The Rankin-Bass Christmas Specials - General Discussion

[SVNBob]

4 hours ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

Just doing my annual viewing of Rudolph and yet again am wondering why the little doll is on Misfit Island.  Does anyone know? 

Her issue is psychological.  Specifically depression from being abandoned by a previous owner.

No, it is never mentioned specifically in any version of the special.  This is Word of God from Rankin himself.

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 hours ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

My husband and I were just talking about these.  We both love The Grinch (only the original) and we pick apart Frosty.  So many plot holes 😃 yet we wouldn't miss it!  Rudolph, Frosty, The Grinch and Charlie Brown are part of Christmas for us. Forever and ever, amen.  I wonder which Christmas classics will be must watch TV years from now for today's generation of kids?

I really feel sorry for today's children. We, at least got to watch all of these movies on network television; then cable exploded, and up until two, three? years ago, the now free forum (I'm blanking on what name it was before) had the "25 Days of Christmas", where they aired all the Rankin-Bass movies, and CBS still aired Rudolph and Charlie Brown Christmas.

But now? STOOPID Apple TV is the ONLY place to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. Yeah, yeah, non subscribers can watch for free between Dec 22-and 25th, I think.

But most of the Rankin-Bass, aside from Rudolph, are on AMC.

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I really feel sorry for today's children. We, at least got to watch all of these movies on network television; then cable exploded, and up until two, three? years ago, the now free forum (I'm blanking on what name it was before) had the "25 Days of Christmas", where they aired all the Rankin-Bass movies, and CBS still aired Rudolph and Charlie Brown Christmas

I had Rudolph on VHS, which was how I was introduced to it. But yeah. At least CBS and AMC still air them.

BTW Freeform used to be ABC Family. They still have 25 Days of Christmas but I don’t know if they still play the Rankin Bass shows.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I had Rudolph on VHS, which was how I was introduced to it. But yeah. At least CBS and AMC still air them.

BTW Freeform used to be ABC Family. They still have 25 Days of Christmas but I don’t know if they still play the Rankin Bass shows.

I think my main point is, you have to look and find who's airing what and on which date; when I was a KID, I could depend on the networks airing them ALL.

[Spartan Girl]

3 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I think my main point is, you have to look and find who's airing what and on which date; when I was a KID, I could depend on the networks airing them ALL.

*sigh* Yeah. Things change.

I still watch the Honest Trailers Rudolph video because I love their version of the song so much.

🎶The moral of this story

Is that being different’s bad

Unless your defect’s useful

Man, this movies really sad

Sooooorry to Rankin and Baaaaaaasss!

🤣🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀💀💀

Edited December 13, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[Spartan Girl]

So call me crazy, but after watching Rudolph a couple of times, I’m starting to think that Donner wasn’t as bad as all the other jerkasses. Yeah, he made Rudolph cover up his nose, but only after Asshole Santa made it clear the nose was going to be an issue. And to give credit where credit is due, he was the only one that instantly regretted his actions and went after when Rudolph ran away—along with his wife and Clarice.**Nobody else, including Santa, cared where he went.

**On that note, his “this is man’s work” line does set my teeth on edge, but I keep reminding myself that this was the 60s.

[tennisgurl]

On 12/12/2022 at 7:27 PM, Elizabeth Anne said:

Just doing my annual viewing of Rudolph and yet again am wondering why the little doll is on Misfit Island.  Does anyone know?  Am I missing something obvious?  The only thing "wrong" with her is her braids a a little untidy!  

 

I wonder that about several of the toys. The spotted elephant was adorable! Who cares if your toys name is named Jack or Charlie? What kid wouldn't think a cowboy that rides an Ostridge was cool? If you don't want your water gun to shoot jelly, stop filling it with jelly you morons! Were kids in the 60s just so lacking in imagination that they demanded total realism from their toys? 

A lot of the Santa's in these have very wonky characterizations, but Twas the Night Santa is the absolute worst. At least Bigot Santa in Rudolf and lazy Santa in Year Without a Santa Claus learn lessons, Twas the Night Santa is just an asshole who only shows up to the town when he feels properly appeased He skipped the whole town because of one letter? What a thin skinned prick, everyone should have been more pissed at him than the were at the mouse kid. Although the mouse kid clearly wasn't as bright as he thought he was, why does he seem to be the only person who doesn't believe in Santa? Everyone else in the world seems to, he clearly exists in this universe if he's sending letters back to people, the mayor funded this massive public works program to try to get his attention, its silly NOT to believe in him. 

As a kid Year Without a Santa Claus was always in the middle for me in my rankings of rankin/bass, I was mostly waiting for the Miser Brothers, but I have come to like it more and more as I have gotten older. The Miser Brothers are still the highlight of the movie, but I like that Mrs. Claus gets so much to do, I can definitely buy her as an older Jessica from Santa Claus is Coming to Town, she really had the teacher voice dealing with the Miser Brothers, and I have come to more enjoy Santa's character arc. He's certainly a lazy whiner at the start of the movie, probably suffering from burn out after having the same job for quite a few centuries now, but going out and being with people again and seeing how much Christmas spirit is still needed and seeing how much kids appreciate him let him get his groove back.

