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’s entry is another full write-up on a classic Christmas special. If you look over the entire body of work here at The Nostalgia Spot when it comes to Christmas, there may be those who are disappointed by the lack of secular representation. And I get it, Christmas is a religious holiday and it’s supposed to be about the birth of Jesus in the Christian religion and all its denominations. It’s just been hijacked by the likes of Santa and Frosty. Not to mention Mickey, Homer, Dr. Seuss, Garfield, and pretty much every popular and not so popular character under the sun. I’m going to try and make some amends for that. I am not a religious person, so the more religious specials don’t connect with me like some of the other ones, but there are some decent ones out there. There also tends to be a lot of bad, cheaply produced, specials which is unfortunate for those who want to keep the Christ in Christmas. And if I’m going to do a more religious special then there really was only one choice for me.
The Little Drummer Boy is a 1968 stop-motion special from Rankin/Bass. It’s based on the song of the same name by Katherine Kennicott Davis which was said to be inspired by the French song “Patapan.” I point that out only because some people still think this is a story that originated in the Bible. Sorry to those who thought that, but it’s not. A lot of manger scenes do contain a drummer boy, but I assume that’s a result of the song’s popularity though I’m sure some artists illustrated the scene before it with a drummer child. The song received a new arrangement by Jack Halloran in 1957, but the public didn’t hear it until it was released by Harry Simeone in 1958. That’s the arrangement most people know and identify with and it’s what the Rankin/Bass special was based upon.
We’re finally doing one about a star.
As a kid, The Little Drummer Boy was a favorite in my house. I think we saw it on television, but I’m also fairly certain it was one we borrowed from the library. When I was really little, the Christmas Tape my mom made was pretty much all I cared about at Christmas, but The Little Drummer Boy did kind of work its way into the rotation. We never bought it or attempted to add it to The Christmas Tape. I’m not sure, realistically, how much space was left on that tape even if we wanted to add it. I liked the special, though my sister was the one who really loved it. I can also recall when we found out there was a sequel just by happening upon it in a store and we begged my mom to buy it. She did, and it was terrible. You need not waste your time with that one.
However, the original? I’m happy to say it’s still pretty good. We’re basically smack-dab, right in the middle of this countdown and that’s not a bad place to be. I had not watched this before today in quite awhile and it was nice going back to it. It has some problems, but it’s overall a nice story and I think it’s relatable for those who are religious and those who are not. It’s also a Rankin/Bass production so it has a similar flow and a pretty standard approach, though at a shorter runtime than a lot of their other specials which I appreciate.
These are people being harmed by taxes, but don’t worry, that’s not really the story here.
This one begins with a shot of a caravan of people crossing the desert with the sun in the background. It casts everyone in shadows and it’s both beautiful, but perhaps ominous as well. Our narrator (Greer Garson) comes in to tell us this is a story that begins with the most Christmas themed story device every written – taxes! Oh yes, real exciting stuff. Thankfully, as a kid I had seen Disney’s Robin Hood so I knew all that I needed to know about taxes which is that they mostly penalize the poor. The taxes thing is just window-dressing to tell us that the people are anxious about money and it’s causing distress. It leads to new business models, I suppose, which is how we’re introduced to Ben Haramad (Jose Ferrer).
These two guys suck.
Haramad is a showman, or would be showman. He’s a large, portly, man with nice clothes and doesn’t appear to be the sort suffering from economic distress at this time. Alongside him is his lackey, Ali (Paul Frees), a diminutive, comical, looking character of limited intelligence and utility. I should point out now that if you are looking for an ethnically accurate cast of voice actors you’re not going to find it here. Some companies have always prioritized that sort of thing, but for the majority it’s a pretty modern thing even though it seems like it should have always made sense. Paul Frees is basically the entire cast of this thing.
It does seem like a useful skill to possess.
These guys are basically stalking the desert because they want the famed drummer boy, Aaron (Teddy Eccles). He’s something of a local celebrity, it would seem, for whenever he plays his drum the animals dance to the beat. In his entourage is a camel, Joshua, a lamb, Baba, and a donkey named Samson. Frees is listed as providing sound effects for all of them. They’re depicted in a semi-realistic style. There’s a touch of cartoon quality to their profiles, but just enough to give them personality. I particularly like the texture of the camel puppet which reminds me of my cat’s scratching post. As Aaron thumps his drum he calls out critiques to his steeds while the two prowlers look on. Haramad wants to add Aaron and his dancing troupe to his act, but Ali reminds him that Aaron will never go along with it because he is known to hate all people. Haramad is not dismayed by this for he has in his possession a rope. Yes, the pair intend to abduct Aaron and his animal friends and force him to perform for money. In other words, these dicks are would-be slavers.
I’m not a big death penalty guy, but I’ll make an exception for Ali over what he’s doing to Baba!
The pair spring forth from behind a dune after crawling around on their bellies like the cowards they are. Haramad seizes Aaron while entrusting Ali with the animals, who all spring into action. He gets kicked by Samson for his troubles, but he is able to get his mitts on both the camel and the donkey eventually while Baba locks onto his shin with his jaws. Haramad orders Ali to get the animals subdued, but lacking a third hand, he elects to sit on the tiny lamb which looks painful. This leads us into the opening title and a rendition of the song by The Vienna Boys’ Choir. It’s a pleasing version of the song and I’m sure you’ve all heard it if you even listen to a small amount of Christmas music around the holidays. When it ends we move into the bargaining phase of this budding relationship. Haramad wants Aaron to play and in return he’ll split the money he earns with him. Aaron is reluctant on account of the fact that he hates and distrusts people, but reluctantly agrees to the proposal. If he were to make enough money doing this he’d never have to deal with other folks again. Plus, he was literally just wandering the desert with some animals. That can’t be a lifestyle conducive to living a long and healthy life.
Aaron and his parents during happier times.
Haramad get his own song here. Some metaphor about a goose – it’s a bit of a nothing song. All you need to know is this guy is consumed by money and greed, but also doesn’t want to work a day in his life. When it’s over, we get to finally find out why this little drummer boy is so angry (a drum is a fitting instrument for one with a lot of pent up aggression). Wouldn’t you know, little Aaron was once a thriving, happy child. His parents were shepherds and we’re treated to a flashback where he runs up to his mom (June Foray) and dad (Frees) addressing them as mother and father with an outpouring of affection that seems to surprise his parents. This is when he’s gifted his drum as a birthday present and from the moment he starts playing it the animals on the farm react as we already saw. The narrator then informs us that life did not remain so happy for Aaron. Robbers attack in the night to steal their sheep and when Aaron’s dad goes outside shouting “What’s going on?” like a fool, he gets a sword thrown at him in response. Aaron’s mom helps him escape out a window and we see her look back in sadness as flames engulf the farm.
That’s an image that has stayed with me over the years.
Alone, Aaron wanders the desert and his anger hardens and calcifies forming a hatred for all humans. This is the anger he will need to overcome in order to perform. Haramad will see that for himself soon as the troupe enters Jerusalem. There they setup shop in the middle of a street and we see some of Haramad’s other acts that I guess travel separately. He has some tumblers in his employ, but the crowd doesn’t seem too impressed with their routine. Ali is next up and he’s apparently a juggler, but in name only. He attempts to juggle some vases, but he is successful at juggling none as they fall to the ground or smash across his head. It would seem his act should just be turned into a comedic one, but perhaps vases are far too expensive back then to intentionally break a dozen every performance?
I guess the painted smile works well enough.
The crowd is starting to disperse when Haramad summons Aaron. He’s the only one who can save them now, but there’s just one problem: Aaron refuses to smile. No matter, Haramad paints a smile and some dimples onto the kid’s face and sets him loose. Aside from the whole smile thing, the kid is apparently ready for stardom as he has a whole routine planned around a song called “Why Can’t the Animals Smile?” It’s cute, and I especially like how the animals he has (Joshua, Baba, and Samson) act out the animals called out in the song. Especially good is Joshua’s impression of an alligator. As for the song, it’s a catchy little tune that I don’t dislike, but one thing about it bothers me and that’s the complete lack of percussion. This kid is supposed to be playing a drum and a drum alone and there isn’t event one drum in the song?
I think I too would feel something akin to hatred if I had this joker smiling at me.
The crowd eats it up regardless and Haramad is getting ready to pass the hat and collect his reward, but then Aaron goes and screws it all up. As he looks at the faces in the crowd, his rage consumes him. The film juxtaposes one smiling guy with the smile of the bandit that murdered his parents (they’re probably the same puppet, though I don’t think we’re supposed to assume they’re literally the same characters) and you can understand why this might set the kid off. He lashes out, calling them thieves and knaves and the crowd predictably turns on them. They’re forced to make a run for it back out into the desert.
I don’t believe it – I’m seeing double here! Six kings!
Haramad is understandably pretty irritated with the kid as they make camp. It’s basically Ali and Aaron setting up a tent while Haramad skulks. It’s then they notice a nearby caravan. It’s a pretty big one that’s obviously intended for a very important kind of person. From a tent emerges what Haramad determines is a king! Then, suddenly, from the tent beside him emerges yet another king! And then what do you think emerges from the third tent? If you guessed king then you’d be correct! Three kings! Haramad is incredibly eager to run down and perform for them feeling that a strong performance is sure to be rewarded with the biggest payday of his life!
On your knees, knave!
Unfortunately for Haramad, these kings are in no mood to hang around. They immediately start to break camp as Haramad comes charging in urging them to stay. He’s met with spear tips as a soldier commands he stand down and refers to him as a knave, which seems to break his spirit. If you’re unaware, a knave is a deceitful person or servant. It’s apparently the strongest insult they could get away with. One of the kings approaches, Casper (Frees), and orders the men to stand down. Haramad then pleads his case, but finds out the kings are not sticking around. They’re following a brilliant star that has appeared in the sky and they must make haste. What’s Haramad to do? Nothing but sulk. As he sits and watches the camp get rounded up, Ali helpfully points out all of the valuables they’re hauling including glowing sacks of gold. Haramad sounds like he’s about to cry.
Poor creature. Well, better not let her go to waste!
The valuables prove to be perhaps too much. One of the camels being loaded with the gold and other assorted gear collapses under the weight of it all. Casper is shown having some sympathy for the beast, but he doesn’t appear to possess any regret over literally working the animal to death. The other animals are already overloaded too so they have no where to put the remaining gear. That’s when one of the other kings, Melchior (Frees), suggests they try and purchase the camel they saw with Haramad’s troupe. Aaron hears this and obviously objects, but Haramad is more than willing to talk business. We get a time cut to Haramad with a mighty sack of coin and Casper remarking that he drives a hard bargain. It would appear Haramad raked them over the coals, but hey, they’re kings so they can probably afford it.
I wish I could say some misfortune befalls Haramad, but this is the last we see of him.
The caravan leaves with Joshua and Aaron confronts Haramad over it. Haramad doesn’t even notice him at first being too absorbed by his coins. He then sees the boy’s angry glare and offers up just one of the coins as his share. Aaron smacks it out of his hand and declares he’s leaving. Haramad doesn’t give a damn since he’s made enough money off the kid by stealing his camel. Aaron, Samson, and Baba leave not knowing where to go. That’s when Aaron is reminded that the kings were following the star. If they simply do the same then maybe they can catch up with them and reclaim Joshua. It’s a plan, all right, though maybe not the best of plans. I guess Aaron thinks the kings will just return Joshua to him out of the goodness of their hearts even though they just spent what was probably a ludicrous sum of money on the beast.
I always hated this part.
As Aaron and the animals race through the night, we see a whole convoy of people marching towards the little town of Bethlehem. They’re all following the star as if it we’re summoning them to the town. Aaron heads inside the city gate and almost immediately spies Joshua. He cries out with glee and he and the others race for the camel completely ignoring everything around them. This proves costly for little Baba as a chariot races through the streets and runs the little lamb over. The happy reunion is now tinged with tragedy as Aaron runs over and scoops the little lamb up in his arms. Not knowing what else to do, he brings the lamb to Casper who is nearby. Referring to kings as wise, Aaron puts his faith in the man that he may know of a way to help his friend. Unfortunately, all Casper can do is confirm that the lamb is near death. A mortal king such as he can do nothing to help the creature, but there is another king who can.
We’re being shown the most famous birthday party ever!
Casper gestures to what has drawn everyone to this little town. A woman and a man sit in a manger as the inn was all full. She has just given birth to a baby who rests between them and a heavenly glow radiates from the babe. Aaron is confused, but Casper insists he go to the child and seek its help. Aaron then says the line that is sure to stick with those who watch this, “But I have no gift to bring.”
This is what we came for.
Aaron sets the lamb aside and cautiously approaches the baby. The puppet wears an expression of fear, awe, and uncertainty which is a testament to the craftsmen who made it. This is also when the title song comes in, and unlike the song from before, this one does have a gentle drum pattern to it. Aaron, having no gift of conventional style, plays his drum for the child as the song instructs. He plays it along to the drum pattern in the recording which is a nice touch, though one does wonder how plain that would sound without all of the accoutrements we’re treated to as viewers. The screen does a good job of displaying what we’re hearing described by the song’s lyrics. There’s a flourish just before the end before it resumes it’s normal rhythm and by the time the boys’ choir says “Me and my drum,” there’s a solid knot in my throat.
And the lamb’s okay, folks!
Aaron’s gift of song pleased the child and when he turns around he finds Baba alive and well. He embraces the little lamb as Casper explains that his gift, born of desperation, is the greatest gift of all. That sounds kind of weird, but we’ll go with it. Aaron sheds some happy tears and our narrator tells us that this act allowed him to let go of his hate and we’re left to assume that Aaron was a much happier child from then on. And assume we must because it’s over. The camera pans up to the star in the sky and that’s the shot it goes out on.
Fin.
The Little Drummer Boy is what I’d consider a mostly feel good story. Our protagonist has to endure some terrible hardships to reach that ending, but one can walk away from this one feeling uplifted. Of course, me being me, I can’t help but wonder about the kid’s future. He’s still a poor child alone in this world with just his animal companions. Could he possibly hook on with one of the kings? He and Melchior seem to have something going on, but kings aren’t exactly known for being generous when it comes to the poor. It feels like the most likely outcome is the typical holiday season outcome. Everyone in the moment is feeling comradery and a sense of selflessness, but come the next day when it’s time to move on and go back to their lives they may feel differently. Those kings may not even so much as glance in the direction of a peasant like Aaron. We do know that isn’t exactly how it goes since there is a sequel, but the sequel doesn’t really tell us anything about how Aaron is able to survive in this world. He just does. Maybe he’s blessed?
They do a great job conveying emotion with just visuals in this one.
It’s certainly possible that Aaron is now somehow imbued with a spark of the divine following his interaction with the baby, who by the way is never named in this special. It’s an interesting choice to leave his name unsaid, but it does allow for the song itself to tell the story in the final act and I think that was the right call. And giving Aaron a desperate reason to play for the child adds an emotional element, though it does complicate the messaging here. It introduces an element of reciprocity to the religion: Aaron provides a gift for the new king, and in return his lamb is healed. It’s not the best, but I don’t disagree that it adds more drama to the scene. He could have just played out of a sense of compulsion and it probably still would have worked. The story then could have just pivoted to having Joshua returned to him as the kings were able to see the error of their ways since they took the camel from this kid. They may have paid for him, but it was sort of like buying stolen goods.
Best shot in the show, I’ll entertain no challenges.
In the end, I guess that element of the special is something for the theologians to sort out. For me, the person just looking to be entertained and feel a little something in the process, this one works. Aaron is sympathetic and little Baba is adorable. I hate seeing him get run over. The animation and some of the things they do with the animals is some of the best stuff I’ve seen out of Rankin/Bass. Ordinarily, I don’t really like their brand of stop-motion, I’m just used to it. Here, it adds something and I’m not left wondering if this would be improved with more traditional, hand-drawn, animation. Even though there’s no Santa or reindeer to be found, I still get some Christmas vibes from this one. Sure, part of that is due to it being something I watched frequently enough as a child and certainly the song has been associated with the season all my life. My own father still gets excited when he hears the Bing Crosby/David Bowie duet come on the radio.
If you’re looking to get some of that Christmas feeling and are not so interested in the guy with the red suit, then this might be your best option. And it’s extremely easy to come by as it’s one of the less protected Rankin/Bass specials which might have something to do with it being more religious in nature. It definitely wasn’t promoted as much on cable, and some of the original elements have been lost to time preventing a proper remaster. As a result, it’s available to stream for free in various places and still available on physical media.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
We’re going to keep sticking with the animated sitcom Christmas special for another day and this time we turn to Bob. Bob’s Burgers has been a reliable staple for holiday viewing ever since getting a more robust endorsement from the Fox network for its third season. That was the first full season, by television standards,…
Yesterday, we took a look at a Cartoon Network original aimed at a pretty broad audience. Today, it’s an Adult Swim original very much aimed at an adult audience. Or at least one older than eight. Smiling Friends is the creation of Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel and it’s an animated sitcom about a couple…
The Ren & Stimpy Show burst onto the scene as part of the original trio of Nicktoons in 1991. The other two, Doug and Rugrats, were fairly gentle cartoons. Rugrats could sometimes get a little blue since the main characters were all babies, but the occasional poop joke was hardly something to get offended by.…
December 9th brings us perhaps the most eclectic part of the countdown yet. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I tried to group similar specials together when it came to tone and audience. I didn’t want to create too much whiplash going from Mickey Mouse to Eric Cartman. That doesn’t mean I’d stick to that approach at all costs because the rankings are what they are. I’m not going to elevate a bad Christmas episode of a show just to slot it into a friendlier place on the list or do the opposite to a good special. Sometimes, there’s just no way around it. Today is one of those days, but I’m going to frontload it with the adult comedy specials before transitioning to the more general audience stuff. And sure, maybe I’m more likely to watch one of these adult cartoons over one from The Flintstones on a given day, but they’re so close together that the rankings are purely subjective. I could say that for any entry, if you want to reorder these ten I wouldn’t fight you on it, but let’s get to it.
Family Guy is making its first appearance on this list, but it has a few to contribute and plenty more I never covered. This episode is one of the more recent ones and it’s also the most recent episode from the show I took a look at. It appealed to me because the plot, a frustrated Lois ditches her family for Christmas, felt very similar to the show’s first Christmas episode which remains my favorite one it’s done. The main difference is in that episode Lois goes to great lengths to be a beacon of positive energy who wants her family to have a great Christmas and then she eventually snaps because her family just isn’t willing to help her at all. This one, being many years later, is more typical of modern Family Guy where there’s a mean-spirited energy throughout. Lois experiences basically the same thing, but rather than have a nervous breakdown she just leaves and hopes to watch her family fall apart without her. When that doesn’t happen, she returns to steal Christmas in a very Grinchy segment which ends up being the highlight. It’s all right, but it all has a feeling of “Haven’t we done this before?” Doing a Grinch parody in this day and age also doesn’t help. We somehow managed to go decades as a society with doing The Grinch before the floodgates just suddenly opened in the 2000s.
During its Fox run, Futurama gave us two excellent Xmas episodes centered around a murderous robot Santa. This one from the Comedy Central era decided not to go all-out on Xmas and instead gave us an anthology style episode with a segment on Xmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa. It’s…okay. None of the segments are really long enough to feel substantial, but they’re also not good enough to feel like we were deprived anything. Some of the jokes are too reliant on callbacks, a frequent problem for the show when it came back, and the Xmas segment in particular is rather weak. Recently, Futurama added another Xmas special to its bank of episodes and it’s a lot better than this one. I considered doing an entry on it this year, but decided against it. Maybe some other time. This is the Futurama holiday episode I usually skip.
