamf doll accessory. He’s fully painted and plenty adorable. I don’t know why Nightcrawler has small effigies of himself, seems to go against his religious convictions, but it’s a cute little detail from the comics and an appropriate accessory.
This guy just looks terrific. It’s an instant upgrade for any display.
While I was and likely will remain salty about the removal of the original series portrait for the standard edition, it’s hard not to be pretty happy with how Nightcrawler turned out. He’s simply one of the best releases in the line combining the incredible presentation qualities Mondo is known for with an unexpected fun component the line ordinarily doesn’t possess. While I do enjoy swapping in and out portraits and effects, I rarely enjoy the act of posing these figures. That’s not the case with Nightcrawler and I feel like I’m wasting the figure’s potential when I leave it in the same pose longer than a week. Nightcrawler is a fan-favorite and that’s likely partly why the limited version did sell out relatively quickly, even at an increased price. It’s a reputation that’s been well-earned over the decades since the character’s introduction. If you can get past that increased price, even for the standard version, you’ll find an excellent figure. Other retailers won’t have the $20 surcharge Mondo charges, or their shipping fee, though many have added an apparent tariff fee to the base price. Big Bad Toy Store currently has this edition of the figure priced at $245 while Entertainment Earth has it at $250. Both have cheaper shipping options than Mondo so you’ll save some money going through them instead, but if you want to buy direct form Mondo he’s still in-stock there for $230 with an additional $20 tariff charge. If you’re in on this line or just a big Nightcrawler fan looking for a nice one-off in your collection then I think it’s worth it. And if you intended to just be collecting the main cast from the ’92 show then I do think you should think long and hard about passing on Nightcrawler. You may come to regret it.
For more from Mondo’s line of sixth scale Marvel figures look no further:
Back in 2021, Mondo unveiled for San Diego Comic Con a sixth scale Wolverine action figure based on the X-Men animated series from the 90s. It was a presale to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the show’s premiere and product went out in 2022 closer to that actual anniversary. At the time, Mondo wasn’t…
It took a long time for Mondo’s Spider-Man to get to me. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to even buy it. I passed on the Mondo offering in 2024, debated the symbiote costume variant, but ultimately passed on that as well. The X-Men line from Mondo is my true love and…
After putting a real hurting on my wallet in 2023, Mondo decided to take it easy in 2024 with its line of sixth scale action figures based on the animated series X-Men which ran from 1992-1997 on Fox Kids. Two figures ended up getting released this year, Rogue and now the leader of the X-Men…
Just about every iteration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has its own Shredder. He’s the big bad villain of the franchise despite having the dubious honor of being killed off in the very first issue of the comic book series. For the 2012 series, Shredder was back as the head of a crime syndicate and portrayed as a brutal, ruthless, threat to the good guys. Gone are the days of the Shredder surrounded by moronic henchmen entrusted with far too much responsibility. This Shredder is violent and enjoys inflicting harm upon his adversaries, both physical and psychological. There is no redeeming quality to him and he’s quite good at what he does. And if you’re going to have a figure line based on this version of the franchise, you have to do him justice.
This Shredder is not the screwball these other two are.
The Shredder is the sixth figure in NECA’s line based on the 2012 animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Despite that distinction, he’s the fifth release and I suspect the only reason why he’s numbered six is because it worked better for the mural that’s being displayed via the spine of the box art. This is a sculpt attributed to a trio of individuals/entities: Daniel Katcher, Richard Force, and Kushwara Studios. Nicole Falk is credited with tailoring the soft goods cape and Ciro Nieli handled the box art. Paint is credited to Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo.
That’s a lot worse than a rat scratch.
Shredder towers over the turtles in this line coming in at approximately 7.125″ to the top of the dome of his helmet. He’s a broad shouldered, but somewhat slender, Shredder perhaps having more in common with the Mirage portrayals of the character than appears at first blush. He’s still adorned with armor and lots of bladed features. The blades of his shoulders jut out from his body as opposed to vertically and his gauntlets are almost ludicrously large. The garment he wears beneath his armor is a dark magenta while the armored bits are done with a shiny silver. Those spikes are all rigid and sharp. He looks pretty on-model, though as one of those characters often obscured by shadows in the show it can make it a touch hard to determine just how on-model he is without pulling out numerous stills and production art. If anything, his arms and chest might be a little larger in figure form than it is in the show, but since it adds to his presence I’m not considering that a negative.
He can also get angry. And stabby.
The paint on Shredder is fairly rudimentary not calling for a lot of pizzazz, with one exception. Underneath the removable helmet is the burned visage of Oroku Saki. He’s pretty ugly looking and NECA did a good job of capturing that. He has an alternate portrait which portrays him as more angry and it’s every bit as good, though won’t really change the look of the figure once the helmet is put back on. The colors all match well whether they’re painted or not and there’s no obvious paint slop anywhere on my figure. Some of the finer details are less than perfect, but certainly acceptable for a mass-produced item. The cape is pretty plain as most NECA capes tend to be. It’s just a thin, black, material though there is a wire through it, just probably not where you want it to be. The wire is merely at the top of the cape and used to hook the cape under the pauldrons. It’s easy to take on and off, but it’s a shame NECA won’t do fully wired capes for posing.
They have no chance one-on-one with Shredder.
Aside from the alternate portrait, Shredder comes with three sets of hands: fists, gripping, and relaxed. For weapons, he has six blades to make use of. In the show, Shredder had retractable blades built into his gauntlets which were his weapons of choice. He has two long ones and one central blade with a diamond-shaped point. You get four of the long blades and two of the center blades which just plug into his gauntlets. You can fit all three into each hand at once, but it is a little busy looking and I don’t think he ever went into battle in such a manner. He also comes with a lone Kraang alien. The little guy looks the part and is well-sculpted as well as well-painted, but not articulated. One set of tentacles is shaped into a curve while the other set is more flat which makes it a challenge to do much with if it’s not being held. I’m guessing we’ll be seeing this guy, or variations on him, quite a bit if this line endures.
I don’t like the B Team’s chances here.
Shredder’s articulation is fairly basic and likely what someone familiar with NECA would expect. The head is on a double ball peg, though it’s limited a bit by the helmet. The arms feature joints at the shoulders, biceps, elbows, and wrists while the torso just has a waist joint. That waist joint is a ball joint, but because of the shape of his breastplate it can’t do much. Range rotating is extremely limited and he can’t crunch forward much and only tilt back a little bit. The bicep swivels are a little odd looking, like his shoulders are a touch too small, which may limit their range as well if you don’t like how they look. Hips are standard ball-joints with a thigh swivel and they work fine. Knees are double-jointed and the ankles hinge and rock. My figure does have some stuck and stubborn joints. The top elbow hinge on both arms doesn’t want to do much while the left ankle was also problematic. The gauntlets can rotate which is nice and the boots swivel too so you can keep the armor lined up with your posing.
Shredder is proof that the good guys don’t always win.
Shredder is going to be pretty limited when it comes to posing. Mine also seems to have a loose right ankle and he’s a challenge to stand sometimes. He also already took a shelf dive and his right pauldron broke off which is irksome. I had him in a pretty vanilla pose too. The torso is aggravating because NECA could have tweaked his design just a little bit to keep that breastplate from causing a problem, but opted to just plow forward with it the way it is. I always make it a point to mention that NECA prioritizes the aesthetics over articulation as I think that’s their right as action figure makers, but sometimes they go too far. There are very minor sacrifices they could be making to improve the experience, but they choose not to do so. I have probably over a hundred NECA figures at this point and I suppose some NECA fatigue is setting in. Rarely am I impressed with what I get because so often the figures just meet my expectations as opposed to exceeding them. I don’t think it’s a requirement that every figure need to blow me away or anything, but it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised once in awhile.
Thankfully, Shredder doesn’t need incredible articulation to have shelf presence.
Shredder is a B+ entry in the line. He looks like the character and is pretty menacing, he’s just not at all fun to mess around with. Some of that is the character design as there are lots of sharp things to avoid and the blades have a tendency to fall out. And then some of that is just on the engineering for a figure that can’t do a whole lot. Most will likely just have him stand there on their shelf and that will be that. And that’s what I plan to do with him. I have no plans on going too deep with this line, but I knew I wanted a Shredder to go with the turtles. This mostly gets the job done.
If you missed the rest of the 2012 NECA TMNT toy line coverage then check these out:
After a bit of a hiatus due to the Christmas holiday, we have reached the last of the four brothers from NECA Toys’ line of action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 2012 animated series that aired on Nickelodeon. And who better to save for last than the party dude himself: Michelangelo. Mikey…
We are onto the third member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its everyone’s favorite hot head. Raphael got softened for the 1987 cartoon series to make him sarcastic and a bit of a goof-off. He didn’t take anything too seriously and had a certain dry wit about him. It’s quite different from his…
We were able to get through some of the logistics of this line with Leonardo, so for this second review we can just get right to it. One of the best decisions the 2012 iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made was bringing back veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen. He’s voiced countless characters over the…
When X-Men premiered on Halloween 1992 the big bad guy of the day wasn’t Magneto, it wasn’t Apocalypse, it was the Sentinels. The mutant-hunting robots were chosen because they represented the threat from humanity as it pertained to the protagonists of the show. Any show or comic book can put some scary dude in a cape and call him the bad guy, but X-Men wanted you to know that the biggest threat out there for the heroes was humanity itself which had allowed its fear and bigotry to manifest itself in the form of giant, killer, robots. It sounds kind of crazy, even silly, but it worked as those cold, detached, humanoid robots stalked a young girl and even killed one of the X-Men. And when it came time to bring the X-Men back for X-Men ’97 it was decided pretty early on that the Sentinels needed to be a focal point of that return season.
So…this guy is so big my background is basically useless. And I even cut off the top of his head in this comparison with a standard Marvel Legends release and a Mondo sixth scale one.
The Sentinels, being 30′ robots have never made for easy toys or action figures. Back in the old days, there was a Sentinel toy that was probably 14″ tall or so and was more of a play thing than something that looked cool or intimidating. The legs didn’t move, it had blast off hands and toes, and there was a retractable claw on one hand. It seemed almost lame even to me, but I still bought it when I had 20 bucks burning a hole in my pocket. In the Marvel Legends era, the Sentinel was the second build-a-figure and was the first I completed. It was more of a modern look, but still cool and I hung onto it for a long time until eventually selling it when I thought I was done with Marvel toy collecting (hah!). More recently, we’ve had a HasLab Sentinel, smaller arcade game Sentinels, and now this new made-to-order one. The HasLab model has been basically Hasbro’s crowd funding way to make more riskier products. It has always struck me as ridiculous that a company the size of Hasbro needs to resort to crowd-funding for anything, but the model has worked mostly well save for a failure here and there. The newer made-to-order model is simpler and something that strikes me as a better way to do things. They put a product up for a price and if you want it you order it, and if you don’t you don’t. It took about 14 months for fulfillment, but the Sentinel is here and hopefully it’s spectacular.
The battle damaged face looks great and is good for punching.
