Now that I've gotten the Theatrical Films out of the way, let's take a look at what makes up the other half of our Christmas Season of watching: the specials.
Unfortunately, a lot of shows tend of have Christmas themed episodes that fall flat. The Simpsons has done at least half as many Treehouse of Horror themed ones and I know other sitcoms and family shows have tackled the subject. They usually miss out on the spirit of the holidays or at the very least seem a bit too commercial-esque for me to want to watch them year in and year out. But then there are some that stand the test of time. Classics that are a part of our hearts and we tend to watch every single year. While we often have to wade through a lot of garbage, the best stick with us for all time.
Some of these are feature length and others are anywhere from 22 to 44 minutes long, dependent entirely on who was making it and more importantly when it came out. What matters is that all of these are either not feature length or were not released in theaters. One of them was released in theaters, but wasn't the main attraction so it counts here. But for the sake of everyone here and for the Holiday Season, I'm going to rank my 20 All Time Favorite Christmas Specials. They can be original or come from a preexisting franchise. All that matters is it could not be feature length and/or released in theaters. You won't find National Lampoon or Scott Calvin on this list. Instead, you'll find some old friends from shows long since passed, as well as a few from shows you might not really think of when you hear the word Christmas. Well, let's stop beating about the bush and let's take a good and long look at my list.
Honorable Mentions:
"The Santa Experience" (Rugrats)
"Road to the North Pole" (Family Guy)
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (The Simpsons)
"Pinocchio's Christmas" (Rankin-Bass)
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In At The House of Mouse
Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
Holly Jolly Jimmy (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius)
Operation N.A.U.G.H.T.Y. (Kids Next Door)
#20: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted "Fever Dream" (Christmas)
For those of you blessed without the knowledge of this movie, it takes place during the events of the original film, between the time the Beast saved Belle from the wolves and him giving her the library. Belle learns from the enchanted objects that the Beast has outlawed Christmas in the castle as a bitter reminder of his beastly form, but Belle seeks to throw the best Christmas Celebration ever while trying to also make the Beast less cold to her and the members of the Castle staff. Unbeknownst to her, the evil court composer Forte (Tim Curry) is scheming to remove her from the castle to not only retain his immortality as an enchanted organ, but to also keep his control over the Beast as he feeds the gloomy and angry feelings he has inside. The songs are terrible, the animation is lackluster and the plot goes all over the map, but at the very least I can say that this film is a Christmas movie that understands the meaning of the seasons. Give Disney credit where it's do, they got that right for once. While it does that right, I can't say the rest of it makes much sense. Belle's gung ho attitude towards the Beast (after he imprisoned her and treated her horribly) is jarring, as too is the Beast's complete derision of the Christmas season for no reason, as it was his attitude towards the Enchantress that made him a monster and not the fact that it happened to be on Christmas. But whatever, take what you can with something like this. A fever dream of a DTV Disney movie, but at least it's not completely irredeemable like the aforementioned DTV movies or any of the others that belong on the list. Or maybe it's just the drugs kicking in...
19. "Yes Mikey, Santa Does Shave" (Recess)
Mikey seems to be the only one excited for Christmas and the arrival from Santa Claus. The rest of his friends are all skeptical of the existence of Saint Nick. Mikey goes on a quest to prove to his friends that Santa is real, but finds himself stymied at every turn. But a conversation with an old man (James Earl Jones) compels Mikey to reinvigorate himself in his pursuit of the truth while also giving him the confidence to perform in the school's Holiday Pageant in front of a worldwide audience. The main focus on this episode is that even though something isn't able to be seen or proven, you can still have faith that it exists. This goes the same for any religion or believing in someone like Santa Claus. This has a lot in common with a Rankin Bass cartoon that just missed the cut in "The Night Before Christmas", in that people try to equate irrefutable proof and facts as equal to or greater than faith. In some cases, they are right, but in some other cases, it's important to keep a spirit of hope and loving care alive, lest we slide back into hating one another. It always reminds me of just why I love the Christmas season as much as I do.