This Christmas, you’ll believe Charlie Manson can be reformed.
South Park‘s second season is somewhat maligned. It lacked the novelty the first season brought with it, but wasn’t quite the satirical force it would become in later seasons. “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson” is pretty much emblematic of that. It’s not as shocking as the debut of Mr. Hankey in the first Christmas episode, and it’s not as brilliant as “A Very Crappy Christmas,” an episode I probably should have covered at some point. I only did this one because no one talks about it, but that is with good reason. Making Charlie Manson a central character in your Christmas special is certainly subversive and having the spirit of the holiday save him sounds like a decent South Park premise on paper, but they just don’t really pull it off. Maybe because it takes awhile to get Charlie into it? The payoff just isn’t all that funny and once the family of Cartmans runs its course the episode just limps to the finish line. If I’m throwing on the Christmas Time in South Park DVD I’m not skipping over this one, but I’m also not going out of my way to watch it annually.
Want to fall out of love with Stimpy? This episode will try and make it happen.
Ren and Stimpy feels like a good transition from the adult section of our countdown to the more family friendly stuff to come. I actually wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the show’s second holiday episode. I very much enjoy The Ren and Stimpy Show. For a long time it was my favorite Nicktoon, but I think now I’d rank Rocko’s Modern Life ahead of it. That’s still pretty good and the show is funny, but I don’t love their Christmas episodes. There are aspects of this one that I think work a little better than “Son of Stimpy,” and I considered ranking it ahead of that one, but ultimately settled on this spot. In this one, Stimpy really wants a scooter for Yaksmas and is not subtle about it. He always gets his buddy Ren thoughtful gifts, while Ren takes Stimpy for granted. That’s what happens here and it drives Stimpy crazy to the point where he basically steals the scooter and is on the run for a lot of the episode. It has its moments and it’s full of the Games era hallmarks of subversive jokes and misdirection, but it’s yet another episode that’s just brutal to Stimpy. He’s a sympathetic character and it’s just not fun to see him in so much distress and the jokes just aren’t frequent enough, or clever enough, to rescue this one.
Nope, not the movie about the kid and the BB gun, but the Hanna-Barbera stand-alone Christmas special about a mouse and dog trying to get a letter to Santa. This special is mostly interesting to me because it must not have made much of an impact. I don’t know if I ever saw it as a kid. I definitely didn’t remember it when I returned to it for the blog, but I’m sure Cartoon Network would have aired this thing in the 90s. I conclude it made little to no impact because most of the original songs were lifted and repurposed for A Flintstone Christmas a few years later. It’s like if The Little Mermaid bombed so they had Aladdin sing “Part of Your World.” As for the actual special, it’s animated and produced competently enough and the story is a bit syrupy sweet. Daws Butler voicing another mouse is cute and it’s kind of amusing to hear Paul Winchell lend his Tigger voice to a dog. And it’s an original story for a stand-alone Christmas special so I’m giving it some bonus points for that. It’s not great, and I may be overrating it, but for whatever reason I just don’t hate this one and I think it’s more deserving of your time than a lot of what I ranked behind it.
The character who put Dic on the map in the 1980s made a brief return in the early 90s for a proper Christmas finale. Inspector Gadget is the comically inept detective who is some sort of cyborg or something. He’s got lots of gadgets, as the name implies, and they’re built into his body. Are we sure he’s a cyborg and not just a robot? Anyway, he gets all the credit for thwarting Doctor Claw when in reality its his niece Penny and her super smart canine Brain getting the job done while also keeping Gadget out of harm’s way. In this one, Doctor Claw overtakes Santa’s workshop and Gadget is deployed to put a stop to it, but in the process assaults the real Santa Claus because he’s incredibly dumb. Dic was able to get the voice cast back for the most part and even spent a little money to make this thing look good. There’s some musical moments that don’t really work for me, but otherwise this is a pretty good episode of Inspector Gadget that also happens to be a Christmas episode. If you liked the show then you’ll probably enjoy this.
When Warner Bros. (R.I.P.) had a new network to stock with children’s shows they turned to some old stars: Tweety and Sylvester. Joining the adversaries is Granny and the dog, Hector, who I don’t think ever had a name in the golden era, but maybe I’m mistaken. The plot then required this group to become a detective agency of sorts because why not? It worked for Hanna-Barbera all those years so why not a pair of Looney Tunes? The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries is a pretty mid-tier animated series. It’s well put together, but not very inventive, the kind of show you leave on if you can’t find anything better to watch (or can’t find the remote). “Feather Christmas” is also a fairly benign episode of the show. It occupies one segment, so roughly 11 minutes or so, but it also lacks what the title promises: a mystery. In this one, a bratty girl has a pet bird her parents hate so they snatch it in the middle of the night. They have their butler or something (they’re rich) return the bird, but come to regret it. Since the help is on vacation for Christmas, they need Granny and her animals to find the store the bird was returned to. Meanwhile, Sylvester is trying to be extra good so he gets something better than a rubber mouse for Christmas. There’s some slapstick, pee jokes, and Sylvester ultimately makes the right choice and the bratty little girl has a Merry Christmas while Sylvester gets…another rubber mouse. The cat can’t win.
Future Worm! is a show I had never heard of until it popped up on Hulu one day as a recommend. I looked through the episodes, found a Christmas one, and then had to get acquainted with this interesting series. I’m not going to rehash the nonsensical plot and setup, but all most likely need to know about Future Worm! is that it’s Rick and Morty for babies. The look and tone is so similar to the more popular adult animated show that it kind of blew my mind. That had to have been the premise, right? As in, someone at Disney wondered if they could adapt a popular show like Rick and Morty for a more general audience. It’s the only explanation. And the crazy thing is it mostly works. This episode isn’t laugh out loud funny, but it’s clever. The main family gets lost in the mall, the patriarch (who is such a Gerry) falls in with some goths, and it turns out the villain is Mrs. Claus with a head made out of gingerbread. It’s weird, though maybe not as weird as it’s trying to be. If you ever wondered if Rick and Morty could work with a PG rating, then maybe give this show a look.
Fred is going to learn the true meaning of Christmas the hard way.
Yes, another 90s Flintstones holiday special. This one is much better than the franchise’s take on A Christmas Carol. This is a made-for-primetime television special so it has the production values and it’s also an original story. In this one, a juvenile delinquent comes into contact with the Flintstone family and it’s upon them to reform this Stony. He’s legitimately a bad seed at the start, but he’s also a product of neglect. The kid then tries to repay the Flintstones for their kindness, but he’s not equipped to do so and his bad decisions just create more problems for Fred and the family. It’s a very sitcom-type premise with the typical sitcom results. I confess that I’m still somewhat charmed by The Flintstones so this one probably works a little better for me than it would someone who doesn’t care about the show, but it’s a perfectly fine Christmas special.
I may have liked this as a kid, but I never liked how Santa looked.
The Ranken/Bass animated special closes out our ten for today. Is this one a classic? It was in my house so I guess that’s all that matters for this countdown. And it was a favorite of mine as a kid. I naturally gravitated more towards the hand drawn stuff over the puppets so that probably played some role and I’m a sucker for the “Will Santa Claus come?” plot and the payoff always hits me. I feel like I frequently cite the songs in a lot of these things as being bad, but this one has some bangers. I think the big song, “Christmas Chimes are Calling (Santa, Santa)” is great and it’s kind of a shame it never made the jump to radio or something. I like the animation, I like the voice work. The special gets a little long and the plot is kind of goofy. Is Santa really so thin-skinned? If he’s omnipresent, how does he not know one editorial in the newspaper was the result of some kids? You can really pick this one apart if that’s your aim, or you can just be along for the ride. My kids don’t really like it, but it still charms me.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
It was a few years ago that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly in which they picked their favorite and least favorite episodes of the long running show. I couldn’t find an active link for that interview, but it’s covered in various other places on the web…
Come 1996 the Nicktoons were an established brand. Launched in 1991, Nickelodeon had tremendous success with the likes of Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show and soon more shows followed. Nickelodeon seemed to be a bit stingy with their in-house shows when it came to renewals as when a network looks to renew a…
If the 70s were defined by Scooby Doo when it came to Hanna-Barbera, then the 80s belonged to The Smurfs. The little blue creations of Pierre Culliford, better known by his pen name Peyo, had an animated series that basically spanned the entirety of the 80s totaling an insane 258 episodes. And once the 80s…
One Christmas special I seem to break with my peers on quite a bit is the Rankin/Bass television special The Year Without a Santa Claus. The special was originally aired on ABC in 1974 and is sort of a sequel to Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. It’s one of the later arriving Christmas specials from the company and I’m guessing there was a feeling of diminishing returns at this point. As best as I can recall, The Year Without a Santa Claus never had a sustained run on broadcast television in the years to follow unlike its predecessor as well as other Rankin/Bass specials like Rudolph and Frosty. This one wasn’t on my radar as a kid and I’m not sure when I first saw it. I’m not even sure I ever sat through an entire viewing until now.
During the 90s, Christmas made the leap to cable. The Family Channel, which is now known as Freeform, was one of the networks that started making a habit of turning over much of its broadcast schedule to Christmas specials come December and The Year Without a Santa Claus was featured rather prominently. Is that the source of its enduring popularity? It could be, or like a lot of things with Christmas specials, it just happened to find its audience at the right place and right time. So many Christmas specials largely came and went and even though you may have folks who grew up during the same era, their idea of the best Christmas specials might differ quite a bit depending on what they were exposed to.
It’s not 1:1, but there’s some cohesion here with past Rankin/Bass specials.
I am not a huge fan of the Rankin/Bass stuff. I know, doing a Christmas blog and saying that sounds almost incompatible, but it’s really just nostalgia goggles that helps me even appreciate the few I do like. I tried to watch this one in the past mostly because people my age would cite it as one of their favorites, but it never took. In an effort to meet them halfway, I have decided that in order to feel like my Christmas rankings are complete I better give it another go. And I’ll say upfront, it’s not as bad as I remember. It’s still not all that good which is why we’re talking about it at this point in the countdown, but it at least has something to say even if I think it kind of chickens out in the end.
Mrs. Claus gets to assume more of a starring role this time, but maybe not as much as I would have gone with.
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a stop-motion holiday special and it follows with a similar story structure to other past Rankin/Bass specials. In the role of narrator, we have Mrs. Claus who is voiced by Shirley Booth. The stage queen would retire from acting after this role at the age of 74. That’s an old age to retire, but don’t feel too bad for her as she would live another 18 years. Unlike Sam Snowman and Special Delivery, Mrs. Claus is actually a key character for the plot as opposed to a passive observer or story-teller. She is reflecting on a Christmas from long ago, but it hardly matters for the story. And it’s another one that takes place at an almost impossible to nail down moment in time. It’s just sort of vaguely 1900s America.
Almost the exact same picture from Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.
The special begins with Mrs. Claus setting the scene. She’s up at the North Pole doing North Pole stuff, but who is not is Santa Claus (Mickey Rooney). He’s not feeling so hot as we find him climbing into bed. It’s a single bed, and it appears to be the only one in the room so I guess Santa and the Mrs. keep things very old-fashioned. The castle and setting are not exact copies of the North Pole from Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, but it is similar and I appreciate that attention to detail. Mrs. Claus goes back and forth between talking and narrating, sometimes even adding a “Said Santa Claus,” after he talks about his achy back and such. It’s annoying and unnecessary. Before Mrs. Claus gets Santa into bed, he walks about to a painting of himself driving the sleigh. It appears to be the same such painting from Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Once again, I appreciate the attention to detail.
This doctor needs a new profession.
Santa gets in bed as Mrs. Claus welcomes a doctor in. The elf doctor (Bob McFadden) is a pretty grumpy sort. He also doesn’t look much like an elf. The doctor is not surprised he’s not feeling well and suggests he never got over that case of pneumonia he picked up riding in the sleigh. I was expecting some made-up, funny, ailment, not a real world one. This doctor is a real kill joy as he tells Santa no one cares about Christmas and no one cares about Santa. Geez. He best hope this doesn’t drive the old man to suicide. When the doctor leaves, Mrs. Claus discovers that Santa has taken his words to heart. Declaring no one cares and that he’s due for a holiday, Santa instructs his elves to inform the masses: Santa is taking the year off.
This elf is seeing pink elephants they’re so distraught!
Time for Mrs. Claus to sing the title song as the opening credits play. It’s not a terrible jingle, but there’s a reason why it hasn’t become a radio classic in the ensuing years. During the song we get some lines from Santa himself explaining his weariness and sightings from towns of people taking down Christmas. How depressing. When it concludes, we get a little more Santa informing the men that there will be no Christmas gallivanting this year. He instructs the stables to close down and the toy shop shuttered. During her explanation, Mrs. Claus refers to the workers as elves and gnomes which I find interesting. None really look much like elves. Sure, they dress in silly clothes with bells and such, but where’s the pointed ears? Where’s the continuity? You had two specials already that heavily featured elves and these guys don’t resemble them at all. At least the reindeer are more or less consistent with Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.
Jingle (right), Jangle (right), and Vixen (sleeping, though you probably could have guessed that).
Mrs. Claus is going to take it upon herself to get Santa back into the Christmas spirit. And to do so, she’s going to call Santa’s number one elf, Jingle Bells (McFadden). He answers the phone as the number one elf and I don’t know if that’s confirmed elsewhere. He could just be really full of himself. With him is, get this, Jangle Bells (Bradley Bolke) who has a really of the era design to him with shaggy, blond, hair. I was expecting him to introduce himself as the number two elf, but he does not. Jingle doesn’t seem to think highly of him and boots him off the phone. He then just says “Yes, Mrs. Claus,” a whole bunch and we’re not privy to the other side of the conversation. When he hangs up the phone, Jangle asks “Who was that?” and Jingle responds in an exasperated manner, but maybe Jangle was just being polite and not listening in on the conversation?
Oh my!
We cut back to Mrs. Claus as the elves assumedly head her way. She’s admiring her reflection in a mirror while wearing Santa’s hat and remarking that she could pull off the look. This launches us into another original song, “I Could be Santa Claus.” It’s a song about how she thinks she could pull off the gig and she’s pretty convincing. Why not? This could almost be a female empowerment type of song if the special decided to run with it, but no. Jingle and Jangle arrive at the end and are surprised to find Mrs. Claus in Santa’s suit. It’s not played off salaciously or as if this is some major faux pas, which could have worked comedically. Instead it’s just general surprise, and then they move on. Apparently, just their look of surprise is enough to convince Mrs. Claus that she can’t be Santa and she takes the outfit off and declares they need to move onto Plan B. I guess her heart just wasn’t in it? Plan B is for the elves, and a diminutive little Vixen, to head south and find some Christmas spirit. Mrs. Claus is convinced that’s all it will take for Santa to feel motivated to resume his usual Christmas activities.
Santa isn’t even going to give his elves a chance to fail.
When the two leave, there’s a familiar music sting that’s pulled right from Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. It sounds like it’s done on a xylophone. You’ll know it when you hear it, it’s apparently the reindeer take-off sting. Mrs. Claus heads back inside to do some ironing while Santa asks what’s going on. Apparently everyone hears that xylophone when reindeer fly? She tries to be evasive, but rather poorly. Santa gives her a chance to tell him if she thinks he’s making the wrong decision, but she declines to challenge her husband. He can tell she’s up to something and she comes clean about the mission Jingle and Jangle are on with Vixen, though she doesn’t tell the boss she put them up to it. Santa is concerned for their safety, especially Vixen since she’s just a baby (they really should have taken a bigger reindeer, or why not two?). I get the impression he doesn’t care what happens to the dumb elves. He also references the Miser Brothers and his doubt that the two can get past them. Santa has no other choice but to get out of bed, put on his Sunday best, and set off on Dasher to go after them.
The real stars of this special, or so I’ve been told.
We then find the trio as they have to pass between the two warring step brothers: Heat Miser (George S. Irving) and Snow Miser (Dick Shawn). These guys, as best as I can tell, are a big part of why this special is beloved by some. Heat Miser is a round and brightly colored fellow with red-orange hair that resembles a flame. He’s like the Burgermeister, but colorful. Snow Miser looks like Dick Van Dyke with hair made of ice. The snow effect is just okay and looks more like aloe vera gel to me. They’re basically sitting on clouds and fighting over where it should be hot and where it should be cold in the world. The elves know they should avoid them, but are pretty damn terrible at piloting reindeer (Mrs. Claus, who has continued to narrate this adventure, puts the blame on the baby reindeer and I am not having any of that). They fly right in between the two and a burst of light from Heat Miser knocks them from their reindeer. So much for Plan B.
For some reason, everyone who isn’t a main character in this one is a total dick.
The special decides to just “yada yada” the whole falling from the reindeer thing as we next find the two back on Vixen flying through the sky. Seriously, do elves bounce or something? We were denied an incredible midair rescue by Vixen. The pair fly over a town and decide it’s as good as any to find some Christmas cheer. Southtown, USA is the chosen destination, but the elves are not accustomed to traveling these parts. They land in the street and are surprised to see them empty. A cop (Bolke) comes up on a bicycle and do you think he’s going to be helpful? No, of course not, he gives them a ticket for riding a “Vixen” the wrong way on a one way street. The stupid elves think the problem is people being unaccustomed to reindeer, so they put socks on her ears to try and pass her off as a dog. Sure. They then find a woman and approach her about Christmas. She’s horrified by their “dog,” which they have dubbed Rover, but the mere mention of a dog proves disastrous. The woman was holding her hands in one of those warmers that have a hole on each side, only it’s not one of those warmers. It was actually a cat this whole time who freaks out when Jangle tells Vixen to bark like a dog, which she does. The cat turns the tables though and chases Vixen, who is apparently afraid of cats as she bolts forcing the elves and woman to chase after her.
Up in a tree is a good place to be when you’re scared of the world.
We next find Santa who has also made his way to Southtown, USA. How did he know the elves would end up here? I guess we’ll just attribute it to Christmas magic. Or reindeer somehow leave their scent floating in the sky when they fly. Santa is talking to the same cop who gave the elves a ticket and he confirms he saw the pair earlier and seems delighted at the idea of a judge throwing the book at them. This guy sucks. Thankfully, Dasher was smart enough to hide in the bushes and doesn’t come out until the cop leaves. Santa expresses worry to the reindeer about the pair and assumes they must be scared to death. We then cut quickly to the trio high in a tree and Jangle remarks he’s scared to death. That Santa sure is perceptive, isn’t he? Jangle is ready to bail while Jingle is happy to blame everything on his elf partner. Jangle at least has the bright idea that if they want to find Christmas spirit they should look to the children. Jingle thinks that’s a great idea and they remove themselves from the tree.
Hello children, we would like to talk to you about Christmas.
The pair are shown approaching a school and they’ve removed their jackets because it’s quite hot. Vixen also isn’t doing too well. She’s not accustomed to heat so the two decide to just leave her in a shady spot in the town where cops hope you get incarcerated for riding an animal the wrong way on a one way street. This will go well, I’m sure. The elves then approach the kids who are just playing with balls. They recognize the two as Christmas elves right away and then also share they know that Santa is taking a holiday – it was in all the papers! Things get confusing when the kids then express no interest in Santa and remark how they’re too old to believe in him. But, he was just reported on in the paper? I am so confused. Do they think papers only print lies? This is the opposite of Yes, Virginia. The elves are soon equally confused when the kid points out that they have bigger problems. Naturally, it’s the dog catcher and he’s got Vixen. The elves can’t continue their conversation on the subject of Christmas as they now need to chase after the truck that’s making off their dog, I mean, reindeer.