I also think that I Believe in Santa Claus is one of the most underrated songs in the whole rankin/bass cannon.  

[merylinkid]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I Believe in Santa Claus is one of the most underrated songs in the whole rankin/bass cannon.  

It is.   I do a Song A Day every day from the Friday after Thanksgiving until Christmas Day.   One I usually include is this one.   I don't use any other Rankin Bass Songs.    Although Even a Miracle Needs a Hand from Twas the Night Before Christmas is right up there too.   

[Wiendish Fitch]

I love Shirley Booth as Mrs. Claus in The Year Without a Santa Claus. Not only does she play the part really well, but she's a great example of selling a song with an imperfect voice. 

[KWalkerInc]

Rudolph is airing on November 24 this year.  I remembered posting my outrage about an early airing a few years ago, but apparently that one was even worse (November 22).  This is at least after Thanksgiving, but that's pretty early this year.  They didn't mention a repeat airing.  Frosty is listed for Saturday, December 16 as its only CBS airing, so maybe Rudolph will re-air before that.

http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/10/18/tis-the-season-to-tune-in-for-holiday-cheer-cbs-announces-2023-airdates-for-holiday-programming-634513/20231018cbs01/

[KWalkerInc]

In spite of what their press release said, Rudolph is now scheduled to air on Monday, November 27 at 8 PM.  That's a little better I guess?

[januaryman]

The Frostys got bumped from their annual Black Friday airing this year. I don't want to watch Rudolph or Frosty yet anyway - I always wait for the December encores.

[lou ann b]

I own the Rudolph DVD so I will watch several times.

Santa Claus with Jessica's Acid Trip is best watched while drinking wine.

 

[Sara2009]

Even with all the deserved criticisms, “ ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” is still my favorite. The music is amazing, and it has cartoon mice and clocks. Those are two of my favorite things.

[Wiendish Fitch]

31 minutes ago, Sara2009 said:

Even with all the deserved criticisms, “ ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” is still my favorite. The music is amazing, and it has cartoon mice and clocks. Those are two of my favorite things.

I honestly think 'Twas the Night Before Christmas has some of the best music in the Rankin/Bass canon. I'm amazed that "Christmas Chimes" isn't a standard.

[opus]

On 11/27/2023 at 12:48 PM, lou ann b said:

I own the Rudolph DVD so I will watch several times.

Are those unedited i.e. any scenes on there that CBS cuts out?

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, opus said:

Are those unedited i.e. any scenes on there that CBS cuts out?

I wouldn’t think so as the CBS is the original network broadcast? 

[QuantumMechanic]

On 11/28/2023 at 10:37 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

I honestly think 'Twas the Night Before Christmas has some of the best music in the Rankin/Bass canon. I'm amazed that "Christmas Chimes" isn't a standard.

It does! As a physics major I hate myself for loving “Give Your Heart a Ride” 😁but I do. And “Even a Miracle Needs a Hand” is a lovely, wonderful song. And of course I listen to “Christmas Chimes” several times each year. Heck, I taped that with a cassette deck next to the TV years and years ago!

[KWalkerInc]

So it looks like Rudolph and Frosty are moving to NBC this year?  I was concerned when there was no mention of either in the CBS press release last week about holiday programming (though I couldn't find anything saying they wouldn't be on either), so I just started searching every day of the schedule on Futon Critic.  Frosty is listed on NBC on Thursday, December 5 at 8:30 and a repeat on Wednesday, December 11 at 8 PM.  Rudolph is listed for Friday, December 6 at 8 PM.  If this is true, then I applaud them for actually airing the shows in December!

http://thefutoncritic.com/showatch/nbc-special/listings/

ETA:

Here is the press release with announcement from NBC.

 

 

Edited November 1 by KWalkerInc
Added press release.

[merylinkid]

For future reference, this site lists all holiday specials (very loosely defined) by date, check often for changes:

 

https://christmastvschedule.com/

[KWalkerInc]

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town airs this Tuesday on ABC, but it's kind of weird that it's at 9 PM.  ABC probably figures it's better to air CMA Country Christmas at 8 to take advantage of the local lead-in because it will get more viewers in the 18-49 demographic than Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (which probably mostly gets young children and maybe some of their parents who are 18-49, although I am in neither group and barely still in the demo).  But SCICTT will likely not do well at all because of this switch, so the overall impact on their ratings will probably be negative, so it still seems weird.  They are rerunning SCICTT a few weeks later--I think at 8--so at least there will be a chance for kids to watch it then.

[Dimity]

[GHScorpiosRule]

I don’t care that Santa is a bit of a jerk in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I am SO watching it this weekend along with my other Rankin-Bass and Non-Rankin Bass movies!!!!!

[Spartan Girl]

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I don’t care that Santa is a bit of a jerk in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I am SO watching it this weekend along with my other Rankin-Bass and Non-Rankin Bass movies!!!!!

At least he admits he’s wrong and apologizes in the end. I save most of my scorn for jerk characters that don’t apologize or make amends.