Similar to what we did last year with the Top 25 Cartoon Christmas Trees, A Cartoon Christmas is letting you (AND ME!) skip the usual 1000+ words of grammatically defiant babble on this day of days, while still giving you the opportunity to look at some gorgeous animated imagery.

REAL SANTAS

1. “Classic Santa” from A Disney Christmas Gift

I forget who issued me the challenge, but it was this: Can you find 50 different pictures from cartoon Santas? Well, two years + one post a day, every day in December until Christmas = 50 posts… yeah, sounds easy enough.

2. “Party Santa” from The Snowman (buy it here)

But wait?! There ain’t no Santy Claws in Mickey’s Christmas Carol or A Charlie Brown Christmas! And a few days on the animated advent calendar over there on left are, debatebly, cop out entries… You know, I could do it if I can do cartoon approximations of Saint Nick (i.e. cartoons characters posing as Santa) in addition to the Real McDeal! And that’s how we’re going to break these down: Real and Fake Santas.

3. “Slow Santa” from Sonic’s Christmas Blast (buy it here)

Both are just as fun to look at anyway, right? Oh, and keep an eye out for a third SUPER SECRET category if I can’t meet the numeric criteria.

4. “Magician Santa” from Frosty the Snowman (buy it here)

Please enjoy our last post on the 2010’s Animated Advent Calendar, and feel free to click on image/link to read more on about the special showcase.

5. “Stranded Santa” from A Wish for Wings That Work (buy it here)

And if you feel like buying the DVD, please do it through the Amazon link provided. Doing so costs you nothing, but kicks a small percentage back to us, which helps keep the site up. Or at least we hope it will someday!

6. “Useless Santa” from The Great Santa Caper starring Raggedy Ann

7. “Second Banana Santa” from A Chipmunks Christmas (buy it here)

8. “Sickly Santa” from Christmas Comes to PacLand

9. “Recipient Santa” from A Johnny Bravo Christmas (buy it here)

10. “Shouldn’t Count Santa” from Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus (buy it here)

11. “Skinny Santa” from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (buy it here)

12. “Donkey-Worshiping Santa” from Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey (buy it here)

13. “Massive Santa” from Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves on Fire (buy it here)

14. “Writer Santa” from A Spongebob Squarepants Christmas (buy it here)

15. “Stupid Santa” from Super Mario Bros. Super Show: Koopa Klaus (buy it here)

16. “Smokin’ Claus” from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (buy it here)

17. “Blink and you’ll miss ‘em Santa” from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (buy it here)

18. “Captive Santa” from Invader Zim: The Most Horrible Xmas Ever (buy it here)

19. “Young Ginger Santa” from Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (buy it here)

20. “Interstellar Santa” from George and the Christmas Star (buy it here)

21. “Sleepy Santa” from A Claymation Christmas Celebration (buy it here)

22. “Stinky Santa” from Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy’s First Fart (buy it here)

FAKE SANTAS

23. “Robotnik Claus” from Sonic’s Christmas Blast (buy it here)

24. “Opus Claus” from A Wish for Wings That Work (buy it here)

25. “Kermit Claus” (no longer) from The Christmas Toy (buy it here)

26. “Funky Claus” from TaleSpin: A Molly Jolly Christmas (buy it here)

27. “Robot Holocaust Claus” from Batman: Christmas with The Joker (buy it here)

28. “Snoopy Claus” from It’s ChristmasTime Again, Charlie Brown (buy it here)

29. “Donald Claus” from Toy Tinkers (buy it here)

30. “Racist Claus” from Mickey’s Good Deed (buy it here)

31. “Claus of Doom” from Invader Zim: The Most Horrible Xmas Ever (buy it here)

32. “Samson Claus” from A Very Venture Christmas (buy it here)

33. “Squidward Claus” from A Spongebob Squarepants Christmas (buy it here)

34. “Taz Clauz” from Bugs Bunny Looney Christmas Tales (buy it here)

35. “Dale Claus” from Pluto’s Christmas Tree (buy it here)

36. “Goofy Santa” from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (buy it here)

37. “An Extremely Goofy Santa” Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (buy it here)

38. “Prince Adam Claus” from He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (buy it here)

39. “BBB Claus” from A Fat Albert Christmas (buy it here)

40. “Sad, Drunk Claus” from Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (buy it here)

41. “Extinct Claus” from A Claymation Christmas Celebration (buy it here)

42. “Dried Fruit Claus” from A Claymation Christmas Celebration (buy it here)

43. ” Doc Claus” from A Muppet Family Christmas

44. “Redemption Claus” from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (buy it here)

YET TO BE COVERED SANTAS

45. “Pink Santa” from A Pink Christmas (buy it here)

46. “Worst 2010 Movie Star Santa” from Yogi’s First Christmas (buy it here)

47. “Nothing to Apologize for Santa” from Pee-Wee Herman’s Christmas Special (buy it here)

48. “Warner Santa” from Anamaniacs’ ‘Twas the Day Before Christmas

49. “Ruckus Claus” from A Huey Freeman Christmas (buy it here)

50. “Robot Santa” from Futurama’s Xmas Story (buy it here)

Seriously, thanks to everyone for reading this stuff. Really means a lot. (Now go have a great Christmas!)