Santa and the Thistlewhites.
The kid heads home and our narrator informs us he’s somehow pretty important. Outside his home, he runs into Santa Claus. That’s when he introduces himself as Ignatius “Iggy” Thistlewhite (Colin Duffy) and asks Santa for his name. He was apparently not prepared for someone to ask him his name. He’s also not great when put on the spot since the only thing he can come up with is Claus. Why not just go with Chris? Iggy shares that he saw a couple guys dressed like Christmas elves and Santa can only respond with a sneeze. This gets the attention of Iggy’s mom (Rhoda Mann) who insists on inviting him in to give him something for that cold. He accepts and inside we meet Mr. Thistlewhite (Ron Marshall) as well and everyone sits around the table and Santa asks more about what happened earlier. This ends up leading into a conversation about believing in Santa. When Iggy asks his dad if he believes, he responds in the affirmative. He then turns to Santa who also confirms he believes.
Iggy’s dad as a kid. This is a strange family.
Time for another song. This one is called “I Believe in Santa Claus” and it’s pretty self-explanatory. Santa kicks it off and then Iggy’s dad picks it up from there. It’s a bit odd as he starts singing about a time when he thought he grew out of believing and the camera zooms in on a picture of Mr. Thistlewhite as a kid with his parents. He looks like Iggy, but what’s really weird is his mom looks almost exactly like the current Mrs. Thistlewhite. Did this guy marry a woman because she reminds him of his mother? His first name must be Oedipus. We’re treated to a flashback, and this special does something I hate. The dad stopped believing in Santa until something happened. What do you think that was? Why, it was Santa himself! He woke the little bastard up to basically admonish him for not believing anymore. Now, imagine you’re a kid who is starting to doubt all of the Santa stuff and you’re watching this. Wouldn’t it just make you wonder why he doesn’t reveal himself to you like he did here? We’re creating some unreal expectations here, folks. More specials need to deprive the main characters of actually seeing Santa.
Aww, poor little reindeer.
Poor Mrs. Thistlewhite doesn’t get to sing her own section and the song ends with Iggy seemingly feeling bad for not believing. Well, that’s all it took to right this ship. With Iggy’s belief in Santa restored, the real thing can now ask some more about his friends. Apparently, Iggy had yet to get to the part about the dog catcher which immediately worries Santa. He’s also smart enough to figure out that the dog in question must be Vixen and we cut to poor, sick, Vixen in the pound looking mighty miserable. The attendant at least knows something isn’t right as we see him holding a thermometer and he looks a little concerned. The camera zooms in on Vixen, who sheds a few tears. Aww!
See what I mean? Guy married his mother.
Santa gets directions to the pound and heads off. He’s in such a rush that he summons Dasher and the two take off right in front of the Thistlewhites. They’re surprised, but not too surprised, and that clever Iggy figures out that Mr. Claus is really Santa Claus! He remarks to his dad that he wishes he could do something to help Santa and his elves and his dad tells him when he has a problem he should take it straight to the top like a true Karen. That means going to the mayor to inquire about getting the reindeer released. Mrs. Claus interrupts to inform us that Jingle and Jangle were told to do the same by the man at the pound and we’re soon introduced to the mayor of Southtown. This laughing, giggling, asshole of a mayor (Marshall) of course doesn’t believe their story. That’s not what makes him an asshole, it’s his reaction to the whole thing. Iggy is there to share what he saw, but the mayor is not buying it, but he’s willing to make a deal. He’ll believe their story if Santa makes it snow in Southtown. And not only that, he’ll free the reindeer from the pound and spread the word about Santa and all that. Jangle accepts, much to the chagrin of Jingle, and the trio take their leave.
Did the jerk-ass mayor really need his own song?
Song time! The mayor is apparently something of a believer since he runs out into the streets to sing his own song, “It’s Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie.” Dixie, eh? As he prances about and sings his little song I’m now noticing that the population here is very white. There is not a single individual of color to be found anywhere in this town. A big part of the song is about how excited he is that it will be “all white overnight,” which is just moving us into uncomfortable territory. Let’s move on. The song sucks anyway.
It’s the Mrs. Claus-mobile.
Santa is able to get Vixen released. He apparently travels with cash. The little reindeer is so sick that Santa can’t waste any time looking for Jingle and Jangle and heads back to the North Pole with Vixen across his lap. This leaves Jingle and Jangle, along with Iggy, to sit and ponder how to free their reindeer and make it snow, even though part of that issue has been resolved with them not knowing. Now it’s Jingle’s turn to have a supposed great idea, which is just to call Mrs. Claus. I guess they dialed collect, but it works and that night Mrs. Claus arrives with a reindeer pulling a different sleigh than Santa’s typical one. The trio are waiting for her on a rooftop and she seems pretty happy to see them. She also has a plan – they’re going to go see Snow Miser! Iggy is apparently coming too.
I have questions.
Time for the part that everyone seems to love best. We’re a half hour into this 50 minute special and we’re just now finally getting to the Snow Miser song. It has a thumping beat and this obnoxious horn section to announce the arrival of the character. He comes dancing in looking like a snow-themed Dapper Dan and he has a bunch of tiny versions of himself dancing around as well. How did those guys come into being? It is a fairly entertaining number, though I don’t think the lyrics matter much. It’s all about those comical sounding horns. When he’s done doing his thing, Snow Miser comes across as a pretty affable guy. He’s hospitable towards Mrs. Claus and crew, but when she requests he make it snow in Southtown he has to inform her the only way that can happen is if Heat Miser okays it.
Heat Miser doesn’t seem to be as into the song and dance thing as his brother.
You know what that means – off to see Heat Miser! The special cuts right to the chase and we join Heat Miser already into his own song. It’s the exact same song as Snow Miser, just with different lyrics to suit Heat Miser. He also has his own minions, but they don’t look like him. They look like little gremlins or monsters. Heat Miser also gets to show off his fire powers which exposes the limitations of stop-motion animation. Their solution for fire is just colored cotton. In the past they used foil or colored paper and I can see why they would feel that’s fine for standing flames, but not for Heat Miser’s fire breath. Heat Miser isn’t as helpful as his brother and demands something in return for letting it snow for one day in Southtown – The North Pole! Mrs. Claus calls Snow Miser on a video phone – pretty fancy for a cloud dweller. He has no interest in surrendering the North Pole to his brother, which comes as no surprise. Now it’s Mrs. Claus’s turn to behave like a Karen and go over the heads of the two squabbling siblings – to their mother!
So that’s Mother Nature…
Who do you suppose is the mother of these two boys? Iggy can’t even guess it so I guess he’s not too bright. If you guessed Mother Nature (Mann) then you are correct! Everyone acts scared and intimidated over going to see her, but when they do we find she’s just a pretty normal looking old woman. Only she has a bird’s nest in her hair. Honestly, pretty underwhelming character design. They couldn’t even make her a tree or something? She’s fine though, very accommodating, and immediately summons her boys to her side with a bolt of lightning. The two grumble, but Mother Nature informs them how this is going to all go down. Snow Miser is going to make it snow in Southtown for one day and Heat Miser can bring summer to the North Pole for one day as well. They try to protest a bit, but another bolt of lightning silences the pair and they do as their mother tells them.
Looks like Snow Miser was true to his word. And unlike Santa, Mrs. Claus doesn’t ditch kids on the roof.
Time to check in with Santa who has returned to the North Pole (it’s still frozen). He puts Vixen in his own bed and finds a note from his wife informing him that she went after Jingle and Jangle. Satisfied she can handle things, Santa settles himself into a rocking chair for a little rest. Down in Southtown, the snow is falling. The mayor is shown taking a phone call from his wife where his wife is instructing him to wear his goulashes, bundle up, and so forth and he’s doing the whole “What?!” schtick until he finally looks outside. We then jump back to the North Pole where Mrs. Claus and Jingle are rousing the old man from his slumber with a newspaper. The headline concerns the snow in Southtown and Jangle enters with more papers about a day off for Santa. He looks them over and informs his wife that she was right the whole time, but his conclusion is that the world is giving him a day off and he settles in for more nap time. Mrs. Claus can only shrug in the direction of the elves.
Aww, geez.
Mrs. Claus then returns to her narration duties to inform us that the children of the world became committed to giving Santa a day off. Now we get a multi-cultural group of children running over a map, writing letters, and wrapping gifts. They’re basically returning the favor and sending them to Santa and Mrs. Claus tells us they had more fun that December than any they could remember. Santa is then shown waking up and stumbling around. It’s like he’s having a senior moment as he just wanders the grounds grumbling taking note of the quiet workshop and sleeping reindeer. He pauses outside as a bird delivers a letter to him. He opens it up and it’s a picture of a sad, crying, girl with the message, “Dear Santa, I’ll have a blue Christmas without you.” I guess she wasn’t one of the kids having the most fun ever. This begins the song, “Blue Christmas.” Pretty surprising to see a licensed song enter at this stage of the production. I guess since this wasn’t adapted from someone else’s song they had room in the budget for a different one. The song is sung by a little girl (Christine Winter) and a children’s choir (The Wee Winter Singers) and it’s an even more somber version of the song compared with the Elvis version. It’s nice though. Most may like the Miser Brothers and their song, but I like this more. I will concede it’s weird the girl is clearly drawing a blue Christmas tree while singing about a green one, and the lyrics don’t work as well when they’re supposed to be about Santa and not a former lover. Especially sung by kids. Let’s not think about this anymore.
Tonight, we ride!
One letter is apparently all it took. If all of those kids were bullshitting everyone and really wanted Santa to come bring them toys, then they have this girl to thank. Santa, feeling especially vigorous all of a sudden, announces that Christmas is back on! Santa can’t take a day off on Christmas, he has stuff to do! Santa assembles the troops and starts barking orders and asserts that he’s feeling just fine. Set to the tune of “Sleigh Ride,” everyone gets back to work as Santa announces, “Tonight – we ride!” There’s almost a violence to how he says it, like they’re about to go crack some skulls. Might I suggest they start with that asshole mayor?
Looks like everything turned out fine in Southtown.
Santa flies off with a complete team of eight reindeer, including wee little Vixen. We get a partial moon shot as we head to Southtown, USA where the mayor has put up a sign designating it Santa Claus Lane. I bet you can guess the song chosen for this section. That makes two full songs they had to pay for. Santa reveals himself to the entire town as the sleigh touches down and slowly makes its way literally down Santa Claus Lane. Kids and adults are there to wave him along before he returns to the sky. Mrs. Claus gets the last word as she narrates over children, including Iggy, finding their gifts under the tree the next morning. She affirms you can always count on Santa Claus which takes us into a reprise of “The Year Without a Santa Claus.” Santa leaps from his bed and puts on his coat. He jumps into his sleigh and they take off into the night sky. As they fly towards the full moon, the special comes to an end. There will never be a year without a Santa Claus.
Everyone seems to like these guys, but they’re barely in it.
That wasn’t as bad as I remembered. I still think this is a pretty mid-level Christmas special. It’s just too uneven for me. The first chunk of the special almost feels unneeded. They could have easily just jumped to taking their concerns to Snow Miser to bring snow to a place in need of Christmas cheer, but it’s like we have to screw around for a half hour first because ABC wanted a full hour broadcast. I found it funny how Mrs. Claus narrates that Iggy is very important to the story, and then he proceeds to just be along for the ride. Yeah, he had to pass along the information about what happened to Vixen and the elves to Santa, but that’s it. Anyone could have done that. For as memorable as the Snow and Heat Miser are, they’re not in this one a whole lot. They did more recently get their own Christmas special, but I have never heard anyone recommend it nor do I have any interest in checking it out for myself.
Some of the effects could have used some refinement.
What I did like about this one is that the music by Maury Laws is very similar to the past Rankin/Bass specials. As I mentioned during the write-up, some music and sound effects are lifted straight from them while a lot of the instrumentals just call-back to them without exactly duplicating them. It helps to create this cohesive feel to everything. I’m surprised they didn’t drop a “Jessica” somewhere in reference to Mrs. Claus or make the elves resemble the old ones a bit more, but it still feels like a sequel or at least like this is the same Santa from before.
Mrs. Claus plays a big role in this one, but could it have been even bigger?
What bothers me most about this one is just the missed opportunity for a better story. I think I would have rather seen a Christmas where Mrs. Claus steps into the role of Santa. Maybe she would have found it’s really hard to do what he does and have some mishaps, but still get it right in the end. She so rarely steps into the spotlight, and even though the special didn’t take that path, this is still more Mrs. Claus exposure than we’re accustomed to. She did at least orchestrate the resolution to the story, even if it was just complaining to the manager. I also would have preferred an ending where Santa does just take a day off. The world lets him know how appreciative they are and he returns the following year with renewed vigor! Instead, there’s an outpouring of love and one kid is sad she’s not getting presents. Crisis averted, Santa is magically feeling better and Christmas is back on!
The general vibe is at least good. This little girl is adorable.
I guess what I’m saying is, there was a chance to subvert this one a bit, but Rankin/Bass decided to just pull a fake-out. The title is a lie as there never was a year without Santa. He just needed a little extra motivation one year. And we never did get to see Heat Miser bring warm weather to the North Pole. I kept waiting for the special to come back to that. I fully expected an ending with Santa and the Mrs. enjoying the sun at the beach for a day after the holidays. We were denied seeing Santa in a bathing suit. What a pity.
They squeeze in quite a few moon shots in this one. I went with my favorite of the bunch.
If you’re one of the people who does love this holiday special then you probably know where to find it. It still airs on cable each year and it’s sold on physical media and on streaming networks. If you’re opposed to paying, it’s also pretty easy to find online for free without having to go anywhere seedy. For me, I consider this one a little better than most of the other Rankin/Bass specials, but I also dislike most of them, which is why I rank it at #169 out of 209. Too low? Too high? Just right? If you have opinions to share, let me know in the comments. Hopefully, no one reading this will have a blue Christmas over it.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
In 1985, a little film called Back to the Future debuted in theaters. Starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the story about a modern day teenager going back in time 30 years to encounter his parents when they were teens was an instantly timeless tale. It spawned two sequels which were shot back-to-back and…
It’s the fifth of December so that means we are returning to one of the 25 Greatest Christmas Specials (as decided by me because it’s my blog) to take a deeper look than what was done some 8 years ago. When I re-evaluated my Top 25, one of the biggest fallers was A Flintstone Christmas.…
This year, I’m bringing back a feature from last year where I take another look at, what I consider to be, the greatest Christmas specials ever made. I explained my reasoning for doing this in prior posts, but in short, the first time I looked at some of these specials I did just a short…
There are a number of Christmas specials out there that are basically known by all and I’ve written about most of them here. Some have been annual traditions especially when we had more of a monoculture in the US, but the slow death of cable television has made those annual traditions fade away. One holiday icon endures though (well, two counting Rudolph): Frosty the Snowman. The story of a snowman come to life based on a 1950 song premiered on CBS in 1969. There it aired every year until 2023 when CBS at long last let the rights expire. NBC was there to pick it up where it aired in 2024 and is set to air this year on December 4th continuing its run in prime time television for another year.
Specials like Frosty the Snowman were appointment viewing for me as a child even with my beloved Christmas Tape at hand. It was just a thing to get excited for on the road to Christmas and with how popular specials like it have been I’ve always been surprised at the lack of toys. These are Christmas specials, after all, a holiday synonymous with toys. Jada apparently felt the same for it unveiled its own take on Frosty as seen in that Rankin/Bass special which coincidentally arrives a year after Super7 did the same with its ReAction line. Unlike that toy, Jada went all out in making Frosty an actual, modern, action figure. Is this something that’s long overdue for the magical snowman or is there a reason why Frosty has never made the leap to plastic in such a way?
Frosty has some pretty rad packaging.
There may have been some trepidation about wading into the Frosty waters as Jada opted to partner this release with Big Bad Toy Store. It’s an exclusive there where it will set you back $50 and I wouldn’t expect a sale on it anytime soon. That’s a steep price for an action figure, especially one from Jada. I don’t know if they’ve ever done an action figure at this high a price point. I suppose the release is technically a two-pack as it does come with the rabbit, Hocus Pocus. Still, is that enough?
He seems to size pretty well with other 1:12 figures.
The packaging for Frosty is pretty damn fun. The window box is modeled after an old, 80s, television set which is probably similar to the actual set many people saw Frosty on for the first time. It has faux wood paneling and even the rear of the box resembles a CRT television. The bubble is shaped to have a curve in it as well and if you’re an in-box collector this will display pretty well like this. I, of course, am not so I broke into this thing and I do think it will go back together after the holidays just fine, should I choose to pack-up and store Frosty in such a manner.
Until we get a proper Santa, one of these will have to do.
Out of the package, Frosty stands at about 6.375″ to the top of his head. The default portrait has the hat affixed to it so that one will take the snowman over the 7″ mark. From a distance, he’s basically just a big hunk of white plastic, but upon closer examination it’s evident that Jada applied a pearlescent overcoat to the figure to give him a little shine. It’s about as close to approximating the look of snow when the sun hits it they could come up with and it does help to at least give him a little nicer finish, though there’s no hiding from the fact that this is just a big, white, toy. There is paint on the face for the eyes, button nose, and the inner mouth which they opted to paint blue. This had me running back to the special to see if that’s what Rankin/Bass did and, no, they did not. Frosty’s inner mouth was red so I’m not sure why blue was chosen, but it may have been an artistic choice to work off the white. I don’t hate it, it just stood out to me as an odd choice.
And I guess the Peanuts gang will have to stand-in for Karen and the others.
The likeness of the sculpt is decent. The face is pretty much spot-on, though there wasn’t a lot Jada had to get right there. Where I do think the figure comes up a little short is just in the overall shape of the snowman. His torso is very pear-shaped when the character in the show was more round. It’s possible they had to mess with the proportions a bit to better suit the articulation. The head also sits a touch high as it’s not sunk-in at all into the body. Was this done to better accommodate the articulation? It’s possible, but I don’t know if the trade-off was worth it. I feel similarly about the waist cut on Frosty. I appreciate the attempt, and maybe I’ll appreciate it more if we ever get a Karen for him to interact with, but I wouldn’t mind seeing how the figure looked without it. And if I’m going to nitpick further, the hat seems a touch too tall, but on the other hand, it’s not consistent in the special and there are shots where it’s more like it’s presented here and others where it’s more squat.
For some reason, Frosty has acquired a scarf over the years. Even the Super7 ReAction figure (right) came with one.
Frosty does come with a handful of accessories, most of which are basically essential to the look of Frosty. We have his corn cob pipe which plugs into his smile. It’s basically essential since without it he just has a hole in his face that looks kind of lame. It doesn’t bother me as I would never choose to display him with out, but if you want your Frosty to quit his bad habit you may be disappointed. He does have his broom stick which is well-painted and sculpted. It’s basically in solid colors which matches the animation fairly well. He also has some optional parts. For hands, Frosty has a set of relaxed hands, a wide-gripping left hand, a tight-gripping right hand, a pointing left hand, and a right fist for when someone disses his fly girl. There’s also an optional portrait of “dead” Frosty from before the magic hat is applied. It looks fine and has the same hole in the mouth for the pipe and I like having this one as a means of displaying the figure in the lead-up to December. Lastly, there’s a soft goods, red, scarf which is a thing that has sprung up over the years. I’m not sure the origin, but lots of Frosty merch over the years has placed a red scarf around his neck despite him never wearing one in the cartoon (in the sequel, he wears a striped scarf). Super7 did the same thing so I can only assume it’s just something that has been added into the licensing art over the years. It’s here if you want it, though I don’t think I’ll ever use it.
