TV Specials 10 - 8

Of the three countdowns we planned to do, the TV special countdown was the smallest in scale and hardest to put together.  All of these TV specials were cornerstones of my holiday viewing schedule, but in the case of some of the specials on the list it has been 10 to 15 years since I have seen them.  All that is a roundabout way of saying that this will be a relatively fuzzy walk down memory lane with the help of lots of Youtube videos and maybe a little Wikipedia as a refresher.

TV Special #10:  A Claymation Christmas (1987)


This just so happens to be one of the holiday specials that I remember the least, save for a few memorable parts.  How could anyone forget about the California Rasins?

"Don't sweat, it's Christmas eve.  Next reindeer's due any minute."



What singing raisins have to do with Christmas is beyond me (outside the possibility of the powerful Grape PAC orchestrating the use of grape related products in TV for increased advertising, I can't even connect this to the commercialization of the holiday), but this clip has some staying power.  Is it the anthropomorphic rasins or the sweet sound of the Temptations?  Who knows, but if this song wasn't already a cornerstone of the TV specials list, it would probably make the top 50 song list.

Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas is a guide to traditional Christmas carols hosted by a pair of dinosaurs, Herb and Rex (again, what do dinosaurs have to do with Christmas?).  The hit on such classics as We Three Kings, Carol of the Bells, and Angels We have Heard on High, all the while struggling with the word "Wassail" until the final scene:



Every December you can find the Rudolph, Peanuts, or Garfield Christmas specials on TV somewhere, but it has been years since I saw Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas on television.  Revisiting it years later (Youtube parts 1, 2, and 3) I can safely say that the holidays are a little better after a round of claymation Christmas carols.

TV Special #9: The Year Without Santa Claus (1974)


The Year Without Santa Claus centers around Santa's decision to take a year off of Christmas, which sets off a chain of events that lands two of his most trusted elves in a southern town and baby reindeer Vixen in the pound (because he was mistaken for a dog).  As most specials go this one has its share of drama and uplift at the end.  However, what most Christmas specials don't have is the Snow Miser, Heat Miser song:



You would be hard pressed to find a better song in any Christmas special out there.  The song is straight big band jazz and one of the coolest things--hottest for the Heat Miser--out there.  These old specials sure did pack a punch in the music department.

TV Special #8: Christmas Eve on Sesame St. (1978)


One of my first memories of any Christmas specials is of this one.  I can remember my parents making a VHS tape of the special for me one year, and then watching it throughout my childhood.  Unfortunately, this is another one of the Christmas specials that I haven't seen in many years.

For the last few years I tried to put my finger on just where I remembered the cast of Sesame St. ice skating to Feliz Navidad, and it was only near the end of compiling this list that I found the answer:



The opening sequence is great.  First a little girl teaches Big Bird to ice skate, followed by one of my favorite scenes of the movie, Burt, Ernie, The Count, and Cookie Monster fooling around on the ice, culminating in a game of "snap the whip" that ends by hurling Oscar the Grouch out of the rink, down a couple flights of stairs and through a wall.  Big Bird comes to comfort Oscar, but is confronted by Oscar's argument that Santa can't fit down a chimney to deliver presents.

What follows are a number of Christmas scenes involving different characters on Sesame St.  Burt and Ernie's plot involves a retelling of the old story Gift of the Magi, Cookie Monster tries to let Santa know what he wants for Christmas, and Oscar professes his disgust for Christmas.

In the end, Big Bird hides out on a rooftop waiting for Santa, but sleeps through the visit.  He goes down to Gordon and Susan's apartment to warm up, only to find that Santa did indeed come and there was nothing to worry about after all.