MISTY WATER COLOURED, or otherwise, I'd love to hear about your thoughts on Christmas specials. Bill Brioux at The Canadian Press had an interesting article yesterday on some of the older Christmas specials and why they still resonate:
They were powerful little parables, full of delight and imagination. I didn't know or care at the time that they were crafted by artists already considered masters of 20th century pop culture, icons such as Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Charles Schulz and Chuck Jones. I just knew they took me to the North Pole and back, that they made me believe in Santa Claus, flying reindeer and, most of all, Christmas.
Years later, as a TV critic, I wondered why they remained so popular decades after they were made. I watched them charm and delight my own children who didn't seem to mind or care that there weren't any malfunctioning Xbox or Nintendo games on Rudolph's island of misfit toys or that the Whos down in Whoville didn't have cellphones.
What keeps them timeless (and still incredibly popular, in terms of ratings) in an era of 3-D animated epics such as "Shrek" and "Bee Movie" are irresistible characters, memorable music and original storytelling - plus one other thing. They were made before everything became an extension of the Christmas machine.
Sure, there were Peanuts paperbacks and Rudolph records and Dr. Seuss books to buy back in 1965 and '66 - and plenty were sold. But none of those '60s specials were conceived as part of a corporate marketing ploy. They were, in fact, seen as one-off novelties that would be tough sells to advertisers. CBS even worried that no advertiser would touch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" which - at Schulz's insistence - dared to have Linus quote from scripture. Scripture in a Christmas special? Sacrilege.
I know that earlier this week, I was flipping and hunting for something to distract when I stumbled upon A Charlie Brown Christmas. And yup, damnit if I didn't watch the whole thing again -- even if I do have practically every lined memorized. (And even if it does look weird having it on ABC, not CBS.)
Every year I wait til U.S. Thanksgiving to break out the Vince Guaraldi. It's my thing.
Jazz in a Christmas special aimed at kids. Suck it, Paris Hilton world. Once upon a time, even broadcast networks made choices like that. Imagine that pitch today...
Anyway, that's my thing. I want to know what your thing is.
I'm going to be on Q on CBC Radio next week talking about Christmas specials, and I'd love to solicit your thoughts on which ones still do it for you, and why? I'm especially looking for anything more offbeat -- ie: not the Holy Trinity of Charlie Brown, The Grinch, and Rudolph.
Let loose below in the comments.
27 comments:
Any of the Rankin Bass Christmas specials do it for me - SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN, RUDOLPH, etc...
Of course, the GRINCH - not only for Chuck Jones and Dr. Seuss but for the wonderful, haunting tones of Boris Karloff as he narrates the tale.
[I have this image in my head of Old smiling Boris, sitting in a rocker by the fire reading the Grinch to a bunch of children at his feet...
who are all dead.]
Another that tugs at the heart is THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY.
For all the versions that have been made, I'm still a sucker for Alister Simm as Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol". The others all give me the impression somebody felt the need to "improve" on the original story.
And for film nerds, there's great shot when Scrooge finally wakes and looks in the mirror. There's a crew guy in the BG peeking back.
My other Christmas must-revisits are Bob Clark's "Christmas Story" because it captures my memories of Christmas as a kid; and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". I saw it on a snowy Christmas Eve in a ski resort the year it came out and it's been my Christmas Eve video ever since.
Yeah, Rankin/Bass.
One of the more obscure ones that I remember with great affection is Nestor, the Long Eared Christmas Donkey. Which was essentially a Nativity story spin on Rudolph.
And although I'm appalled now by some of the subtext in The Little Drummer Boy, the scene where the new-born Jesus brings the little lamb back to life makes me cry, every time I see it, to this day.
(I'm actually crying now, just thinking about it. Nestor does that too.)
Oh, and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, which among other things, re-enacts 'The Gift of the Magi' with Bert and Ernie.
Probably not the answer you want, but I am a Scrooge and avoid holiday TV. I swear if I see one more series I like do a holiday episode that’s a variation on It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol I will explode. I have fond memories of the classics but I don’t feel the need to see them again and again, or explore new treacly TV ways of celebrating the holidays.
Bah humbug.
