Yesterday, we took a look at an obscure Christmas special I had no familiarity with. Today, we’re looking at an obscure Christmas special that I do have some familiarity with. Pillow People were a line of pillows with faces created by Penny Ekstein-Lieberman (you can see a commercial here, if you’re curious). According to the website Mental Floss, Ekstein-Lieberman created the dolls in response to a nightmare her kid had thinking a friendly face would be some comfort after such a traumatic event for a child. The dolls were basically just throw pillows with faces and there were stuffed limbs added to them. Despite their simplicity, Pillow People ended up being a pretty big deal. They must have been hard to come by because I can remember my mom being pretty jazzed to find one for my sister and I. My Pillow People was Punky, the sunglasses wearing pillow holding a record. I can’t remember what my sister had. I can recall not being that impressed with the toy and I may have even responded in a bratty way, “I wanted a toy, not a pillow!” I wasn’t very attached to old Punky, but he may still be spinning records in my parents’ attic for all I know.

Pillow People were big and big in the 80s which meant an animated TV special was practically a certainty. Animation was so cheap back then that companies were willing to commission them basically as an advertisement. And in 1988, the Pillow People made the jump to television with a Christmas special. If you’re into animation, then you know the name TMS. Tokyo Movie Shinsha is one of the premier animation studios out of Japan. They worked on various Warner Bros. series and were pretty much always the best looking episodes for those shows. Remember Clayface from Batman: The Animated Series? That climactic scene of Clayface’s visage distorting and warping between looks was TMS. Ever see Akira? That’s TMS. By the mid 90’s, they were firmly established to the point where they didn’t need American television jobs, but in 1988 they weren’t there yet and actually were in position to take on a project like Pillow People Save Christmas. I’m curious if TMS proper actually animated this thing. Sometimes big studios basically sublet their projects to smaller places and maybe that happened here. It’s still a Hell of a get for Pillow People and it’s my primary motivation for checking out this otherwise forgotten television special.

Pillow People Save Christmas is so unimportant that it doesn’t even have an entry at IMDB.com. That’s truly remarkable and I think it’s a first for me with this blog. I’ve looked at some dumb stuff and some of them have entries on that database that basically just say “This is a thing that existed and we have no other information on it.” With this special we don’t even get that so I can’t include voice credits like I normally would as we get to each character. The special itself does of course feature credits at the end, but they’re not detailed. It’s basically just a list of names, some of which are quite familiar.

This one begins with a skyward look at a small town. The Pillow People logo pops in, but it’s missing some letters. That’s because they’re going to be provided by the actual Pillow People and they soon drop in. How cute? We then head for a home where a kid named Billy is getting ready to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. He’s worried about monsters under his bed even though Billy looks like he’s at an age where such concerns should have long faded. His parents assure him that no monsters are going to appear, but not because they don’t exist, but because they don’t attack kids on Christmas. Maybe this lack of denial is why Billy is still fearful at an advanced age. His parents are assholes. Billy thinks they might be dumb monsters though who have no idea it’s Christmas and he makes a good point, though if they’re dumb then he should be able to outsmart them, no?

Dad reminds Billy that the quicker he gets to sleep the quicker he gets to presents and that’s basically all the motivation Billy needs to put monsters out of his mind. He’s also wondering if he can catch Santa in the act as his parents leave the room as he lays down to go to sleep. I can recall doing the same on Christmas Eve which is why i know this kid isn’t real because he actually does fall asleep. The worst sleep sessions of my life have probably all been on Christmas Eve, and here’s some advice for you would-be parents, it doesn’t get that much easier! Anyway, Billy is soon roused from his slumber by a sound downstairs. He creeps to the stairs and sees the shadow of Santa on the wall. Score! Then he hears some scary noises and the cackle of what sounds like a witch as the shadow morphs into something sinister. Then his Christmas gets sucked up like someone is running a super-powered vacuum. Billy gets a look at the culprits, which in addition to the creepy witch shadow, are Pillow People! I thought they were the good guys? The witch notices Billy and orders her minions to grab him. Billy runs back into his room for safety, but when he dives under the covers a hand reaches out and grabs him!