The Sentinel retailed for $175 direct from Hasbro with free shipping. It arrived in a brown box with a brown shipper box inside it. Within that is the actual product box. It contains a graphic on the front illustrating what’s inside with a larger picture on the right spine of a Sentinel in action. The other side has a group shot of the cast of X-Men ’97 and the rear has a cross-sell along with a shot of the figure in action with other X-Men ’97 action figures. There’s no window so if you got this as an in-box collector it might not do the trick for you, but if you just want a box that looks nice and fits in with the other X-Men ’97 boxes then this is fine. Inside it is another brown box and tray with the figure inside. It comes bagged and all of the accessories are bagged as well to protect it as much as possible and it seems good enough. In spite of that, my figure does have some dings on it. There’s light scuffing on the chest and on the side of the neck. I don’t think it has anything to do with how the product is shipped, I think this is just from assembly at the factory, but it’s a little disappointing.
The scene that has stayed with me since 1992.
Apart from those blemishes, the Sentinel cuts a nice figure and presents well. Those scuffs are only visible up close, and while they shouldn’t be there, they don’t really impact my enjoyment of the product. This dude is pretty damn big and even though I saw lots of images online including Hasbro’s display at San Diego Comic Con, it still didn’t prepare me for how big it is. I have the Sentinel at about 22″ in height which is also the advertised height. It has some heft, especially in the lower legs. Now, the plastic is pretty hard and I likened the feel to a Super Soaker when someone asked me my thoughts, but it presents reasonably well. It is a Legends release so there’s not a lot of paint. The darker purple near the collar is painted on as are the black lines. The face has painted details and there’s a little linework on the top of the head and some on the belt. It’s mostly clean, though there is a blemish on the black linework on the rear of my figure that I’ll probably touch up, but the figure isn’t overly shiny. And mostly it just looks like a cartoon Sentinel. It’s based on the updated look in X-Men ’97 which really isn’t all that different from the ’92 look so if you’re interested in it as a fan of the original series it should work. It also works as a classic, comic, Sentinel if that’s your preference compared with the more modern HasLab and should fit into a comic or animated display without issue. And at 22″ I think it has enough size. Are they usually presented as bigger in the show? Yeah, probably, and my guess is they’re more like 30′ tall, but they’re also pretty inconsistent (compare the first episode with the season finale and, in particular, Wolverine fighting them in the tunnels) in the show.
“This one’s for you, Morph!”
And the sucker is so big that I don’t think I could manage to squeeze it into a display at any other height. Nor do I think I could have found room for more than one, but Hasbro would probably like for people to double, or triple, dip on this release and the accessories aid with that. The Sentinel comes with an optional dome and face plate to display some battle damage. The dome is basically just missing a section so it exposes the “metal” underneath while the face plate is all cracked and broken. The sculpt and paint of the optional face plate looks terrific and I suspect it will give folks pause over how to display this thing. To further aid in the battle damage is an optional vent for the chest. This one has two wires poking out of it and it’s sculpted and painted well. Apart from that, there’s a pair of blast effects. They come in three pieces: a wide burst, a smaller burst to sit inside it, and the plume for the center. One centerpiece is longer than the other for a little variety and the parts are made of translucent, red, plastic with yellow painted on for a little pop. The smaller, inner, burst is actually translucent yellow so there’s a nice mix of color. They look good, but I do wish we got more of a beam effect too since that’s how their blasts were represented in the show. They can plug into the hands or the feet so if you have a means of suspending one of these in midair you could do a flying pose. The port on the hand can also accept the tentacle parts that came with the HasLab which is nice for those who have it, but why not toss one in with this set too? It’s already tooled so what could that possibly cost?
If only the VHS Cyclops came with a blast effect.Morph may have died, but Beast didn’t make out too well either.“Surrender, mutant!”
Even though this guy is much larger than your standard Legends release, it still moves like one. I don’t have that HasLab Sentinel, but I know one of the biggest issues people had with it were loose legs. To apparently address that issue, Hasbro put ratchets everywhere on this guy so nothing is loose. If you wiggle it a bit it will jiggle and the arms could move on you, but just don’t do that! The head and neck are separately articulated so there’s good range there. Again, I have some scuffing on the neck of mine, but it wasn’t caused by the articulation though I would still advise being a bit cautious. Shoulders, biceps, elbows, and wrists are all typical Legends articulation. What’s not are the fingers and thumb where each joint is a peg and hinge so you can individually pose each digit which is cool. Toy Biz loved articulating the fingers on the 1/12 figures back in the day and it was awful, but at this size it works fine. There’s a ball-joint at the waist and the crotch piece is a soft material so it can pivot in all directions without worry. Beyond that, we have the hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, boot swivel, and ankle hinge and rocker. Range is pretty fair everywhere. No, he can’t do splits, but he can do walking poses and kick forward, should you want him to. The double joints at the elbows and knees aren’t going to produce much better than a 90 degree bend, but they don’t really need to. They are pin-less, but there’s also exposed screws that are holding things together. There’s no toe hinge, but I’m okay with that as this is more stable. And even with the tight joints, standing him can be a little precarious. I like the proportions, but I kind of wish they made the feet a little oversized to help with that stability, but I also haven’t had this guy topple over either.
If you’re pressed for space, something like this might be the best way to pose this guy.
Is this Sentinel worth $175? Yeah, I think it is. It’s not going to blow you away with how it looks. The lack of paint means it’s not like that giant dragon Four Horsemen solicited last year. It also doesn’t cost the nearly $1,000 that thing did. It’s an oversized Marvel Legends figure with Marvel Legends quality and I think the price is fair. It gets a little dicey post release as Hasbro does have extra product. Since they don’t charge upfront for these made-to-order pieces, consumers are free to cancel and either through that or via extra stock for replacements and such there are some available on the Pulse website at the time of this writing. I don’t know if that will be true when this goes live. They are no longer $175 though and are up to $220. Either production ended up being more than anticipated or those wonderful tariffs jacked the cost up, but it’s now not the same deal it was last year. It could also be part of Hasbro’s plan to reward those who preorder and keep that order with a cheaper rate and upcharge the Johnny-come-latelies. I don’t know, but I do know that $220 feels like a lot more and I’d have serious reservations about that price. I’m glad I don’t have to think about it and locked my order in a year ago, but if you missed it and feel FOMO kicking in then I guess you have a decision to make. Hopefully you got some cash for Christmas or something to make it an easier call. I think the Sentinels are some of the biggest (obviously) and most important villains for the X-Men and I’m so happy to finally get this version of the character in plastic. The HasLab wasn’t for me, but this is. Now where the hell can I put this thing?
Do you need some X-Men ’97 or ’92 figures to battle your Sentinel? Check these out:
Today we finish our look at wave 3 of X-Men ’97 Marvel Legends action figures and I think I saved the best for last. Cable was one of the non-members of the X-Men to play a pretty substantial role in the original animated series. He showed up in multiple episodes in both the first and…
This is it! This is the big one! Back on Halloween of 1992 Fox premiered X-Men and we were introduced to a character named Morph. For comic readers, it was a bit of a re-introduction as Morph was based on the character Changeling, but for copywrite reasons, had to undergo a name change. Changeling wasn’t…
The television event of 2024 for me was none other than X-Men ’97. I loved that show and I can’t wait for the second season to come around. It’s just a shame we may still be as much as a year away, but to somewhat tide us over until then we have this third wave…
If Michelangelo is here then you know what time it is!
After a bit of a hiatus due to the Christmas holiday, we have reached the last of the four brothers from NECA Toys’ line of action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 2012 animated series that aired on Nickelodeon. And who better to save for last than the party dude himself: Michelangelo. Mikey has always been the more carefree, happy-go-lucky, turtle. He doesn’t take anything too seriously and just wants to have a good time. He does have a big heart though and the 2012 version of the character was perhaps the most childlike one we’ve seen yet. He is a teenager like his brothers, but he is the smallest of the four and kind of the baby of the bunch. Maybe there’s a bit of arrested development there, growing up in a sewer probably isn’t the best for emotional growth, but he can throw down when he has to and proved himself shockingly competent when stranded in Dimension X.
Michelangelo is the only one Raph has bragging rights over when it comes to height.
Michelangelo is another sculpt by May Thamtarana with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. He’s number two in the series and with four turtles you can almost complete the mural on the side of the boxes which was done by Ciro Nieli. Michelangelo stands at 5.25″ making him the shortest of the four, as he should be. He has a smiling, almost cherubic, portrait by default which suits the character. Like his brothers, he also has a battle portrait with whited-out eyes and a yelling expression. As perhaps the most expressive of the turtles in the show, it’s a shame we only get the two heads. I’d love a pizza scarfing head, an excited yell, or something even more cartoonish. NECA likely plans on selling us more Michelangelo figures though so they don’t want to give it all up on the first go even if the box does say “ultimate.”
All of the turtles come with a slice, but Michelangelo is the only one who definitely needs one.
Michelangelo’s proportions and coloring looks pretty accurate to the show. He has thin arms and a pear shape to his body as it widens the further down you go. The plastron and belt have some nice distress effects sculpted and painted in while the pouches for his weapons are also present. Paint is mostly clean and NECA made sure to capture the freckles on Mikey’s cheeks. I do have one bit of paint slop near the left knee where it looks like some of the brown from the kneepad transferred to the leg. He’s very pleasing to look at overall and he might be my second favorite in the aesthetics department behind Donatello.
Mikey’s weapons got an upgrade in 2012.Old reliable.I feel like he needs a board to make proper use of these hands.
Michelangelo comes with a fairly substantial assortment of accessories. I already mentioned the second portrait, and for hands we have a set a gripping, pointing, hang loose, a relaxed left, and a C-grip right hand. The hang loose gesture is the same that came with Leo and it’s a much better fit here with Michelangelo. The C-grip hand continues to confound me to some degree as I’m not sure what accessory it’s intended to be used with. I guess the T-Phone, though you will have to heat the hand up first as it’s not quite wide enough to accommodate it. Which, yes, Mikey has a T-Phone as well as a slice of pizza and stink bomb, same as the other turtles. He also has his trusty nunchaku which are painted plastic handles joined by real chain link. The handles come apart where the chain meets them like the toon Michelangelo’s nunchaku, only here we’re not swapping to a spinning effect. Instead, Mikey comes with the longer chain with bladed weapon at the other end. In the show, Mikey’s ‘chuks could basically extend somehow and had a pop-out blade to make them just a little more formidable.
Aww, Icecream Kitty!
The last accessory is probably everyone’s favorite: Icecream Kitty. The mutated cat that lives in the freezer is included and she’s pretty well done. The figure doesn’t move, but it doesn’t really have to. It’s a nice spread of stuff, but with Mikey it feels like more could have been included. Some soft goods, pizza-stained, briefs would have been pretty funny. Some spinning effects would have also been much appreciated. I love the real chain look, but they don’t display well since gravity is always going to do its own thing. Like the other turtles, Mikey’s gripping hands are all really stiff so you may want to heat them up in order to get him to hold anything. With the handles of his weapons coming apart at the chain, they are easier to slip into his hands than some others. His second head also would not go on for me without heat, but your mileage may vary there.
