Christmas Specials and Cartoons

In the 1970's, The Carpenters were at the height of their success.  Richard and Karen Carpenter released A Christmas Portrait in October of 1978 with an ABC special to follow.  The previous Christmas, they brought us their first special, The Carpenters at Christmas.

The show featured Richard and Karen singing their Christmas favorites and featured guest starts such as Harvey Korman and Kristy McNichol.

Here is the complete show as brought to us by YouTube user arfies

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.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thought I would start the day by bringing you my favorite Christmas Carol.  Do You Hear What I Hear was inspired by the events during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  The Husband and wife team of Gloria Shayne Baker and Noel Regney wrote the song and the Harry Simeone Chorale were the first to record it in October of 1962.  But the next year, Bing Crosby recorded a version on November 22, 1963 - the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  Bing has been synonymous with the song ever since.

This song truly expresses what Christmas is really about.

Here, Dick Van Dyke does an ad for Kodak Instamatic Camera.  This was way before digital photography but was popular because of the easy loading of film.  My mom had one of these when I was a kid and it lasted forever.

Enjoy!

The now famous commercial featuring singers on a hillside. This is the Christmas version that they played every year when I was a kid. I wish Coca Cola would play this one instead of the overly commercial one with the trucks.

Enjoy an ice cold Coca Cola while watching this one!