You know, I've still got a soft spot for the ol' Frosty the Snowman Animated special. Yes, it's more than a tad cheesy, but you know - it's during the Christmas season that Cheese actually seems to work.
That scene with Frosty locked in the greenhouse? Traumatic if you're a sweet lil' 8 year old kid wondering what's going to happen next.
Also, I remember loving the (Real) Ghostbuster's Christmas special where the team goes back in time and traps the 3 ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future thus almost ruining Christmas for everyone.
there is an episode of "tarzan" the canada/mexico co-pro from a few years ago where at the conclusion of the episode tarzan finds some kind of white flakey substance (from the white flakey substance plant or somefuck) and gets on the roof of jane's treehouse and sprinkles it past the tree house window to simulate snow.
jane comes out smiling and a little confused and looks up to see tarzan grinning and announcing -- "this is tarzan's christmas gift to you".
it represented a pinnacle of some kind.
a very brady christmas.
the house collapses and the bradys sing "Joy to the World" (or was it come all ye faithful) and Papa Brady survives.
I'm rediscovering the joy of the trinity with my offspring. (Though some of them are still a little too scary for those of tender years.)
For adult films, I'm still enjoying "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Sound of Music" (not strictly Christmas, but that's when it airs.)
From my childhood, the offbeat one that comes to mind is "The Year Without a Santa Claus" starring Mickey Rooney as Santa. I think it's the music that got me hooked ... "he's mister snow miser, he's mister snow, he's mister white Christmas, he's mister 40 below..."
But then again, I've always had a soft spot for musicals.
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
Oh, Robyn - I totally forgot about Emmet! Bravo.
And yes, Jim - A CHRISTMAS STORY is "the" classic for the season.
When I was a kid, my favourite Christmas cartoon was "Gift Wrapped," because it taught me that you never get what you want for Christmas, and the Christmas spirit doesn't actually require any change in behaviour or drop-off in violence.
I was probably a messed-up kid, now that I think about it.
I've had a fondness for Berke Breathed's "A Wish for Wings That Work" - I thought the special did a fantastic job of capturing Opus and Bill the Cat, and there are some truly poignant bits of animation in there at the end with Opus reacting to Santa...
Shame it's not re-run anymore, or available on DVD - luckily I have the laserdisc, which I recently transferred to DVD...
I remember really enjoying the Claymation Christmas special from around 1988 or so...
hey mef, i loved a very brady christmas.
and i always thought it was sad that mike brady survived the house falling on him, only to be felled by aids.
it made no sense to me... he was an architect, the ironic way to die was from the house!
The Grinch, Care Bear's Nutcracker Christmas, Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, A Christmas Story, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Charlie Brown Christmas all all ones that I can think of at the moment that I tuned into regularily as a kid.
There's also one with polar bears that I have the faintest memory of. It was animated and it was either on CTV or CBC in the late 80s, early 90s. I can't think of the name. Does anyone else have a memory of this?
I remember tuning in to some network (maybe CTV) to watch The Grinch about 12 years ago. Well, just as the Grinch had his epiphany, but BEFORE his heart grew three sizes that day which would have caused him to return all of the tin-tinglers and pan-toozlers that he had stolen from the good citizens of Whoville, the network cut to commercials. After the break, they played the end credits. That was the year that the Grinch did, in fact, steal Christmas (or at least got away with the loot). Sweet!
As far as non-heavyweight holiday season wank-fest shows goes, I think the greatest line comes from Johnny Fever as he delivers a tree to Loni Anderson in a WKRP Christmas episode: "In the true spirit of Christmas, we went out and killed a tree for you."
Every year for as long as I can remember, I sit down and watch the Mr. Bean Christmas episode. It's that damn turkey that gets me everytime. And just yesterday, my drama class wanted to see that one out of all of the choices they could have had.
Ryan
Hey Denis, Do you remember "Ricki-Tikki-Tavi"? (I think it was a Christmas special - maybe it was Easter)about a little mongoose that hangs around the new homestead of a couple living with an their infant son in Australia.