Since we’ve looked at all of the turtles now feels like a good time to bust out the Playmates originals.
Michelangelo’s articulation is the same as the others, but with him the range is a little less. His upper body is so much smaller that getting much range out of the shoulders can be a challenge. The right shoulder on mine is a bit stubborn as well at the hinge. It’s not stuck, but it also doesn’t appear to enjoy being articulated. The hips seem more restrictive as well. The rest are fine and nothing required heat in order to function. He’s going to get into some basic poses, but likely won’t impress in that department.
Ninjas on the prowl.
Michelangelo is about as good as the rest of his brothers. In my book, that makes him pretty solid. This is a line that does a good job of capturing the aesthetics of the show in a very generic way. The characters are unmistakable for what they are, but the available portraits and articulation are limited enough that you likely won’t be able to recreate your favorite scene. That’s pretty par for the course with NECA though which is very much an aesthetics forward approach with articulation and accessory count secondary. Aside from the hands, there is no reuse between the turtles so this isn’t as cheap a line to produce as some which is also probably why a lot of accessories are repeated. NECA was able to keep the MSRP at $38, which while not exactly cheap, is also not horrendously overpriced. These are a much better likeness at a far friendlier price than what Super7 did with its 2003 line. All that is to say if you liked the other 2012 offerings from NECA then you’ll like Michelangelo. And if you bought the other brothers you’re probably not skipping this one anyway. They are the best looking figures based on the show thus far and likely will remain that way for a long time to come. We may be done with the turtles, but we’re not done with wave one just yet as we have one final figure to look at: the Shredder!
If you missed the other reviews of NECA’s 2012 turtles then look no further:
We are onto the third member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its everyone’s favorite hot head. Raphael got softened for the 1987 cartoon series to make him sarcastic and a bit of a goof-off. He didn’t take anything too seriously and had a certain dry wit about him. It’s quite different from his…
We were able to get through some of the logistics of this line with Leonardo, so for this second review we can just get right to it. One of the best decisions the 2012 iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made was bringing back veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen. He’s voiced countless characters over the…
We’re going to start this one off with a question: When you order directly from a producer, do you expect to be first in line for product? NECA’s recent launch of its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line based on the 2012 Nickelodeon series raised this question. On September 16, NECA launched the line…
Before we got onto the conclusion of our big Christmas Special ranking, let me just wish all of you a merry Christmas! It’s cliche, but it only comes once a year and you never know how many you’re going to get in a lifetime. For my family, it’s a somber one as it’s the first Christmas without my mother-in-law. And she absolutely loved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. If she knew I didn’t place that one in the top 10 she’d probably be angry with me, but you know, the top 25 ain’t too shabby either.
The Christmas Spot is a labor of love for me. I love Christmas and I love indulging in it as much as humanly possible each year. And that means watching as many Christmas specials as I possibly can. I love discovering new ones, especially so if they’re new and actually enjoyable, but I also can’t disagree that settling in with an old favorite isn’t a ton of fun too. And a lot of what makes up the top 10 can be described as an old favorite. I suppose that likely comes as no surprise considering the name of this blog is The Nostalgia Spot. With Christmas, a holiday that burns even brighter for children than it does adults, it’s pretty much impossible to separate nostalgia from the equation. I try to be as objective as possible, but I know that I can’t remove those childhood memories and affection from a lot of these. There is a drive to go against the grain, zig when others expect me to zag, but I also hate being a contrarian for the sake of being one. No one likes that guy. As a result, these ten are pretty familiar and not all that different from the last time I did this. It just couldn’t be helped, but their staying power in my heart and in my mind is also a testament to their quality. And I do think I have a couple in here that probably aren’t in a lot of top 10s and I even have two that aren’t even ten years old! That’s enough preamble though, it’s Christmas and you all have stuff to do and places to be, so let’s get to it:
Wayne (right) has to overcome disappointment and deal with a new partner in Lanny this Christmas.
It’s funny how the Disney holiday special Prep & Landing still feels new to me, even though it’s now old enough to drive in most states. When this one first came up I was averse to it for no particular reason. I just lumped it in with Disney Channel fair and assumed it was for little kids, if not outright bad. Boy, was I wrong. It was actually recommended to me by my parents, of all people, who had somehow made it part of their annual tradition. I say “somehow,” but this actually is the rare Christmas special to still get a showing on network television year after year. A lot of those have dried up, but so long as ABC is owned by Disney it seems like we can count on Prep & Landing to be shown every year.
And that’s a good thing because it’s pretty great. In this special, we’re introduced to the concept of Santa Claus having an entire division of elves called Prep and Landing. These elves arrive first and basically clear the area for Santa’s arrival. They’re like his own Secret Service. It’s a genius bit of lore because it opens the special up to spy type missions in addition to traditional Christmas special tropes. Wayne is a part of this division only he’s getting kind of sick of it and seeing his partner get a promotion instead of him basically sucks the life out of him. He gets partnered up with an excitable new recruit named Lanny on the big day (an odd time to announce promotions, honestly) following the bad news and basically tries to coast through the night. Nowadays, we call this quiet quitting. This results in disaster and Santa is forced to pass over the house where little Timmy lives (it’s always a little Timmy) and the shock of that realization forces Wayne back into form in a bid to save Christmas for this kid. It’s a unique setup and a pretty relatable premise about feeling unappreciated at work which honestly is something that likely appeals more to adults than kids. Not that there isn’t plenty for kids to latch onto. That relatable element, and the newness of it all, is what makes this original Prep & Landing much better than its sequels. A new installment was actually premiered this year and if you want my opinion on it it’s fine. Maybe better than Naughty vs Nice, but that’s a discussion for another day. When it comes to what I consider modern Christmas specials, this is the one I use as a measuring stick.
Donald elects to remain in the cold north for Christmas and the results are pretty dramatic.
This Christmas special is one of two in the top 10 that isn’t even a decade old. It also prominently features Donald Duck who appears in a whopping six of the top 10! I knew I was a big Donald Duck fan, but even I didn’t realize it ran that deep. One of those six was Prep & Landing where he just has a cameo, but six is six. This one features the famous duck in the starring role. He is the “duck” in Duck the Halls and that subtitle almost feels like it only exists to placate the ego of a certain mouse. If Mickey is in something, he needs to at least share top-billing with the rest of the cast. It’s like a rule they have at Disney.
This special comes from the most recent era of Mickey Mouse cartoons by Paul Rudish. It takes the classic characters and adds more of a mad-cap feel to them. They’re all allowed to be funny with no straight man to play off of. In this one, Donald wants to spend Christmas with his pals, but since he’s a duck that’s a no-no as he’s supposed to migrate with the rest of the flock. This happens every year, but this time is different as Donald opts to stay. The results are disastrous as the cold weather literally causes the poor guy to fall apart forcing Daisy and the other ducks to stage a rescue attempt. Meanwhile, Mickey and the gang is well aware of Donald’s deteriorating condition and vow to get him south, but Donald wants none of it and basically goes insane and runs around town naked with a tree skirt draped around his shoulders. It’s wonderfully funny with just some great visuals to go along with it. I suppose if you don’t like this non-traditional take on Mickey then Duck the Halls won’t change your mind, but I love everything about it. What it lacks in Christmas feels it more than makes up for with humor and outlandish visuals. I just wish Alan Young had been around to voice Scrooge McDuck.
It’s quite likely that the modern Disney company would prefer you forget this image exists.
I wanted to break these two up, but I just could not do it. Toy Tinkers is our other Donald Duck starring vehicle only this one is much older than Duck the Halls. This comes from the 1940s when Donald was on fire. Mickey may have been the mascot for the Walt Disney Company, but Donald was the star. And in this short, he gets paired up with perhaps his greatest rivals: Chip and Dale. The two chipmunks are going to infiltrate the duck’s home on Christmas lured in by the warmth, festive decor, and those nuts. A bowl of nuts may feel more decorative than anything these days, but to a pair of chipmunks it’s a feast.
Chaos ensues when Donald realizes the rodents have invaded his home. Not one for sharing, Donald essentially declares war which is probably why this Christmas short still remains absent from Disney+. Donald disguises himself as Santa and hands out presents to Chip and Dale, only for a revolver to emerge from one such gift that Donald gleefully shoves in their adorable little faces. Modern Disney probably isn’t crazy about one of its most famous cartoon characters brandishing a realistic firearm in such a manner. And from there, a firefight breaks out. While Donald is using a pop gun, it looks realistic and fires nuts and ornaments like a machinegun. There’s a bunch of war-like parody images as the chipmunks return fire and even explosives are introduced. It’s one of the most Warner-like of all the Disney cartoons. And it’s just a ton of fun and it’s all over in less than 10 minutes. I love this era for cartoons and I love a good Christmas themed short. There’s just one I prefer to this one, but Toy Tinkers is always a good time around the holidays.
Speaking of chipmunks, here we have A Chipmunk Christmas starring those lovable little rascals Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The trio had been in a bit of a lull until the son of creator Ross Bagdasarian, together with his wife Jan Karman, paired up with the legendary Chuck Jones to bring us this animated classic. The chipmunks were given a makeover that is very evocative of the Chuck Jones style and the existence of their classic “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” meant the special didn’t need to come up with its own theme. All it needed was a purpose and a plot.
For that, we get a pretty typical Christmas special plot. Alvin needs to learn how to appreciate what he has and not focus on the “getting” aspect of Christmas. The twist here is he figures that out in the first act when he gives away his prized Golden Echo harmonica to a sick little boy. From there, it becomes a story about how Alvin feels a need to replace that harmonica before his adoptive father, Dave, finds out he gave it away. And in his quest to do so, he appears selfish and greedy in the eyes of his father because he doesn’t know what’s really going on. It’s all going to work out in the end and whatever ailed young Tommy even magically disappears once he gets the harmonica. What I also like about this one is that Mrs. Claus gets to get in on the act instead of her more famous spouse. It’s a delightful little reveal at the end that I can still remember seeing for the first time as a kid. The antics of Alvin and his brothers are fun and this one does register in the “feels” department. Plus, the chipmunks never looked this good before and really never will again making this Christmas special feel all the more special.
In this one, Grandma is going to steal the spotlight from the famed orange cat and that’s okay.
I often here people refer to A Charlie Brown Christmas as this very low energy, low stakes, Christmas special. The way it’s phrased is to imply surprise at its staying power and how universal the love is for the special. One holiday special that might be even more low energy by comparison is 1987’s A Garfield Christmas. In this one, Garfield, Odie, and John head to the farm where John grew up to celebrate Christmas with his family. They have dinner, trim the tree, sing, read a story, and that’s about it. A very ordinary Christmas that is held every year by countless families that are far bigger than John’s. The fact that A Garfield Christmas is so beloved is because it’s driven by its characters.