18. Jack Frost (Rankin-Bass)
Jack Frost, while blessing the people of a poor village with the cold, falls head over heels in love with a beautiful woman who is mesmerized by his power despite not being able to see him. After saving her from falling off a waterfall and being declared a hero (despite not having been seen), Jack flies up to Father Winter and asks to be turned into a human to be with her. Father Winter reluctantly grants his wish, telling Jack that he needed to win a horse, a bag of gold and a wife lest he return to being a spirit. Jack goes down to Earth as a mortal, but finds wooing the love of his life harder than he expected without his powers and oddly enough, fails in his endeavors, but manages to rid the village of the evil man who lorded over them. It's a surprisingly somber story for Rankin-Bass to tell and it usually makes my sister cry (though I should say she doesn't know the real ending to Hans Christian Andersen's original Little Mermaid story, so that's one thing). I enjoy it because of it's relatively lowkey ending and the job of Buddy Hackett as the narrator, but the rest of the special is fairly strong on it's own.
17. "Babies in Toyland" (Rugrats)
Christmas is coming up fast for the Rugrats as Tommy tries to educate his little brother Dil about the meaning of Christmas. But Angelica lies to the babies and warns them that if they do not help Dil have a fantastic Christmas, he wouldn't have another one. Tommy and his friends try to help Dil have the greatest Christmas he could ever imagine as they are brought by their parents to "Christmas Land" to meet Santa Claus and embark on a myriad of adventures that take them from the land of the Nutcracker all the way to the manger in Bethlehem. While this is going on, Angelica angrily searches for Santa Claus after making the stand in quit his job and begins to wonder if she's actually on the Naughty List, wondering what could possibly make her do better, learning that treating every day like Christmas and caring for her friends would make things better on her. While this show isn't exactly forward thinking always reverts to the status quo at the end, it's a nice lesson to teach to kids who might generally only think about themselves around the holidays. I know this special was what helped motivate some friends of mine to think more positively about Christmas, so I hope it's done the same for the rest of you. The imagination and magic in this episode is off the charts, so expect to be thoroughly entertained by this one.
16. A Very Possible Christmas (Kim Possible)
Kim is looking forward to a holiday with her family after a long year of fighting bad guys and saving the world, with Ron hoping she gets her wish. But when Wade calls to warn them that Dr. Drakken is about, Ron elects to take on a mission to stop Drakken alone, only for the two of them to be launched from the evil villain's lab and launched somewhere into the North Pole in an escape pod. Kim finds out from Wade about Ron missing and goes off on the rescue, all while Ron and Drakken surprisingly bond over one of their favorite Christmas specials being cancelled and elect to put their feuding aside and enjoy a holiday together, eventually roping in the whole Possible family and Drakken's lead henchwoman in Shego. The lengths Ron goes to to make Kim's Christmas season by undergoing a dangerous mission himself and the lengths Kim goes to save her best friend are truly what the holidays are about. Not the pageantry or the festivities, but being with the people you care for and putting aside revelry and anger for just one day.
15. The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever (Invader Zim)
Zim is introduced to the Holiday Season during his first year of being on the Planet Earth as part of the Irken Invasion of the known galaxy. Believing he's found his foolproof plan to take the planet over, Zim disguises himself as Santa Claus in the hopes of manipulating the humans into starting a new Yuletide tradition of "Helping Santa build a giant teleporter capable of sending all humans to their doom". Dib, of course, is trying to protect the people of a planet that constantly scorns and mocks him with the aid of his bitter sister Gaz and his wacky but loveable father in Professor Membrane. The results are all of the chaos and demented imagination this show could muster for a Christmas episode. I had a hard time deciding which post-apocalyptic "X-Mas" episode I wanted on here between this one and Futurama's, but I chose this one because I think Zim unintentionally creating a monster that terrorizes people around the holidays is just perfect irony, considering we know he will never be able to conquer the earth due to his own incompetence. This might be my favorite episode of this show of all time, to be honest.
14. The First Christmas Snow (Rankin-Bass)
The story follows an orphaned Shepherd Boy named Lucas, who is blinded by a bolt of lightning that strikes nearby. He is cared for by the nuns of a nearby church, with the lead nun (Angela Lansbury) trying to explain to the boy what snow was, as it had never snowed in the valley they lived in in his lifetime. He is given a role in the Church's Christmas Pageant as an angel and befriends a young girl named Louisa who also helps him to learn to live with his new disability, before a miracle unfolds and snow falls during the pageant and Lucas's eyesight is restored to him. It's a sweet and definitely less bombastic special in comparison to what Rankin-Bass has done previously and since, but I enjoy it because of how toned down it is.