You’ve may’ve seen Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer over a billion times, but unless you’re over the age of 45, you’ve NEVER seen this…

When Hermey’s boss isn’t dressing down elves, he also hocks vacuums

One thing that sucks about being a completist dork is that you’ll never truly be able to see older Christmas specials exactly as they originally aired. Back before I was born, it wasn’t uncommon to see the show’s stars interacting directly with their sponsor’s products during commercial breaks. I’m sure you’ve all seen The Flintstones hocking Winston cigarettes, right?

I understand that these older sponsorships no longer have much of a place on today’s TV airwaves, but I still think nerds like me should certainly have the right to see them. And while I bitched more about the lost footage of the Peanuts interacting with Coca-Cola in my write up on A Charlie Brown Christmas, this is arguably cooler (And older by one year!)

This is ridiculously amazing find. I love the internet!

Common Knowledge: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was largely underwritten by General Electric back in 1964, and while the stellar DVD and Blu-Ray releases do contain almost all the footage, and additional footage from the special, they’ve been sorely lacking this heaving dollop of awesome sauce you see above!

This character is known only as “Tall Elf” in the special

You may’ve heard that Rudolph premiered under The General Electric Fantasy Hour, but I personally had just assumed it originally aired with a couple of “Brought to you by” bumpers and that would be it. Not so!

Can’t believe print ads have been archived better than actual footage that undoubtedly involved many more people and was much more expensive to produce

Not only was the sponsored footage produced by Rankin/Bass themselves, it stars the characters from the special, voiced by the same actors, singing the praises of sensational new products of the day!

Too cool for conventional ovens

Say what you will about the ethicality of classic characters used to pitch housewares, you can’t ignore the fact that the models used are undoubtedly heirlooms and this newly discovered footage amounts to almost ten minutes of footage, the world has never seen before!

This company makes nuclear power plants now?!

Seriously, how cool is this?! I especially love the whimsical nature of the products showcased here, as they’re so adorable in their attempts at being futuristic, you’d probably think they were parodies. That is, if these weren’t very, very real.

Batshit nuts about all things General Electric!

I know more footage like this has to exist for other specials, so I encourage anyone working in television archives or old enough to have been involved in these productions to hop the hell on YouTube right quick! I can give you a 80% guarantee you won’t be sued.

Lay your sacrifice at the feet of the GE sappling!

PRODUCT INFORMATION (Shop Amazon through us and support the Site!)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appears on an ultra affordable standalone DVD, but with no notable bonus features to speak of, I’d have to recommend The Original Christmas Classics Boxed set. The price is a steal, plus it contains six more classic Christmas specials, including other Rankin/Bass stop motion classics like The Little Drummer Boy and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. And I can’t recommend the Holiday Figurine set enough. Featuring almost all of Rudolph‘s primary cast, I propose that this become every atheist’s annual nativity scene. High-def owners will also want to check out the new Rudolph Blu-ray, which in spite of what you might think, truly astounds!

Yesterday’s Christmas Special
GEORGE AND THE CHRISTMAS STAR

2009′s Dec. 22th Christmas Special
MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Original Air Date: Dec 8, 1974

Skepticism nearly derails the holidays, but eventually guilt and blind faith save the day for humans and mice alike…

BACKSTORY:

The Rankin/Bass production company owns approximately 17% of your Christmas memories with the one-two punch of classics Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. And since those were so successful, they just kept on making new ones, each with speaking parts of notable stars of the time, such as Mickey Roonie Angela Lansbury, and Buddy Hackett. They were the Dreamworks Animation of their time, in that they kept making celebrity-fueled works that were small variations on the same story.

By 1974, Rankin/Bass was pretty into the swing of things, and for that year’s X-Mas cartoon jubilee, the team looked to one of the earliest works of popular American prose. The poem is titled “A Visit From St. Nicholas” no matter how much popular perception thinks it’s “‘Twas the night before Christmas,” and it basically solidified our perceptions of who Santa was. It gave a detailed description of what we all know about Santa now, his sleigh flying in on eight reindeer that were named in the same poem; it describes how one lucky guy witnessed the magical man pop into his home, friendly as could be, to give toys out of his sack to everyone.

Don’t be afraid, it’s not offensive

Heck, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” could even be called the first American Christmas special even if it wasn’t animated. Every Santa-based Christmas cartoon you’ve seen owes so much to that poem and what it started that it seems only fitting to make a special based around it. But first we’re going to need a family of talking mice and a Broadway actor.

BREAKDOWN:

It all starts simple enough. We pull in on an American, pre-Civil war home on a snowy night. We hear Joel Grey, who’s most famous as the host in the Oscar-winning Cabaret and for fathering Jennifer Grey of Dirty Dancing fame (and here you thought he was gay), recite the beginning of the poem. Here’s what kids look like dreaming of sugar plums:

Why show us their dream sugar plums? It’s not like this is a cartoon or anything

And Ma in her kerchief while the father reads a multi-page bound book used that holds a 56 verse poem.