Garfield is a character that requires little explanation. He embodies the emotions we humans attribute to cats. He’s lazy, enjoys eating, and would prefer to spend Christmas in his nice, warm, bed. In some respects, we can all relate to Garfield. The rest of the family helps to round things out. John and his brother, Doc Boy, provide some humor via their apparent case of arrested development going so far as to try and get their parents up at 1 in the morning to open presents. A lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the emotional side of this special is provided by Grandma. She’s a high energy grandma, but she’s also a sad character as she reveals in a long monologue how Christmas is the time of year she misses her late husband most. It’s the moment in this one where things kind of stop in their tracks. We were having fun just observing this family up to that point and now find ourselves all thinking about the people missing from our own lives this Christmas. If you can’t relate to that part, you will some day. The special has a sweet ending and it’s buoyed by some lovely animation and even some decent songs that do not overstay their welcome.
Homer bets it all on Santa’s Little Helper and it actually hits, just not in the way he expected it to.
The 1980s were a great time for Christmas specials and sneaking in right at the end of the decade is The Simpsons. You don’t need me to tell you about The Simpsons. They’re basically the most famous family in America, animated or otherwise. It will never stop amazing me that this show is still running, but we’re currently in season 37 of the show with no end in sight and it all started with this holiday episode. “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” wasn’t supposed to be the premier of the show, but it’s how it all ended up happening. And as a result no matter how many Treehouse of Horror installments the show does, it will always share a special bond with Christmas for as long as it lives.
Returning to this one annually is always a fun reminder of how this show began. The Simpsons wasn’t all that different from other sitcoms of the era with the main exception being that the family was kind of poor. The premise of this episode is that a thing like Homer losing his Christmas bonus could absolutely ruin the family’s holiday. It’s further compounded by Marge having to blow the family’s rainy day fund on getting Bart’s tattoo removed. Not wanting to let his family down, Homer tries to keep everything under wraps and secretly takes a second job as a mall Santa Claus, but when that ends up only paying out a measly thirteen bucks he’s forced to go to drastic measures and gamble his small sum of money at a dog track in a last ditch effort to raise enough funds to provide for his family. Since it’s The Simpsons, things can’t just work out for Homer in a nice, tidy, fashion, but he and Bart fall ass backwards into an even better present for the family: a dog. It’s also interesting going back to this one because the show is very much not at all concerned with preserving the Santa Claus myth for its audience. The writers definitely envisioned the show as more of an adult one that older kids and teens would probably also find interest in, but it ended up taking off most with a younger audience. As a result, this may be the only one in the top 10 of my list that you won’t want to expose the youngest viewers to, but for everyone else it’s a true classic and remains the best Simpsons Christmas episode.
When it comes to Christmas, this is as good as it gets.
I mentioned it already in the Duck the Halls portion, but Mickey needs to receive top-billing in anything he appears in. Take this cartoon for example which, by all rights, should be considered a Pluto short, but it’s actually considered a Mickey Mouse one. It follows a familiar premise when compared with Toy Tinkers and even comes after it, but I find this one just a bit more enjoyable. It’s also simpler and the violence is far more tame so you can find this one on Disney+ all year long.
Mickey and Pluto begin this one in search of a Christmas tree. While doing so they encounter the pair of Chip and Dale who enjoy poking fun at Pluto for some reason. I guess because he’s just a fairly normal dog while they are chipmunks of a much higher intelligence. Pluto chases them up a tree which also ends up being the one Mickey settles on and the two end up inadvertently infiltrating the mouse’s house. There, they find a lovely home among the well-decorated tree. There’s the allure of nuts as well, but Pluto is not having it. After trying and failing to get Mickey’s attention to point out the rascals, it turns into a chase sequence which basically destroys the tree and results in Mickey strangling his dog. Yes, he really strangles Pluto. Despite that bit of animal abuse, this cartoon short is quite enjoyable and it all starts with the beautiful backgrounds and animation. The interior shot of the titular Christmas tree is the most Christmas shot ever dreamed up in animation. If I had the money and the ability, I’d go to great lengths to own that animation cel of Dale taking it all in. It’s just gorgeous and I love indulging in this one several times a year.
This one could have easily been called Dewey’s Christmas. Or should I say Bluey’s?
This is likely the one that’s going to be the biggest outlier in my list and I am okay with that. When most people my age hear DuckTales they likely refer back to the series that began in the 1980s and was part of the inaugural Disney Afternoon programming block. That show did not have a Christmas episode despite featuring a main character named Scrooge. To make up for it, the 2017 reboot had two Christmas episodes and this first one is one of my most favorite things.
DuckTales is a modern animated series with a strong throughline. It’s not entirely serialized though in such that someone just jumping in at any point would feel lost, but those who have kept up will probably get a little more out of it. And the main plot of the show is that Donald Duck has been left to raise his nephews all on his own, but eventually needs a little help and turns to his uncle Scrooge. The boys have never met their mother and do not even know if she’s alive and what happened to her because their uncle and great uncle refuse to discuss the matter, but they know it caused a major rift in their relationship. And we also have Scrooge who, like his namesake, appears to hate Christmas only in this episode we find out that’s a ruse. He just pretends to hate the holiday (though he truly hates Santa Claus for other reasons) so people will leave him alone freeing him up to go galivanting through time with his friends the ghosts of Christmas. It would seem they visited the wrong Scrooge years ago, but enjoyed hanging out with this one. Using the powers of the Ghost of Christmas Past (who is a cricket in just one of many nods to Mickey’s Christmas Carol), the group travels to holiday parties past, only this year Past is plotting to make sure the night never ends as he’s pretty lonely.
When the group travels back in time, there also happens to be a stowaway: Dewey Duck. Dewey is able to drop-off and land at McDuck Manor back in a time when his Uncle Donald and mother Della lived there as children. It’s through this bit of time travel that the young duck gets to meet his mother for the first time, only he can’t tell her who he is unless he wants to risk his very existence. Even sharing his name could have unintended consequences. It’s a really powerful plot device that only time travel could bring about. We saw Marty McFly meet a past version of his own parents which is interesting, but in his case he at least knew both of them in the present. Dewey has never interacted with his mother and to first do it with her as a child is wonderfully creative. It’s also kind of heartbreaking. The episode is careful to balance this all out with plenty of humor and some action as well as the two plots converge for the climax, but it’s also the sort of plot where if one sits with it and digests it they’ll likely find it pretty affecting. I just love it and there’s some wonderful callbacks in it that even one-time viewers should get. If you have never experienced it then I recommend you right that wrong. It’s the rare holiday episode I watched in the moment and I knew I’d be returning to it for years to come.
Despite knowing how this one will turn out, it never fails to produce some happy tears.
I swear I didn’t set out to spotlight a bunch of Disney Christmas specials, it just worked out that way. Until doing this, I was almost unaware of how much enjoyment Disney has brought me over the years at Christmas time, but there’s no displacing the classics. Mickey’s Christmas Carol is my favorite version of Dickens and it’s not particularly close. Some love the Muppets (ironically, another Disney IP) while some love the more traditional, but for me it’s all Mickey and primarily Scrooge McDuck. This was my introduction to the character who would go on to star in DuckTales voiced by the wonderful Alan Young and I’ll never be able to separate him from Ebenezer Scrooge as a result. A huge tip of the cap goes out to my mother and her Christmas Tape she made in 1987 for me and my sister. On that famed relic, Mickey bats lead-off along with a trio of classic Disney shorts in Donald’s Snow Fight, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, and The Art of Skiing. A truly splendid way to fill an hour of television.
This version of A Christmas Carol quite simply has it all. There’s gorgeous animation, wonderful backgrounds, terrific voice acting, humor, and all the feels one would expect from this classic story. I love Disney’s version of the three ghosts and Marley and they will always be the first images that come to mind when speaking of those characters. The music is terrific and the sequence at the graveyard is both terrifying and heartbreaking. The resolution is as uplifting as it would have been if played by human actors and maybe it’s even better since these characters can emote in very specific ways. It’s kind of amazing what Disney can do with that duck visage which should be pretty rigid, but in the capable hands of Disney animators is capable of any expression needed. I already mentioned Alan Young by name, but this was also my introduction to Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse and he would go on to voice the character into the new millennium. He is probably my favorite Mickey voice actor for this particular take on the character and he’s wonderful here. It’s also the swan song for the original Donald, Clarence Nash, and while he doesn’t have a huge presence in this cartoon he sounds just as good as ever when called upon. My only disappointment with this one is that it disappeared from network television at some point in the 90s. Why? I don’t know, but it never should have. Especially with Disney owning ABC. I’d love to see that 80s block revived, but for now this one can at least be found on Disney+ and is also free to stream on YouTube.
As if it could be any other. Once again, I am declaring the animated classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas! the best Christmas special of all time. At this point, I can’t imagine anything dethroning it. It’s the perfect combination of story, visuals, song, and nostalgia that makes for the best Christmas special. How could one improve upon the Grinch? It plays to those who love Christmas and those who are exhausted by it. The Grinch is both relatable and a villain with a redemption arc. And in the hands of Chuck Jones he looks as good as he ever did and ever will, and we now have two feature length films to prove that point.
I honestly can’t remember if the Grinch was my favorite Christmas special as a kid. It was certainly up there, but I can also recall really loving Rudolph, Mickey, Frosty, and even ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The Grinch was always there though, that really consistent player smack dab in the middle of my Christmas Tape. Working in his favor is the half-hour format. I love a good short, and if a special is special enough to command an hour that can work in its favor too, but the half-hour cartoon is certainly my preference. The songs in this one are simple, but oh so effective. We all know “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” but the songs sung by the people of Whoville are just as catchy and the moment when they all sing on Christmas morning still lands hard for me every time I return to this.
What will always please me the most though, are the visuals and the Grinch and Max dynamic. The Grinch is just so expressive in the hands of Chuck Jones. His scowls, his nervousness, that smile! I mentioned wishing I could afford an animation cel of the interior of the tree in Pluto’s Christmas Tree and right up there would be a cel of Grinch in full smile. Even though an image can’t do it justice since it’s the animation that sells it as the smile just keeps creeping up his face well beyond where you would have expected it to end. And the way his hair unfurls is just the icing on the cake. Max is also adorable as the poor pup victimized by Grinch throughout. He is the sympathetic core of the picture, but he’s also infectious in the few moments he’s excited. We root for the Whos to get their Christmas back, but we also really just want to see Max have a happy ending. I love this one and I will love it for the rest of my days. I cannot foresee a time in my life when I will get sick of watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I am always down for a viewing and it feels like I can’t possibly watch it enough each season.
If How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is not your favorite Christmas special then that is okay. It’s more than okay. It’s okay if your favorite isn’t even in my top 10, 25, or not in this countdown at all. Whatever your favorite is, I hope you feel as strong about it as I do the Grinch. I hope you have that one Christmas special that can turn your day around with a simple viewing. It just makes you happy and helps you to appreciate what a unique time of year Christmas is. I hope you enjoyed this countdown and that you have a wonderful Christmas this year and all the years to come!