It was great because you never knew if it would make the season's rotation. You always knew Chuck, Rudolf, Frosty and the Burger-Meister would show up, but not so much with Ricki. You could only hope that once again you'd see him take on those nasty cobras at his own peril to save the child helpless in his crib. Gripping when you're a kid having just graduated to his own bedroom. I remember all the feelings I got seeing Ricki stir his courage; thumping his little mongoose tail, nattering his chops to take on Khan(?) and her mate.
Haven't seen it for - geez- decades.
Aside, same goes for a song Q107 used to play for the holidays - about a cat left out in the cold that sacrifices herself to keep a little mouse from freezing through the night.
Miss that one too.
Merry Christmas to all!
oops - that was me. I didn't mean to anon.
Thanks for the shout out, Denis, always enjoy your blog.
The one recent animated Christmas special I really like is "Olive The Other Reindeer." (It's about a dog named Olive who think's she's the "ALL OF the other reindeer" from the old Rudolph ditty.) It was made in 1999, for Fox, I think, and was backed by talent at least as impressive as was assembled for Charlie Brown back in the '60s--Matt Groening (who produced), Dan Castelaneta (channeling Snidley Whiplash as a whacked out Postie) and Drew Barrymore (whose voice is irresistable and charming in this). The Picasso meets Tim Burton character designs were faithfully recreated from the charming childrens book by illustrator J. Otto Seibold. Jay Mohr, Joe Pantoliano, Tim Meadows and even Ed Asner are also in the voice cast. There ae plenty of surprises, including the part where Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform a show-stopping jazz number in a truck stop bar. Recommended for anyone who thinks Christmas on TV died in the '60s.
I forgot about that Mr. Bean episode, definitely a classic! I also recall Bluetoes the Christmas Elf. Every year we enjoyed watching the Wonderful World of Disney with all of the usual stories including Scrooge and the rest plus Miracle on 34th Street. I also recall a Christmas with the Chipmunks and a really good Little House On the Prairie episode. Every year we also watched that Ernest Daves Christmas movie. There are so many jumping around in my mind that I can't quite recall enough about to figure out their names.
"A Christmas Story" is, of course, already a classic but for TV specials, I love the gonzo choice of the Pee Wee Herman Christmas special.
It aired on CBS primetime, introduced by Siskel & Ebert and featuring appearances by (deep breath) Oprah Winfrey, Charo, Cher, Joan Rivers, Magic Johnson, Little Richard, k.d. lang, Grace Jones(!), Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and the Del Rubio Triplets.
The whole thing is insane, slightly annoying, ridiculous yet adorable -- much like Christmas itself.
Christmas for me besides the Christmas trinity mentioned was "Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol". It was quite scary when the ghost of Christmas future pointed his bony finger at Scrooge's grave for a little kid (and it still gives me the jeebies!)
Also, it didn't hurt that the songs were quite catchy.
I remember a Nelvana Christmas special - think it was called "A Cosmic Christmas"?
I loved that, although I haven't seen it in decades.
Thanks to Scott above for slapping me awake from my cold-induced stupour and reminding me (and us all) of the Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. When I own it (VHS, DVD), have posted clips from it, and have watched it with the kids every Xmas eve for over ten years...why I blanked when faced with the question is beyond me.
It's the best.
Wow! Thanks to ImJohnGalt for reminding me about A Cosmic Christmas -- which was wonderful, and was indeed a Nelvana production.
Oh, and MarkCF is thinking of Meryn Cadell's 'The Cat Carol' which yeah, is a real tear-jerker. It's on Nettwerk's Christmas Songs compilation, which has lots of great stuff.
Bill you get the cheroot -- I was trying desperately to remember "Olive the Other Reindeer" and I just couldn't come up with it. But indeed, that is a delightful one that sticks with me.
And PeeWee is brill, of course, so long as you don't start thinking about where he's been roasting his chestnuts.
Oh yeah. I went there.
Good to see Emmett Otter in there; those furry little mammals knew all about love long before a couple of them started to hold hands. I must also recommend 1987's Muppet Family Christmas. It's about the funniest of them all, and it's got all of the Henson creations from his shows -- Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street and the Muppet Show -- accidentally convening under one roof. The Swedish Chef wonders how he'll feed everyone, and then he sees Big Bird. I am not making this up; the chef scheming to kill, cook and serve Big Bird to the other Muppets is a subplot.
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