When I think back to the Christmas movies that defined my childhood, nothing is more powerful than my memories of watching the (mostly) old-school, stop-animation television specials made by now-defunct production company Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment. I fondly think back to my early childhood, and the nights in December when I would sit with my parents and sister on our couch in the living room, turn the channel to ABC, and indulge in one of the many classics “25 Days of Christmas” specials.
So, what better topic for a Christmas Eve blog post than revisiting the holiday specials I loved in my youth (at the risk of confronting the fact that they may not live up to my nostalgia-fueled expectations)? Without further ado…LET’S DO IT!! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) This is one of the three of these specials that I would certainly consider a classic due to the earworm nature of its namesake song (can you guess what the other two are without scrolling to the end?). In 1964, Rankin/Bass kicked off its “Golden Age” of TV holiday specials with the timeless stop-motion animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. For those somehow unfamiliar with the plot of this movie, the story follows a young fawn named Rudolph, the son of famous reindeer Donner, whose peculiar, lightbulb-esque red nose distinguishes himself among the other fawns (and fellow reindeer Comet, for some reason) who cast him out. Despite wanting to stick around in the hopes of winning over young fawn Clarice, Rudolph runs away from home for three years. As he grows his antlers, he befriends the elf Hermey, who wants nothing to do with building toys but wants everything to do with cleaning peoples’ teeth, and the lone mountaineer Yukon Cornelius obsessed with finding gold and silver. During his time in the wilderness, Rudolph and company discover an Island of Misfit Toys (the inhabitants of which are what they sound like) and is able to offer help to King Moonracer by convincing Santa Claus to find new homes for these outcast toys. When he returns home, however, Rudolph learns that his parents and Clarice have gone out looking for him. He returns to the wild to find them under captive by the Abominable Snowman. However, with the help of Hermey and Yukon, Rudolph helps save his fellow reindeer and bring them back to the North Pole. The final conflict involves a massive snowstorm that convinces Santa Claus that he will be unable to deliver the billions of presents to the children of the world by Christmas Day. But, he realizes that Rudolph can help: his bright, shiny red nose can be a guide through the stormy night. Finally, Rudolph gets his wish of becoming one of the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh and saves Christmas for everyone. Simply put, re-watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer after so many years was an absolute delight. The music is catchy, the stop-motion animation (while certainly imperfect) retains an appealing charm to it, and the story of an outcast redeeming himself remains timeless. All that being said, however, there are questions I have. First off, why is Comet such an immature adult reindeer? As the “coach” of the fawns during their flying lessons, he does not criticize the other fawns for picking on Rudolph for his nose. Instead, he joins them and straight up announces that Rudolph will no longer be able to participate in any reindeer games. What a terrible role model for these young reindeer! Also, how is it that Hermey is the ONLY elf that wants to do something other than make toys? Does the North Pole not have doctors, teachers, construction workers, or any other essential job necessary to maintaining a stable, safe, and secure environment in the Arctic Circle? I feel for Hermey, though, because if some fat guy with a beard and red suit forced me to build toys all day I might just form a union and demand some more control over my career as an elf. Furthermore, how does Yukon with seemingly no experience taming wild animals manage to train the Abominable Snowman to not just stop trying to eat reindeer but also work for Santa Claus? I suppose he applied the training he’s used for his sled dog team, but what are the chances that such an approach would work on a wild snow monster? But, all the nitpicks aside, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fun trip into the nostalgia-soaked holiday season of my childhood and I cannot wait to see what these other TV specials have in store. The Little Drummer Boy (1968) Unlike all the other holiday specials I write about here, The Little Drummer Boy lacks for me the same amount of nostalgia that Rudolph and these others do. While I vaguely remember it, I never found myself invested in this one like the others. Honestly, watching it with fresh eyes made me appreciate it even less. In other words, I went from never thinking about The Little Drummer Boy to somewhat disliking it. There is not much to the plot of this one. Aaron, a young orphan boy who has lost trust in humans because of his parents being murdered and burned alive in their home (sounds quite children-unfriendly, huh?), spends