Billy wakes up to find he is no longer in his room. It’s a bright, sunny, place and it’s populated by living pillows. The two beside him seem to know who he is. One is a boxing pillow named Pillow Fighter and the other is a girl pillow named Sweet Dreams. Both were part of the initial wave of Pillow People released to stores. Sweet Dreams introduces them as Pillow People and even adds, “Your huggable, lovable, friends!” You have to get that marketing in there. Above them in a tree is a baby pillow rocking in a cradle – seems safe. The two pillows take Billy on a little tour of the place and I’m not going to name everyone they introduce him to because this is basically a commercial. It would appear they were pushing new Pillow People with a face on one side and a different expression on the other, like sleeping and awake. It’s so cynical.

This leads into a brief musical number about the Pillow People that is just another commercial. It’s horrible, but it is the only place where my boy Punky is featured. Plus it contains the most ambitious animation we’re going to see with these wild tracking shots. This is too good for Pillow People. When the song is over we find an inspector pillow guy who speaks with a French accent snooping about. He’s clearly based on Inspector Clouseau. Nearby is Mr. Sandman Pillow sleeping on the curb who Sweet Dreams is eager to point out. Then a Dr. Z goes skating by with something called 40 Winks. There are these little pillow guys bounding after him and I don’t know if 40 Winks refers to one or all of them. Either way, he’s the typical professor character who probably has all of the good ideas that advance the plot or something. Or he would if this became a series (it did not). There’s a bell ringing in his laboratory or something and apparently he knows right away that it’s Santa Claus. Billy is rightly surprised to hear that the real Santa would be in Pillow Valley, but Sweet Dreams just replies matter-of-factly with an “Of course,” when he asks if it’s really him. She’s so smug.

When we see Dr. Z get to the lab we see how he knew it was Santa. He has some big machine in there that’s like a video phone and that must have been the special Santa ring. Santa is calling because The Noises in the Night are keeping he and his elves awake and without rest they can’t finish all of the toys they need to make for Christmas. The Noises in the Night are basically the Pillow People we saw in Billy’s house. One looks like a door, one a window, a thundercloud and…I don’t really know what the fourth one is supposed to be. He sort of looks like an egg with clown shoes. They were toys too and I specifically remember the window guy as he was in the background a lot in Full House. I think my neighbor had him too. They obviously represent noises that might keep kids away at night and we soon find out they’re followers of someone called Nightmara (Night-mare-ah). She’s some evil being that can’t sleep so she makes it her mission to keep kids awake at night to spread misery, I guess.

Dr. Z suggests to Santa that he move his base of operations from the North Pole to some secret Santa hideout in Pillow Valley called North Pillow. That’s pretty convenient that he has a satellite operation there. Santa agrees with the suggestion and soon he and his elves arrive in Pillow Valley. We check-in with them to find Santa and the elves all asleep at their work bench. You would think Santa would allow his workers to retreat to actual beds, but no. Unfortunately for them their sleep is soon interrupted once again by the Noises in the Night. They come barging in, go up and down the work benches being kind of loud, and then depart satisfied in a job well done. They also warn that now it’s Nightmara’s turn to do whatever her job is. Santa can only bemoan the fact that the Noises tracked them down. No one seems to consider just, I don’t know, kicking their asses? These guys are strictly pacifists it would seem. It also probably wouldn’t hurt to lock the door. Or get ear plugs. All I’m saying is this seems like a real minor problem with a variety of simple solutions.