If you prefer your Frosty to be non-animated.
Of course, the other accessory in the box is Hocus Pocus. The little white rabbit stands at just a tick over 2″ and has a goofy looking smile fitting the character. His pupils are not aligned, presumably as intended, though I can’t recall him looking that way in the special (I’m not saying it didn’t happen, just that I can’t remember a specific moment for it). Like Frosty, he’s essentially a lump of white plastic with the only paint being reserved for his red nose, the pink of his eyes and inner ears, and the black of his pupils. He has his freckles sculpted in, but they get lost in the plastic since there’s no outline applied. His whiskers are represented with black wire and his arms are permanently sculpted into the torso. He does feature articulation at the base of his ears, head, waist, hips, and ankles, but it’s pretty limited. He has one accessory – the hat. Hocus is designed to separate at the head which reveals a super long double-ball peg that can plug into the hat. There’s some sculpted out area for his arms inside the hat to get a snug fit and it successfully recreates the look of Hocus from when he makes off with the hat and delivers it to the children. It’s a good idea and a fun way to display him if you’re opting to display Frosty with his “dead” portrait.
This is pretty much the extent of his posing.
Frosty’s articulation is also nothing to write home about. He has the same double-ball peg setup at the “neck,” and another one at the hat. This is where the figure is most expressive as he can rotate and tilt at both the head and hat which provides enough nuance to be fun. He has hinged shoulders, single-hinged elbows, and hinged wrists that rotate. Unlike NECA and their many TMNT figures, Frosty actually has the proper vertical hinge for his broom and any other weapon you feel he should have. That waist joint is a ball joint so Frosty can rotate and tilt, but don’t expect too much forward and back. The legs are connected via ball-sockets, but they’re functionally useless due to the shape of the character. He has no knees and instead some ankles that hinge and rock. If your dream is to recreate Frosty’s marching pose on your shelf then you may have to get a little creative. He also doesn’t have any peg holes on the bottoms of his feet so finding a stand to work with him might be a challenge.
They’re both pipe enthusiasts.
Frosty isn’t going to impress with his poses, but no one likely expected him to. What will sell this figure are the aesthetics and the power of nostalgia. Nostalgia for Christmas. Is that sort of thing worthy of your $50? It’s a legitimate question and one not easily answered. If I were to grade this release on the quality of the figure and the amount of stuff in the box then I’d have to say “No,” this isn’t a $50 release. I’d feel better about it if we got a more expressive Hocus or maybe some optional parts for Frosty to recreate the signature poses from the special. This Frosty can’t even belly-whop because the range at the head doesn’t allow for it. He basically needs a third head with the socket for the ball joint in the back. Perhaps a future Karen release could come with such a thing?
“You want a hit of this, snowman?” “Happy birthday!”
Despite my feelings on the value present, I am happy to have this. I have a huge soft spot for Christmas specials (obviously) and there’s no way I was passing on this. It’s still a better value than a Super7 Ultimates! release (and cheaper) and it looks good enough on my Christmas shelf. And I do selfishly want this release to be successful because I’d like to see more from Jada and Frosty the Snowman. I already name-dropped Karen, but throw-in Santa and Professor Hinkle and that will make me pretty happy. It would be fun if each came with a different Hocus since he had some different looks/poses in the special, and in the case of Karen, that belly-whopping head would be nice. If you’re interested in this release as strictly an action figure, then it probably won’t win you over. If you have a lot of affection for the old television special and won’t miss the $50 then I say go for it. There’s plenty of Christmas magic in this box to take away the sting of the price.
If you’re curious to read my thoughts on the original special or just have an interest in Christmas toys then check these out:
Welcome back, lovers of Christmas, to the 7th edition of The Christmas Spot! If you missed the introduction a few days ago, we’re doing things a little differently this year. Yes, you’re still getting a dedicated write-up each day through Christmas about a beloved or not-so-beloved holiday special, but this year we’re also going retro…
It was looking like we were in for a photo finish this year. Last year, toymaker Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with online retailer Big Bad Toy Store to launch the Naughty or Nice collection. Structured similar to a Kickstarter campaign, FMF posted several action figures for preorder with a minimum order quantity needed for the…
Fresh Monkey Fiction is back with Naughty or Nice Wave Two and just in time for…(checks calendar)…Valentine’s Day? Okay, so things didn’t go quite as planned with this line. In 2021, Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with Big Bad Toy Store for this line of action figures based primarily on Santa Claus. That preorder took about…
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 we start, here’s a pop quiz: What is considered the first televised Christmas Special? If you said Rudolph or Charlie Brown you are incorrect because it’s actually Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. I don’t have any particular affection for Mr. Magoo or that special, but I give credit where it’s due. The special I think that is most responsible for the specials to follow though is the one we’re talking about today and that’s the stop-motion, Rankin/Bass, classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
When I was a kid, Rudolph was the favorite special of most of the children my age, myself included. Over the years it has fallen some for me, but I still acknowledge it as the titan of Christmas that it is. It’s basically outlasted its peers in that it’s still broadcast annually on a major network, a distinction only Frosty can lay claim to now that the Peanuts gang has been banished to streaming. It popularized the special format and it’s likely we wouldn’t have a lot of what followed had it failed and I wonder if we would even know the name Rankin/Bass. When the special went into production, the company was feeling pretty tapped out thanks to its Tales of the Wizard of Oz television series and TV special Return to Oz. NBC and General Electric wanted a Christmas special for 1964 though, and Rankin/Bass was selected to make that happen. Romeo Muller, who is a name that appears many times in Rankin/Bass credits, wrote the teleplay for this one based on the Johnny Marks song which was itself based on a concept created by his brother-in-law, Robert L. May. The story for how May ended up getting the rights to Rudolph is an interesting one, but to keep things brief since we have another hour long special to cover, he created the character for the department store Montgomery Ward and they ended up giving him the rights for free when they thought the fad had passed. It’s a rare example of a big corporation being nice to one of its employees, but I bet in corporate circles it’s relayed as a cautionary tale to stress the importance of not having a conscience when dealing with work-for-hire creations.
For one final time this year, I’m turning to my 1987 VHS for the screen caps which means I get to share with you one of the bumpers from that broadcast.
The special was produced in 1964 using stop-motion technology. The Burl Ives character of Sam the Snowman would be the last thing added as the network wanted a recognizable name to attach to the project. Since no one really predicted the impact this would have, or the rise of video at home, a lot of the puppets and sets were lost or destroyed. As was some of the footage as the special would go through changes and edits over the years. In 1965, the song “Fame and Fortune” was added at the expense of “We’re a Couple of Misfits” and the resolution of the film which answers what character Yukon Cornelius is looking for is cut in favor of a new scene showing Santa Claus visiting the Island of Misfit Toys. Some of these things have been added back, some have not, and some have been, but also kind of half-assed. I’ll try to cover it as we go. And just like several entries this year, my screen shots and write-up are based on the 1987 broadcast of the special preserved for all time on my beloved Christmas Tape. I probably have several thousand words still ahead of me, so let’s stop with the preamble and get right down to it.
Uh oh, looks like Christmas is in peril once again!
The special begins with a bunch of newspapers on the screen and a blizzard effect over them. Some big storm has taken place or will, and it undoubtedly features into the plot of this one because the last headline we see is “Foul Weather May Postpone Christmas!” After it dissipates some serene music filters in and we see a far less harsh environment before us. It’s a snow-covered setting and several trees dot the landscape. Waddling, sliding, shuffling, whatever – in comes Sam Snowman (Burl Ives). It’s difficult to describe how he moves because he has no legs. He’s like a snowman you would construct yourself out of three, large, snowballs. Though he still looks better than any snowman I’ve ever made. He’s also undoubtedly made to resemble Ives who also was the only actor in this thing to receive residuals based on it since the rest were a bunch of no-names from Canada. Ives made a lot of money off of Rudolph, while the actual voice of Rudolph basically got a check and a “thanks!”
The first celebrity narrator for a Rankin/Bass Christmas special is Burl Ives as Sam Snowman.
Sam welcomes us to Christmas Town and wants to tell us about how lovely it is. As he makes his way through the scenery, the trees go from being covered with snow to being covered with snow, ornaments, and garland. It’s a Christmas tree forest, and apparently we’re supposed to think they grow like this? I’m not sure. There’s also some seals playing with wrapped presents that are just hanging around. He mentions how the number one residents up here are the Clauses, and points out a castle on the left where the couple apparently resides. We get a peek in there too of a skinny Santa (Stan Francis) sitting at a long table with some rather unappetizing purple food before him. Mrs. Claus (Peg Dixon) is encouraging him to eat and apparently Christmas for Santa is sort of like the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. He’s force-fed like a Christmas goose by his wife so as to present a jolly, fat, man come the big day which really makes no sense since he’s not supposed to be seen.
An unusual sight for a Christmas special: skinny Santa.
Sam assures us that we shouldn’t worry, Santa will be plenty fat for Christmas, but I’m honestly more worried about the guy’s health. That sort of yo-yo effect with his weight can’t be healthy. Sam then mentions how he loves this time of year and the fact that it’s going so smoothly, not like the year of the big blizzard. He mentions offhand that he doesn’t know what they would have done without Rudolph that year and then stops himself as-if the viewer interrupted him. This is the same technique we will eventually see with Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, only in that one they actually dubbed in the voices of kids so it makes more sense. Watching this in 2022, when Sam says with some surprise that we’ve never heard the story of Rudolph I’m forced to yell at my screen, “Of course I know who Rudolph is you stupid snowman!” It doesn’t matter what you scream at your TV, laptop, or other device, he’s going to tell you all about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
I can’t imagine 7Up having the funds to pony up for a sponsorship of Rudolph in 2022.
Sam then goes into the song we all know which brings about the opening credits. He basically only sings the intro as the rest of the credits unfold with instrumental music. It’s basically a medley of all of the songs we’re about to hear throughout this one. And in case you’re curious, in 1987 the major sponsor for this broadcast was 7Up. When the credits are done, Sam starts the actual story. We find out that Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards) is the son of reindeer Donner (Paul Kligman) and his unnamed wife (Dixon). We come upon the trio in a cave setting where Donner gives the kid his name. As he looks up and opens his eyes for the first time, he says “Papa” followed by “Mama.” As he does, his nose glows. Or rather, it lights up like a light bulb, or as Donner phrases it, “…a blinkin’ beacon.”
Baby Rudolph, before he becomes a tremendous disappointment to his father.
Donner is clearly concerned about this development, but before the discussion can continue they get a surprise visit from Santa. It seems he’s all up to speed on who is pregnant amongst his reindeer and has come to meet the newest, potential, member of his team. When he comes over to greet Rudolph, he’s initially impressed since the kid even knows his name. And then the nose glows once more. Santa reacts with a “Great bouncing icebergs!” while Donner quickly intercedes to assure Santa this is something the little fawn will grow out of. Santa says he hopes so, because apparently the color of one’s nose is of great concern to him and a shiny, red, nose will immediately disqualify Rudolph from the team. Remember that folks, Santa is a bigot. I mean, his reaction of surprise is certainly warranted. Imagine finding any woodland creature with a nose that behaves like a light bulb, that would certainly shock me! It would not, however, discourage me from viewing that creature favorably. If anything, quite the opposite. That’s freaking remarkable!
Rudolph’s nose, brought to you by General Electric!
Santa then goes into his dumb song, “Jingle, Jingle, Jingle” which is just him boasting about how wonderful his team of reindeer are, but screw this guy! He sucks. When the song is over, he takes off and I say good riddance. Rudolph, on the other hand, adorably just says “bye bye.” I should also point out, that it’s clear they had two Rudolph puppets for the production, one with a matte, red, nose and the other with the actual bulb nose. Sometimes the texture looks completely different and I am assuming it’s because the one that could actually light was less poseable since it needed to be wired up somehow. Anyway, once Santa is gone Donner decides that he agrees with the old man and declares that Rudolph will never make the team because of its weird nose bias. He scrapes up some mud and rubs it on his son’s nose to hide it. The little guy loves his dad despite his love apparently being conditional upon his nose, while his mother just wipes, or sucks, off the fake nose as she apparently loves him just the way he is. Good for you, mom!
Sam then tells us that the Donners were able to successfully hide Rudoph’s “non-conformity” throughout his early childhood. We see a little montage of him and Donner playing that’s interrupted by the presence of the abominable snowman (Bernard Cowan). As they hide behind a snowdrift, a giant, hairy, foot passes by that will not make much sense when we finally meet the “bumble.”
And here is our other misfit of the special: Hermey the elf.
Sam then directs our attention to a new setting: the workshop. It’s Christmas Eve, and the elves are hard at work making toys. Everything they’re making is purple, it’s a weird trait of this special that almost everything that isn’t a character is depicted in this gray-purple shade. Anyway, the male elves are all in blue and look the same while the females are dressed in a pink outfit and they all look the same. Only two elves stand out, a head elf (Carl Banas) who is taller, has a goatee, and is in a green costume and a little blonde elf named Hermey (Paul Soles). Hermey is apparently well behind the rest of the group in his toy construction, and when the head elf inquires what’s up he responds with “Not happy in my work, I guess.” This is unheard of apparently as all of the elves react with shock and some mixture of outrage which only intensifies when Hermey tells the head elf that what he really wants to be is a dentist! A whistle sounds for a 10 minute break, but the head elf tells Hermey it’s not for him. Apparently, the elves have a terrible union. He’s then given an ultimatum to finish the job or face termination. Once left alone, Hermey stops painting and pulls out a dentistry book, singing to himself, “Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a nitwit. You can’t fire me, I quit! See, I don’t fit in.”
Poor, sad, Rudolph. All over a nose.
After witnessing that, Sam just dismisses Hermey’s problems as the life of an elf. We then check-in on Rudolph who appears to be much older, and more rebellious. He hates the false nose his father keeps making him wear, but Donner isn’t standing for any back-talk while mother is just staying out of it all together. He slaps the mud on his kid’s face who tells him it’s not very comfortable, but Donner retorts with “There are more important things than comfort – self respect!” Man, he is such an unlikable dick. Rudolph wanders out of the cave and plops down in the snow looking rather sad. He pops the fake nose off and sings a similar refrain to what we just heard from Hermey, “Why am I such a misfit? I am not such a nitwit. Just because my nose glows, why don’t I fit in?”
Looks like he doesn’t have any issues making friends.
Sam comes back to inform us that Christmas came and went that year without incident. We’re jumping forward to April when all of the new fawns come out to show off and be inspected by Santa. It sounds kind of gross when put it that way, but these are the “reindeer games” from the song, essentially. Rudolph seems hesitant to mix it up with the others, but his dad tries to be encouraging even though he’s spent Rudolph’s whole life denigrating him for the color of his nose. Talk about your mixed messages. Rudolph gets pushed into the group and immediately starts up a friendship with a welcoming fawn named Fireball (Alfie Scopp). Fireball is also apparently a little horn-ball because he encourages Rudolph to participate in the games so he can show off in front of the does.
Imagine telling an employee they’ll never fit in. This guy is a grade A asshole.
Time to check-in on Hermey. It would seem he’s all talk and has actually stayed on as a toymaker, for now, with the other elves. We find him by himself working on some dolls apparently adding teeth. It looks like he’s found a way to marry his love of dentistry with his job as a toymaker – case closed! Or not, for soon the head elf comes barging in demanding to know why Hermey wasn’t at elf practice (that scene was cut from the broadcast frequently and was in 1987). When Hermey shows the head elf what he’s been working on instead, he just gets met with more ridicule. This asshole isn’t willing to meet Hermey halfway and instead tells him they already have dolls that can “cry, talk, walk, blink, and run a temperature – we don’t need any chewing dolls!” After feeling he successfully shut down that little business, the head elf tells him to come join the others so he can learn how to wiggle his ears and chuckle, which sounds rather useless to me, but what do I know about elf culture? Remarking, “A dentist – good grief,” he slams the door leaving Hermey all alone once again. Only this time, he’s had enough. Grabbing his dentistry book, he opens the window and slips out declaring he’s on his own now.
Santa’s pay is so bad that Comet had to take a second job.
Back at the games, Fireball still seems preoccupied with the presence of does. He suggests to Rudolph that one in particular seems to have her eye on him. Rudolph seems interested, but before things can go further they’re interrupted by their Coach, Comet (Kligman). Comet both looks and sounds just like Donner, only he has a stylish cap and whistle around his neck. He says he’s here to teach them how to be reindeer, but also he wants to be their pal – how sweet? He announces that they’re going to practice flying and calls on Dasher’s little boy to start them off. The little fawn runs, jumps, and faceplants into the snow to much laughter. Comet is encouraging though and tells him it was good for a first try. As he moves on to another fawn, Fireball encourages Rudolph to go over and talk to the doe that has her eye on him.
Young love.
Rudolph does as he’s instructed and we’re introduced to Clarice (Janis Orenstein). Rudolph is bashful, and we learn his nose apparently operates like a dog’s tail might as it glows from underneath his fake one making him appear to blush, which is a pretty clever idea and effect. Clarice picks up on his voice sounding unnatural, but Rudolph thinks she’s making fun of the way he talks. She clarifies she meant no harm. Meanwhile, Comet is trying to get Rudolph’s attention because it’s his turn to try flying. Rudolph is trying to work up some courage and before he runs back he asks Clarice if she would walk home with him after practice. She replies that she would, and then tells the reindeer she thinks he’s cute!
Imagine being mean to this adorable, little, guy.
Well, that went over well with Rudolph! Cheering that she thinks he’s cute, Rudolph bounds up into the air and flies over to Comet. Comet is impressed, but Rudolph doesn’t care because a doe just called him cute. As he keeps shouting this fact, he jumps up into the air again and soars over the gathering amazing all in attendance, including Santa. Rudolph comes to land by Fireball and repeats the good news and he gets excited for his friend. They play scuffle, and in the process Rudolph’s false nose pops off. He’s pretty giddy right now, so that nose is on full blast underneath. Fireball is immediately freaked out and starts backing away telling Rudolph to get away from him. Santa admonishes Donner, like he did something wrong. Given how Santa reacted to Rudolph’s nose in the winter, I don’t think he’s disappointed in Donner’s attempt to hide the nose, but in his failure to adequately do so. Comet tries to calm everyone down, but upon seeing Rudolph’s nose declares that he should go home with his folks and that they won’t be inviting Rudolph to join any of their reindeer games going forward. I have a sudden urge to hunt these reindeer into extinction.
At least there’s one decent deer in Christmas Town.
Rudolph dramatically runs off, upset at the way he’s been treated. And he should be upset, though at the same time who needs those clowns? Clarice comes running after him and Rudolph seems to think she’s coming to make fun of him too. Clarice tells him she’s not and prefers this red nose to the silly false one he had been wearing. Rudolph won’t hear it as he hates his nose for making him different, but Clarice thinks that’s what makes it special and she’s not wrong. She then breaks into song, “There’s Always Tomorrow,” which is the slow ballad number of the special that I’m guessing is the favorite of few. The sentiment is sweet and it’s appropriate for Clarice, though her dad (Cowan) apparently didn’t hear the message of the song for when it’s over he comes running over to retrieve his daughter declaring that “No daughter of mine is going to be seen with a red-nosed reindeer!”
What exactly was Hermey doing in that snowbank anyway?