his days roaming the desert with his three animal friends: Samson the Donkey, Baba the Lamb, and Joshua the Camel. He also enjoys playing the drum that his parents gave him to make his animal friends dance (sounds quite abusive, doesn’t it?). Anyways, Aaron is (for lack of a better term) kidnapped and enslaved by Ben Haramed, the manager of a traveling caravan of less-than-talented performers. But Aaron does not like his new station in life and tries to abandon the caravan. After being found again by Haramed (who sells his camel to the Magi), Aaron heads to Bethlehem to retrieve his camel. But his faith in humanity is restored upon meeting (and playing his drum for) the newborn Jesus in the manger. What I think makes The Little Drummer Boy one of (if not the) “black sheep” of the Rankin/Bass TV holiday specials is a plethora of things. From the undeveloped characters and inadequate cinematography to the story which lacks substance (if not heart), this film more than any of the others remains unimpressive for me and thus will retreat to the recesses of my memory before quickly fading into the void of nothingness. Unfortunately, not even nostalgia can preserve The Little Drummer Boy in spite of what it does well. Instead, those aforementioned negatives weigh it down too much for me. Frosty the Snowman (1969) Another expansion of a classic Christmas song, Frosty the Snowman is a classically animated tale of a handful of schoolchildren creating a snowman that magically comes to life on Christmas Eve. But an evil magician, the original owner of the hat that brought Frosty to life, wants his hat back. Furthermore, Karen (one of the children) helps Frosty travel to the North Pole to keep him from melting due to high temperatures. But he makes the asinine decision to go into a greenhouse (knowing the magician is chasing him and Karen) and, shockingly, the magician traps them inside the greenhouse. Frosty melts and the movie scars all of the young children watching it for life, but then our spirits are uplifted when Santa Claus (otherwise known as the ultimate TV holiday special McGuffin) revives Frosty who then lives out his days at the North Pole helping bring Christmas joy to the children of the world. The plot of this movie is quite simply, isn’t it? Yeah, it is. I still love it, but there is something about Frosty the Snowman that, similar to Rudolph, is timeless. It remains a charming holiday tale, and (for me) the catchiest song from all of these specials. Yet the lack of sophistication that Rudolph has makes Frosty the Snowman less rewatchable in my opinion. Still, I love it. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970) In one of the rare instances of a prequel/origin story making sense as a captivating story, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town tells the tale of the early years of Kris Kringle as he comes to embody the mythos that is “Santa Claus.” From his time learning to make toys with the Kringles to his various misadventures circumventing the oppressive, anti-toy laws of Burgermeister Meisterburger, this TV special is simply a joy to watch. While much of the voice acting in the previous three specials has ranged from adequate to good, the talents of Fred Astaire as the narrator and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle shine through here. To bring life to stop-motion figurines is no easy task, but Astaire and Rooney, along with the many other voice actors in this movie (notably Keenan Wynn as Winter Warlock, Robie Lester as Miss Jessica, and Paul Frees as Burgermeister), inject an essential combination of childlike wonder and sophisticated narrative that makes the movie a memorably one, indeed. But what I appreciate about it the most is its message and the nature of Santa Claus’s origins. Not only does Kringle’s struggles to bring joy say something about the true spirit of the holiday season, but the centrality of adversity that makes Santa Claus’s origin one defined by being outcast from the mainstream comes off as both an innovative approach to telling the story for a children’s TV special and rather forward-thinking for being fifty years old as of this year. Needless to say, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town remains a classic worth watching despite its age. It may initially seem outdated, but actually embodies what I think is the essence of Christmas. The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) Now that we know Santa’s origin story, how can Rankin and Bass one-up themselves? How about a story about Santa Claus deciding to skip Christmas in favor of a holiday? Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Well, that is exactly the story of the 1974 special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Due to a sudden cold and being convinced that the children of the world no longer care about Christmas, Santa Claus (played once again by Mickey Rooney) decides to take the year off completely. But such a thing cannot happen if Mrs. Claus (Shirley Booth) has anything to say about it. So, she sends two elves Jingle and Jangle to Southtown, U.S.A to show her dour husband that the Christmas spirit is alive and well. Meanwhile, Mrs. Claus must deal with the sibling rivalry of the universe between the Miser Brothers in order to make it snow in Southtown to prove the existence of Santa Claus to Mayor Thistlewhite and get Santa Claus the holiday he very much desires. Seems like this movie juggles a lot, doesn’t it? The question, however, is does it work? It ABSOLUTELY does! This is by far the most well-constructed narrative of all of these specials. The audience is invested in multiple stories: that of Mrs. Claus working behind the scenes to help her husband, that of the elves to help her, that of young boy Iggy whose journey with the elves and Mrs. Claus diminishes his Christmastime skepticism, and that of Santa whose pseudo-incognito visit to Southtown shows him that the spirit of Christmas remains alive and well (even though it may need a little kicker to get going again). Furthermore, the voice acting is on point in this one. Booth’s rendition of Mrs. Claus is warm and welcoming, Rooney continues his impressive streak as Santa Claus, and Rhoda Mann’s brief appearance as the stern yet friendly Mother Nature certainly makes an impact. However, for me the standouts are Dick Shawn and George S. Irving as Snow Miser and Heat Miser, respectively. Not only are their introductory songs some of the most iconic musical numbers from the Rankin/Bass catalogue, but their role in the story was everlasting enough to inspire a 2008 spin-off telling their own story. Ultimately, what makes The Year Without a Santa Claus the best of the Rankin/Bass TV holiday specials is the heartfelt nature of its central message. Simply put, that Christmastime is just as much about giving as it is about getting. The movie’s climax in which the children of the world give gifts to Santa Claus, thus inspiring him to get out of bed and hold Christmas after all, exemplifies a lesson for children that is both mature and fitting for the holiday season this year perhaps more than any other. Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) Similar to The Little Drummer Boy, the 1979 holiday special Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July lacks the drip of nostalgia that I have for the other specials that I have written about today. And while that did not necessarily weaken this last one for me, it certainly made it more difficult a lasting impression on me. After watching Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July, I think that its biggest strength is the crispness of the stop-motion animation. It certainly looks better than it ever has before in any of its predecessors. On top of that, the figurines themselves look slightly more human in their expressions and mannerisms than in prior specials. On the one hand, this makes it feel less cartoonish and more grounded. But that may not necessarily be a good thing. Part of the charm of the Rankin/Bass holiday specials, from Rudolph to Frosty and more, is the feeling that these stories are taking place in another world entirely. Nay, another plane of existence. In that sense, the plastic but emotion-ridden faces of characters like Rudolph and Frosty balanced their innate charm and the slightly off-putting nature of them. But in Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July, such blurred lines completely fade away in favor of cleaner, yet ultimately less aesthetically pleasing, stop-motion animation. But what really drags this one down for me is a combination of two things: the lengthy runtime and the convoluted narrative. Rather than working together to engage the audience, these two factors do nothing more than make Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July drag in comparison to those that came before. There is simply too much going on for me to be invested in anything: the circus, the Milton/Lainie love story, Rudolph’s struggles with his red nose, Frosty’s investigation into the truth of Rudolph’s guilt or innocence, Scratcher’s thirst for revenge against Rudolph, the success of the circus. It’s simply too much to care about, and I end up not caring much at all. To be clear, this one certainly gets points for putting Rudolph and Frosty―two of the most iconic embodiments of Christmas in the American zeitgeist―front and center. And while their interactions are somewhat interesting, Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July remains the blandest of all of these TV holiday specials. So, why do I love the various holiday specials from ABC’s “25 Days of Christmas” lineup? Simply put, they are my “Star Wars” for Christmastime. They are one of the few pieces of entertainment that allow me to be a child again. They cause all my youthful innocence that I associate with times like Christmas to rise to the surface and boil over in the best way imaginable. Seeing Rudolph fly at the head of Santa’s sleigh in the night or look on as Frosty wishes the circle of children “Happy Birthday!” never fails to make me feel like a kid again. With all that said, here is my definitive ranking of these classic Christmas specials:
What are some of your favorite TV holiday specials? Do you remember these classics as fondly as I do? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|