Billy and the others soon drop by only to find out that the elves have hit such a state of exhaustion that they’re now in a deep sleep. The problem now is that they’re too close to Christmas and can’t possibly finish all of the toys in time. Billy has the bright idea to suggest that they assist in making the last of the toys. Everyone seems to think this is a great idea so I guess they all have experience making toys? They get to work and we see that it’s okay for the boxing pillow to punch stuff that isn’t alive, but I guess he can’t punch one of the Noises in the Night. Everything seems to be going well until Nightmara’s shadow falls across the land. More evil laughter is heard as soon all of the presents get sucked away. There doesn’t appear to be some massive vacuum device, it just sort of happens like it’s a property of the shadow she creates. And that shadow kind of looks like a dragon and I’m actually eager to see what this being looks like. With the presents all gone Nightmara takes her leave and Santa, the funny guy that he is, announces that it’s “Ho, ho, hopeless,” and that Christmas is cancelled. Where have I heard that before?

In a sinister looking castle with a giant dragon’s maw for an opening, we find the Noises in the Night apparently enjoying the gifts their master stole. We then get our first look at this Nightmara as she descends a staircase with what appears to be a raven on her shoulder. She’s…unimpressive. She has a visage like Mother Brain from the Captain N show and a body like Venger from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, only it’s purple instead of red. Maybe they date? She has either a cape or bat wings and she’s just all together some creepy old lady. Not really scary or imposing, though certainly ugly. She’s pissed at her minions for playing with the toys and making a bunch of noise, but making noise is essentially all that they do.

Upon seeing Nightmara, the ugly pillow with the big feet collides with Thunderclap. He was on a skateboard and Thunderclap was playing marbles. The two then smash into a toy train being driven by the other two, the squeeky door and window. Nightmara then gets a chance to explain her rationale here which is that she stole Christmas from the kids so they couldn’t sleep? Okay, she reasons that kids go to bed early on Christmas to wake up early and open gifts and since she can’t sleep no one can. I get the last part, but the promise of presents in the morning is what makes kids NOT sleep on Christmas Eve. Her plan should have something to do with that. No presents means kids are just going to be sad (which probably doesn’t bother her), but they’re just going to go to sleep again. Her plan should be somehow to prolong Christmas. Anyway, we do finally get to see what she’s using to suck up the toys. It’s a tiny, black, chest and she uses it to suck up all of the toys in her castle so that the Noises in the Night can’t play with them. I’d say she’s a mean boss, but I suppose they had it coming when they decided to work for someone who refers to herself as The Queen of Nightmares.

Back in Pillow Valley, Santa informs the others that there isn’t enough time to make new toys to save Christmas. Pillow Fighter finally makes a useful suggestion which is to just go kick Nightmara’s ass. Billy likes that idea, until Pillow Fighter informs him that Nightmara can turn into basically any horrible creature she can think of. Still, the others apparently agree as they start to head out. First, we need to highlight Rockabye, the little baby pillow, who wants to go too, but Sweet Dreams informs her this mission is too dangerous and puts her in her cradle and rocks her to sleep. Before they can leave, Detective Peter Pillow returns (he was the inspector guy from earlier) and he’s also bringing a dog pillow guy with him because we need to advertise the Pillow People Pets! He’s bringing along Drowsy Dog because a narcoleptic canine is sure to be useful in tracking down an evil sorceress. At least the rest of the gang look bewildered at the thought of bringing these two clowns along.

Drowsy Dog, who walks like any other bipedal Pillow Person, leads them to a random spot on the ground and then goes to sleep. The detective seems to think this is all part of his plan, while Mr. Sandman thinks going to sleep is just a good idea. He tosses his magic sand in the air and Sweet Dreams is quick to remind everyone to cover their eyes unless they too want to fall into a deep slumber. Billy wonders how they’ll ever reach Noisy Canyon (that’s apparently where they’re going) at this rate, but Pillow Fighter tells him to cheer up and scoops up Mr. Sandman as they all just walk off apparently leaving Dr. Z behind, the coward. At no point does anyone speculate how long this journey is going to take. We’ve seen where Nightmara lives and it doesn’t look anything like Pillow Valley which leads me to believe it’s quite a haul. I guess they don’t have Pillow Trucks or planes.