So in their world the poem exists and yet it’s about to happen to them too? Plus, the book has the wrong title

But that simple premise is quickly thrown out the window to introduce some cute mice into the picture. Yup, this human family lives with a matching mouse family that owns small furniture and everything.

They even have tiny mice editions of the same book

It’s stupid to question the reality of something that climaxes with the eventual appearance of Santa Claus, but this is just silly. This special is only 25 minutes long and you immediately clutter it with two separate families and plotlines? So anyway, things are dire on X-Mas Eve for the mice and the humans. In a slightly creepy way, Father Mouse calls the human father “the boss,” which conjures a kind of agreed upon slave/master situation in this society.

Just because you dress like your oppressor doesn’t make you guys friends, Father Mouse

By the way, what kind of name is that, Father Mouse? Anyway, the troubles began two months earlier, when some mail got delivered to the families in the fictional town of Junctionville.

Does everyone in this world walk around with their mouse doppelganger? So many questions about this strange earth

Every person in town gets their letters to Santa returned to them, and I mean every person, kids and parents alike, sent Santa their usual letter asking for stuff and now it had been returned to them unopened. Everyone in Junctionville is sad and confused by this seemingly unwarranted passive-aggressive action by Claus, but Father Mouse is gonna get to the bottom of it by calling up the North Pole.

Nobody writes jokes for the person-to-person phone operator anymore

Seriously? Mice not only have a complex, clothes wearing society, but they have their own phone companies that in the mid-1800s can call the North Pole? The Christmas mouse on the other end explains to Father Mouse that Santa is pretty mad at the town because of a letter published in their newspaper that called into doubt his very existence. So the giving spirit of Christmas turns on an entire town of believers because of one doubting letter? This Santa is pretty Old Testament.

Confused protesters attack the government because of superstitions

Meanwhile in the human world, the lazy bureaucrats that run the town want to fix things but don’t want to put any work into doing so (what a comment on our society!). Eventually Father Human, or Mr. Trundle as he’s sometimes called, shows up and explains that he’s got a plan to make Santa love them again: making the town clock sing a song praising Santa.

“And the imprisoned singing children would go inside…”

That quick fix is okayed and tons of taxpayer dollars are thrown away on a whim to impress St. Nick. At the same time the mouse family pours over their collection of old, human-sized newspapers to find the offending letter.

And where and how do they store all those newspapers?

The letter in question, signed “all of us,” calls out Santa as a dangerous myth and the reindeer as phony. After thinking it over, the family realizes that the use of long words in the letter could only lead to one person, apparently the only individual in town that reads… the mouse family’s own son, Albert. The family confronts Albert, accusing him of hurting Santa’s widdle feelings, and Albert is proud to have done so and stands by his words still.

Nerds before the internet

I’m all for not believing in stuff, and Atheism is probably the easiest belief system there is. But if I wrote a letter saying God is a superstition and then everyone I knew got stamped letters back from God saying I was a dick, I think my doubts would waver a tad. Regardless, Albert still believes Santa is a lie, perhaps the root of some global conspiracy, and is then chewed out in song form for thinking too much and believing too little. It’s one of the least Christmas-y songs ever to be in a Christmas special, which is probably why it’s usual cut for time in most TV airing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

But the guilt trip isn’t over. Father Mouse takes Albert all over town Ghost of Christmas Present-style to show him all the pain his lack of belief caused. Actual line: “Here’s our first example of how you ruined everyone’s Christmas with your opinions.” Jeez Rankin/Bass, did your kids just come home from their first semester of college or something?

“See Albert, just do what we tell ya and the orphans will stop crying”

Albert still persists that grown-ups don’t believe in Santa, so Father Mouse proves him wrong by showing Al the clock Mr. Trundle is making for Santa. But instead of shutting the unbeliever up, he’s instead fascinated by how the complex machine works. A little too fascinated…

Ain’t no party like a clock starting party!

There’s a big party to celebrate the clock’s completion, but once Mr. Trundle cuts the ribbon that somehow starts the clock, the whole thing falls apart to the shock and dismay of everyone. The mayor probably has the best reaction:

“ZOUNDS!”

The public embarrassment ruins Mr. Trundle. People don’t want his clocks anymore and he’s forbidden from fixing the broken town clock. Pretty soon his whole family is starving to death, as are the mice that depend on their crumbs.

Mice have society with phones, clothes, corrective lenses, and tiny books but still subsist off of garbage dropped on the floor?

The whole family is ready to give up and die on Christmas Eve, until Joel Grey bursts into the most memorable part of the whole special, the song Even a Miracle Needs a Hand. Taking a message similar to the recent Princess and the Frog, he sings about how you can wish and hope, but you’ve gotta work your ass off to get something great  done.