Feeling defeated, Rudolph wanders over to the base of a tree and sits down by a snowbank. Up from out of the snowbank pops the head of Hermey. He asks if this snowbank belongs to Rudolph, but Rudolph is rather confused by the situation. Hermey introduces himself to Rudolph as a dentist, and he has no idea what a dentist is. Hermey then corrects himself as he wants to be a dentist, but isn’t one yet. For now, he’s just an elf, but he declares that he doesn’t need anybody else and he’s independent! Rudolph doesn’t really seem to know what the word means, and I’m not so sure Hermey does since he proposes that they be independent together. Rudolph is onboard though so long as Hermey doesn’t mind his nose, and Hermey is fine with the arrangement as long as Rudolph doesn’t mind him being a dentist. They shake on it, then break into song.
Pictured: a couple of Misfits not named Glenn Danzig or Jerry Only.
For the 1987 broadcast, the song is “Fame and Fortune.” It’s a weird number to hear these two sing about becoming rich and famous as that’s something neither character really expresses a desire for outside of this song which is partly why few seem to like it. The original 1964 broadcast featured the song “We’re a Couple of Misfits,” which thematically makes far more sense and builds on how the two characters had already been singing their own verse of the song earlier. That song was basically dropped just to change things up in 1965 and possibly to shorten the sequence. It wouldn’t be added back until the 1990s. Both can be found on the DVD release, though the current CBS broadcast does something different in that it uses the animation for “Fame and Fortune,” but dubs it with the more popular song sped up. It looks and sounds terrible that way and I’m guessing it’s only done to squeeze in more commercials. As for the song itself, it’s fine, I guess. It’s catchy, but the subject matter makes no sense to me so for that reason I’d rather “We’re a Couple of Misfits” instead, though the CBS solution is way worse.
Everyone is convinced this little, tiny, light of a nose is able to draw-in a snow monster from seemingly anywhere.
When the song is over, Hermey and Rudolph are off wandering in the darkness with the snow falling hard. A voiceover from Sam informs us that the world is a dangerous place and soon the rumbles of the bumble can be heard! Hermey encourages Rudolph to douse the light of his nose as he thinks the bumble can see it, while we cut back to Sam cowering in fear under his umbrella. What a wimp! Dousing the light seems to work though as the bumble doesn’t attack, and instead a prospector upon a dogsled happens along to find the two misfits.
Introducing Yukon Cornelius, another rare, decent, person in this special. He also carries a gun, but seems unwilling to use it when faced with danger.
Hearing the dogsled, Rudolph and Hermey jump into a snowbank so just their butts are hanging out which is how Yukon Cornelius (Larry Mann) finds them. He’s rather puzzled by the sight of a deer ass pointing at him and an elf one beside it. I could make some rather crude jokes right now, but I’ll settle with just saying I’m sure the adult movie parody includes a similar scene. Yukon yanks the two out and introduces himself as the greatest prospector in the north. The land is rich with silver and gold, according to him, and he’s rather fond of tossing his pickaxe in the air which seems rather dangerous. When he retrieves it he always licks it and remarks, “Nothing.” This is because Yukon is in search of a peppermint mine, but you would only know that if you watched the original 1964 broadcast because the special ended with him stumbling upon one. That scene was cut in favor of another that we’ll get to when we get to it. I must say, I bet the animators absolutely hated that Yukon was written to be driving a dogsled because that thing must have been a pain to animate. And honestly, they didn’t do a very good job with it, but they had some pretty tight deadlines so I’m not surprised it looks the way it does.
One thing this special struggles with is forced perspective shots, and putting the bumble on a mountain like this doesn’t help.
After Yukon introduces himself in grandiose fashion, Sam feels inspired to sing us a song. “Silver and Gold” is it’s name and it’s a pleasant little number, but it feels like it’s placed too close to Clarice’s song which is also rather slow and melancholy. He looks like he’s playing a banjo while performing the song, which is interesting because I don’t hear any trace of a banjo in the actual song. When it’s done, Yukon indicates he’s off for more supplies, but before they can get to know each other the bumble strikes! He’s presented standing on the mountains, which looks pretty goofy because the mountains look like we’re supposed to assume they’re off in the distance and not just really tiny mountains.
It may not look like water, but I love this shot anyway.
Yukon ushers Rudolph and Hermey onto the sleigh. He also gets the dogs to do the same because there’s no way those animators were going to do a chase sequence between a hairy monster and some characters in a dogsled. Instead, Yukon just pulls it while the bumble gives chase. He stumbles, which is enough of an opening for Yukon to reach the water’s edge and hammer out a “do-it-yourself iceberg!” As they float away, Yukon is able to prove to the others that he knows the bumble’s one weakness: he sinks. He steps into the water, and drops like a rock. It’s deep enough to be over his head, but apparently not so deep that he can’t get out, which he does and is left scratching his head. The water effects for stop-motion are always of interest to me, and the transition of bumble to underwater is rather interesting to look at. It doesn’t look even remotely convincing, but it’s one of those things that just looks neat to me so it doesn’t bother me. I do think they could have done a more convincing job at making the bumble look wet when he emerges from the water though.
Nothing on the horizon. They escaped the bumble, but this seems like a bad place to be.
With the bumble a safe distance away, Rudolph and Hermey are able to ask where they’re off to now. Yukon doesn’t exactly know, but he tells them they’re with him now and they can all get rich off of silver. When Hermey says he thought Yukon was after gold, he simply replies with “I changed my mind.” I’m not sure I would trust this guy’s business acumen. They’re shown floating off into the night while Sam comes in to tell us the Donners are worried about Rudolph. First, Donner takes off to go find Rudolph. Sam tells us he feels bad about how he treated his son, and he should! After he leaves, Clarice shows up and she and Mrs. Donner go out in search of Rudolph as well. We learn all of this via Sam’s narration as the characters say nothing to each other.
A rough landing, but as we saw in that last shot, I’d say they were pretty lucky to make any landing.
Out on the floating iceberg, the fog has set in. Yukon remarks it’s as thick as peanut butter and Hermey tries to correct him by saying “I think you mean pea soup.” Yukon responds with “You eat what you like and I’ll eat…” though he doesn’t finish the clever little line because they strike land. And to emphasize that, Yukon shouts at the top of his lungs “Land ho!” even though they’re all very much aware of that. As they wander further inland, Rudolph wonders where they are as the three take note of a castle. It’s supposed to be off in the distance, but the perspective isn’t very convincing. Yukon then points out a curious sight: a flying lion!
Wait! Where did all of these presents come from?
Soon the three are confronted by an unusual sentry. It’s a Jack-In-the-Box, only come to find out, his name isn’t Jack. It’s Charlie. Charlie (Scopp) explains they’re on the Island of Misfit Toys, and pretty much starts to sob upon the admission of his name. Rudolph kind of stuck it to him unintentionally by assuming his name was Jack, but that’s why he’s a misfit. Soon, the other toys begin to come out of a bunch of presents they were hiding in and singing a rather haunting tune. It’s actually a bit unsettling, but then perks up. The song is “The Most Wonderful Day of the Year” and it’s all about Christmas.
Most of these toys seem fine to me.
The song also has a secondary function: to introduce these freaks and weirdos. The song is played straight, until an elephant comes in to ask rhetorically “How would you like to be a spotted elephant?” like it’s some great disability. Other toys chime in with their problems, most of which seem rather superficial. A train with square wheels on its caboose and a boat that sinks seem like some pretty significant quality control errors. A bird that doesn’t fly, but swims? That’s just a penguin. A cowboy that rides an ostrich? Sounds fun to me! A water pistol that shoots jelly? Just don’t load the damn thing with jelly! Yeah, I’m being rather hard on the sequence, but it’s not like they had to come up with a lot of odd toys. They could have done better. Oh, and if you’re wondering, the “dolly for Sue” that no one can figure out what’s wrong with is apparently just suffering from depression. Yeah, the explanation reads like a retcon, but that’s because she was a late addition to the special and some of her lines were added over the years. It’s from Arthur Rankin himself though, so I guess it’s canon.
Who appointed this guy of an island of unwanted toys? He is a lion, so maybe he just took it?
When the song is over, the boys apparently didn’t find it at all depressing because they want to live here too! Charlie informs them that if they wish to remain on the island, they need to get permission from King Moonracer who just so happens to be holding court in his castle at this very moment. If you couldn’t have guessed, King Moonracer (Francis) is the flying lion from before. I can’t imagine he has much to do on this island if he just lords over some toys which likely explains how Rudolph and the gang are granted an audience immediately. When they ask for permission to remain on the island on account of them being misfits as well, their request is denied. “How do you like that?” says Yukon, “Even among misfits you’re misfits.”
At least they have some accommodations for non-toys.
Moonracer explains that since they’re living things (apparently those toys are not considered alive) they can’t run away from their problems and hide out on an island intended for toys. Harsh, but fair. He does permit them to stay the night though and they even have some lodgings for living beings who happen to turn up on their island. Before court is adjourned though, Moonracer makes a request of them. Should they ever return to Christmas Town, he would like them to tell Santa about their island to see if he can find homes for all of the misfit toys. Rudolph agrees to do so, but I’m left wondering why Moonracer, who can fly, doesn’t just go do that himself? Does he really have better things he could be doing? Maybe he tried and Santa was freaked out by the presence of a lion and had his guards, assuming he has guards, attack the beast?
Geez Rudolph, don’t you think you might be overreacting here?
The three are shown to their quarters and are all getting settled-in for a good night’s sleep. The quarters look rather tight, but at least everyone can fit in the frame. Hermey says they’ll all leave tomorrow together, but Rudolph is rather insistent that he should go it alone from here on out on account of his nose. He seems to think it’s how the bumble finds them and views traveling with him as being too dangerous for the other two. Yukon will hear no talk of him going it alone and basically tells him to zip it. Rudolph stops and waits for the other two to fall asleep, which since this is television, is immediately upon turning off the light. He’s convinced he needs to go it alone, so he sneaks out. Somehow, he’s able to create another floating iceberg for himself, or maybe he found the one they came in on. As he floats away, he wishes his friends success in their various quests. And as we watch him sail away, the roar of the bumble can be heard. Chilling!
We linger on Rudolph’s ass for what feels like a long time.
When we come back from a break, Sam starts telling us what Rudolph did off on his own. He says “time passed slowly,” but it sure looks like it’s moving pretty fast to me! The bumble kept him on the run, but he also made friends here and there. We get to see him play with some polar bear cubs, but then the mama bear kind of chases him off. He should be glad he didn’t get eaten. That’s the last we see of cute, adolescent, Rudolph. Our next shot is a long one centered on Rudolph’s ass. As Sam tells us he went through some changes, Rudolph picks his head up and we see he’s all grown up. And the mere act of growing up is apparently all it took to convince him that he couldn’t run away from his problems, so it’s time for Rudolph to head home.
Find your dad or I’ll be having you for Christmas dinner, Bulb-face!
Rudolph happens upon a group of reindeer. One of the three remarks “Hey! Look who’s back – old neon nose!” they laugh and Rudolph gets pissed. He runs back to his family’s cave, but finds it empty. Santa soon comes in to tell him that his parents are gone and Clarice too. They left months ago to go look for him. Is Santa happy to see Rudolph safe and sound? If he is, he doesn’t sound like it. Instead, he’s just worried about his damn sleigh and insists he can’t get it off the ground without Donner. Rudolph vows to find them and takes off, but that’s when it hits – that blizzard we were told about at the beginning. We’re shown the storm slam into the North Pole tearing shingles off of Santa’s castle, knocking ornaments off of trees, and sending elves rolling through the snow. Rudolph can only put his head down to push through it and he knows where he needs to look first: the cave of the abominable snow monster!
He’s just been spending the past few months trying to decide which one to eat first.
Rudolph enters the foreboding structure and finds his parents and Clarice. Clarice is in the bumble’s clutches while the other two just look on helplessly. I’m not sure what two deer could do to a beast like the bumble, but they can at least try! And how long have they been here? Rudolph is no coward though as he charges in demanding the bumble put her down! He does and then makes a play for Rudolph who deftly avoids the lunging beast. With him on his belly, Rudolph goes for the crotch, but apparently this bumble is either castrated or female as it doesn’t seem bothered. Rather it simply stands up, and ripping a stalagmite from the cave ceiling, smashes Rudolph over the head knocking the deer unconscious. He then unleashes a hearty, sinister, laugh.
The brave are always the first to die.
We return to Sam, once again cowering in terror under his umbrella, who then informs us he’s the real hero of the story. Well, not his words exactly, but he takes credit for sending Yukon and Hermey after Rudolph. The two come upon the cave and spy the bumble inside with Rudolph and the others. Clarice is in tears and asking aloud “Why doesn’t he get it over with?” A good thought, but also a dark one, as she’s admitting they’ve basically given up. Rudolph is still unconscious, but he starts to come to. Meanwhile, Yukon has a plan, but since he whispers it to Hermey we don’t know exactly what it is, but it involves Yukon climbing above the cave while Hermey oinks like a pig.
This seems like a setback, sure, but I don’t think I’d go charging at this guy just because he lacks teeth now.
The bumble heads out to investigate the oinking as Yukon insists a bumble would never choose deer over pork. When he reaches the cave’s exit, Yukon drops a giant rock on his head knocking him out. Yukon is then able to run into the cave to bask in some hero worship. The deer are happy to be saved, but then alarmed when the bumble emerges from behind Yukon. Hermey then enters to tell them not to worry. He’s got some dental equipment in his hands and it becomes clear he’s pulled out all of the bumble’s teeth. He encourages them to just walk on by, seemingly ignoring that the bumble is still a massive, clawed, beast. Would you have no fear of a toothless grizzly bear? I think not.
Stop what you’re doing, Yukon! Listen to the big, hairy, monster!
Yukon is not scared. Declaring the bumble nothing without his choppers, he goes right at him. I’m not really sure what he’s trying to accomplish, but the bumble basically just backtracks until it reaches a cliff’s edge. Yukon then appears to tackle him, along with all of his dogs, and the two fall over the side. The others run over yelling “Yukon!” and peer over the edge. Rudolph declares he’s gone, and he quite literally is, because we can see the cliff’s bottom and nothing is there. They probably should have tried painting it black or something, unless this was the desired effect?
This is basically the end of Hermey’s story. I guess it’s a happy ending.
We’re supposed to just think Yukon is dead and Sam conveys that sentiment with his narration. Rather than look for Yukon though, Sam blames the need to “get the women back to town” as reason for them just heading home to Santa’s place. Nah, they just didn’t want to look. There they apparently have a reconciliation with those that treated them as outcasts. I’m not sure why the sudden change of heart. Because they survived an encounter with the abominable? Because their friend is dead? We catch the end of a conversation between Rudolph and Santa with Santa vowing to find homes for all of the misfit toys. The head elf tells Hermey he can open a dentist practice after Christmas and is promptly granted the first appointment when Hermey looks in his mouth. Donner is then shown apologizing to Rudolph and I do hope the buck is sincere. He basically missed his son’s entire childhood! Granted, that appears to be a matter of months, but it’s all the same.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard my dad say, “Looky what he can do!”
From outside, a commanding voice then hollers for the elves to open up on account of it not being a fit night out for man nor beast. When they pull the doors open in comes the man, and it’s Yukon! As for the beast, why, it’s the bumble! He’s leashed and Yukon declares that he’s a reformed bumble in need of a job. The bumble demonstrates his usefulness by placing the star on top of a nearby tree as Yukon exclaims “Looky what he can do!” Rudolph then asks how the pair survived their trip down the side of the cliff and Yukon takes the time to inform him that bumbles bounce! The elves all seem to find this funny. Meanwhile, the bumble has removed his leash so I guess there’s no fear of him going berserk at this point. Maybe the leash was just a fashion choice? Maybe he and Yukon have a thing going on? Yes, I’m shipping this pairing.
The existence of pilot elf here would seem to suggest that there are other professions open to elves beyond toy-making, so all of that mistreatment of Hermey is even worse than we thought!
It’s the day before Christmas Eve though, so they can’t dilly dally. The elves get back to work and we hear a reprise of “We Are Santa’s Elves” as they do so, which is a song that was cut from this broadcast earlier. Santa is then shown back at the dinner table with his awful looking food. He’s still skinny, so he’s going to just gorge until he’s near bursting to fatten up for Christmas apparently. An elf then shows up to hand him a weather report and it’s not good. Regrettably, Santa has to make the announcement that Christmas is cancelled to shock and awe.
Say the line, Santa!
As Santa stands there explaining the situation, Rudolph is apparently excited about something because his nose is going bonkers. It’s distracting Santa, blinding him actually, and as he goes to tell Rudolph to cut it out he stops himself: “That nose! That beautiful, wonderful, nose! Rudolph, Christmas is not off and you’re going to lead my team!” Rudolph is pretty shocked, and then Santa makes it official by quoting the song, “Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?” Rudolph, proving he’s not a petty reindeer, simply says, “It will be an honor, sir.” Donner then gets to insist he knew that nose would be useful some day. What a jerk!
It’s cute that he needs shades to handle Rudolph.
As the elves load up the sleigh, we go into one of the better songs of the special: “Holly, Jolly, Christmas.” Sam sings it while the elves basically just party, their job apparently done. During the events of the song we see Rudolph and Clarice share their first kiss and an elf with sunglasses gets to hook Rudolph up to the sleigh. Here is where we dock this special some points because Rudolph is placed ahead of a team of six instead of eight reindeer. For shame! I’m sure this thing was a pain to animate, especially the take-off sequences to come, but would it have been that much harder with 9 instead of 7?
For everyone that wanted a fat Santa, here you go. I think we should just accept him as he wants to be.
When the song ends we find Santa practicing his laughter and looking plenty plump. He calls for his coat while Mrs. Claus looks on approvingly. As he puts his gear on, we get an instrumental reprise of “Jingle, Jingle, Jingle” which is a nice touch. As Santa takes his rightful place in the sleigh, he calls out to ask if Rudolph is ready. When the reindeer responds in the affirmative, Santa informs him their first stop is the Island of Misfit Toys. Up, up, up, and away!
On the Island of Misfit Toys, it would seem spirits are low.
On the Island of Misfit Toys, Charlie, spotted elephant, and dolly are seated by a campfire. They’re pretty glum because it’s Christmas and they’re still stuck on the island. Santa isn’t coming this year, just like all of the other years. Charlie retreats into his box to dream about next Christmas while dolly remarks, through tears, that she doesn’t have any dreams left to dream. Then, the faint sound of sleigh bells can be heard through the night. The elephant hears them first and wonders what it could be. Charlie pops out of his box excitedly, “It’s Santa! And look – Rudolph is leading the way!”
All right, we got the toys, lets get off this depressing island.
The sleigh lands bathed in the glowing, red, light of Rudolph’s nose. Santa matter-of-factly just says “Well, let’s be on our way!” The toys say nothing and just jump into his sack. Santa then calls out to Rudolph again and they take off. Since this scene was added a year later, I’m thinking Santa and Rudolph’s dialogue is the exact same track from their first take off. No matter, Sam pops in to tell us “Well folks, as for the rest of the story,” and then sings the ending of the song “He went down in history!” Sam then sings the full song while we watch Santa fly through the sky. As they soar, an elf outfits each of the misfit toys with an umbrella and they jump out of the sleigh. Santa may have got them off the island, but apparently that’s as far as his charity goes. They have to find their own way! When the song ends, Santa wishes us all a merry Christmas and flies off towards the full moon. A fitting final shot of The Christmas Spot 2022.
After he spent this thing acting like a jerk, I say it should have been Rudolph who got to wish us a merry Christmas in the end. Not Santa.