Well, wherever this place is it apparently wasn’t far because our…heroes…are already in Noisy Canyon. Billy is the first to note that it’s pretty quiet despite it’s name, but then of course it gets loud. He runs away screaming while the others try to tell him they’re just noises that can’t hurt him. Santa even calls after him to come back because they need his help to save Christmas. Just what are they relying on this kid for, exactly? Billy then runs into the other Noises in the Night and both sides are scared of the other. The Noises regroup and quickly realize what’s going, while Billy reunites with the others by running right into Santa’s big, red, ass. Peter Pillow takes the credit for this reunion because he sucks, while the others take this opportunity to remind Billy that noises can’t hurt him. It all goes back to the reason for the Pillow People’s creation. At least they’re good at staying on message.

The group resumes it’s search for Nightmara’s castle by traversing Noisy Canyon. They’re soon confronted by the Noises once again who block their passage. Thunderclap, clearly the leader, tells them to turn back or else. When he’s challenged on the “or else” part, he does what his name implies: claps. A dark cloud appears over him and it crackles with lightning. Maybe we’re about to get some actual conflict?! Then the cloud rains and all it does is soak Thunderclap. Billy laughs at how lame he is and points out that noises can’t hurt him. And that apparently applies to the Noises in the Night.

The group is then shown walking once again. I guess once they realized the Noises couldn’t hurt them they just pushed past them? The orange glow of the background would suggest that they’re nearing the castle which was surrounded by lava. They are indeed there and as they approach the dragon maw entrance we can see Nightmara lurking above. Peter Pillow again takes credit for leading them here and suggests that he and Drowsy Dog will be able to deduce a way inside. The dog, to my surprise, actually appears to sniff out a loose brick in the wall. Peter Pillow pushes it, but rather than opening a secret entrance it opens a trap door and our heroes fall into a long, dark, chasm, possibly to their death. Well, I guess the pillows will be fine, but Santa and Billy might die. I guess if this pit is full of spikes then the pillows will die too. I doubt we’re that lucky.

Of course, no one dies and the group just lands in a jail cell of some kind. Around them are inanimate pillows. Are these the corpses of Pillow People who were locked up until death? No one seems unnerved by them, so I guess not. Nightmara enters to basically just laugh at everyone before disappearing causing Santa to turn to his apparent catchphrase once again of “Ho, ho, hopeless.” He’s really a downer. Pillow Fighter thinks he can punch his way out, but all that does is reveal he can’t even count to 4. Mr. Sandman wakes up and upon seeing that they’re locked in a dungeon basically says, “Screw this,” and tosses more sand in his eyes. Doing so gives Sweet Dreams the idea that maybe they can use the sand on Nightmara? Problem is, they first need to break out of this dungeon and to do that they’re going to need a diversion.

And what is their diversion? A pillow fight! That’s why all of those pillow corpses are strewn about. The gang breaks into a fight and I’m curious what this will accomplish, but apparently the Noises in the Night are far dumber than expected. They come barging in to break up the fight for some reason, Nightmara too. These guys are seriously bad at being villains. They basically join in on the pillow fight and during the “melee” the Pillow People use the magic sand to put each of the Noises in the Night to sleep one by one. Sweet Dreams takes care of Window Rattler while Peter Pillow is left to take on the egg guy, who we find out is called Big Foot Steps. Only, Peter sucks at everything and tosses the sand at his nose causing Big Foot Steps to sneeze. By doing so, he blows sand into Peter’s eyes, who sneezes, and blows sand into the eyes of Big Foot Steps causing both to fall asleep.

Billy is left to take down Nightmara herself. She’s surprised to see that Billy has the courage to face her, but I guess she’s a lot like the noises or something so he’s fine. She’s also not very observant and seems to have no idea what Billy is up to. He doesn’t take any chances and tosses the entire pouch of sand in her face. At first she has no idea what’s going on, and this is actually a good chance for this thing to have a little fun with a character who has literally never experienced sleep before be overcome by it. It’s nothing special though. She and her raven basically just yawn and collapse in a heap. So much for that.