Here’s the song in case you’ve never heard it

It’s a really swell song and is the best part of the whole thing. Also since you just watched the clip, it’s worth noting that many of these old specials were animated by some Japanese artists who went on to become part of Studio Ghibli, makers of Totoro and many other esteemed anime classics. And while the animation is pretty sub-par most of the time, you occasionally see flashes of what they could really do:

Here’s the most Ghibli-esque scene in the cartoon

But not so much, this:

LOLGobbleLOL

Of course the real point of the song is to poor just a little bit more guilt on the too-smart-for-his-own-good Albert. Him seeing the Trundles happy in the face of adversity, he admits to his dad through tears that he wanted to see how the clock worked and in doing so broke it, as his damned inquisitiveness nearly killed his entire family. He says he’s sorry but that’s not good enough for Father Mouse, so Al decides he’s going to fix it all by himself in the matter of hours left before Christmas. His dad just lets him walk off on his own into this dark, snowy night to work with machinery that’d be too big one for one man, let alone a child mouse. I’m just saying he’s a great dad is all.

Hahaha, he almost died!

As Albert runs off, Father Mouse goes to apologize on behalf of his son. This was the part that just breaks the whole special for me. They had set up that while they knew of each other’s existence the mouse and human world’s were pretty separate. Now all of a sudden they can talk to one another with no explanation. “Oh did we forget to mention that mice talk and converse often with humans? Oh well, no time to explain now.”

“Thanks talking mouse, your words are of great comfort. Also, stop chewing holes in my walls please.”

That brings us back to before, as it is still the night before Christmas, but only for a few minutes longer. Then the last comes and goes, breaking the timed honored rule of a countdown ending at the last second. But a couple seconds later Albert gets the clock going and the song praising Santa strokes his ego enough to have his pull a u-turn in his sleigh and head back.

Not the usual R&B Santa. No mustache!

Then comes what the audience had long been waiting for as Joel Grey reads the rest of the poem in it’s entirety, including  “the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, gave the luster of midday to the objects below.” Once that starts the ending is pretty rote, as families both mouse and human watch Santa get down to business.

A short, filthy stranger gets to work

It’s off-putting at first, but I give R/B credit for making this Santa more of an enigma. Because he has so few lines he isn’t their normal talkative Santa who explains plot points while hugging lost children and elves. He’s just a weird, diminutive creature that people can only watch in amazement. He speaks with actions, whether winking:

Santsual harrassment

Smoking:

Somebody think of the children!

And laying a finger aside of his nose, a seemingly random act that continues to confuse children to this day:

Totally different from “thumbing your nose” at something

That dealt with, Santa rides off, and doesn’t even apologize for doubting Junctionville’s heart.

Ho x3

Meanwhile Albert’s learns that maybe all the answers aren’t in books and we can assume Mr. Trundle’s business gets back on track, but honestly you’ll never know, because the cartoon ends immediately after the last line of the poem.

Wait, has anybody seen my pocket watch?

No real references to religion, save for a line about pleasing your maker in the Miracles song. Still it gets slight credit for spending so long attempting to make non-believers feel bad.

Santa is pretty central to the plot here, even if you don’t see him till the end. And I give R/B credit for not recycling an old design. Still, Santa acts like a real jerk in the beginning then just shows up smiling and giving just seconds later. Can you say manic-depressive?

This one felt like it was an hour long special cut to 25 minutes. There’s barely any time to build any spirit, and the amount of time spent making a kid feel bad for having opinions seems counter to all the warm feelings Christmas is supposed to bring. Still, it’s hard to argue with an unabridged reciting of one of the most defining works of Christmas cheer doesn’t bring some spirit to the whole thing, so I’ll just say it breaks even.

PRODUCT INFORMATION (Shop Amazon through us – it helps!)

Although ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas never gets top billing, it appears as a bonus on numerous Rankin/Bass DVDs, the cheapest being bundled with Frosty’s Winter Wonderland. However, you’ll get a bigger bang for your Christmas buck purchasing it in the Classic Christmas Favorites set, as it comes also comes with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey and a slew of others making for a total of 10 specials! These Rankin/Bass collections are tricky since they come in and out of print every holiday, but the aforementioned set is a ridiculously good value and I feel this is the last Christmas it’ll be available. Having said that, even though it doesn’t contain ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Original Christmas Classics DVD box set packs in a bunch of different Rankin/Bass favorites the other sets don’t such as Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and Frosty the Snowman.

Yesterday’s Christmas Special
A SPONGEBOB CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

2009′s Dec. 18th Christmas Special
REN & STIMPY: STIMPY’S FIRST FART

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN
Original Air Date: December 7, 1969

A group of children and a magical rabbit bring a lovable snowman to life. Keeping him that way gets to be a little problematic…

BACKSTORY:

Frosty the Snowman comes from the popular Christmas song written by Walter “Jack” Collins and Steve Nelson in 1950, just one year after the duo penned the immortal “Here Comes Peter Cotton Tale” for Easter.