13. Christmas Who? (Spongebob Squarepants)
Spongebob and the residents of Bikini Bottom are introduced for the first time to the ideas of Christmas by Sandy. But Spongebob's imagination takes the idea a bit too literally (chiefly with respect to Santa Claus) and he goes a bit overboard to try and welcome him to the undersea world. Squidward, of course, constantly berates Spongebob for his undying faith in this mythical character, but comes to sympathize with him when he realizes that Spongebob understands the real meaning of the holidays by making Squidward a gift after he feared he wouldn't get one for not believing in Santa. Squidward then chooses to do everything he can to make his neighbor's holiday worth remembering. I mean, if a holiday is that meaningful to make the ordinarily bitter Squidward act truly brotherly towards Spongebob, especially today with how static his character has become, can this one truly be beaten by the Rankin-Bass parody one? Well, I say no.
12. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
The stories follow Huey, Dewey and Louie as they have to navigate the same day on repeat everyday when they wish it could be Christmas every day, soon discovering that it wasn't the presents and the feasting that made the holiday, but the people you shared it with. The second follows Goofy and Max as Goofy tries to keep the spirit of Santa Claus alive in his son after Pete breaks the news to Max about how Santa Claus didn't exist. The third story is a perfect retelling of the classic story "Gift of the Magi", where both Mickey and Minnie make a difficult sacrifice to try and make the other's Christmas dreams a reality, ironically giving up what they cherished the most for the other and realizing what truly mattered was how they felt towards each other and not what they had. While on the shorter and more cartoonish side of things, this film is always a must watch at my house because of how much heart and charm it has.
11. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rankin-Bass)
I've got to be honest with you. This special has gotten a bit worse every single time I see it and it's the only Rankin-Bass special that I have this issue with. This special has the same issue that the original Dumbo has, in that the story mostly follows how Rudolph is ridiculed for his glowing red nose until it becomes their salvation. But at least Dumbo had charm and the lead character was a baby and unable to really complain or gripe about his position. Rudolph doesn't have that luxury. And it's not just him. He and Hermy are the same boat in that they are both ridiculed and treated as outcasts until they are deemed useful to those at the North Pole. I think there is a truly magical story in this somewhere, but they hammer in the cruel treatment of our two main leads a bit too much for me to like this.
For those of you unaware, Rudolph is born with a glowing red nose that makes him an outcast among his fellow reindeer, including his father Donner. Tired of being ridiculed and forced to hide his nose, the young reindeer leaves on his own to find some place he belongs in the world, being joined by a treasure seeking miner named Yukon Cornelius and an elf who dreams of being a dentist instead of a toymaker. Rudolph's journey eventually takes him to the Island of Misfit Toys, who have been cast aside for being different or defective from the other toys made, but he eventually returns to save his family after they go in search of him and are captured by the Abominable Snowman. But when the snows hit the North Pole and make it impossible to take off safely, Rudolph's nose is just what Santa needs to light his sleigh. I honestly think, given the way he was treated, Rudolph could have said no and I would have sided with him...
10. Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too
After Christopher Robin sends out a letter to Santa Claus with gifts everyone wanted, the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood realize that Pooh never got to ask for anything and try to intercept the letter. But after they get a new and much more complete list, the winds unfortunately fail to carry the mail to Santa, prompting Pooh to take it upon himself to try and deliver the best presents possible for his friends, only for them to fail because, being a bear of very little brain, he's not exactly adept at making things such as snow shoes and fly swatters. When the ruse is discovered, Pooh takes it upon himself to reach the North Pole before Santa leaves, only for his friends to realize it wouldn't be Christmas without him. Despite Pooh's failure to bring their letter to Santa, Christopher Robin appears with all of their gifts they had asked for, even a honey pot for Pooh. This, like "The First Christmas Snow" has a great deal of humility and less bombastic Christmas Special, especially in a time where loud and explosive cartoons were all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s. And these more gentle and tame specials are what resonate the most with me.