Well, we’re talking about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer so it’s not like there’s a whole lot to say that hasn’t already been said. It’s a classic and if you’re reading this you probably watched it at least once this year, just like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. It’s the special that really popularized the Rudolph character and started Rankin/Bass on the path to being a Christmas special juggernaut. This wasn’t the first adaptation of Rudolph outside of the song, but it was the first to basically adapt the song almost word for word and incorporate it into its plot. And as a story, it succeeds in making us root for Rudolph and gives him a buddy in Hermey who is equally sympathetic.
What the story doesn’t do so well is redeem the other characters. Santa, Donner, Comet, the other reindeer all act like bigots. They’re giant jerks and none of them really do anything to make me feel any different. We don’t even get an apology from Santa, just Donner and the end of one from the head elf towards Hermey. This Santa sucks! He dismisses a reindeer because of its nose. Is Budweiser even that strict with its famous Clydesdales? At least we have Yukon who seems like a good dude, it’s just too bad we lost his ending since it reveals there’s more to him than just silver and gold. Clarice is also a nice character, it’s just too bad she doesn’t get to do anything once her song is over aside from play damsel in distress. There’s very little resolution to this one. We get the happy ending, but we don’t know how Rudolph feels about it. I realize I’m asking a lot of an almost 60 year old special commissioned to sell more General Electric products, but these are questions worth asking.
What does work very well though are the visuals and music. Yes, the stop-motion on display here is rather primitive at times, but it gives this one it’s own distinct feel. The specials to follow would feature higher quality animation, but I’ve always preferred this one anyway. The weird purple-gray textures, the dogs that barely animate, the bumble and his tangle of fur – it just looks fun. One of the best decisions the movie Elf made was adopting the look of this special’s north pole. The music is also solid, though it does have some low points. No matter, “Holly, Jolly, Christmas” and the Burl Ives version of the title song really give this one a jolt at the end and are beloved classics in their own right.
So long Christmas. See you next year!
Considering that it is now Christmas Day, your chance to catch Rudolph on TV may have passed you by. CBS airs it twice annually, basically right after Thanksgiving and then once more closer to Christmas. Freeform has the cable broadcast rights, or did in 2021, and it’s possible they’re showing it today and if I can confirm that I’ll try to slip it in via an edit because I’m not writing this on Christmas Day. I’m rather busy celebrating the holiday with family and hopefully you are too and this is just something you read during a quiet moment. When the dust has settled and the excitement of the day subsides. The kids are in their rooms playing with their new toys or feeling the effects of a sleepless night from before crashing upon them, I like to bask in the afterglow of the holiday with more TV or more reading by the light of the Christmas tree. It only happens once a year, so treasure it while it lasts, and most of all Merry Christmas and thanks for reading!
Can’t wait until next year for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
We made it! Another year in the books, and another Christmas has come. Indulge in it. Bask in it, for it only comes once a year, and not to get too dramatic, but you never know how many you’re going to get. And we’re ending this year’s edition of The Christmas Spot with another throwback…
It’s Christmas morning, and if you woke up to a tree packed full of presents you have only one person to thank for that – Sonic the Hedgehog! What? You didn’t know that Sonic took over for Santa back in 1996? Oh, well find yourself a comfy chair and a plate of chili dogs while…
Welcome, Christmas Day! Hopefully you’re not hungover from too much Christmas partying last night, and if you are, hopefully it was worth it. By now, Santa should have deposited presents under the tree, if you were good this year, and hopefully he remembered the batteries. It’s been fun, but this post means we are done…
In 1964, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass unleashed a Christmas Classic upon the world in the form of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The special basically put the company on the map and put it on the path to holiday domination for decades to come. Despite that, few of the specials that followed Rudolph truly hit the same highs and it’s likely due to a case of diminishing returns. Still, that didn’t stop the company from trying to replicate its original success with Christmas and today’s subject feels very much like a retread of Rudolph only with a different protagonist.
As popular as the character Rudolph is these days, he’s still in the shadow of the main man himself: Santa Claus. Maybe it was a bit odd to target Rudolph first with a Christmas special, but in 1964 the character wasn’t as explored as Santa. From that perspective, it makes sense to come back with Santa as the main character for a subsequent special which is likely how we ended up with Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Just like Rudolph, this special takes a popular song and uses it as the basis for a television special. It’s also going to bring in a celebrity narrator like Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman to basically push the story along and that’s a tactic the company loved returning to in the years to follow. Unlike Frosty, this one uses the “Animagic” stop-motion process so it looks more like Rudolph. That look is basically synonymous with the company now making specials like Frosty the exception, but in 1970 it wasn’t quite established that the Christmas specials from Rankin/Bass would all be animated with stop-motion techniques.
These two are responsible for a lot of Christmas memories. We lost Arthur Rankin in 2014 at the ripe old age of 89 while Bass recently passed away in October at the age of 87. R.I.P.
As a kid, I grew up with Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town as part of my cherished Christmas Tape. Despite that, it’s one of the handful of specials from that tape that I don’t count among the greatest ever produced. Santa Claus had the unfortunate placement of coming after Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas and right before Rudolph. Grinch has long been my favorite, but when I was a kid it was pretty much neck and neck with Rudolph. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is basically the comedown special on my old tape, but since it’s an hour long, that comedown had a tendency to overstay its welcome. My sister and I often just endured this one to get to Rudolph. It’s basically the same length and the structure is similar as we’re hearing a story we basically know, but having a lot of it filled in. There are songs to break up the narrative, but I think with this one they’re just not as good. And even though there’s a clear cut villain to root against in the form of the Burgermeister, he’s almost too ridiculous and the film also doesn’t really deliver a comeuppance for him. We’ll have time for it all, but basically I’ve been putting an entry like this one off for years because it’s not a favorite and it’s an hour long. I’ve got some work ahead of me.
Because I am celebrating my own personal Christmas Tape this year, all of the images in this post are ripped from that 35 year old tape. Above is what was used as the TV bumper in 1987.
We’ll probably be making several comparisons to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and here’s another. This one begins with a fake news reel. Narrated by Paul Frees (who is going to do a lot of heavy lifting in this one), it’s presented in black and white and uses what I assume is just stock footage of kids. He says in a rather stern voice that children are reminded not to cry and not to pout as he’s basically just introducing the theme of the song, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” As a kid, this always felt a bit ominous and thus unsettling. It’s a bit of a weird note to start on, but maybe the idea was to present Santa as a bit of an authority figure when it comes to Christmas and what follows will soften his image?
Here is the most enduring part of this special, the often parodied Special Deliver Kluger.
As the news reel comes to an end we’re taken to a winter setting where an interesting looking mail truck is driving over the snow. It looks like a conventional mail truck, except with tank treads. I always thought it was pretty cool. It’s marked Special Delivery, and our humble driver goes by the name Special Delivery Kluger. Fred Astaire provides the voice, and the lanky, long-chinned, fellow is a bit of a caricature of Astaire in the same way that there was a little bit of Burl Ives in the look of Sam Snowman and certainly a lot of Jimmy Durante in the narrator of Frosty the Snowman. His neat looking truck breaks down and he gets out of it to seemingly notice us, the viewer. We soon find out that old SD here is heading to the North Pole because he has some letters to deliver. He’s talking to us and breaking the fourth wall, but also, the disembodied voices of children can be heard asking questions about Santa Claus, most of which strike me as unimportant (“Why does he have a beard?”), but they are the questions kids ask. And these questions are coming from the letters that SD here is supposed to be delivering, not opening and reading. Seriously bud, that’s a federal offense! Well folks, we’re in for a treat because SD here is going to answer all of those questions and sing us the song for good measure.
Our setting is the always gray Somber Town.
Special Delivery begins the song we all know which takes us into the opening credits. As it goes through, the melody changes and we basically get a sampling of the songs that will follow while Kluger dances around and mishandles the mail which serve as title cards. You would think this guy is in a hurry to get these deliveries out of the way, but I guess not. It’s story time! We’re going to a place called Somber Town which is at the base of the Whispering Mountains. It’s very dreary looking and we’re taken to the home of the Burgermeister (Paul Frees). I guess he’s sort of a mayor or something? His full name is Burgermeister Meisterburger and he’s busy eating. He’s eating some massive hunk of meat with a bib – how cute?
This asshole is known as the Burgermeister.
The head of the guard or something, Grimsley (Frees), enters with something to show his boss. It’s a baby and there’s a note requesting they take care of it from his mother. The only identifying information on the child is a tag that says Claus. The Burgermeister wants nothing to do with a “brat” like this and tells Grimsley to take it away. He does as he’s told and apparently to get to an orphanage you have to pass through some pretty rough terrain. It’s also dark, and it’s snowing, and he’s dragging the baby behind him in a cradle/sled. The wind picks up in intensity and the rope snaps. As Grimsley calls out for Baby Claus to come back (a lot of good that will do), we see it literally lifted by the wind and taken into the forest. No more baby.
There’s a baby under that pile of sticks.
The forest is apparently home to a being known as the Winter Warlock. He’s someone not to be trifled with, so when some animals come upon the baby (the cradle somewhat comically smashed into a tree and the baby just tumbled out) and hear the warlock approaching, they quickly hide him under branches and leaves. The warlock just strolls on by and all we see are his robes. Once that danger has passed, the animals know what to do as they take the baby the rest of the way over the Whispering Mountains to Rainbow River Valley where a family of toymakers reside: the Kringles.
These Kringles are confirmed as elves and the animals just leave the baby on their doorstep and get the hell out of there. The door is answered by an elf named Dingle. He looks like a smaller version of Santa, though not particularly elf like, though he does speak in a voice that’s pitched up. He calls for his four other brothers: Ringle, Tingle, Wingle, and Zingle. They’re all voiced by, you guessed it, Paul Frees. They’re all pretty happy to find a baby and immediately take ownership by declaring “Our baby is the best baby of them all.” One of them rather comically just says “I like babies.” He’s the original “I like turtles,” kid.
Meet the Kringles, the only elves I know that don’t have pointed ears.
The elves take the baby in to see their matriarch, Tanta Kringle (Joan Gardner), who seems to be in agreement that the baby is now theirs. She declares they will call him Kris, and raise him as a Kringle. And then we get a time-jump and see Kris as a boy while our story-teller informs us that the elves taught him everything he needed to know, and stuff he didn’t, like how to make toys. Apparently, the Kringles make toys, but have no children to sell them to so they just pile up. They’re too afraid to take them over the mountain and past the Winter Warlock. Apparently, there are no other towns worth exploring except for Somber Town. Kris then vows that he’ll deliver toys to Somber Town when he’s big enough, and Tanta reminisces how that will be the day that will restore the Kringle name. She then goes into the first song of the special, “The First Toymaker to the King.” It’s fine, but it pays off in a little bit for another reason. The thing I like about the song most though is they present a lot of it like a storybook so we get some illustrated versions of the Kringle characters. It almost makes me wish the whole special looked like that.
The song concludes with some disembodied children pointing out that’s how Santa learned to make toys. Yeah, no kidding. This is a running thing throughout the special where Special Delivery says something, and some children comment on it, usually just to reenforce what SD just said. When the song is done, SD goes on to say that Kris also learned a lot from the animals nearby, and most importantly, it was a seal that taught him how to laugh. As he goes “Ho ho ho,” we get another time jump and find an adult Kris (now voiced by Mickey Rooney) who declares to Tanta he’s a man now! Did they just finish doing something?! At any rate, he can take those toys over the mountain and the elves are pretty excited by the thought.
Everyone’s favorite character: Topper.
Later that night, Kris is packing for his journey when Tanta comes barging in. She’s got a present for him: a red suit. He’s overjoyed to receive a real Kringle suit which looks just like the traditional Santa outfit. We jump to morning and Kris is shown saying goodbye to everyone and sets off up the mountain. It only takes a moment before a penguin comes slamming into him. He questions the penguin on what he’s doing out there and deduces he’s looking for the South Pole, which is pretty damn far from where they are. Kris invites the penguin along, and decides to call him Topper who seems to like the name though we don’t know for sure because he’s a penguin and can’t talk. As they resume their march, a booming voice fills the air. It’s the Winter Warlock (Keenan Wynn) who basically tells them to beat it and never come back or they’ll be sorry. Kris encourages Topper to follow and the two race off.
This guy’s job is to take toys away from children. His mother must be so proud.
It’s the next day, and the Burgermeister is heading outside when he stumbles down some steps. The culprit? A toy was carelessly left out. He had to get his foot wrapped and he’s back in his estate where he vows to outlaw all toys! I’m doing this part from memory because my source for this special, The Christmas Tape, is missing a chunk of the special because someone failed to resume recording after the commercial break. It picks up when Burgermeister is singing his version of “The First Toymaker to the King,” which is now enforcing a message of “There will be no more toymakers to the king!” It’s a horrible message, but the song is kind of cute as it uses the same storybook technique as Tanta’s version, only now the ballerina’s are being arrested and the toy soldiers melted down. When the song is over, we see a soldier collecting toys throughout the town and chucking them into a wagon pulled by a fairly evil looking horse. Vicious!
It’s this toyless world that Kris stumbles into. He’s got his sack of toys over one shoulder and goofy red suit which everyone stares at. The people of Somber Town are depicted almost exclusively in black and white. Even their flesh seems to lack much color. One old woman even admonishes Kris for his clothes and he seems both hurt and confused by this. When he says he’s there to just give away some toys everyone freaks out and runs into their house leaving Kris even more confused.
Pictured: life without toys.
Kris continues on his way and comes across two kids washing their socks in a fountain. They explain to Kris that’s basically how children are judged in this town: by how clean their stockings are. He tells them they don’t have to look so sour and when they ask why he just says “I don’t like sour faces.” He then recites some of the song, the whole you better not pout or cry part, and when they keep asking why he says, “Because I came to town!” He then reveals what he brought and the kids perk up. They’re a bit apprehensive, but when they mention the Burgermeister Kris says he’ll just give him a big, red, yo-yo. The kids then dig in, but are soon interrupted by their school teacher Miss Jessica (Robie Lester) who dismisses toys as frivolous. She tries to further malign them, but Kris just sticks a china doll in her face and she immediately melts. Apparently she always wanted one and when she hugs it she even squirts out a tear.
We then go into our next song, “Be Prepared to Pay,” which states that kids must sit on Kris’ lap and give him a kiss to get a toy. Umm, suddenly it makes sense why people seem to eye this character suspiciously. When that’s done with, we see the Burgermeister being wheeled through the streets in a wheelchair. This is the same guy who was singing and dancing not that long ago on his bum foot, but now needs a wheelchair. What a fraud! He remarks to himself how nice it is to see the children all playing with their toys, which is to setup a “Guffah!” kind of joke where he realizes the kids are doing exactly what he doesn’t want them to do. He then demands that all of the kids are under arrest for playing with toys!
He’s breaking his own law!
Kris comes running in to take the blame. He explains that he gave them the toys and it’s he who should be arrested. The Burgermeister appears to be taken aback by the Kringle’s clothes, as so many others were earlier, but agrees that he needs to be arrested. Kris stops him in his tracks though when he presents that yo-yo he mentioned earlier to him. Now it’s the Burgermeister’s turn to be disarmed by a toy as he clutches it and tells Kris he loves yo-yos. He goes back to his childhood and talks about all of the tricks he knew while he, sort of, demonstrates that by playing with it. He’s having a pretty good time, but if you thought he would be turned as quickly as Miss Jessica you’re sorely mistaken, as Grimsley reminds him that he’s breaking his own law. This seems to snap the Burgermeister out of his toy-induced trance and he tosses the yo-yo and demands that Kringle be arrested!
Well he looks like a happy guy.
Kris isn’t going to just surrender though as he takes off knocking the soldiers down in the process. The Burgermeister then comments on his fleeing abilities remarking he climbs like a squirrel, leaps like a deer, and is as slippery as a seal. These are all animals you can apparently compare Santa Claus to. Kris demonstrates all of these qualities by scaling the wall surrounding the town and escaping. The soldiers give chase, but once Kris and Topper head into the woods they decide to back off. They claim they’ll never find him, but I think they’re just scared of the warlock as they rightly should be for Kris and Topper don’t get very far until they’re grabbed by trees. Yes, trees, and the Warlock shows himself! He’s basically all white, even his face, and he has a long robe, pointy hat, and big, white, beard. He gestures to Kringle and informs him that he has disturbed him for the last time and that he’ll never get away!
Come on, you weird old hermit, walk through the door that just appeared.
Kris figures he can talk his way out of this, so he requests that the Winter Warlock release him for a moment so he can give him a toy. The Warlock is pretty surprised by this, but immediately cheers up. He orders Willy Willow and Peter Pine, the trees, to release the Kringle so he can receive his toy. Kris presents him with a toy train, which the warlock refers to as a choo-choo. He starts to cry, and when Kris asks what’s happening he explains that his icy heart is melting. Once it does, his face goes from white to a natural flesh color and his mouth is no longer full of sharp teeth. He then wonders how he can go on and describes himself as a wicked creature at heart. It would seem this is Kris’ opportunity to stab him or something, but instead he laughs and insists that the warlock, who now wishes to go by Winter, can change. He reasons that turning from bad to good is as easy as taking your first step, which leads into the next song “Put One Foot in Front of the Other.” It’s an okay tune, but the animation that goes with it is weird as it seems to imply that Winter doesn’t really know how to walk. He looks rather awkward, and must have been difficult to animate a robe in stop-motion, but by the end he’s walking and feeling pretty damn good about himself.
That won’t be the only ball he shows her.
When the song is done we find Winter and Kris seated by a tree in the snow. It can’t be very comfortable, but I don’t think this Winter fellow actually has a proper house though Special Delivery claimed he had an ice palace. He has a proposition for Kris in that they can help each other. In exchange for more toys, he can show Kris some of his magic. He demonstrates this by making a large snowball and tells Kris to gaze into his magic, crystal, snowball. Someone is looking for him – Miss Jessica. It would seem she’s wandered into the woods to find him, and when Winter tells him to go to her he basically just falls from the sky beside her. Was that more magic? Either way, she informs him the kids are looking for more toys and Kris agrees to provide said toys so long as they’re good. When she asks how he’ll know, he shows her the snowball trick that Winter just demonstrated. This is apparently how he spies on children and he and Miss Jessica basically recite some more of the song through their dialogue which feels rather forced. Kris explains that he can’t just walk in and hand them out like last time, so he tells Miss Jessica to inform the kids to leave their doors unlocked and that he’ll deliver them under cover of darkness. And for being so nice, he even gets a kiss from Miss Jessica – golly!
Back at casa de Kringle, Kris is preparing for his toy delivery. Winter is there too as he apparently doesn’t want to hang out on a cold mountain anymore now that his heart is unfrozen. Kris is making his list, and checking it twice, but seems to determine that all of the kids are nice. I’m not sure if he takes this all that seriously, kids. He heads into Somber Town and basically just enters every unlocked house and leaves toys behind. The next morning, Burgermeister is royally pissed off to see the kids outside playing with their toys and makes a new law on the spot: all doors and windows must be locked at night!
Tanta is gonna be pissed when she sees that suit.
Kris returns the next night, but can’t get into the houses since they’re all locked. It’s pointed out he really needs to deliver a toy for a sick kid and is determined not to let her down. Topper is the one who points out the chimney, though it takes Kris a minute to figure out what he’s getting at. Kris thinks it’s a great idea and absolutely loves going down the chimneys. He visits all of the houses, but the next morning we find the toys all confiscated by the Burgermeister. Are the kids still playing with them outside? Seems pretty dumb. He mentions he knows they were left by the hearth of each house so he orders that every building will be inspected at dawn for toys. Talk about government overreach. After he makes his declaration, he accidentally sits on a tin solider and stabs himself in the ass. Good for him.