The book adaptation of the Frosty song, and the album on which it appears performed by Gene Autry, who first turned down the opportunity perform Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, thinking the song was “too silly”

Following the success of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Cricket on the Hearth, Rankin/Bass decided to adapt another Holiday tune into a televised Christmas special and Mad Magazine artist, Paul Cocker Jr. was brought in to give Frosty the look and feel of a Christmas greeting card.

Frosty the Snowman premiered on CBS in 1969, and has done so every year since. Rankin/Bass produced numerous sequels to the special, including Frosty’s Winter Wonderland and Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July. Their success would prompt latter day rights holders to produce further Frosty specials including CBS’s Frosty Returns in 1992 and the direct-to-DVD The Legend of Frosty the Snowman in 2005.

Frosty Returns and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman. The sheer amount of Frosty sequels alone ensure this blog will have material until 2015

BREAKDOWN:

My memories of this special are a little vague, since I believe Frosty the Snowman’s annual airings began to taper off into earlier timeslots during my childhood, thus somehow passing me by once the other Xmas specials were airing in full swing in late December.

Now, I don’t mean to sell the special short, but it’s not hard to see why a kid could become slightly less interested in Frosty. Compared to other Rankin/Bass Christmas classics based of Holiday songs, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Frosty just doesn’t hold up as well.

I’ll bet you’ve forgotten about some of this stuff

The animation isn’t crude necessarily, yet it’s certainly rudimentary, especially when watched side-by-side with something as painstakingly gorgeous as How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And I’m not sure if my DVD was an odd remaster, but the audio was almost distracting. The children’s vocals are so crystal clear they seem disembodied from what’s onscreen, coupled with several sequences that are just a mess of stock Hanna-Barbera sound effects, oftentimes accompanied with the low-fi ambient noise of a record player.

The Great Tiny Train Robbery of ’69

That said, of course I’m still nostalgic for Frosty – Jackie Vernon’s depiction of the famous snowman remains one of the most iconic versions of the character to this day. But just writing about it makes me feel old as dirt. How would you try and convey the magic of Jimmy Durante’s role as narrator and songman?

“Ha-Chaa-Cha“

I’d like to tell kids he’s the comedian Looney Tunes are impersonating every time they grow a large nose and say “Inka-Dinka-Do,” but it’s not like those toons have aired much in the last decade either.

The simple joys of winter

Doesn’t matter much anyway, because Frosty the Snowman is still a pretty grand adventure, even if it is unspooled at a pace better suited for preschoolers. Before the opening credits role, we see a snowed in school visited by a rather shitty magician named Professor Hinkle.

“Nothing up my sleeve”

He botches every trick in his bag, and once the kids quit groaning long enough to take off outside, a magic rabbit named Hocus Pocus runs outside with the illusionist’s hat.

Hats: The key to existence

Turns out the hat is actually powerful enough to bring precipitation to life! And the kids all rejoice for several minutes after their snowman becomes strangely sentient.

Just a little bit of pixie dust

Unfortunately, even though Hinkle has failed to produce anything but failed appearances at elementary schools with the godlike abilities of the hat, he demands it back, believing he can make millions doing nothing other than making snow talk.

For this, Hocus Pocus, will not stand! Even Uncle Jimmy confirms that, since the hat basically is the soul of this now-living creature, the hat now belongs to Frosty, and the hapless rabbit runs it back to the snowman.

Resurrection: A cause for celebration

Okay, assuming you accept the statutes enacted by the Finders v. Keepers case, you’ll have no problem swallowing the rest of the special. Because Frosty parties so goddamned hard, he begins to sweat profusely.

“The hat must’ve given me glands too”

Not sure about the meteorological feasibility of condensation on precipitation, but one thing’s clear: If Frosty gets too hot, he’s gonna melt. The kids don’t want to see him die, so a plan is conspired to get Frosty to the North Pole, post haste! And what better way to kick off the convoy then with a slam-bangin’ Xmas parade?!

Too merry for crosswalks

I love the following sequence, as it chucks away most of the ambiguity in other Christmas fables. Frosty is alive, and it’s no secret, nor a figment of the children’s imagination, because the entire town gets to see it too.

“This town is for figurative Whites only!”

A policeman is shown to already harbor negative snowman stereotypes, and even worse, the guy at the train station is demanding $3K to get Frosty to the North Pole. A bold statement on the corrupt practices found in Holiday travel inflation? I think so.

You must be at least this rich to ride over the the Holidays

With that kind of price gouge in place, I won’t fault the petty crime they pull next. No longer merely hat thieves, the kids stow Frosty away in a refrigerated train car. And for whatever reason, Karen opts to ride along in the icebox, and Frosty foresees zero conflict with this.

I see no problem with this

Nor do the shortsighted trio see that Professor Hinkle stow away too, still hellbent on getting his goddamn hat back and reverting Frosty back to a lifetime of stationary snow standing.

Not the smartest stowaway

Here’s where my theory on this special being geared towards preschoolers gains a little more credence, as Karen starts to succumb to the inevitable. Now kids now the dangers of weather! Don’t eat cold, kids. Sure a snow creature and a rabbit are fit for traveling to the North Pole through the snow and a refrigerator, but the idiocy the rest of us all saw coming begins to unfold.