If you can’t wait until next year for more Christmas then check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Well folks, we did it! We made it to another Christmas! These things come faster and faster each year which makes something like an online advent calendar helpful as it attempts to keep the season from going by even faster. It’s cliché, but the years go by even faster the older you get and if…
We have reached another Christmas Day! It’s a great time to celebrate and enjoy the moment for tomorrow we mourn the passing of the season. It’s the great come-down every year. For this holiday, I am once again returning to my list of the best of the best when it comes to Christmas specials. This…
Welcome to Christmas Day 2022! We made it another year and another long year is ahead of us until we make it back, but right now, it’s time to celebrate! And in keeping with the theme of this year’s countdown, we are once again looking at another much beloved Christmas special on this day. Before…
Welcome to Christmas Eve 2025! Christmas Eve is the party night while Christmas Day is the more low key, family, experience. For those not wanting to spend the night at the eggnog bowl, we have eleven Christmas specials here that you would do well to kick back with and enjoy. We’re into the Top 20 and these are among the best of the best. In truth, while these are all in an order of how great I think they are the truth of the matter is I consider most of these pretty interchangeable. What likely impacts you most is personal taste in Christmas specials. Do you like your special to be wholesome? Crass? Vulgar? Musical? Nostalgia plays a big role too and certainly some would view these next 11 and say “Of course, a kid who grew up in the 90s would come up with this,” and that’s probably fair. Someone who did most of their growing up in the 70s probably has a very different list. However, I’ll defend my list as being as objective as I can possibly make it. I look for uniqueness in my specials. I like to laugh, for sure, but I also appreciate those Christmas feels. This collection of Christmas specials is pretty robust. Most have those feels in them and if they don’t it’s because they found a way to subvert the Christmas special in a fun way. And we’re taking it to 11 today, so let’s get on with it!
I love The Tick. When it aired on Fox Kids in the early 90s, I didn’t appreciate it enough for what it was so, in a way, there’s very little nostalgic attachment for me here. As a kid, I wanted my superhero cartoons to be serious like Batman and X-Men. The Tick wanted to lampoon such though its target was more Silver Age than modern. As an adult, I appreciate The Tick for what it is and when I did a rewatch a few years back I was surprised at how well the show held up. It’s just very funny and also clever. The Tick is a buffoon, but a likable one. He’s more excitable than anything and that is on display here in “The Tick Loves Santa.” The Tick, being a bit childlike, is the only hero who believes in Santa Claus so when a villain disguised as Santa starts getting up to no good it really messes with his head. The real deal is going to reveal himself and personally enlist The Tick in taking down this Multiple Santa and he’s more than happy to do so. It’s a tremendously fun, off-beat, Christmas special and I especially love The Tick’s interactions with the local police early in the episode. If you dismissed The Tick as that dumb show with the big blue guy all these years then I recommend seeking this out. Especially if you’re a little fatigued with modern superhero media and want to laugh at it instead.
The Christmas episode of Hey Arnold! is such a favorite of 90s kids that I kind of resisted it for a long time. I just didn’t really vibe with Hey Arnold! as a show. I wanted my cartoons to either be action-packed, superhero, dramas or riotous toons not grounded by much of anything. Hey Arnold! was not that. It was most like Doug when compared with other Nicktoons, but even Doug had a certain silliness about it via its character designs and some of the odd lore in the show. Plus, it had Doug’s over-active imagination for when it wanted to break-out of its confines. Arnold really doesn’t have that. It’s a slice of life show with a very optimistic and well-meaning kid as its lead. He’s almost too nice, too perfect, like he’s a kid created by an adult trying to find the ideal child. “Arnold’s Christmas” makes good use of such a character and puts him to work in trying to reunite a father with his long, lost, daughter. It’s a tragic tale about a refugee in America and the struggles that come with being such. It’s probably a Christmas special we need now more than ever as many individuals in a similar situation presently face deportation for the crime of not being white enough. It’s a heart-warming Christmas special that also finds a way to weave the Helga/Arnold dynamic into the plot in a satisfying way as well.
This is a pretty by the numbers Tom & Jerry short from early in the duo’s life. It contains their original designs which were maybe a touch more realistic in terms of shape, especially with Tom, while still retaining that rounded-off, cartoon, aesthetic. What makes it special is it’s the first cartoon where the two warring entities find a way to get along for the sake of Christmas. Mostly though, it’s just freaking gorgeous. MGM and the duo of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera had something to prove. This is very much on par with the best the Disney studios were putting out in terms of technical delight. The Christmas backgrounds are wonderful and inject some lovely coziness to the feeling this one brings. There’s some good gags with Jerry and the toys and even a little bit of a heart pull moment. And I just love the ending with an adorable Jerry discovering a mouse trap placed outside his little hole in the wall is actually a Christmas present. His ending smile is just so infectious and so warming. This is a fantastic Christmas short from a wonderful era of cartoon-making.
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without these dumbasses.
Okay, this is quite a change-up from the prior three entries. If you’ve been following along with my rankings this year then you probably know that when it comes to Christmas specials of a decidedly different flavor I’ve been trying to group those together when it makes sense. Since we’re into the top 20 it no longer makes sense. This is truly my raw opinion and we’re just ranking these by my own personal enjoyment level. And I really enjoy Beavis and Butt-Head Do Christmas. It’s a subversive take on two well-trod classics: A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. Ordinarily, I’d rail against such an approach but Beavis and Butt-Head make it work. The duo, of course, learns nothing in their Christmas adventures. Beavis sees a vision of the future where being a loser asshole causes him to go through life without ever being with a woman and his takeaway when he wakes up is that the future is cool because he has a VCR and some porn. Butt-Head gets to see how much better Highland would be if he never existed (the guardian angel is there to encourage Beavis and Butt-Head to commit suicide), but he just concludes that the world sucks, but it would suck even more without them. It’s a rare moment when I agree with either Beavis or Butt-Head, but I have to agree with his conclusion here.
A Pinky and the Brain Christmas was really rewarding for me to rediscover. It was one of those Christmas specials I saw in the moment, but kind of filed away. I was too old at that point to be paying attention to the broadcast schedules of cartoons. I know I liked it, but I don’t think I really appreciated it in the moment. Coming back to it I found it to be truly delightful. I’m not as well-versed in Pinky and the Brain as others. I experienced the duo mostly via Animaniacs and probably watched very little of their spin-off. For me, this was the first cartoon featuring the two where they nearly achieved Brain’s goal of global domination. His plan worked, but his shame of being such a dick to Pinky causes him to abort his mission and it’s a surprisingly powerful moment. Before we even get there though there’s a fun mission involving the pair traveling to the North Pole, infiltrating Santa’s workshop, and making it back home disguised (poorly) as reindeer. It’s a great Christmas special that makes use of the extended runtime over a standard Pinky and the Brain cartoon that never feels long or overstays its welcome.
I can see how some would find the portrayal of Santa Claus in this one off-putting.
Merry Wednesday, everyone! This is the first of some truly “out there” Christmas episodes from American Dad! It establishes the lore that the Smith family and Santa are enemies after Steve accidentally murders Santa. He does so because Stan irresponsibly gifts him a machine gun and has him open fire on a snowman not taking into consideration that the bullets would fly through the snowman and come into contact with whatever was beyond the target. Like Santa. Why was he hanging out at the mall? I don’t know, I guess one mall Santa is the real one at any given time because the guy needs to make some extra money to pay for all those toys. Since Santa is a magical being, he can’t be destroyed and does come back to life and opts to spend Christmas Eve seeking revenge against the Smiths. The B plot is Stan absolutely hating his son-in-law, Jeff, and the two coming to an understanding by the end. It all culminates in a bloody, massive, violent, battle between the Smiths and the army of Santa. It’s definitely not for everyone and making Santa a villain (albeit, one who had a right to be pissed at the Smiths) is certainly a choice and one that probably turns some folks off. If you like your Christmas specials on the more subversive end, this is about as good as it gets.
In 1999, Futurama showed us how horrible Xmas could be in the future. In this one, we learn that humanity created a robot Santa to essentially make Santa real, only his standards were too high and he decided everyone is naughty. Worse, going on the dreaded Naughty List doesn’t earn one a stocking full of coal. It sure seems like murder is on the table as people are forced to hide in fear for their lives. Fry gets to learn all of this the hard way when he gets caught out late on Xmas Eve out looking for a present for Leela whom he unintentionally slighted with his insensitivity. It’s the first episode that seems to bring the pair together and it will be a long time before that relationship pays off. For now, it’s sweet and not overdone and I love all of the little, funny, moments that exist in this one. And all of the casual nudity is wonderfully utilized. This should be thought of as a pretty dark sort of Xmas special, but it somehow manages to avoid feeling like such and I owe that to how funny it is. Plus, there is a happy ending unlike the follow-up Xmas special.
We have yet another Nicktoon on our hands and this one stars a character I pretty much loved from the start. Rocko’s Modern Life is a show that holds up remarkably well. Even ignoring the obvious adult jokes they managed to slip into the show (that have subsequently been cut, unfortunately), the humor is surprisingly wide ranging as the show sought to lampoon exactly what the title implies – the modern world. Rocko is a young adult newly on his own just trying to scrape by and he runs into all kinds of challenges along the way. The poor guy gets crapped on, but he’s so good-natured that the show manages to remain funny as opposed to abusive. In his Christmas special, mostly the same is true. Rocko tries to celebrate Christmas with a little get-together with his closest friends, but it blows up on him when Heffer’s family basically invites themselves over as well. Not wanting to let anyone down, Rocko rolls with it and prepares to host a massive party, but when Mr. Big Head starts a vicious rumor about diseased elves attending it blows the whole thing up. Rocko ends up exactly where he didn’t want to be – alone on Christmas. Moving in across the street are actual elves and a little, mute, elf takes a liking to Rocko leading to a pretty wholesome and heart-warming resolution. Along the way though there’s a lot of great gags. My personal favorite is the Christmas tree which behaves like a dog, until its murdered by Heffer when he cuts it down. A touch dark, perhaps, but totally in-line with the humor of Rocko’s Modern Life and the slightly more edgier Nicktoons. It’s yet another Christmas special I really liked as a kid, but kind of forgot about until I started doing this blog. That’s the gift The Christmas Spot has given me in that it’s brought some of these specials back into my life or introduced me to them for the first time.
One special I definitely did not need this blog to reintroduce me to is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I’ve seen this one way more times than I could possibly count. I’ve been watching it (along with several others) over and over every December since 1987. It’s the first ever Peanuts special and it’s a great introduction to Charlie Brown as a character who, despite being a good kid, seems to be disliked by his peers and has wretched self-esteem. He’s a punching bag, and Christmas just makes him depressed which is certainly a relatable feeling for a lot of people. He’s given a lifeline by Lucy to direct a Christmas pageant, only no one seems interested in taking it seriously. When he produces a laughably bad Christmas tree for the pageant, everyone basically dismisses him by first tearing him down and then laughing their asses off at him. Linus then reminds him of the true meaning of Christmas and old Charlie Brown finds renewed purpose and the other kids basically come around and realize they’ve all behaved like jerks. It’s a Christmas special that captures that awkward stage of adolescence where it feels like all of one’s actions are heavily scrutinized by their peers. Linus injects a secular element as well which helps endear it to another audience since the vast majority of these specials ignore that aspect of Christmas. Due to its repeated airings, A Charlie Brown Christmas is obviously a classic and there’s no way I couldn’t put it somewhere in the top 20. Leaving it outside the top 10 is probably sacrilegious for some, but I’m content with this placement. I enjoy this one, I will watch it multiple times a year, but I definitely enjoy the 12 specials ahead of it more. And maybe even some of the ones grouped just behind it, but let’s not scrutinize the placement any further or else I’ll go back to tinkering and never finish this thing.
