Christmas: Are they shoving it down our throats too early?

[Drtooth]

With regards to Frosty, I'm asking to see if I've got it right.
There's the original that is apparently owned by CBS because they're the only ones who air it. The second Frosty special I know of is the one where Crystal, his snow-wife was made. #3 would have to be that one with John Goodman voicing Frosty that I only saw a snipet of and barely even remember. #4 is another version where Frosty is voiced by John Candy I think. #5 has to be the one where comedian Larry Miller voices the strict school principal, that special is narrated by the main kid who's now an adult remembering his childhood adventure. Finally, there's Rudolph and Frosty, the special that basically puts Rankin-Bass's characters together in one grand superstory.

Yeah. #3 is Frosty Returns, the one with John Goodman. They would always air that on CBS together with the original Frosty on first. Now, I dig the original Frosty, though I hate how they overdubbed June Foray's voice with some wooden, talentless little girl voice actress. But Frosty Returns, despite having a very good voice cast and pretty good animation, just suffers from a terrible message and dated humor. I'm glad they're not showing that one this year.

does anyone remember a special where Rudolph was an Aussie-voiced character trying to make it on the sleigh team and deal with his crush on Vixen at the same time?

You mean Robbie the Reindeer. Ah, yes. That one aired like twice in the US. One of Fox Kids with the original British Voice cast, and another on CBS redubbed by American celebrities. The second one came with the second cartoon about them looking for the lost vikings. There's a third one that never aired in the US that came out in 2007. I'm kicking myself for not buying the DVD of the first 2, as it's out of print and held up on some idiotic copyright tie-up.

 

[The Count]

Oh, Robbie the Reindeer, yeah, thanks.

Maybe you'd know this one too... There was another Christmas special that aired once about twin penguin princesses, the swetheart heroine and her icy sister who eventually gets redeemed by the special's end, they basically had to defend their homeland from pirate claimjumpers or something like that. Dunno, it only aired once and it was a chance catch.

 

[Drtooth]

Know what I'm sick of? Every year, some jerkwad steals something, be it decorations or donated toys or something... and don't get me wrong. That is low... but every stinking year, the local news refers to it as "a Grinch stole [such and such]." If there's one time to not be festive and make cute references (that probably make the crooks laugh their butts off... way to feed the trolls, guys), it's when some waste of human life steals toys for underprivileged kids.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well I mean the Grinch was a low life crook stealing toys and decorations (and even food!) from kids (not sure how underprivileged the Who's were meant to be). It's not inaccurate. I mean it's cute for us the audience but it's still a really rotten thing to do. That's what makes the redemption story so effective.

 

[fuzzygobo]

On the subject of Christmas music:
Two of the Beatles had Christmas hits in their solo careers- John's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)", which inspired some decent cover versions, and Paul's "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime", which also has been covered into submission.

But while I love John's ditty, Paul's (and there's so much of his solo work I do love) makes me turn off the radio whenever it's on. And the covers of Paul's tune have the same... sickly-sweet sugarcoating, it's like OD'ing on marshmallows.

Then there are the Kinks who gave us "Father Christmas", and Ray Davies' fantastic imagery of the poverty-stricken British kids who threaten to mug the department store Santa for money. "Give all the toys to the little rich boys". Give it a listen, it might raise a dry smile.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

My favorite Christmas song is still Christmas at Ground Zero

I just love how it's so happy with jingle bells and a choir and yet everything about it just absolutely horrible.

But then again I'm weird.

 

[Drtooth]

Well I mean the Grinch was a low life crook stealing toys and decorations (and even food!) from kids (not sure how underprivileged the Who's were meant to be). It's not inaccurate. I mean it's cute for us the audience but it's still a really rotten thing to do. That's what makes the redemption story so effective.

The difference is this. In real life, crooks seldom care. The Grinch stole the Whos' material possessions because he was fed up with how annoying they were when they were happy, but brought it back because those things didn't matter. Now, those who steal Christmas decorations are trolls trying to get a reaction out of people on the news. They usually get caught, but no one televises it when they do.

But those who steal toys from charity are those who's motives are so unpure, they don't care who they hurt because it's more important to get the monetary value of the gifts on the black market. While anything else I could add would just be a moral discussion of why certain people turn to crime, all I can say is going after charity is low. It's low on so many levels, the least of which is that there's so little of it out there to begin with. Even the toy companies would rather throw out their unsellable overstock than give it away (on the plus side, at least there aren't a bunch of sad, impoverished kids opening up Terminator Salvation toys. That's a big fat middle finger, right there). These guys are pretty shabby crooks to go after kids that are just as poor as they are over some amoral rich fop who deserves it.

That said, call the trolls that steal holiday decorations Grinches. What we should call those who steal toys for the needy I can't say on this family forum.

 

[CensoredAlso]

No need to explain why the real life crooks are bad, I hear you, lol. I'm just not going to let the Grinch off the hook here, otherwise the redemption story doesn't really matter.

 

[Drtooth]

My favorite Christmas song is still Christmas at Ground Zero

I just love how it's so happy with jingle bells and a choir and yet everything about it just absolutely horrible.

I love the music video essentially being 40's and 50's public domain bits. But what really gets me is using the footage of Ronald Reagan saying "The big moment is almost with us." It's just biting in the context they used it.

But I have to admit, I like Christmas at Ground Zero a little more than The Night Santa Went Crazy (even the ultra violent version). Especially since it manages to borrow the tunes from obscure Christmas music. The main composition is slightly based off of "I Yust go Nuts at Christmas" which is a hilarious song in it's own right. "Peace on Earth und Goodvill to Men, an' just at that minute someone slugs Uncle Ben."

 

[The Count]

Haven't heard Christmas at Ground Zero in a long time... Then again, I love The Night Santa Went Crazy. But has anyone here besides me ever heard the tracks from the Tales From the Crypt Christmas album? I sing the lyrics to Good Old Uncle Ned every time I hear Good King Wenceslaus on MCR.

Good old Uncle Ned dropped dead in the chestnut dressing.
Grandma Rose turned up her toes following the blessing.
After that Aunt Hatty croaked, next my sister Bessy.
Dear old dad took a cab, things were getting messy.

There's lots to love in that album, I think some people here would have a good laugh with Juggle Bills for instance.