All right, we’ve explained elves, toys, chimneys, and now stockings. I guess next is reindeer?
Kris keeps getting letters for toys delivered by animals, but he doesn’t know how to deliver them. He soon figures out that the stockings are a solution and sends a letter to Miss Jessica via the animals. We cut to the next morning and the Burgermeister, now with a bandaged ass, is inspecting a house. He’s pleased to find nothing but drying stockings by the fireplace and takes his leave. The father of the house breaths a sigh of relief, while the kids run for the stockings to uncover their toys. The Burgermeister really is an idiot since empty, drying, socks look a lot different than socks filled with toys. The kids though are arguably dumber because they, once again, take to the streets with their toys and the Burgermeister remains furious (somewhere along the way he apparently decided against arresting children). He then tells Grimsley he’s going to do what he should have done from the start: set a trap for the Kringle!
Busted!
Miss Jessica overhears this declaration and tries to warn Kris, but once she gets to the Kringle home it’s nighttime and Kris is gone. She asks Winter for help via his magic, but he explains he’s all out of magic and seems pretty down about it. Then Grimsley shows up with a small assortment of men to arrest the Kringles. It would seem rendering Winter nice backfired as there’s no way they would have braved the mountain beforehand. We then see Kris getting bagged by the Burgermeister who arrests him on the spot. To make a spectacle of the whole thing, he burns all of the toys in the town square as the children look on with tears in their eyes.
That is definitely not the way to do a reflection in stop motion.
The next day, Jessica approaches the Burgermeister and pleads with him to free Kris and the Kringles. He laughs her off and it’s not explained why they didn’t round her up with the other Kringles since she’s an obvious accessory to their toy delivery scheme. As the Burgermeister takes his leave, Jessica claims her eyes are now open for the first time. I thought they were before? Whatever, she goes into the worst and shortest song of the special, “My World is Beginning Today,” which features the amusing shot of Jessica looking at a reflection of herself in the fountain, but it’s clearly a paper print-out of her puppet and not an actual reflection. She lets her hair down for the song though and looks lovely.
Reindeer! We’ve got reindeer!
When the song is over, Miss Jessica is seen lurking outside the town’s prison. She finds the cell containing Winter and once again calls to him about using his magic to get them out. He’s pretty despondent about the loss of his magic and shows her the collection of useless stuff the jailer apparently let him keep: a short-circuited wand, dried up magic potion, stubs from old candles, and some magic feed corn. Jessica asks about the corn and he says it’s only use is to make reindeer fly. Jessica thinks that’s their answer and she takes the corn and rounds up some reindeer. This is apparently a pretty easy feat. Like most Christmas specials, the reindeer look like white-tailed deer and not actual reindeer, but she feeds them the corn and suddenly they can fly! The kids listening to Special Delivery’s story very much like this part, and one kid even says “don’t forget…” when the reindeer are introduced and we get a glimpse of Rudolph, but Special Delivery insists that’s another story.
A different sort of moon shot than we’re used to.
The reindeer are just what they need for an escape though. Well, we’re never told how they actually broke out of their cells, but I guess that was deemed unessential. They all fly off and Winter is especially happy to see he had a little magic left after all. It’s easily the most triumphant moment of the special as we get an instrumental version of the title song in the background as the whole crew flies in front of a crescent moon. I guess it can’t be a full moon until he’s finished his transformation into Santa.
I guess we need an explanation for the beard too.
With the Kringles free, the Burgermeister vows to hunt them down. The crew returns to their home, but it’s been burned to the ground. Kris determines it’s no longer safe and that they need to run further north, so they do. There’s wanted posters (dead or alive, which seems extreme) put up for them, so Kris does the smart thing and grows a beard (probably should ditch the identifiable threads). It’s at this point that Tanta raises the idea of changing his name and shows him the Claus tag he was found with. Some kid chimes in “I knew it! I knew it! That’s where he got his name!” the kid’s a real rocket scientist. They don’t explain the Santa part. Jessica and Kris are then shown getting married under the first Christmas tree. Winter lights it up with a last bit of magic.
So…are the animals planning on sticking around to watch them consummate this thing?
The crew is then shown heading further north until they hit the North Pole where Kris giddily announces it’s here they’ll build a new home to make toys. How they did so is not explained, but they do it. The animals deliver the letters and time just keeps marching forward. Kris and Jessica get rather “comfortable” with married life though he wonders how he can keep up with the orders. We’re then told that the Burgermeisters have fallen out of power and that Kris is no longer perceived as an outlaw. He’s old now, and realizes he can’t just keep delivering toys all of the time so he decides to do it on just one night a year and he settles on the holiest night of the year: Christmas Eve.
The North Pole is apparently a far more comfortable place to live than I’ve been lead to believe.
Santa Claus is then shown exiting his home to hop in his sleigh. Winter is there and apparently his magic is just fine now as he promises a nice, white, Christmas. Santa is pleased and he gets in his sleigh and takes off. Special Delivery comes back to tell us that’s the end of the story. He also takes a moment to mention how there’s still people who don’t like Santa and Christmas and we cut to a Scrooge-like character and some other adults that dislike the holiday. SD wishes everyone could be more like Santa, but there’s no time for moralizing here. He quickly remembers he has a ton of letters to deliver, and he also owes us a rather important song. Special Delivery then, delivers, on the promise of the special’s title and sings us the full version of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” as he makes his way north. The song ends with him pulling up on Santa’s workshop and the old dude comes outside to wave at the camera while the children shout “Merry Christmas!”
And that’s how Santa Claus came to be. Or one way, there’s a bunch of others at this point, but when I was a kid this was definitely the one that framed my idea of Santa the most. I don’t think I necessarily thought the guy who brought me presents was also once harassed by some guy with “burger” in his name, but I definitely rolled with the magic feed corn makes reindeer fly and thought of him as adopted by elves. The magic snowball also resonated with me, but I also grew up being told that the birds spied on me for Santa. Both seem equally plausible at this point. Well, it would be hard for Santa to actually watch every kid in the world with his snowball. Maybe they should have added something at the end with Winter and his magic to try to explain how he could pull off bringing toys to the whole world. We only see him do it for one town, after all.
This one will always live in the shadow of the more famous one about the reindeer with a blinking nose.
I guess that’s a story for another day. As for this one, it’s all right. It maybe longer than many specials out there, but it moves fast. If anything, it’s the songs that drag it down and help make it feel long when I think they’re supposed to have the opposite effect. And it’s not that they’re bad, they’re just not nearly as good as the songs in Rudolph. None of these songs are worth listening to outside of this special except for Fred Astaire’s rendition of the title track. And even then, I’d rather hear another version if it was up to me, but his is fine and it’s utilized well. It’s also a bit of a bummer that we never see the Burgermeister get his comeuppance. He does get hurt throughout the special, and he’s basically the cause of it, but maybe we should have actually seen the people overthrow him or something. Instead, we just see one kid tossing his portrait in the trash.
The animation is obviously a tremendous source of charm for this as well. The special definitely attempts some ambitious shots, but few of them really land. Some things are just funny when they probably shouldn’t be, like the baby at the beginning just floating around and smashing into a tree. That Santa must have one hard head! Winter is very awkwardly animated to the point where I almost feel anxious when watching him because he moves so slow. The reindeer flying in front of the moon are also pretty goofy looking, but the closeup shots of them flying look nice. And a credit to the animators for getting that sleigh off the ground with eight reindeer at the end. That could not have been easy.
Merry Christmas, Santa!
The legacy of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is that it’s the spiritual sequel to a special that’s more beloved in Rudolph. Because it is old and tells an important story to the Christmas holiday, it’s hung around and likely will for a long time. It’s also the start of Mickey Rooney’s long run as Santa for the Rankin/Bass company and it’s basically the role I associate him with the most at this point, but I also didn’t grow up watching The Little Rascals. As a once a year viewing, this one is all right. I think I just saw it too much as a kid so at this stage of my life I literally never desire to watch it. I’ll watch it usually once out of habit and out of stubbornness as I refuse to skip specials on my Christmas Tape. Once I get through that initial viewing though, this one becomes the point I often check-out. I guess that’s its legacy in my house.
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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Welcome back, lovers of Christmas, to the 7th edition of The Christmas Spot! If you missed the introduction a few days ago, we’re doing things a little differently this year. Yes, you’re still getting a dedicated write-up each day through Christmas about a beloved or not-so-beloved holiday special, but this year we’re also going retro by this blog’s standards. In order to shine a brighter light on the best of the best in the field of televised Christmas specials, we’re revisiting some of the 25 best as laid out in 2015 and reaffirmed just a year ago on this blog. When the subject was first discussed, the format for The Christmas Spot was to do a mini review of each special as opposed to the full-on walkthrough it has turned into. It didn’t make sense that so few words were reserved for the best the holiday had to offer, so we’re going to start rectifying that this year. Not every one of those inaugural 25 are being rehashed this year, just a select few of my choosing. Maybe next year we’ll look at some more, maybe we won’t, it’s all rather fluid.
Today, we’re kicking things off with a lookback to one of those 25: Frosty the Snowman. The Rankin/Bass classic was originally ranked at number 15, but was dropped down to 19 last year. Being in the top 20 is still nothing to sneeze at as Frosty is here to stay.
The 1969 classic is now one of the longest running Christmas specials on television today. For the past several years it has been the unofficial start of the holiday special season as CBS has chosen to air it the day after Thanksgiving for quite awhile now. As streaming services continue to take over, the days of the event special may be coming to an end. Last year saw Charlie Brown and the gang get axed from a network timeslot all because Amazon scooped the property up and intended to put an end to the tradition. What happened was people were so pissed about missing out on annual viewings of the Peanuts holiday specials that Amazon rethought its position and made the Thanksgiving and Christmas special available for one night only each on PBS. They aired at 7 EST and were barely in prime time, but I suppose it’s better than nothing. ABC also seemed to reduce their holiday output since it now has Disney+ to stash its specials on. It’s likely we’ll continue to see massive corporations hoard these valuable pieces of television history and what was once a shared, viewing, experience each year is just another thing to binge at your leisure.
For now, we still have Frosty. The special, which is obviously adapted from the song written by Walter Rollins and Steve Nelson, was written by Romeo Muller and directed by the tandem of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass. It’s narrated by comedian Jimmy Durante and features voice work from Jackie Vernon, Paul Frees, Billy De Wolfe, and June Foray. It’s a special that always stood out to me as a kid because, unlike Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, it was a cel-animated production from Rankin/Bass instead of stop-motion. I feel like everyone associates Rankin/Bass with stop-motion, but their more traditional animated works are pretty noteworthy as well. When it came time to animate the special, Rankin/Bass turned to Mushi Productions, the animation studio based in Japan founded by the legendary Osamu Tezuka. Yes, Frosty the Snowman is basically anime. It would be more obvious if Rankin/Bass had not hired Paul Coker Jr. to first design the characters for the special, but you can certainly see the Japanese influence in several places.
Jimmy Durante will be our guide through the story, and song, of Frosty the Snowman.
Frosty the Snowman opens in idyllic fashion. Snow is falling and the people of this small community are busying themselves getting ready for Christmas. Our narrator, Jimmy Durante who is animated to resemble himself, explains that this is the first snow of the season and that it’s actually a Christmas snow. Why is that important? Apparently, when the first snow of the season happens to fall on Christmas Eve, something wonderful is bound to happen!
Our attention then shifts to a small school house. The kids are restless as they want to go play in the snow and their teacher (voiced by June Foray) has organized a Christmas party. Yeah, those days were always long even if they weren’t filled with education as no one wants to be in school so close to the holiday (and basically no one goes to school on Christmas Eve these days). The teacher informs the students that she’s hired a magician to entertain them. Considering the teacher had to pay out of pocket to bring this guy in, you can probably guess just what kind of magician a teacher’s salary can afford.
Behold! The worst magician in the world!
Professor Hinkle (Billy De Wolfe) is introduced by the narrator as probably the worst magician in the world. He begins his routine by tossing some eggs into his “magic” hat, says some traditional magic words, and then turns the hat upside down only for the eggs to fall out and smash on the floor. The kids are disappointed, which is perhaps the most unrealistic aspect of this special about a snowman coming to life as any group of kids I know would have laughed at a trick going so poorly. Hinkle then tries to retrieve a rabbit out of the same hat, which is going about as well as the egg trick. Declaring the hat is only fit for the trash can, he chucks it towards the waste basket only for the rabbit to finally pop out. Before the kids can react to the reveal of Hocus Pocus, the bell rings and they storm out of there basically trampling the magician in the process.
Once outside, the kids race through the snow. Most apparently did not consult a weather report earlier in the day as several are wearing shorts. One girl is sporting short sleeves and a pink skirt with suspenders which really can’t be comfortable. Some of the boys immediately start building a snowman, and it’s during this process we really get to meet Karen (who was voiced by Foray in the original, now lost, airing and re-dubbed by Suzanne Davidson) as she volunteers to build the head for the snowman. She declares it’s the most difficult part of snowman construction, and even challenges the boys to ask anyone on the subject for confirmation. Well Karen, I’ve built a few snowmen in my day and I have to strongly disagree. The head is quite possibly the easiest part, especially if you’re building a snowman like Frosty who has actual legs! Seriously, that’s damn near impossible.
Never in my life have I been able to make a snowman half as good as what’s present in cartoons.
Once the snowman is assembled, the kids gather around to choose a name. After some truly wretched suggestions, including an unintelligible suggestion from one kid who apparently just speaks in sound effects, Karen proposes Frosty and the kids all seem to agree this is a fine name. They then clasp hands and spontaneously break-out into song. Either they’re all amazing at improv, or they’re just as unoriginal as most kids and they named their snowman after a song that already exists in their world. While they’re singing, the rabbit Hocus Pocus comes bounding out of the school house in the discarded hat which Karen tosses on Frosty’s head to complete his ensemble. Much to everyone’s shock, the hat brings Frosty to life as his lifeless, coal, eyes become whole and he greets everyone with a “Happy birthday!” Considering it is essentially his birth day, it’s an appropriate greeting, if a bit unexpected.
Professor Hinkle is there to witness the whole thing as he had been chasing Hocus. When Karen declares the hat must be magic, Hinkle decides he wants it back as a fortuitous wind blows it off Frosty’s head and into his waiting arms. When the children protest, Hinkle plays dumb and claims he didn’t witness any such nonsense. He admonishes the children informing them that when they’re grown up they’ll understand snowmen can’t come to life. As he takes off with his hat and rabbit, the kids turn forlornly towards Frosty and reassure the snowman that they did see him come to life. Durante then comes back in to sing a jolly rendition of “Frosty the Snowman” as we’re finally shown the opening credits for the special and the major network gets to toss some commercials our way.
Get a load of this asshole.
When we return from the festivities, our informative narrator makes it clear that Professor Hinkle was wrong to take Frosty’s hat. He doesn’t elaborate, but I guess we’re to hold him to his momentary anger at the hat when he tossed it at the garbage. That seems a bit extreme, but it’s important the viewer hates this guy (and denying life to a snowman is a pretty shitty thing to do) as Hocus Pocus is about to take action. As the magician walks past people on the street greeting them happily, Hocus quickly swaps the hat with a wreath and bounds off.
When Hocus returns to the site of Frosty’s awakening, the kids are still just standing around accepting defeat. Karen notes the hat is back, seemingly oblivious that it was the rabbit who returned it, and she places it back on Frosty’s head. He once again greets the children with a “Happy Birthday!” and then begins to question his existence. Rather than be burdened by some truly out of this world thoughts on who he is and why he’s here, he just humbly accepts that life has been granted to him and then begins to test out his bodily functions. No, nothing weird or gross, mainly just juggling and checking if he’s ticklish. Okay, that does sound a little odd. His right hand also sprouts an extra finger so he can count to five (like most cartoon characters, Frosty only has four digits normally), but that’s just one of many odd animation quirks we’ll endure.
Frosty admiring his own rump.
Once Frosty is satisfied that he’s alive, the dancing can commence! We get a little more of the song as sung by Jimmy Durante as we’re basically just going to hear a verse here and there until the special is over and the song concluded. Once they seem to get over the thrill of life, Frosty wipes some “sweat” off of his head and takes note of a nearby thermometer. I question its accuracy, as it appears to be pushing past 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but the point is made and that’s snow is destined to melt, which means Frosty is destined to melt. This is where the special takes a hard pivot from the song. The lyrics make it sound like Frosty accepts his fate as all snowmen must melt and resigns himself to have a good time until the moist, dripping, splash of death consumes him. In the special, he immediately decides death is quite a bummer and a thing to be avoided. Where can a snowman cheat death? Why, the North Pole of course! When Frosty shares this bit of info the children decide they have to help him get to the North Pole, so they have a parade! All right, that part is a little weird, but I guess if you need to head to a train depot you might as well make a parade of it.
We deserve a sequel that explains if this guy ever got his whistle back.
As Durante sings more of the song, we see Frosty lead the children through town (with Hocus in tow) which contains some visual gags of people reacting with shock at the sight of a walking, talking, snowman. The parade comes to a halt when they encounter the traffic cop the song makes mention of. He’s directing pedestrian and automobile traffic and has to scream at Frosty in order to get him to stop. This begins a 1920s-esque bit of shtick as the cop questions Frosty on the various signs and signals all around him, never once seeming to realize he’s speaking with a snowman. Frosty is ignorant of basically all things, and Karen has to explain he just came to life and the cop then backs off. After instructing the gang to move along, he remarks to himself that snowmen are so stupid when they first come to life. Only then does he realize how absurd the whole situation was as he exclaims to himself “Come to life?!” and swallows his own whistle.
The parade finally reaches its destination, a train depot. The clerk (Paul Frees) working the ticket counter is fast asleep when the kids approach requesting a ticket to the North Pole. He then springs into action as he stamps a whole sleeve of tickets remarking how their journey will take them through the Klondike and for some reason mentions aurora borealis. He’s clearly lost in his work. He returns with a stack of tickets, as this journey is going to require quite a few trains, and then requests payment: three-thousand dollars and four cents (including tax). When Karen sheepishly responds that they don’t have any money, the enraged clerk slams his fist on the table causing the whole pile of tickets to spring up and wrap around him. He then utters perhaps the most quotable line in the entire special, “No money, no ticket!”
He’s so angry that he just closes up shop and quits the business right here and now.
Well, if you can’t buy a ticket to the North Pole, just do like the old hobos do – stow away! One of the kids takes note of a refrigerated box car on a train apparently heading north. That’s good enough for Frosty as they inspect the car. It’s full of ice cream and frozen Christmas cakes, which we’ll find out is a splendid way to travel for a snowman. Frosty climbs aboard, and so does Karen. All of the other kids have sense enough not to attempt to travel to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, and Frosty is too dumb himself to point out that Karen climbing aboard is a bad idea. She seems to think she can get there and back before supper which begs the question how old is Karen supposed to be? Hocus Pocus also climbs into the car as I guess he would prefer the North Pole to whatever town they’re currently in. As the train speeds off, we see there’s another stow away on board – Hinkle!
