Something I just realized about Christmas specials

[Frogpuppeteer]

not to be late to the game but now i to wonder about parents in christmas specials, i mean whats thier logic for the toys santa leaves

 

[Drtooth]

This bugs me a bit. How come every time SNL has a Christmas compilation, they either show Christmastime for the Jews or the thing about Santa only going to blue states, but they ALWAYS leave out This classic?

 

[minor muppetz]

You know what else? I've come to the realization that, of all the characterizations of Santa in Christmas specials, the WORST has to be Rudolph. Hear me out. He's a joyless jerkwad that scolds Rudolph's father for daring to father a freak of nature, he's always short with the elves (unintentional pun), and overall, he's almost something out of a dark parody than a happy little special like this.

Really? He's always short with the elves? As I recall he barely interacts with the elves. He talks to them before and after "We are Santa's Elves", and I'm not sure if he actually speaks to the elf who gives a weather report, but aside from him disliking the elf song he doesn't seem to be short to them. They should have had Santa interacting with Hermy or the chief elf.

 

[RedPiggy]

I realize Refrigerator Day is supposed to be a parody of commercialism, but then I got to thinking, wouldn't you end up celebrating a device that practically ensured you wouldn't go hungry?

 

[Drtooth]

That's why they do it. That Dinosaurs episode was a brilliant parody of Christmas, especially Christmas cliches.... but the best thing about the Dinosaurs special? While it is a parody of consumerism, consumerism comes to the rescue. The spiritual aspect brings Earl back, but the store does step in with their old fridge, Earl's bonus, and a snow machine. I swear, there is no holiday special half as clever and subversive as that.

 

[snichols1973]

December 2015 will mark the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas being aired on network TV.

This beloved classic has usually been paired with Disney's Prep and Landing, or Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales on ABC.

One of the specials which hasn't been shown as frequently is It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown, which features Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Franklin in some of the stories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_Christmastime_Again,_Charlie_Brown

 

[Drtooth]

It's Christmastime Again is a very strange special. It's one of the first culled from old strips (while Sparky was still alive, unlike recent ones which are pretty much obligated to) and elements of the episode were already animated in the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. But it has a strange feel to it that's almost like an episode of Seinfeld. I rather like this one, myself. Probably around as much as the original.

Looking at the more recent ones, Christmas Tales and I Want a Dog, I'd say Christmastime Again is better put together as far as straight up strip based specials go. Of course, Christmas Tales wasn't supposed to have a tie in plot and was pretty much made to fill up the hour that an uncut Charlie Brown Christmas left. I want a Dog isn't really a bad special, but the full hour runtime drags a bit. Plus it centered around a character Schulz didn't really like writing for anyway, and much like Christmastime Again, it reanimates strips already done by CB&SS, but changes the context so the plot sort of fits together (though it feels completely loose here). In the case of this one, the plotline about Spike coming over from Needles and Lucy fattening him up. In the original strips and show, this was done so he could fight the cat next door. Here, it's loosely connected to Rerun's story.

Now switching gears, if there's one thing I noticed more and more the older I got, it's the fact that the original Rudolph Rankin/Bass special was supposed to be sort of tongue in cheek. The problem is, it's so established as a classic, the subtle nods and satirical bends go over everyone's heads. What you really need to watch to get some context is the older Christmas cartoons made in the 30's and 40's (including the original original Rudolph cartoon which is usually on public domain collections). Those things are just dripping with sap, and the Rudolph special we know takes bites out of those old standbys. Think about it. The Elf wanting to be a dentist? Yukon's gold obsession and his general knowledge about Bumbles and how they bounce so they can shoehorn in a gooey ending where he becomes a good guy? All very much satirical bites at old sappy Santa cartoons. Heck, even Santa being kinda a jerk and his wife nagging him about being fat. And this is so much the establishment of cartoon Christmas specials, the satire wore off.