Christmas Specials and Cartoons

This is a revised version of an earlier entry.  Uploaded is the full version of this selection.

In 1976, Rankin/Bass made a sequel to The Little Drummer Boy. They subtitled it "Book II" in a biblical style reference.

Made in 1971 by accalimed animator Chuck Jones, A Christmas Carol was originally created as a television special but was later released theatrically to critical acclaim winning an Oscar for best animated short in 1972.

Featuring non other than Sir Alastair Simm as Ebeneezer Scrooge, this half hour presentation of Charles Dickens' classic is very well done.

Here is the feature in it's entirety.

In 1938, MGM adapted the Captain and the Kids comic strip (orginally The Katzenjammer Kids) into a cartoon series.

A total of 15 cartoon shorts were made including this one.

Featuring the voice talents of Hal Smith and Jean Van Der Pyl (who was the voice of Wilma Flinstone) and written and directed by Tony Benedict, this production from Modern Sound Film tells the story of a park ranger who shares the story of Christmas with two bear cubs who are determined to stay awake so they can see Santa Claus.

This is a pretty good little film, so here it is

Here is everyone's favorite Cat and Mouse team as they celebrate the holidays in their usual manner - at WAR.

This MGM short was created by William Hannah and Joseph Barbera who brought us such characters as The Flinstones and The Jetsons.

This short is titled The Night Before Christmas.
Enjoy!

Paramount  acquired Fleischer studios in 1941 and in 1943 began producing the Popeye series in Technicolor.

There were three Christmas episodes from the Popeye series and here is a great one.

From 1955, here is Mister and Mistletoe

Here is a rarely remembered cartoon.  In 1979, NBC broadcasted an animated Little Rascals cartoon during the Christmas season.  I only saw it once and never knew if anyone remembered it.  But, I've found it.

It's hardly a "classic", but it's funny enough that I thought I would put it up anyways. Here's a promo for it

Enjoy!

Well, it's already November and the leaves are turning.  Soon, it'll be time for Turkey and the Macy's parade.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, here's a cartoon from MGM

In 1976, Rankin/Bass made a sequel to The Little Drummer Boy. They subtitled it "Book II" in a biblical style reference.

I almost forgot to mention some cartoons that were not part of the classic camp but were, in fact, Christmas Specials of some favorite characters.

Whether you were a fan of Scooby Doo or of Yogi and Boo Boo, each cartoon at one time or another had a Christmas special. From Mr. Magoo to The Flintstone's Christmas Carol, there are plenty of obscure cartoons that we look forward to each year.





My personal favorite is Bugs Bunny's™ Looney Christmas Tales. It originally aired on CBS television on November 27th, 1979. It featured Bugs and the gang in three shorts with Holiday themes intercut with Bugs trying to get the group to sing Carols properly.

I've included a short with Bugs Bunny™ and Yosemite Sam™ doing their version of A Christmas Carol©.

As always, Enjoy!

In 1969, Rankin/Bass produced an animated feature based on the song written by Steve "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson and recorded by Gene Autry. Frosty the Snowman featured the talents of comedians Jackie Vernon and Jimmy Durante.

The story tells of Frosty coming to life and the children's quest to get him to the North Pole before he melts. Frosty and Karen, one of the children, board a train bound for the North Pole and are chased by the owner of Frosty's magic hat, Professor Hinkle - a magician who threw it away because he thought it defective.

The special has remained popular over the years and has spawned a few sequels including Frosty's Winter Wonderland with Andy Griffith and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas originally aired on CBS television on December 18, 1966. It was an MGM animated feature created by Chuck Jones. The special was narrated by Boris Karloff and featured a musical soundtrack that included the voice of Thurl Ravenscroft who was famous for creating the voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellog's frosted flakes commercials.

The music for the special was composed by Albert Hague who many may remember as the demanding music professor from the movie and television show Fame

The cartoon was based on the book by Theodore "Ted" Geisel aka Dr. Suess. Here is the opening for that special as it appeared on CBS television. Included is a short bumper from a local CBS affiliate.

Enjoy, this one gave me goose bumps!

Bringing the Peanuts characters to television was not an easy task. The strip's creators, with funding from sponsor Coca-Cola, presented the CBS network with an idea for a Christmas television special starring Schulz's characters.

At first, the CBS big-whigs didn't like the special. They felt it needed a laugh track or else the audience wouldn't know where the jokes ended and began. They also felt the jazz soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi wasn't right for a children's program. They finally felt that Linus' speech from the gospel of Luke wouldn't sit well with audiences as they wouldn't want to sit through a reading of the passage. Charles is said to have responded "If we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?".

The special first aired on December 9, 1965. It was soley sponsored by Coca Cola and, to the surprise of Network executives, was a smashing success. 50% of TV viewers tuned in to watch the special. It went on to win the prestigous Peabody Award and an Emmy.

The track "Linus and Lucy" has become synonymous with the Peanuts characters and the soundtrack album by Vince Guaraldi continues to be a success.

Trivia

• The main titles have Linus crashing into a Coca-Cola sign after Snoopy has spun both him and Charlie Brown around with Linus' blanket. In the versions currently available, the viewer never sees where Linus' trajectory lands him. Instead, they see Charlie Brown landing towards a pine tree which causes more snow to fall on top of him.
• In the "fence" scene, where several of the Peanuts gang are attempting to knock cans off a fence with snowballs, Linus is seen knocking down a can with his blanket. In the original airing, this was a Coke can, but it was later replaced with a nondescript can.
• The final end credit originally had a voice-over saying, "Brought to you from the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola." This is why the "Hark!" chorus sung at the end trails off oddly before the song would normally end, as an announcer originally did a voice over at this point in the credits to repeat and reemphasize the local bottler's well wishes to the TV audience (watch clip here: Clip 1 ).