9. Frosty the Snowman (Rankin-Bass)
After being forced to endure a lame magician on the last day of school, a group of kids build a snowman on their school property and wish him to life. The hat of said magician lands on Frosty's head and he comes to life. After arguing with the Magician over who got to keep the hat, Frosty finds himself beginning to melt when the temperature rises. The lead girl, Karen, elects to help Frosty get to the North Pole, but eventually gets sick from being too cold (or not wearing any pants as you can see in the image). Frosty takes her to a nearby Greenhouse, but is locked in by the Magician and he melts away, allowing the Magician to take the hat. But Santa Claus arrives and uses some of his own magic to bring Frosty back, chastising the magician for being so selfish. Frosty departs with Santa, promising to return one day. While it's a slightly more busy version of the song we all know and love, I think Frosty is a much better Christmas character than Rudolph. May not be a popular opinion, but I'm sticking to it...
8. Arnold's Christmas (Hey Arnold!)
While the rest of Arnold's Boarding House is preparing for Christmas, Mr. Hyunh finds himself unable to enjoy the festivities. He explains to Arnold that he had to give up his daughter Mai while he lived during the Vietnam War, having her leave with US Soldiers who were evacuating while he remained behind until he was able to escape to America, But in the 20 years since he had let his daughter go, he had never found her. Arnold attempts to reunite the two, but finds that the city's archivist is uninterested in helping them and forces Arnold and Gerald to complete his Christmas shopping. When they fail to procure one last item on the list, which Helga obtains instead, they nearly give up, but Helga offers her boots to the archivist in exchange for the information. To the shock of everyone in the Boarding House, Mr. Hyunh is reunited with Mai after 20 years and Arnold begins to believe in miracles as Helga watches on, content with what she did for Arnold. I've said it once and I will say it again, we did not deserve or appreciate this show enough growing up in the 90s. I think this show could be a big hit nowadays if Nick revived it, but with the Jungle Movie tying up all the loose ends, I think that hope is now non-existent.
7. Woodland Critter Christmas (South Park)
Stan is roped in by an overly intrusive narrator into assisting a group of woodland critters in completing their perfect Christmas. After learning that their Porcupine friend is going to give birth to their "lord and savior", Stan is again convinced to help make a manger for them to allow Porcupiney (yes, that's her name) deliver birth as was tradition and even helps to kill a Mountain Lion that was harassing them, leaving a trio of cubs orphaned. Stan returns, feeling shame for letting the Mountain Lion mother die, only to find out that Porcupiney's baby is going to be the Anti-Christ and they need a human slave to put the spirit in, but Stan is baptized and thus cannot be used. The Critters then rope Kyle into being used as a host, while Stan has to teach the Mountain Lion cubs to complete an abortion to prevent the Anti-Christ from being born. Stan, the Mountain Lions and Santa prevent the Woodland Critters from completing their twisted ambitions, but Kyle is prompted by the narrator (Cartman) into absorbing the spirit to make a Christmas for the Jews, only for the cubs to abort the spirit out of him when Kyle loses his free will. This show is twisted, but Woodland Critter Christmas is without a doubt the most twisted episode this side of "Scott Tenorman Must Die". I mean, would you have expected a group of innocent and wide eyed animals to be followers of Satan? Stan sure as hell didn't...
6. Santa Claus is Comin' To Town (Rankin-Bass)
Orphaned baby Claus is found and raised by a group of elves known as the Kringles. Named Kris by his new family, he learns all the tricks of the trade of making toys. When he's grown up, he takes a sack of toys to a nearby village, which has oddly enough just banned toys thanks to it's evil ruler Burgermeister Meister Burger. Kringle manages to win the adoration of the children and a teacher named Jessica, as well as the friendship of the normally wicked Winter Warlock, but finds increasing opposition from the Burgermeister. Made an outlaw with his actions, Kris ultimately flees to the Far North with his family and loved ones, setting up base at the North Pole. Fearing using his old name, Kris retakes the name Claus and becomes Santa Claus, who has delivered toys ever since to all the girls and boys of the world on a single night: Christmas. This one is a delight in every meaning of the word. It isn't afraid to be silly or cheesy and still retains the heart and spirit that makes this time such a wonderful time for many, even if some of the moments in the story haven't aged as well as others (like the trip out moments in Jessica's song and Kris's song can be a touch creepy when he sings about the kids). Beyond that, as this is a product of it's time, I can live with it.