This Christmas special from SpongeBob Squarepants is brilliant. Many specials that came before it have found a way to reference the classic Christmas specials, but few embraced them like this one. A SpongeBob Christmas was a network-aired, prime time, Christmas special constructed in stop-motion animation like the classic works of Rankin/Bass. Genius! And it manages to exceed the gimmick by just being a really good, fun, Christmas special. Plankton, the resident villain of Bikini Bottom, concocts a plan to turn everyone into jerks with tainted fruit cake. By doing so, he’ll seem like a saint by comparison and make it onto Santa’s Nice List to finally receive the secret formula to the Krabby Patty recipe. The only problem is that the fruit cake doesn’t work on SpongeBob, he’s just too wholesome and pure, but Plankton gets over that hurdle by unleashing a SpongeBob robot on the town that basically wrecks everything it encounters. SpongeBob has to save the day and does it through song. Corny? Of course, but “Don’t Be a Jerk – It’s Christmas” is one of the best, modern, Christmas songs around. It’s so unbelievably catchy and fun that I remain surprised it never really broke free from this special to enter regular rotation with other Christmas songs. And despite my love of Christmas specials, I’m actually not that big on Christmas music so me praising a Christmas song is actually pretty high praise. A SpongeBob Christmas is just the rare Christmas special that when I watched it for the first time I left convinced I had just witnessed a new classic and it deserves this ranking.
This one could have kept it clean, up until now that is.
We round out today’s entry with one more subversive and downright disgusting Christmas special, but it’s one that mostly plays things straight. That’s the beauty of the first South Park Christmas episode. It’s actually a pretty wholesome Christmas special about a Jewish kid who feels left out at Christmas. I’m not Jewish, but I have to believe that’s not an uncommon sentiment among Jews around Christmas time. It’s basically the genesis for the Adam Sandler Hannukah song. This is South Park though, so in order for Kyle to bridge the gap with his Christmas-loving peers he needs to turn to a literal magic piece of crap. Mr. Hankey is shockingly hilarious the first time he shows up. A talking poop in a Santa hat? He carries himself in an oblivious manner as if he doesn’t understand how gross he is. Others certainly notice though and they basically just see Kyle manhandling a piece of his own excrement and rightly have him committed. The show does take some liberties with Mr. Hankey in going out of its way to play up the gross factor. He didn’t need to end up in Mr. Mackey’s coffee, and we certainly didn’t need that fake commercial where live-action actors select their best Mr. Hankey to play with, but it wouldn’t be South Park if it didn’t push the boundaries of good taste. Still, there’s a strangely heart-warming resolution to this episode and I find Kyle’s song about being a lonely Jew on Christmas legitimately sad. The combination of all of those elements basically make this the perfect subversive Christmas special. It hits all of the Christmas special bullet points, but gets there in a very non-traditional and downright disgusting way. That’s why I still think it’s the best Christmas special from South Park. And if I have one regret with my body of work it’s that I didn’t cover what is probably the second best, “A Very Crappy Christmas,” but we can’t do them all can we?
That concludes this installment of the Christmas special countdown. Tomorrow, we do the top 10 and the all-time best Christmas specials. There probably aren’t too many surprises ahead, but as I look at the top 10 I do like that it feels like “me.” We’ll talk more about that tomorrow, but for now, Merry Christmas Eve and enjoy all of the merriment, drive safe if you’re traveling, and don’t forget to leave out milk and cookies for the big guy tonight!
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
When Pixar released Toy Story in 1995 it proved to the world that audiences would accept films created entirely within a computer. Prior to that, 3D animation was thought of as a gimmick, something for commercials and video games, but not something that could carry an entire feature length film. It’s similar to the prejudices…
It feels like, at this point in time, we have hit peek 90s nostalgia. I can recall when it felt like 70s nostalgia hit pretty hard and then the 80s arrived not too far after. It’s inevitable whenever a generation that spent much of their adolescence in a given decade hits adulthood. And by adulthood…
When it comes to doing these write-ups, I naturally trend towards older Christmas specials. The name of the blog is The Nostalgia Spot, after all, so it would only make sense for me to favor stuff that’s at least a decade old, if not more. The fact of the matter is, there’s really not enough…
We’re kind of setting fire to the whole Christmas thing with some of the selections today.
We’re into the final days! Yesterday, we took a look at one of the most wholesome and pure Christmas specials around in The Snowman. Today, we’re mostly looking at the polar opposite. I’m talking crass, gross, adult animation with some gentle stuff to round things out. This is a tough area of the list as we’re talking about the best of the best. I’ve also ranked the top 25 on two occasions now and there’s a temptation to mix things up, but I don’t like change for the sake of change. As a result, this might not be full of surprises from here on out if you’re familiar with my previous rankings, but we still have a few to get to that were unranked in 2020 when I last did this. One such show is batting lead-off for us today and it’s one that probably doesn’t have mass appeal.
Solar Opposites is a show about a family of aliens who flee their home world to Earth with the goal of terraforming it to suit their needs, but the pull of Earth culture seems to slow down their mission as they grow comfortable with life on the blue planet. This special released on Hulu in 2021 is the sort of Christmas special that really wants to crap on a lot of more popular stuff. Chief among them the movie Jingle All the Way. I think I’m on record as saying that movie is terrible so it doesn’t bother me that the plot is centered around how bad it is, but Solar Opposites doesn’t stop there. We also get shots of one of the characters having sex with Clarice from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and plenty of blood, guts, and gore. So what makes it good? Shock value? No, it’s the willingness to have the characters embrace the holiday like only a mad man with an extensive blog on the subject can relate to. This one is all about getting that big, Christmas, boner and then feeling like it’s not good enough. The plot literally causes the main characters to lose their Christmas spirit though sci-fi means, but sometimes in life we can all relate to the feeling of it being Christmas, but not feeling like it is Christmas. And it’s really, really, funny if you like this sort of thing. Not every joke lands, but the volume is there.
This looks like a nice wholesome Christmas special…
If Solar Opposites is too crass for you then I’m afraid it doesn’t get any better with the South Park episode “Woodland Critter Christmas.” This one was much talked about the second it aired. The first act paints it as a very by the numbers Christmas special starring a bunch of talking animals. Stan is the central figure and he finds them tiresome and it seems like that’s going to be the joke – an unwilling participant in a crappy Christmas special. Then the swerve comes in. Stan helps vanquish a mountain lion that was plaguing the cute, little, critters only to find out that mountain lion was the only thing standing in-between humanity and the birth of the antichrist. The critters are revealed to be a pack of Satan-worshipping mongrels who celebrate immediately with a blood orgy, and the rest is history. It almost doesn’t matter what follows because the episode peaks there with that bit of shock humor. And if that isn’t something that would make you laugh then this very clearly isn’t the Christmas episode for you. I do admit, it’s not as good on repeat viewings as the reveal is a huge part of the episode’s success, but it holds up better than I would have guessed. And if you have had to endure something like The Chucklewood Critters, the climax of the episode is pretty cathartic.
Those first two entries are probably the most perverse of the entire list so you can now exhale if you want something a little more family friendly, though this episode of King of the Hill isn’t quite that. This is the episode where Hank’s mom brings her new boyfriend with her for Christmas at the Hill residence. When Hank forgets his novelty foam finger in the house while on the way to the big game, he returns to witness a horrible sight – his mother getting plowed on his kitchen table by the new boyfriend. The shock of such a sight causes Hank to lose his sight and he has to try and keep it under wraps. He, of course, can’t and then has to come clean about what caused his blindness. His inability to accept his disability and also to just communicate with those around him leads to lots of awkward and humorous situations throughout the episode. It’s the type of humor King of the Hill handles well, but the catalyst for the plot is what really helps it to land.
Less adult, but still gross in parts, is Shrek the Halls. I’m not much of a Shrek fan. The movies are a little much for me. I can appreciate the fractured fairy tale approach to the original, but can’t really tolerate the soundtrack and the visuals have not aged well. To my surprise, what has aged well is this Christmas episode produced basically in tandem with the third film in the franchise. It builds off a solid premise of Shrek, being an ogre, having no concept of Christmas and trying to figure it out for the benefit of his young family. Only he’s a bit embarrassed by his lack of Christmas knowledge and has to contend with Donkey, who he finds supremely annoying (we all do). Shrek’s little family Christmas turns into a big, unwanted, party that ends in disaster and the ogre has to learn a lesson about what family really is. It moves along at a nice pace and since it was produced with the third movie the production values are actually quite high. The usual voice cast is present and I think everyone is here. I confess I don’t remember anything about Shrek the Third. I also think these characters just work better in a short format. No one is able to overstay their welcome so a very obnoxious character like Donkey is able to remain funny as opposed to annoying. I think Shrek is poised to make a comeback in the not too distant future, but I have a hard time believing it will be as good as this little half hour Christmas special.
Homer gets to play Grinch in this one which is something he’ll do again in a more obvious manner in a future episode.
This episode of The Simpsons comes after the show’s golden era, but every time I return to it I think I like it a little more. I considered ranking it higher, but I’m sticking with #27 which is no slight. This one begins like a conventional episode where the kids are stuck inside leading to a humorous situation that results in Bart breaking his coccyx. Confined to a wheelchair, Bart has trouble going to school because Springfield Elementary isn’t up to code forcing the school to turn to the mob for help (in reality, the mob forces itself onto the school). This causes the school to go bankrupt and then the Christmas element enters. First via a school play to coax the miserly Mr. Burns into making a donation that fails, and then via a toy company that takes over the school to use it as a testing ground for new toy ideas leading to the creation of Funzo. The episode just keeps rolling from there as there’s no B plot, it’s just one joke after another. It’s a pretty entertaining and unexpected ride with a terrific resolution. It just continues to make me laugh year after year and it’s a no doubt top 3 Simpsons Christmas episode. I just can’t bring myself to rank it above what I consider to be the top 2.
I love Fred’s design as Santa, even if it is weird seeing him in boots.
Don’t confuse this placement of The Flintstones one spot ahead of The Simpsons as me saying The Flintstones can even hold a candle to the more recent series. I just have a real soft spot for this hour long special that arrived in 1977. I used to look forward to catching this one on Cartoon Network annually because something about it just works for me, even if I’m not much of a fan of the franchise. This is basically an extended version of the episode “Christmas Flintstone” where circumstances are altered, but mostly it just gets Barney into the mix. Santa falls off of Fred’s roof and hurts his ankle meaning Fred has to fill his shoes. Literally. Barney gets to ride along as Fred’s elf and the pair need to make all of the deliveries for Santa and make it back to Bedrock for a work Christmas party or else Fred risks getting fired. Not only does it recycle some of the plot of a prior episode, it also recycles songs from the Hanna-Barbera production A Christmas Story. I guess the thinking was that special wasn’t a big hit, but why let the songs languish there? The pacing isn’t perfect, but I enjoy the ride and it’s still one I have to come back to every year.