Oh, right! It’s fucking freezing

Frosty’s left with no choice but to hop off his ideal lift to immorality and get Karen to warmer pastures. So what do we do when we get to cold, kids? That’s right: Start Fires!

Stumbling upon a woodland Xmas

Thing is, Frosty can’t get too close to flame, as he’s become all too aware of his own mortality in his less than 15 minute existence on this earth, so it’s up to Hocus Rabbit to get the forest creatures to build a fire.

Speaking “animal” is sorta like asking where the bathroom is in a foreign country

“This is awesome, why have been hibernating all these years?!”

In order to keep Karen alive, Frosty’s gotta keep his distance, and waits for Santa to fly by and give her a lift home. Unfortunately, both of their survival necessities leave them vulnerable to attack from, you guessed it: Proffy Hinkey.

Okay, he could be arrested for this

Frosty’s gotta act fast, and fast he acts, whisking Karen away on his back, becoming the fastest sled that ever lived!

His body bonds with snow like a blood cell in an artery

Karen is still weary and desperately in need of heat, so in a complicated choice, Frosty opts to set her down inside a tropical poinsettia greenhouse, then get the hell outta there before the heat reduces him to slush.

Somewhere between a sauna and Hell for Frosty

Oh, If only Hinkle weren’t right behind them…

Tried to piece together one of the panning shots. Hope ya like!

Back at the forest vestibule, Santa arrives and is thankfully fluent enough in animal tongue to get directions to Karen and Frosty.

This should’ve been subtitled

Tragically, it’s too late. I’m not sure why, but much like the ending of The Snowman, nothing gets me misty like a man melted.

Snowdeath for the Holidays

Not to worry, in this here magical dick-waving contest, Santa’s a regular John Holmes. He not only resurrects Frosty…

Brought back for the third time in a single special

He threatens Hinkle with a lifetime of presentlessness should he ever attempt to reclaim his hat.

How ’bout a festive knuckle sandwich?

Karen’s sleighed back home, and Frosty’s prolonged safety is all but assured.

“Thanks for not dropping me off at the front door“

The special concludes, yet in keeping with the wonderful tradition Rankin/Bass started with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman wraps up every loose end during the credits.

A shot from Christmas 1970

Frosty’s return is promised, and return he does in the numerous sequels that followed this Holiday staple.

“I’ll be back. A lot, actually“

Despite more than a few reasons to bend a knee and pray for survival, Christ gets no acknowledgment whatsoever.

Santa’s here big time, baby! And no offense to Frosty’s look, but his minimalist design ranks among some of my all time favorite depictions of Kris Kringle.

In spite of being a slightly antiquated affair, a whole lot happens during the brief half hour runtime. It’s likely you’ve forgotten many of the whimsical sequences that transpire here, so it’s certainly worth a watch. Yet, while I cherished this viewing from a historical perspective, I can’t say that Frosty the Snowman holds up as well as half a dozen other Rankin/Bass Christmas classics. Perhaps it’s due to animation that doesn’t set itself apart anywhere near as well as their stop-motion output. Those specials raised the bar in their respective medium, whereas Frosty barely touches it. However, it’s important to remember that Frosty pretty much provided template for a zillion other animated TV specials you hold dear today. So, if you haven’t see it, you don’t shit about Christmas specials, son!

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Frosty the Snowman is available on numerous DVDs, and generally comes bundled with Frosty Returns as a bonus feature. I’d recommend people pick it up in The Original Christmas Classics on DVD or Blu-ray since they come with the phenomenal Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and more! Of course, you can also purchase the standalone Frosty DVD, as can Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July, and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, which all technically relate back to this Rankin/Bass original.

Yesterday’s Christmas Special
A DISNEY CHRISTMAS GIFT

2009′s Dec. 2nd  Special
THE SNOWMAN

The Original Christmas Classics Set contains: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, The Little Drummer Boy, Cricket on the Heart, and a CD of classic Christmas music!

Wash away those Black Friday blues with some of the greatest Christmas specials known to man! I don’t care how bad your shopping experience was, and it doesn’t matter one bit how critically you got trampled by roving packs of soccer Moms – winning one of these sets couldn’t be easier.

We’ve got three sets to give away and we’re gonna toss out ONE HERE, and TWO ON TWITTER. Want to win one right here? Just leave a comment below saying so. Yep, that’s it! We’ll pick a winner at random. To win one on Twitter? Do this:

#acartoonchristmas

Simply use that tag and tweet your favorite Christmas special from the one’s we’ve covered so far (that side bar on the left, you’ve got 24 specials to choose from) with a link to the article. So sorta like this:

We’ll pick THREE random winners Wednesday night, December 1st – the day A Cartoon Christmas’s festivities begin! – and mail your DVDs to you ASAP, so you can watch ‘em well before Christmas Day. North American residents only.

(FYI: I’m just a regular dude with a blog, not a marketer or a spammer. I’ll probably lose your address immediately after shipping and I certainly won’t give your information to anyone or anything. Trust me, and hey, follow me on Twitter.)

