My 6 favorite songs from the classic American animated television Christmas specials of the 60s, 70s, and 80s:
6. "Hark! The Herald Angels" -- Loo Loo Loo version from A Charlie Brown Christmas
First of all, A Charlie Brown Christmas must have a representative song on any reasonable list about great television Christmas specials and their music. Vince Guaraldi's score is iconic ("Christmas Time is Here" was employed by the writers of Arrested Development to help portray Charlie Brown-style abject personal rejection on the show). There is so much to love on that soundtrack. But to me, nothing says Christmas like the Peanuts gang loo-loo-looing the melody of "Hark! The Herald Angels" with their noses pointed up to the sky except when they pause for a collective inhale.
5. "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" -- Twas the Night Before Christmas
Twas the Night Before Christmas is a bit of an odd special. It doesn't really portray Santa in a very flattering light. He's apparently kind of a hypersensitive jerk. He decides not to deliver toys one Christmas because a cabal of adolescent nerd mice wrote a letter to the editor of some one-horse town's local paper and denied his existence. Sheesh! He could be a trophy wife on one of those reprehensible Real Housewives shows. Still "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" is a pleasant, uplifting, little ditty performed in the special by Joel Grey (You probably know him as the martial arts master trainer, Chiun, in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins).
4. "The Island of Misfit Toys" -- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
This is another special where Santa comes across pretty poorly...at least at the beginning. Seriously, St. Nick, what's with the reindeer bigotry, man? And why is a glowing red nose any more of a mark of shame than that bizarre shock of anthropomorphic blond hair on Fireball's scalp? I don't think I'll ever understand Arctic culture.
Anyway, I look forward to Rudolph and Herbie's visit to the Island of Misfit Toys every time I watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The song plays a big part in that. The intro is eerie and sad but after a few seconds the tune turns chipper and hopeful. But my favorite part is the roll call of misfit toys. Some of them are odd and silly -- right up my alley humor-wise. A water pistol that shoots jelly? A cowboy that rides an Ostrich? Those aren't just simple manufacturing rejects. That's some serious toy design weirdness there.
Now it has been almost 50 years since Rudolph was first broadcast. Let me see if I can provide some new misfit toys for the modern era.
1.) A first-person shooter video game that isn't available on XBox. (a swing and miss!)
2.) A Ninjago Lego kit with only green square blocks. (strike two!)
3.) A doll that doesn't include any voice recognition software (Aaaaand you're out!)
Okay, I give up.
This is another special where Santa comes across pretty poorly...at least at the beginning. Seriously, St. Nick, what's with the reindeer bigotry, man? And why is a glowing red nose any more of a mark of shame than that bizarre shock of anthropomorphic blond hair on Fireball's scalp? I don't think I'll ever understand Arctic culture.
Anyway, I look forward to Rudolph and Herbie's visit to the Island of Misfit Toys every time I watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The song plays a big part in that. The intro is eerie and sad but after a few seconds the tune turns chipper and hopeful. But my favorite part is the roll call of misfit toys. Some of them are odd and silly -- right up my alley humor-wise. A water pistol that shoots jelly? A cowboy that rides an Ostrich? Those aren't just simple manufacturing rejects. That's some serious toy design weirdness there.
Now it has been almost 50 years since Rudolph was first broadcast. Let me see if I can provide some new misfit toys for the modern era.
1.) A first-person shooter video game that isn't available on XBox. (a swing and miss!)
2.) A Ninjago Lego kit with only green square blocks. (strike two!)
3.) A doll that doesn't include any voice recognition software (Aaaaand you're out!)
Okay, I give up.
3. "We Three Kings" -- A Claymation Christmas Celebration
Back in the 80s, the California Raisin Advisory Board launched an ad campaign featuring dancing singing claymation raisins performing R&B classics, and it worked. They were extremely popular. Not bad for a product that fundamentally looks like rabbit poop. In 1987, CBS took that popularity and broadcast a half-hour Christmas special of claymation sketches and videos set to Christmas music. The California Raisins were featured performing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". The special won an Emmy, but somehow failed to break into the Rankin-Bass style pantheon of classic Christmas specials.
In any case, I've always liked the version of "We Three Kings" they put together for that special. The three kings themselves sing the verses in a straight-forward traditional style, but their hip camels, replete with leather shoes and bow ties, jazz up the chorus. It's pretty great.
Back in the 80s, the California Raisin Advisory Board launched an ad campaign featuring dancing singing claymation raisins performing R&B classics, and it worked. They were extremely popular. Not bad for a product that fundamentally looks like rabbit poop. In 1987, CBS took that popularity and broadcast a half-hour Christmas special of claymation sketches and videos set to Christmas music. The California Raisins were featured performing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". The special won an Emmy, but somehow failed to break into the Rankin-Bass style pantheon of classic Christmas specials.
In any case, I've always liked the version of "We Three Kings" they put together for that special. The three kings themselves sing the verses in a straight-forward traditional style, but their hip camels, replete with leather shoes and bow ties, jazz up the chorus. It's pretty great.
2. "Heat Miser/Snow Miser" -- The Year without a Santa Claus
The Year without a Santa Claus has always been my favorite animated Christmas special, and that's almost entirely due to the Miser Brothers. I love those guys. The dry humor. The cool supernatural powers. The team of Mini-Me minions. What's not to love? The performances are perfect, too. Snow miser is frenetic and wiry. Heat Miser slows the tune down a bit so it picks up a little flavor of a New Orleans summer. So good!, There's really not much more to say.
1. "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" -- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Well of course this is number one. You have to love the rich booming bass of Thurl Ravenscroft (yep, that was his name). He could have just repeated the lyrics "You suck, Mr. Grinch" one hundred times, and it would have been awesome. But instead, Ted "Dr. Seuss" Geisel penned some appropriately Seussian lyrics and made history. They're icky without being gross ("nauseous super naus", indeed), and spooky without being frightening. Geisel certainly paints the Grinch as a dark-hearted dude without making him seem irredeemable or evil, which is important for the narrative. It might be interesting to hear the song as rewritten by Rob Zombie, but I don't think it would have fit in the story. There's little doubt in my mind that "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" was a stroke of pure genius.
Well of course this is number one. You have to love the rich booming bass of Thurl Ravenscroft (yep, that was his name). He could have just repeated the lyrics "You suck, Mr. Grinch" one hundred times, and it would have been awesome. But instead, Ted "Dr. Seuss" Geisel penned some appropriately Seussian lyrics and made history. They're icky without being gross ("nauseous super naus", indeed), and spooky without being frightening. Geisel certainly paints the Grinch as a dark-hearted dude without making him seem irredeemable or evil, which is important for the narrative. It might be interesting to hear the song as rewritten by Rob Zombie, but I don't think it would have fit in the story. There's little doubt in my mind that "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" was a stroke of pure genius.
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