There are so many all-timers in this one when it comes to jokes.
Just sneaking ahead of “Grift of the Magi” is this story about a mother and her son. This is a low key Christmas episode of The Simpsons, though don’t mistake that for unfunny. There are some all-timers in this one like everything surrounding the fictional video game Bonestorm and the ending with Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge. In between all of that is Bart stealing a copy of the video game he covets and getting caught, nearly keeping it from his parents, and getting caught again. Marge is left to wonder if her little boy is no longer her little boy while Bart just really wants to make it up to his mom, but the wound he inflicted is just going to take some time to heal. It’s the type of Christmas episode that will make you want to call your mom when it’s over and it gets me every time. Now, buy me Bonestorm or go to Hell!
The best Bob’s Burgers Christmas episode takes place mostly in the family wagon. Linda, unable to contain her enthusiasm for Christmas, put up the tree too early and we get a wonderful montage of her doing so, then having to redo it because it dies. By the time Christmas Eve arrives the tree is well past dead and a fire hazard, but you can’t Christmas without a tree, Bobby! So, the family piles into the car and heads out on Christmas Eve to get yet another tree. Meanwhile, the kids are plotting to set a trap for Santa Claus which snares their buddy, Teddy, who had to go to their house to turn off the oven when the search for a tree stretched too long. Bob runs afoul of a large truck leading to a road rage incident and the Belchers suddenly fearing for their lives. There’s a great guest spot by Bobcat Goldthwait and some nice payoff with a couple of episode-long jokes. My only issue with this one, and it’s one I can’t really hold against it, is that it outs the Santa myth via an exchange between Bob and Tina where he discovers she still believes in Santa Claus. I say I can’t hold it against it because this isn’t a show aimed at kids, but that one, quick, exchange has kept me from sharing this one with my kids. I’m pretty sure they don’t believe anymore, but they haven’t admitted it and I have yet to cop to anything so we’re just all comfortable living a lie for now. When that lie is out in the open, we’ll come together as a family and watch “Christmas in the Car.”
Okay, now we can move onto some more traditional Christmas special fair and it doesn’t get much more traditional than Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This one is pretty much thought of as one of the original Christmas specials. Mr. Magoo beat him to it, but I don’t care for that one (hence why I’ve never looked at it for this thing) and he hasn’t exactly passed the test of time. The Rankin/Bass stop-motion special has been airing annually since 1964. It’s an institution at this point. You really don’t need me to tell you what it’s all about because you have probably seen it many, many, times. You also already know if you like it or not and right now you’re either thinking I have it too low or too high. I’m not sure how many would actually say it’s in the top 25, but way in the back like I am. And this one is largely carried by nostalgia and tradition, but I do still enjoy it when I sit down and watch it, just only once a year for me. A lot of the other ones up here I’ll watch multiple times because I’m a Christmas junkie, but Rudolph is one and done, but that is also partly because it’s an hour long. It’s an endearing story and the deer puppets hold up better than a lot of the other ones from Rankin/Bass. I’ve already said plenty. It’s a classic – let’s move on.
Did you know that there are several Frosty the Snowman specials that air around this time of year, but this is the only one that’s a Christmas special? Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Frosty Returns, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman – these all do not mention Christmas at all and nothing suggests that they take place anywhere near Christmas time. It’s fine since the original song isn’t really a Christmas song either, it’s just a wintery song about a snowman coming to life. Rankin/Bass made it a Christmas thing and thus we associate Frosty with the Christmas holiday. This special is another that has endured. It’s pretty much this and Rudolph these days when it comes to network TV. ABC pushes the modern Disney stuff, and some of that is quite good, but only Frosty and Rudolph remain from when I was a kid (and my parents, for that matter). And I love this one. It’s got some great performances, a fun little story, and even a little sadness. I still say the darkest moment in any Christmas special would be what happens offscreen in that green house. Karen literally had to watch her friend melt to death. Does melting hurt? Can Frosty feel pain? We don’t know, but that must have been torture for both. Professor Hinkle, frankly, got off easy in the end.
And that does it for today. Tomorrow, we continue this countdown with 11 entries because it felt weird to end the thing with a top 11 as opposed to a top 10. Just what made it into the top 21? Well, you could probably spoil it for yourself by going back and seeing what I had to say in 2020, but I recommend you don’t. It’s more fun that way.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Last year, I made it a point to go through the vast majority of the Nicktoons Christmas specials I was at least somewhat familiar with. My cut-off was basically 1996 which coincided with the premiere of Hey Arnold! That was when I started to fall off of Nicktoons and Nickelodeon in general. I was entering…
Let’s try this one more time for 2023 – can we find a good Looney Tunes Christmas special? And more importantly, a good Bugs Bunny one? We’ve looked at two already that were merely okay. Nothing terrible, but hardly holiday classics. For our final go at this, I’m feeling a little more optimistic and that’s…
When it comes to The Christmas Spot, I have very few rules. I definitely favor animated Christmas specials, but that’s not some rule I’ve created for myself. The programs don’t have to be all ages, they don’t have to be “nice,” and they certainly don’t have to be any good as I’ve looked at an…
Today and for the 32nd best Christmas special we’re doing something a little different. Back when I first did such a list in 2015, my write-ups were fairly brief and more like reviews. Back then, The Snowman came in at number 20, but in the years since it has slipped on my own personal rankings. That has little to do with the quality of The Snowman and more about personal preference. However, many cite The Snowman as a holiday favorite and I find those that do really love it tend to want to sing its praises quite a bit. It’s an especially popular title across the pond in the United Kingdom as well as other European countries. It’s never had a big following in the United States and most likely remember it best for the promotional commercials that would air on Nickelodeon in the early 1990s.
I don’t remember when I first saw The Snowman. I think I encountered the book first which is a wordless picture book about a boy and his brief adventure with a magical snowman. The wordless nature of it, as well as my affinity for a different talking snowman, probably prevented me from loving the story. It did not prevent me from wanting that set often advertised on Nickelodeon, but I could never get my mother to bite.
For this countdown, I’ve just been ranking all of the specials I’ve looked at while filling in some gaps with a few I never talked about. With The Snowman, it felt like a proper write-up was warranted even if I had already looked at it. In truth, I considered doing a more in-depth write-up for all of those initial specials that fell out of my top 25. Zim, Pooh, Orel – they all are worthy of more time, I just don’t necessarily have such time available to me. If I am to redo one of them, it kind of has to be The Snowman.
The Snowman has had different introductions tacked onto it over the years, most of them for the British broadcast. Even David Bowie was added to one of them. The version I’m watching for this is just the movie itself which just opens with a simple title over a snowy setting. A piano version of “Walking in the Air” by Howard Blake, the central theme of the special, brings us in. It’s a very beautiful, but also haunting, kind of song. There’s a touch of melancholy to it and it’s easy to see why the Finnish symphonic metal act Nightwish did a cover of it. This thing is right up their alley.
As the book was wordless, so is the special. The look of the special sought to emulate the look of the book’s artwork as well so it’s all done with pastels and crayons, for the most part. There’s a flatness to the characters and setting and at first one might even expect this to be more of a moving picture book approach which was popular for a time with children’s media. It’s not though and it’s fully animated with the production company credited as TVC London. Dianne Jackson is the credited director.
Wake up, kid, it’s time to make the snowman!
The camera soars over the scenery, said to be inspired by the home of author Raymond Briggs of Brighton, which consists of horses and fields and comes to rest on a home. Inside, a red-headed child is waking from his slumber. We’ll eventually learn that his name is James via the tag on a gift later. He slowly rises from his slumber, but once he sees the snow falling outside, he springs into action! The music is playful as James discards his pajamas and gets dressed. He’s apparently in quite the hurry as he doesn’t even put underwear on. Careful when zipping that fly, James! He runs downstairs and nearly collides with his father who is heading for the stairs in his robe and pajamas looking like he’s still waking up. He bursts into the kitchen presumably for his boots, while his mother gestures to a drying rack which contains some socks that have been left out to dry. He grabs them and slips them on his feet before grabbing his boots. As he puts them on at the door, his mother shoves a knit cap onto his head, but it pops off as soon as James stands up.
You know, I could make a tasteless joke here, but I’m not going to defile a children’s classic.
Outside, dressed only in denim and a sweater, James stomps through the snow seemingly entertained just by the mere fact his steps leave footprints behind. He tries some swinging from a branch which knocks snow off and soon turns his attention to the act of making snowballs. He flings one at the house which hits the rear window which doesn’t seem to please his mother much. She scolds him from the window and James turns around and sulks away. This is the catalyst for his next activity: snowman building! James rolls up a big ball of snow then uses a shovel to add to it making a big, lumpy, thing in the snow. His activity is paused briefly by his mother insisting on him actually eating something, but once finished he immediately returns to his snowman-building. He rolls up another ball to place on top of what he’s already sculpted which forms the head. He’s able to enlist his mother’s help in getting a scarf and a worn out looking floppy hat to add to his creation. Some coal for the eyes and buttons and a tangerine for the nose complete the look.
That seems like an appropriate way to greet a snowman.
James seems to regard his creation with an approving smile, but darkness has fallen and it’s time he return to the house. His glove-less hands must be freezing at this point too. Once inside, we get our first clue that it’s nearly Christmas as there’s a small, lit, tree in the corner of the den. James’ dad is making toast over the fire which must be pulled from Briggs’ childhood, I would presume. It did have me wondering what the time period is for this, but there’s a television in the room so it’s not that old. Even though he’s inside, James can’t get the snowman out of his mind as he keeps staring at it out the window until his dad gestures to his watch suggesting it’s time for bed. James heads upstairs and we see him get into his pajamas and brush his teeth all the while sneaking peeks out the window at his snowman. Once he’s finally in bed, he seems to toss and turn. There’s a small clock on his nightstand, but it’s part of the background and doesn’t change to show the passage of time. James eventually gives up on sleep and throws on his robe and slippers and sneaks downstairs. Now we catch a glimpse of a grandfather clock indicating its midnight so the kid gave it a good shot when it comes to sleeping. As he looks outside at his snowman, the sculpture begins to glow with rainbow light. Then the snowman turns and looks at James!
Ornaments are fun.
I suppose a once inanimate object coming to life could be a bit alarming, but the Snowman is such a benevolent looking creature that it would be hard to draw any fear from it. James opens the door to the home and the Snowman greets him with a bow. They shake hands and James does the polite thing and welcomes the Snowman into his home. There the newly brought to life creature marvels at the modern technology on display. He takes particular delight in the Christmas tree which James turns on for his amusement. The two have fun looking at their faces distort in a glass ornament before James introduces the Snowman to what is likely his best friend: TV. The Snowman sits in a chair and takes it in, though the animation doesn’t actually display anything on the TV itself. He then realizes he’s getting hot and that’s because the fireplace still contains a bed of hot coals. James sees this and figures out it’s probably best to take the Snowman somewhere else.