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Of all the specials we covered last year (see sidebar on the left), these have the distinct honor of being our favorites.

5. The Bells of Fraggle Rock

I’m a sucker for the almost all the output from Jim Henson’s stable of kind-souled bleeding hearts, but the Fraggles’ special should air every Holiday season in every household around the world. Sure, it’s a timeless tale of Gobo’s personal redemption, as well as the importance of friends and family. However, it’s also a gentle lesson on religious tolerance and importance of all cultural traditions. And the Fraggles pull it off without even mentioning the word “Christmas” once!

4. The Snowman

Truly a Christmas special like no other! Not a word is spoken throughout almost the entirety of the special, and instead the tale unfolds via enchanting interactions between a boy and his snowman come to life and hauntingly unforgettable music. Whereas many older animated shows retain the static look of cartoons pulled off on a television budget, The Snowman whips and pans along with a restrained, expertly shaded elegance giving it a wonderfully unique feel that falls somewhere in between the CGI of today and the 2D drawings of yesteryear.

3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Being the world’s oldest Christmas specials currently running annually, I figured the Rankin-Bass classic would’ve showed its age more. Nay! Watching it today holds up every bit as well as I’d imagine it did for those old enough to remember the first airing back in 1964 when it was sponsored by General Electric. I wouldn’t even simply attribute its longevity to the timelessness of the subject matter, nor the Burt Ives songs we all know by heart. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is still a thrilling, extremely well-paced adventure starring fully-fleshed out characters and animated with some of the most colorful, stop-motion ambition the world has ever seen. Rudolph defied even my most nostalgic of expectations, and I can honestly say its worthy of its legacy with relative objectivity.

2. The Christmas Toy

I’d watched this a billion times as a kid, but I had no idea it’d hold up as well as it did. As are so many Jim Henson joints of the 1980s, The Christmas Toy is equal parts uplifting and terrifying, deftly pulling off comedy and tragedy at the same time. I suppose one of my favorite tropes, regardless of Christmas, is the premise of “toys come to life” and in the article I discuss how it’s story and characters run parallel to a certain other, ahem… “toy story” we’re all a bit more familiar with today. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly encourage you pick it up bundled with another timeless Muppet classic we’ll be covering this year: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.

1. Pluto’s Christmas Tree

Don’t care who you are… If you have eyes, a brain, and an age of over 10, you’ll recognize this Disney short immediately. You probably don’t remember where you first came upon it – hell, I can’t remember where I first saw it (although, an upcoming article could offer a clue…) – but you’re no doubt familiar with the breezy shenanigans of what happens when Pluto tries to protect Mickey’s Christmas tree from a duo of displaced chipmunks. There’s not a single frame within this seven minute cartoon that doesn’t bring me right back to the Holiday sights, sounds, and smells of the family living room of my youth, so obviously, my love runs strong with this one. Please understand how difficult this was to choose over Toy Tinkers!

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
Original Air Date: December 6, 1964

SYNOPSIS:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it… you’d know how fucking awesome it is!

BACKSTORY:

The original book and an 1960′s advert featuring the characters from GE, the shows original sponsor

The story of Rudolph began life as a promotional book by Robert L. May commissioned by Montgomery Ward to give away during the Christmas of 1939. In 1949, Johnny Marks adapted May’s poem into the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer into the song we all know today.

The last cartoon by Popeye helmer, Max Fleischer was actually Rudolph’s first animated appearance in 1948

Following the success of TV’s first animated Christmas special, Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol, networks were on the prowl for Christmas specials. You could say NBC really scored when they struck a deal with producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has run annually every year since 1964, making it TV’s longest running Christmas special!

Rankin/Bass produced many other successful stop motion, holiday-themed specials over the next three decades until that division folded in favor of traditionally animated entertainment, such as Thundercats and The Hobbit.

BREAKDOWN:
To any of you who were butt hurt over yesterday’s choice of special, this should more than make up for it. Without a doubt, one of the most iconic examples of, not only the Christmas special, but the medium of stop motion animation at large.

Still beautiful

I know what you’re thinking… Does it hold up? I hadn’t seen in a few years and didn’t expect it to either, but as of this writing I’m overcome with giddiness to report that it most certainly does!

I’d forgotten about the live action intro

The animation is far less rudimentary than all those parodies we’ve seen over the years eould have you remember. Each and every character is wonderfully articulated, the camera pans and adjust their focus for movement, and characters make detailed impressions in the snow with every movement. In other words: It’s still a beautiful sight to behold.

Burt Ives serves as our frosty narrator

One of the reasons I still love it so much is that the main cast is made up entirely of losers. Rudolph and Hermey are classic sad sacks, each of them representing the dregs of their judgmental and shortsighted castes.

Not too high

The beginning of the special is largely devoted to heaping shit on both Rudolph and Hermey. And would you look at that, even Ol Saint Nick gets in on the act?