5. Mickey's Christmas Carol
Disney character take the roles of the characters in Charles Dickens' classic novel about reclaiming the inner soul of one of Britain's most miserly men. With Mickey as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge McDuck as...well...Ebenezer Scrooge, Goofy as Jacob Marley, Jiminy Cricket, Willie the Giant and Pete as the Ghosts and plenty of other classic Disney characters being used, this is an extremely faithful retelling of the story with a greatly reduced runtime. It always confused me as to why Disney never greenlit a full-length version of this being made (I guess The Black Cauldron was too deep into production for them to change course). But as it is, this one is a sheer delight of a retelling of one of the greatest stories ever written and one of the finer adaptations we've ever seen. But not the best...
4. The Year Without a Santa Claus (Rankin-Bass)
When Santa gets a cold as well as a cold slap of reality that many people in the South no longer believe in him, he decides to take a holiday and rest. Mrs. Claus, not wanting millions of children to be disappointed, coerces two elves to head down South and drum up some Christmas Spirit, only to get their reindeer captured by the Dog Pound. The Elves take the sarcastic mayor of Southtown USA too seriously and believe that if they can make it snow, they would get their baby reindeer back. Santa comes South to the rescue and meets with a boy named Iggy, who admits he's having a hard time keeping the faith. Reinvigorated by Iggy's parents reassurances in their faith in him, Santa rushes the baby reindeer back to the North Pole while the Elves and Mrs. Claus try to compel the feuding brothers of Heat Miser and Snow Miser to let it snow in the South and give Santa a nice day in the North Pole for his vacation. But while the rest of the world celebrates Santa's vacation, Santa feels guilty about abandoning the children for the holidays and elects to fly down to deliver the presents on time. This is probably the most ideal motion picture that Rankin-Bass has made. It has a decent three act structure, stakes and conflict that gets wrapped up in the end without it getting too cheesy. Add into that the charm the special has and it goes down as the best of the Rankin-Bass specials.
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
We all know this one, right? Fed up with the people of Whoville and their passions for Christmas, the Grinch schemes to disguise himself as Santa Claus and plots to steal all that makes the holiday season special, including presents, trees and the feasts. But he quickly realizes that the Spirit of Christmas isn't something you can steal and is swayed to return what he stole, being welcomed among the Whos for the holiday. This classic Christmas Special, alongside the likes of the Rankin-Bass specials and one other one, have been delighting audiences for over 50 years and seem to have no interest in stopping anytime soon. Which is a good thing. Lessons like these need to stand the test of time, not be cast aside for cheap cash-ins.
2. A Christmas Carol
The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve by the spirit of his partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Christmas Yet to Come, who try to implore upon the greedy and cruel Scrooge to change his ways, lest he carry the burdens of his avarice and greed as well as the victims of said greed with him when he dies. Scrooge is troubled by his past, humbled by his present and transformed by the future he can yet change. While this film is a bit slower paced than other classic, the book screams for a more slower path than a climax like the one we get in the Jim Carrey one or even the Disney one. This is the definitive adaptation of the most important story of the last 200 years.
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas
Our favorite unlucky loser is more miserable than ever around the Holidays, unable to bring himself to find the meaning of Christmas. Lucy suggests Charlie Brown direct their Christmas Play, but few of their friends actually listen to his directions, as even Snoopy acts in opposition to him. Charlie and Linus go to find the perfect Christmas Tree, but are turned off by all of the fake and aluminum ones, with Charlie finding sympathy for a small tree that looked more like a stick than anything else. Charlie is mocked for this tree, until Linus gives a speech inspiring to the children the true meaning of Christmas, motivating Charlie Brown to take the tree some place it would be appreciated. The kids dress up the tree with a bit of tender love and celebrate with a hymn. I mean, if there is a special that truly understands what Christmas is supposed to be about, it's this one. There isn't a dastardly villain like the Burgermeister or the Miser Bros., there isn't a spectacle of a climax like in the Beauty and the Beast Fever Dream and there isn't anything over the top like in the Woodland Critter Christmas episode. It's humble, sincere and filled with the heart of what makes this the best time of the year (in my opinion at least). It's finding the best out of what you have, rather than trying to flash it up with gloss and glamour. This one is one I can find myself watching every year and at any time of the year.
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