Nope. Not gonna do it.
Into the kitchen they go, which after a bit of fun with a light switch the Snowman plays with the faucet. He also finds a bottle of soap which amuses him as he squeezes it to produce tiny bubbles. There’s a cake on the table which has a small effigy of the Snowman himself on it. Apparently that’s how James’ mother spent her day. The Snowman takes note of a bowl of fruit and models new noses to the amusement of James before returning to his more sensible tangerine. James shows him the refrigerator next, which the Snowman holds his hands in front of like a normal person might place their hands over a fire.
Stupid snowman doesn’t know how to put on pants.
Following their little adventure through the kitchen, James gets the bright idea to bring the Snowman into his parents’ bedroom. Why? I don’t know, but I think if I were in his position that’s the last place I’d want to bring him. He seems fascinated, and slightly scared, by the snoring of the father figure, but soon the Snowman’s attention turns to some dentures in a cup (how old is this guy?). Now with teeth, the Snowman checks out his new smile in the mirror which is a bit horrifying. Snowmen shouldn’t have teeth. James seems pretty amused by the whole thing so I guess that’s good. The Snowman next finds the mother’s makeup and gives himself some rosy cheeks. James directs him to a wardrobe for he apparently thinks the Snowman could use a new look. He puts on some trousers, suspenders, and an even bigger, floppier, hat. He then takes notice of some perfume, but the scent of which seems to irritate his tangerine nose. How? That’s a mystery for another day. Before the Snowman can sneeze and potentially wake up the parents, James removes the hat and strips him of his pants before pushing him out the door into the hallway. There the sneeze is able to pass harmlessly.
It’s now time for the Snowman to see James’ room. A small music box with a dancer atop it gets the Snowman’s attention and he turns it on. Some chimes enter the score like one would find in a music box and the Snowman begins to dance as James shines a spotlight on him. A step on a roller skate sends him stumbling, but he regains his balance, but not before stepping on a toy train and switching it on. This just leads to more dancing though with James joining in. How the parents remain asleep is a greater mystery than what brought this snowman to life. And it’s especially so after he crashes into more toys and ends up on the floor. James leads the Snowman out into the hall where the Snowman takes notice of something outside the window covered by a tarp.
This seems like a bad idea.
James leads the Snowman back outside to the object and the two uncover it to find – a motorcycle! Would you allow a snowman who just came to life to ride what I assume is this kid’s father’s motorcycle? I’m not sure I would, but I’m not James. After a quick demonstration, the Snowman hops onto the bike, puts on a helmet, and fires it up! He awkwardly rumbles around the yard before coming to a stop and gesturing for James to get on. Would you climb onto a motorcycle driven by a snowman who just came to life? If you said “Yes,” then you’re far braver than I. James puts on his helmet and hops on and the camera changes to a first-person perspective as the pair ride through the night. It jumps back and forth between first person and third as the two ride past pheasants, rabbits, and even a horse. The Snowman takes the bike into a forest and the first-person shots here are more nerve-wracking than the speeder bike stuff from Return of the Jedi. He somehow manages to get James and himself back to the house in one piece, though his inner thighs are apparently chapped when he gets off the bike and are practically glowing.
James decides to remedy this by bringing the Snowman into his garage where a deep freezer is located. Since he enjoyed the small one so much in the house, it’s hardly a surprise that he’d like this one. He basically climbs into it like one would a hot tub and enjoys placing bagged, frozen, vegetables on his head. He then sits up, and looking a bit more pensive, reaches underneath himself to pull out what appears to be a box of frozen fish. There’s a wintery scene on it and the Snowman looks up to the ceiling like he longs to be wherever the image on this box came from. He rises out of the freezer and looks sadly over his shoulder at James, before walking out. James seems sad, but also conflicted, as he appears to know that the Snowman is preparing to leave him. He runs out the door after him and grabs onto his hand with a smile. The Snowman returns the smile and then starts running. James does the same and continues holding on as the Snowman rumbles through the yard and then up into the sky!
He flies despite the presence of wings. That’s one talented snowman.
Yes, this Snowman can fly. Why? He’s magic – who cares? This is the ever popular “Walking in the Air” segment, the only part of the special with words which are sung by Peter Auty. With the vocals added, the song feels even more haunting, but no less beautiful. As the pair fly, they look down on other homes with snowmen and snowwomen and soon they join them in the sky as they soar over South Downs, the Channel Coast, Royal Pavilion, Brighton Palace Pier, and the coast of Norway all the way up into the arctic. Along the way, a few people witness this incredible display including one guy on a party boat who seems to blame the booze and a young girl looking out the window likely hoping to catch a glimpse of Father Christmas (it’s British, we have to go with the Father Christmas name). As the pair reach the arctic, I do have to point out the presence of penguins which is inaccurate, but maybe they’re magic too?
It wouldn’t be much of a Christmas special without this guy!
The duo lands outside a forest and the Snowman leads James inside. We’re treated to perhaps my favorite shot thus far as it’s a layered scenery with trees in the foreground and background and the characters in the middle. The trees part and the pair find a big gathering of snow people! It would appear to be a festive atmosphere, and as James and the Snowman make their way through they find at the center of the gathering none other than Father Christmas himself! He looks rather Santa-ish in this one sporting a red suit and black boots, but he also has an apron on as he’s apparently the host of this little party. He welcomes James in with a big hug like he’s an old friend. He parades him around like he’s introducing him to the snow people and James is able to sample some of the food.
These guys may have only just come to life, but they know how to party.
Father Christmas signals to another snowman which is apparently the sign to get this party started! A band starts up and we’re treated to a long sequence of James dancing with various snow people along with shots of said snow people getting blasted. When your life is as short as that of a snowman you need to get as much into it as possible. The various snow people are sporting different garments implying a multicultural background. There’s even some flirtation going on between the male and female snow people, though what actually separates the genders would appear to be just clothing. It’s a very progressive society. James gets to dance with them and is often depicted as the center of attention. It’s almost as if they’re throwing a party just for him.
Father Christmas knows what this kid likes.
When things settle down a bit, Father Christmas helps James off the ground and gestures to a rather plain looking barn. It’s actually a stable and inside are two reindeer! James runs over to rub their snouts while Father Christmas heads over to his sleigh which is packed full of toys. He pulls out a gift for James and hands it over. Inside James finds a scarf with a snowman pattern on it. At this point, the Snowman seems to be taking note of something with some degree of concern. Likely dawn approaches, and after giving Father Christmas a big hug James and the Snowman return to the sky to presumably head back home.
That’s a cozy image.
To my surprise, there’s no reprise of “Walking in the Air,” but the music is no less pleasant. The duo fly over the same locations they flew over before as they retrace their flight pattern. James remains delighted by all of this while the Snowman looks somewhat concerned. Perhaps there’s some connection between his magic and the dawn? A smile returns to his face as James gestures towards his house. The two soon touchdown in the yard and the Snowman ushers James into the house. The boy stops at the door, then looking back at the Snowman smiling at him, returns the smile and runs over for a big hug. The two appear to relish the embrace before James heads inside and the Snowman returns to his silent vigil in front of the house. James peeks at the Snowman through every window leading up to his room before finally giving in to sleep.
You can’t end a night like this on a handshake.
Sunlight bleeds into the boy’s room and he immediately springs forth from his bed. Tossing on his robe and slippers, he races past his parents who are all dressed and eating breakfast in the kitchen. His father looks almost annoyed with his son while his mother just seems surprised to see him race past the pair and out the door. There it’s gut punch time as James comes upon the remains of the Snowman. All that is left is a lump of snow, some pieces of coal, and the small bits of clothing the Snowman once wore. He looks devastated, but James reaches into the pocket of his robe and pulls out the scarf Father Christmas gifted him the night before. The realization that it wasn’t just some dream seems to do little to console the boy as he falls to his knees. “Walking in the Air” returns in instrumental form as the camera pans back and the image of James and the Snowman’s remains fade out. Almost like a final twist of the knife, the words “The Snowman was…” come across the screen to introduce the credits.
Sorry James, it had to happen at some point.
It’s not hard to see why so many have fallen in love with The Snowman. A simple, whimsical, tale about a boy and a magic snowman set to stirring music with a unique visual style that ends with abrupt sadness is the sort of thing that leaves a lasting impression. Especially on the developing mind of a child. Imagine how our attitude towards Frosty the Snowman would change if he stayed melted? It makes sense that a story about a man made of snow would end with him melted. Building a snowman is something all children who grow up in a cold climate do and seeing that snowman gradually turn into a formless mass after days in the sun is just one of those things that happens. It can’t be stopped. At least James was spared his snowman turning into something more horrific in nature. Usually their faces become almost ghoul-like and their heads shrink as they wither away. This snowman’s death appeared to be far quicker and painless.
For me, I wonder how reliant this story is on that ending. Up until that point, it’s just a fun, simple, little tale. There’s some good observational humor about what a snowman might find interesting about the average home while the detour to the North Pole feels a bit more disconnected. I don’t particularly feel anything by seeing James party with the snow people. It instead feels more like world-building as of course there are other magic snow people in the world, not just this one guy from Brighton. The Christmas stuff was apparently added for the special. I know I used to own the book as a child, but I honestly don’t remember anything about it. I basically have to trust Wikipedia on that.
The decision to base the look of this special on the book helps create synergy between the two. While the stories may differ slightly, having them basically look the same goes a long way in helping a child to connect with both regardless of which one they interacted with first. The look is pleasing, but the score is the real star for me. Howard Blake seems to almost have approached this like a ballet. There’s a lot of personality in each song which helps set the scene. It makes sense since the story is told without words. I, like many, adore “Walking in the Air,” though I much prefer the instrumental version that brings the story in and ushers it out. The lyrics almost take me out of the moment during the flying sequence since up until that point we’ve gone it without words. I don’t know if such a thing exists, but I would enjoy seeing a cut that omits the lyrics and keeps everything purely instrumental.
They know how to make it hurt.
How much this ending stuck with you likely informs how much you enjoy it. Or perhaps don’t. Like I said before, I don’t remember my first viewing, but I do recall the book. I found the “death” of the snowman at the end to be a bit unsettling as a child. I didn’t like how it made me feel and I associate that cover with the simple depiction of a smiling snowman as something to avoid. It was not a book I liked and just seeing or touching it would create a feeling of dread. It’s interesting since I watched the film Bambi many times and never reacted similarly. Of course, that was me as a kid. As an adult I do quite like this one and there’s a part of me that’s almost embarrassed that I don’t like it more than I do. I feel like I should have this ranked higher than Frosty the Snowman, but it doesn’t make sense to force the issue. Still, number 32 is hardly a bad place to find one’s self in a ranking of Christmas specials. And if you do love this one then I do recommend at least checking out the sequel made in 2012, The Snowman and the Snow Dog. It’s not as good. In fact, it’s inferior in every way aside from maybe the gut punch component since we’re introducing a dog. It’s actually a great deal sadder and if you dislike doggy death then best avoid it. If it’s just snowman death you’re after, then stick with this one.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
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