With Nightmara down for the count, her magic treasure chest falls to the floor and breaks open. All of the presents she stole spring out and litter the castle. Some of them look absolutely massive, bigger than Santa! No one is apparently worried about getting these back to North Pillow and instead it just sort of happens. Fill in the blanks however you want, I guess. A rightly exhausted Santa is unsure of how he’s going to deliver all of the gifts in time since it’s practically Christmas morning. Mr. Sandman knows when he’s needed, and with a wink he’s off! The little guy rides a star through the early morning sky leaving a blanket of magic sand dust in his wake. We see kids rising out of bed and, for some reason, heading for their bedroom windows only to get hit with the sand and return to bed.

With the kids back in bed, Santa is free to deliver the presents. With his five trusty reindeer (boo!), he’s off and the Pillow People are coming along to help deliver the gifts. And Billy too. When they’re all done and gathered around a Christmas tree, Santa thanks the Pillow People and asks where’s Billy? That Billy is fast asleep in the corner. I guess they saved his house for last. They put him to bed and Sweet Dreams tells him, wait, I bet you can’t guess – “Sweet dreams, Billy.”

With Billy in bed the Pillow People depart. Soon, the early morning sun creeps through his bedroom window causing him to spring from his bed and run down to the tree. Everything is as it should be and Billy suspects it was all just a dream. A tap on the shoulder reveals it most certainly was not. Sweet Dreams is there and she has a special present for Billy. It’s basically a Santa Pillow People that Santa wanted him to have so that he’d always remember this night. The other Pillow People are there as well and give Billy a wave before they all depart. Billy’s parents enter and his dad takes note of the doll in his son’s hands and remarks that he finally caught Santa. Billy confirms that he did and says it was all thanks to the Pillow People! His parents look at each other with bewildered expressions and rightly so. Under the tree, a box moves out of the way and one of the little pillow guys pops out (40 Winks?), winks, and runs away.

Well, that was pretty terrible. A commercial masquerading as a Christmas special. I suppose it’s not a surprise to encounter such a thing, but this one is just so bad at disguising its true intentions. The part where Sweet Dreams just basically takes Billy on a tour of their products had me chuckling aloud – thanks Reagan! The whole concept of Pillow People is very boring to me. It was then, it is now. They’re not terrible, it’s just mind-boggling that they caught on in such a big way. I suppose I can applaud its commitment to the lore of basically being nightmare salves, but I always thought they were a bit creepy looking. Punky was okay for me because he had shades, but Sweet Dreams? She’s frightening. These things weren’t nightmare salves, they were nightmare fuel.

Since this is a TMS production the look and animation is way better than it should be. It’s not impressive, by any means, but it’s far from awful. This thing probably cost more to make than the Garfield holiday specials. The art direction is a bit on the bland side. I was fine with Noisy Canyon and Nightmara’s castle, but Pillow Valley is like the home of the Care Bears, but even less interesting. The voice cast, on the other hand, is full of quality actors. Some were easy to pick out for me, like Cree Summer, others were not. Jim Cummings is in this one and I’m not sure who he is. Ken Samson, who played Rabbit in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, was easy to pick out as Dr. Z. Russi Taylor is in this one too, but I’m not sure who she is. Maybe one of the babies? I don’t think she was Sweet Dreams. The most fun one could probably have with this special is watching it with a list of the voice actors in front of them and trying to figure out who voiced who.

And that’s really the only reason to watch it, other than sheer curiosity. The story sucks and it’s not entertaining. The music isn’t good and the animation is merely adequate. There aren’t any flourishes to the animation aside from the rotating, tracking, shots during the crappy song. It’s mostly just fine. If you ever had a Pillow People doll or saw one and wondered what was up with it, I guess this might answer some of your questions? If you’d rather not take my word for it and wish to see for yourself, you can find this thing online for free in various states of quality. I don’t know if this thing was ever released on VHS. I want to say “probably,” but I couldn’t find anything. I did find the Pillow People Santa so if you find yourself jealous of Billy’s Christmas present, you could get your very own. I don’t know why you would be though.