After the break, we take a look inside the box car to find a contented snowman and relaxed rabbit, but a freezing girl. It takes Frosty a few seconds to realize that this is a bad situation for a little girl. Proving he’s not some selfish jerk, he elects to scoop Karen up in his arms and leave the frozen confines when the train has to stop at a crossing (the animation makes no sense as the train goes past the junction, then stops, and an express train goes past behind it). Hinkle, still clinging to the caboose, sees the trio hop off as the train starts to leave and thinks they’re trying to ditch him. As he shouts at them “No fair!” it’s hard to tell if Frosty actually takes note of him or not. Hinkle is then forced to jump from a moving train if he has any hope of getting his hat back. He hits the ground and stats flopping down a snow-covered embankment before finally crashing into a tree. As he falls, the person doing the sound effects just goes nuts as there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the sounds we’re hearing, but it certainly sounds painful for Hinkle!
He deserved that.
Frosty, Karen, and Hocus wander through the cold, darkening, woods as Frosty frets about finding warmth for Karen. Hocus, through pantomime, suggests he build her a fire, but that’s not something a snowman can do. They press on and eventually come across a bunch of animals. They’re slightly personified, sort of like Hocus, and they’re decorating the forest for Santa’s arrival that night. It’s a bit preposterous, but I suppose not out of character for a Christmas special. Frosty asks Hocus to communicate with the animals about building Karen a fire. He does as he’s told, and soon the deer, squirrels, and such get a roaring fire going for Karen to get warm by. It’s pretty damn goofy to behold.
As Karen warms herself by the fire, Frosty stays far away. With Hocus by his side, he contemplates how he can get Karen home and himself to the North Pole. Hocus acts out some suggestions including the marines and President of the United States. Hocus then covers his face in snow like a beard and struts suggesting Frosty seek the aide of Santa Claus. Frosty thinks that’s a great idea and smiles at the camera apparently happy with himself. Hocus is ordered to be a Santa look-out, and once the guy flies overhead, he’s expected to somehow get his attention even though he’s a fluffy white rabbit standing amongst a bunch of snow.
It’s belly-whopping time!
Unfortunately though, a roaring fire in a dark forest is quite visible and Hinkle soon stumbles upon Karen. He taunts her before laughing then demonstrates he has some amazing lungs as he literally blows the fire out. Frosty comes running over and Hinkle demands he hand over the hat. He makes an empty threat, which Frosty calls him on, and Hinkle just stamps his feet like a toddler screaming to get his hat back! When he makes a lunge for it, Frosty deftly sidesteps him and drops down onto all fours. Frosty tells Karen to jump on his shoulders and our narrator interjects that Frosty, being made of snow, is the fastest belly-whopper in the world! He basically shoots off like a rocket across the snow, down a small hill, up another, and down again leaving Hinkle far off in the distance.
This is where Hinkle goes from annoying to evil.
The ride comes to an end at a random green house in the middle of no where filled with poinsettia. Karen is pretty cold from the ride, and also likely because she’s currently being cradled in the arms of living snow, so Frosty decides to bring her inside. She reminds him he’ll melt in there, but he suggests he’ll only stay in to melt a little and makes a joke about losing weight. Hinkle then arrives, suggesting he not only has tremendous lung capacity, but he’s also really damn fast. Honestly, I feel a little betrayed by the narrator who said he was left far off in the distance just seconds ago. Anyway, Hinkle sees the snowman in the green house and promptly slams the door shot. It must lock from the outside, or Frosty just isn’t very confrontational, because they’re trapped. Hinkle laughs devilishly proclaiming the hat will soon be his as Frosty looks on with horror.
Up in the sky, Santa passes by! Maybe he’s just out for a quick preflight check or something, because he only has four reindeer and no sack of presents. He comes across the woodland critter celebration where he is informed by Hocus what’s going on with Frosty, Karen, and the magician. Hocus leads the big guy to the green house, but when they arrive they’re met with a terrible sight. Karen, on her knees sobbing, is beside a puddle and Frosty’s “parts” are floating in it. I feel like there’s a darker cut of Frosty the Snowman where we watch the poor snowman melt and Karen is forced to look-on helplessly. That girl has seen some shit and Hinkle, who presumably watched it all unfold too, is quite an evil soul.
She’s going to need some therapy.
The narrator tells us that Santa is too late, but he breaks the fourth wall to correct him. With a big, booming, voice, Santa (Paul Frees) shouts “Nonsense,” at the suggestion of being too late and then sets to comforting Karen. He tells her that Frosty, being made of Christmas snow, can never disappear completely. This does little to cheer up Karen since her friend is still a puddle, but Santa just chuckles and opens the green house door. He commands Frosty to basically pull himself together as a cold wind enters the green house, scoops up Frosty’s parts, and recreates the snowman outside the green house. The only thing left to do is return the hat to Frosty, but now Hinkle makes his presence known demanding the hat be returned to him.
Santa, who almost looks ready to throw-down, instructs Hinkle not to lay a finger on the hat. Rather than threaten him with the violence he so richly deserves, Santa just tells him he’ll never bring him another Christmas present so long as he lives. Earlier, Hinkle seemed to think a magic hat would make him a millionaire magician so I don’t know why he places any value on future Christmas presents, but he’s not the sharpest guy. He immediately begins to pout and kicks a can that mysteriously appeared in the snow before remarking, “We evil magicians deserve to make a living too.” Santa then tells him that if he goes home right now and writes one-hundred-zillion times that he’s sorry for what he did to Frosty, then maybe he’ll get a new hat for Christmas. Despite being handed an impossible task, Hinkle seems pretty happy with this arrangement as he starts hopping up and down with excitement. In probably my other favorite quote from this special, he hollers “Sorry to lose and run, but I’ve got to get busy writing! Busy! Busy! Busy!”
Santa will make everything right!
Santa slips in a little chuckle as Hinkle disappears into the night, then turns his attention back to Frosty. He returns the hat, and once again Frosty greets everyone with a “Happy birthday!” I guess it still is his birthday, after all. We then slip into a bit of a montage as the song returns. The group celebrates a bit before getting back to business. Santa, after all, has a long night ahead of him, but he still finds time to return Karen home. Maybe he’s a little ticked off though about the extra work on Christmas Eve since he leaves her stranded on her roof before taking off with Frosty. The narrator then pops in to let us know that Frosty would return every year after that and the whole town would have a big celebration in his honor. The song gets into full swing now and we basically see everyone from the special in Frosty’s parade, including Professor Hinkle in a new hat. Jimmy breaks from the song again to wish us all a very, merry, Christmas as Santa swoops down in his sleigh (again, only four reindeer) to retrieve Frosty as the song ends. Frosty gets the last word in as he alters the closing line of the song, “I’ll be back on Christmas Day!”
Santa finds time to fly past the moon, now how the hell is Karen getting off of that roof?
Frosty the Snowman is sort of like the Christmas special baseline. It’s cheerful, charming, magical and it has some memorable characters. It helps that it’s anchored by the classic song, which is catchy enough and isn’t as overplayed (or annoying) as other Christmas songs. It might not be anyone’s favorite Christmas special, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who hated it. There’s definitely some goofy logic at times, and the animation is merely adequate. This is from the 60s so I think most of the animation warts are only really apparent with modern eyes. I don’t think it’s as good looking as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but it’s definitely better looking than A Charlie Brown Christmas. And it has character with the design of Frosty being simple, but pleasant, and Hinkle looking quite memorable. About the only thing I don’t like when it comes to the visuals are the deer. They just look stupid, but not offensively so.
Rankin/Bass seemed intent on transforming Frosty from a character that was just a wintertime creation to a Christmas icon. As much as the old song is associated with the holidays, it doesn’t make mention of Christmas at all. Maybe that’s why when Rankin/Bass did return to the character with Frosty’s Winter Wonderland they left Christmas out. They did produce Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July, one of the lesser stop-motion efforts from the studio, but otherwise Frosty has mostly left Christmas behind. Today this special is almost always joined by the non-Rankin/Bass production Frosty Returns every year, even though that special has nothing to do with Christmas. In 2005, Classic Media produced another pseudo-sequel titled The Legend of Frosty the Snowman. That one features a Frosty that looks identical to the one presented here (and that’s because Classic Media bought up the Rankin/Bass library), but otherwise tells a new story and also has nothing to do with Christmas.
He says he’ll be back on Christmas Day, but it’s an empty promise.
This Frosty the Snowman is truly the only worthwhile one. I don’t particularly care for the other animated specials, and the feature with Rudolph is a tremendous slog that shouldn’t be viewed by anyone. This one though is an annual tradition and no Christmas season goes by without at least a viewing of Frosty the Snowman in my house. It’s become a favorite of my kids, so I actually am subjected to it a lot each year and I’m totally fine with that. If you’re hoping to catch it on television this year, check cable and keep an eye on CBS. They already did the first airing, but often will re-air it later in the month. It’s one of the harder ones to miss.
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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Rankin/Bass is almost synonymous with Christmas because of the many television specials the company produced in the 60’s and 70’s. Most people associate them with the stop-motion process used to create Rudolf, but the studio also did traditional animation as well. Most famously, “Frosty the Snowman” was done in this style and the next most popular is the subject of today’s post: “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
For hand-drawn animation, Rankin/Bass relied on Topcraft out of Japan, which would eventually become a part of Studio Ghibli. If you’re expecting Ghibli level quality though, you’ll be pretty disappointed in “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The characters do have a very slight anime look to them, but otherwise there’s not much here that gives away where the animation originated or what the studio would go on to produce.
“‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” is loosely based on the 1832 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” which opens with that line. That poem focuses on what is essentially the last three minutes or so of this special, so the folks at Rankin/Bass had to come up with a plot to lead up to that and make it interesting. This isn’t an unfamiliar position for the writers there as basically all of their specials had to do the same. In this case, the story they came up with isn’t too bad, though it’s pretty odd that they felt the need to include a family of mice as part of the protagonists. And they also felt that waiting for Santa to arrive needed to be more suspenseful, so we get a thin-skinned and vengeful Santa as a result.
Father Mouse and Joshua have some kind of relationship with one another that really isn’t explored.
The story takes place around the turn of the century in a fictitious town called Junctionville. The story follows the Trundles, a family of four who’s patriarch Joshua is a clock maker, and the mouse family that dwells in their home. It unfolds as a flashback, with the special opening on Christmas Eve with narrators Joshua and Father Mouse nervously waiting to see if Santa will arrive. And that anxiety is born from a letter that appeared in the town paper claiming Santa Claus isn’t real. Apparently the paper receives distribution in The North Pole because Santa sees it and, furious it calls his very existence into question, returns the town’s Christmas letters. Father Mouse is able to figure out his own son Albert is the one behind the letter and confronts him with the rest of his family. Albert is a brainy kid who can’t possibly allow himself to believe in Santa (even though he himself is a talking, clothes-wearing mouse) and owns up to writing the letter with his friends. Father Mouse is upset and scolds his son ordering him to write another letter and apologize, but Albert won’t go against his own convictions, which is rather noble in a way.
Meanwhile, Joshua Trundle devizes a plan to create a clock tower on town hall that will play a song welcoming Santa on Christmas Eve, as as sort of mea culpa. The mayor and town council are welcoming of the idea and Trundle gets right to work. When the big unveiling occurs ahead of the holiday (and judging by the setting, it would appear it took place during the fall, but still well in advance of Christmas), the clock malfunctions and the mayor is embarrassed. So embarrassed is he that he won’t even allow Trundle to attempt a repair opting instead to just let the broken clock exist in perpetuity (I really hope this guy didn’t get re-elected). The public failing on the part of Trundle means no one trusts him with their own time pieces and his business takes a severe dive. He and his family are plunged into poverty with their pathetic looking Christmas tree serving as the most obvious statement of their present condition. The Mouse family feels the pinch too as few crumbs are making it to them forcing them into a sort of starvation as well.
The Mouse family.
It’s soon revealed that the reason for the clock’s malfunction was Albert poking around inside the clock. Father Mouse is apparently a clock maker himself, I guess, and his son has an interest in it. When he learns this he tells Albert he can’t sit around feeling sorry, he has to own up to what he did and solve the problem. Since Trundle can’t get in there it falls to Albert to repair it (I guess it’s a bit of hard parenting that his dad doesn’t go with him, but it sure feels like he should have) which is what he sets out to do. On Christmas Eve.
Stupid looking reindeer.
The Trundles and all of the people of Junctionville are forced to wait and hope, not all realizing they’re depending on a mouse, that the song will play and Santa will come. Of course it does, or else we would never get to that poem, precisely a minute after midnight. Santa was on his way past Junctionville, but hearing the song, he turns around and heads for the Trundle residence. The family gets to watch the little fat elf do his thing, with broadcast standards in the 1974 allowing Santa to puff on his pipe the whole while. He’s a short little bulbous thing, with read cheeks and a red nose that are illustrated in such a way that they look like sunken in welts on his face. He is kind of elf-like, which isn’t a common depiction, and he lacks a mustache to pair with his beard. They clearly were trying to make him look as the poem describes, but I always kind of hated how this Santa looked even as a kid, mostly due to the red welts. If they weren’t solid red splotches and instead were just light reddening of the cheeks he’d probably look fine.
Smoking on the job. Between his bad habit and tendency to go down chimneys I’m betting he’s got quite the set of black lungs.
The special is some-what compelling for an adolescent, not so much for an older viewer since we know there’s no way Santa is skipping town. There are a few musical numbers that are admittedly catchy, and I would go so far as to say that “Christmas Chimes are Calling Santa” is actually pretty good for a Christmas song. The rest of the special has an odd feel though. Why is Santa so easily hurt by one letter? It was signed “All of Us” as a way of explaining why Santa would take his anger out on the whole town, but I thought this guy was a bit more omniscient than that? It feels rather cruel. I also must point out that this special features perhaps the worst reindeer of any special. They’re tiny and look like mice. Once more, I understand they have a poem to work from that does indeed call them eight tiny reindeer, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them. At least there are indeed eight.
The rest of the cast of characters in this one are either bland or unlikable. Father Mouse comes across as a kind and understanding father, but Trundle is a push-over. The rest of the respective families, besides Albert, are basically ignored. I’m guessing the people who really like this special enjoy it mostly for the music or they find the plot interesting when compared with other holiday specials. It’s not terrible, and there was a time when I really liked it as a kid, but as an adult I’m not really into it. I’ll watch it once and that’s enough, which is how I feel about most of the Rankin/Bass stuff.
It’s pretty hard to come into an established industry with something new and find success. And when it comes to holiday films and television specials, it seems like it’s especially hard. Sure, sometimes you get a Prep & Landing that really surprises, but mostly you get Shrek the Halls…
Jon Favreau is mostly known these days for directing the Iron Man films. In 2003, people may have mostly known him for his short-stint on the sitcom Friends when he played the boyfriend of Courtney Cox who wanted to be an ultimate fighting champion. He certainly wasn’t known for holiday films, but who knew he was about to preside over one of the best?
Elf, in some ways, follows one of my favorite Christmas formulas by adding to the legend of Santa Claus. It doesn’t add much, but gives us another look at how Santa goes about his business. It definitely gives us a peek at elf life. We learn their dietary habits, toy output, and that they actually make those toys that show up in department stores themselves (though I don’t know if we’re supposed to assume that all Etch-A-Sketch toys are made by elves). Mostly though, it tells the story of one elf: Buddy. The twist is that Buddy is not actually an elf, but a human adopted by elves after he snuck into Santa’s sack one Christmas while Santa was visiting an orphanage.
Before getting to the meat of the story, I must say I definitely approve of the decision to model the elves and the North Pole after the look both have in Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Even the decor is that pale violet color that everything seemed to be cast in for that famous Christmas special. As a kid, it always annoyed me there was so little continuity between Christmas specials, even ones produced by Rankin/Bass. If I had seen this film as a six-year old I would have been even more delighted than I am as an adult.
Ferrell is at his best when Favreau just lets him go nuts in a scene.
Now Buddy (Will Ferrell), is oblivious to the fact that he’s an elf even though he’s a lot bigger than his peers and can’t keep up with them in the toy-making field. It bums him out, and when he overhears the head elf (A Christmas Story’s Peter Billingsly) speaking with another about how Buddy will probably never realizes he’s human, he goes running to Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) to find out if it’s true. Upon doing so, he decides to set out to find his real father, who impregnated his biological mother unknowingly and has since passed away. All of the elves, including Santa (Ed Asner) wish him well, but Santa also has a revelation to reveal: Buddy’s dad is on the naughty list!
I’m digging the Rudolph inspired look of the film.
If you have not guessed by now, Elf is a pretty silly movie. After Buddy leaves the North Pole, it becomes a fish-out-of-water tale as he journeys to New York City to find his dad. Turns out his dad is the head of a children’s book publishing firm, and right away we see how he values profits above doing the right thing when he approves a book with no ending for publishing. Walter Hobbs (James Caan) is naturally shocked to find out he has a son he never knew about, and wants nothing to do with an adult who thinks he’s a Christmas elf. He also has a wife, Emily (Mary Steenburgen), and a young son, Michael (Daniel Tay), who are equally dubious. Emily is the most receptive of Buddy, though Michael is more in-line with his dad in thinking the guy is nuts. Buddy also winds up in a department store where he meets Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), and mistakes her for someone into elf culture since she has to dress-up as one for work.
Buddy has a hard time adjusting to life in New York and makes things difficult for those around him. He gradually gets people to come around to him, starting with Michael, then Jovie, and eventually even his old man. There’s of course a big blow-up scene between him and his father that has to be resolved before Buddy can then help Santa save Christmas. It’s all rather conventional, but the film always straddles the line between cheese and just plain good fun, and one gets the impression it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Given her get-up, it’s not hard to see why Buddy gets a little excited when he sees Jovie.
Will Ferrell is very charismatic as Buddy. He’s annoying, as most characters played by Ferrell are, but still charming due to his child-like and honest persona. I know many people who dislike Ferrell but are charmed by his Buddy character. Maybe it’s the Christmas factor, I’m not sure, but Buddy seems to be his most-liked role. Asner’s gruff take on Santa Claus works really well in the film’s climax. He feels authentic, even when spouting nonsense about needing more Christmas spirit to get his sleigh off the ground. He’s so matter-of-fact about it that it helps the audience to buy-into what the film is selling. Caan is prickly as Hobbs, but understandably so given what his character has to deal with. He possesses some Scrooge-like qualities in the sense that he’s a workaholic who clearly doesn’t spend enough time with his family (as illustrated by Michael’s lack of respect for him). He has to come around to Buddy, and see the importance of family. He does so in semi-believable way, but considering this film exists mostly for laughs, he doesn’t need to go through a Scrooge-like transformation that unfolds over entire acts.
Elf works so exceptionally well because it’s just a joyful film. There’s plenty of humor, and enough heart to give it purpose and provide that emotional pay-off most expect of a Christmas movie. It’s a movie that I return to every year, and every time I watch it I wonder to myself if this is my favorite Christmas movie. So few are able to handle comedy and sentimentality as deftly as Elf does. The Santa Clause has some laughs, but becomes cloyingly sweet at the end. Bad Santa is plenty hilarious, but doesn’t have really much of an emotional payoff. The Miracle on 34th Street has some chuckle-worthy moments, but is hardly a comedy. Elf is able to be both, which makes it the rare modern Christmas movie that is contention for being one of the best.
The rest of the cast of characters in this one are either bland or unlikable. Father Mouse comes across as a kind and understanding father, but Trundle is a push-over. The rest of the respective families, besides Albert, are basically ignored. I’m guessing the people who really like this special enjoy it mostly for the music or they find the plot interesting when compared with other holiday specials. It’s not terrible, and there was a time when I really liked it as a kid, but as an adult I’m not really into it. I’ll watch it once and that’s enough, which is how I feel about most of the Rankin/Bass stuff.
The Nostalgia Spot 