“Damn , dawg! Turn that shit down!“

Rudolph is forced by his father – who I didn’t remember being Donner, one of Santa’s starting line-up – to wear a false rubber nose that restricts his breathing.

Societal Acceptance > Oxygen

Similarly, Hermey – and yes it’s Hermey, not Herbie! – has to hide his love of dentistry in front of the other elves for fear of being berated by hairless midgets.

No one likes getting chewed out by an elf

Rudolph’s façade eventfully comes a tumblin’ down in full view of all, and he is disbarred from any further participation within Reindeer Games. (There’s gotta be a better way to word that!)

Love the eye effects during this sequence

Clarice, the cloven hottie, follows in pursuit and nearly brings ‘Dolph out of his funk. But unfortunately her dickhead dad puts the kibosh on that.

D’Awwwww

Rudolph is at peak sulk right about now… but fortunately, he’s about to meet up with a kindred spirit.

Apparently, the song sung at this point was removed from Rudolph’s second airing in 1965, and that’s a shame. Now, it’s not that the song here is musically above and beyond, or even that it’s all that necessary. I’d only call it bad in comparison to the other ditty here, also written by Johnny Marks.

Sam the Snowman cranks out the superior tunes

But I love it when two unrelated, societal castoffs find a way to get together, and the song is essentially a safe-for-network television way for Rudoplh and Hermey to say, “Fuck ‘em all! We don’t need em!”

1960′s water effects courtesy of Cocaine

Either way the song, entitled “We’re a Couple of Misfits,” was restored into the special in 1998, and is present on the latest DVD edition I just purchased.

Peace!

Any hoo, the boys set off to begin their brand new life together. Anywhere but here, am I right boys?

Oh…

But they’re not on their own for very long, as the boys quickly meet up with outcast peppermint prospector Yukon Cornelius…

Action figures of Yukon Cornelius replaced his revolver with a nonviolent knife

Who’s quick thinking saves them from a fatal run in with the Abominable Snowman.

Not spark another Pixar conspiracy, but fans of Monsters Inc. will see the inspiration

Yukon chips severs an ice flow and the boys float off into God knows where

I’m on a float!

Okay, the next sequence is a favorite for me, and I can’t imagine I’m alone.

C’mon, who wouldn’t want one of these?!

The boys – hell, men – land on the Island of Misfit toys, a place where broken or slightly irregular toys go to commiserate.

Personally, I’ve got a soft spot for the spotted elephant

It shouldn’t surprise you that I have an affinity for toys come to life, therefore I not only love this scene because the unlovable toy models are so awesome, but over the last 40 years many a toy line has been based off of these misfit toys and proved quite popular.

The Original Lion King

Evidently, a noble flying lion has been scooping the refuse toys up from all over the globe, and he offers the flesh-based misfits sanctuary so long as they tell Santa about the existence of the Island so that he may eventually find a home for his flock of unloved playthings on some future Christmas.

The palatial royal quarters

Rudolph steals away in the night, so as night to endanger his pals any further, and ages into a full grown reindeer in the months of solitude.

All growed up

He returns to the North Pole to find out that his friends and family have been out looking for him the whole time, and it’s his term to go find them.

Gasp!

Luckily, Hermey and Cornelius show up and help Rudolph defeat the Abominable snow monster.

Oral Offense

Ouch, Hermey yanks the monster’s teeth out!

Kind of above and beyond cruelty, actually

And Corny shoves the, now powerless, oaf off a cliff.

Does Cornelius survive? Tune in next year…

We now find the North Pole beaten down by a record blizzard and Santa is threatening to cancel Christmas.

If weather conditions are that much of a factor, maybe setting up shop in the North Pole was a bad business decision

And Santa finally realizes what we’ve known all along: Rudolph’s luminescent schnoz can light the way.

Just like the song!

Christmas is saved, and everyone finds a new lot in life. Hermey gets permission to open up a dental practice, and Yukon Cornelius finds a peppermint pipeline. Even the Bombby finds a new place to fit in:

Probably my favorite image in the whole special

And thanks to a letter writing campaign the year following its debut, the next year Rankin/Bass animated a sequence where Santa returns to the Island of Misfit Toys and deploy them over the end credis.

I can’t believe this scene wasn’t in the original airing

Not much. Even back in the 60’s, networks weren’t all that crazy about presenting the Good Word on primetime television

Santa’s here a lot. And I love that even though he’s not a central character, he begins the story as kind of a prick, and eventually learns a thing or two about acceptance, too.

Classic

Easily half a century’s worth. I went back into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fully expecting an experience only enjoyable through nostalgia goggles. Believe the hype, this one is truly timeless.

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appears on an ultra affordable standalone DVD, but with no notable bonus features to speak of, I’d have to recommend The Original Christmas Classics Boxed set. The price is a steal, plus it contains six more classic Christmas specials, including other Rankin/Bass stop motion classics like The Little Drummer Boy and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. And I can’t recommend the Holiday Figurine set enough. Featuring almost all of Rudolph‘s primary cast, I propose that this become every atheist’s annual nativity scene.

Yesterday’s Christmas Special:
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus