An Updated Top 10 Rides at Walt Disney World

When I first wrote about Walt Disney World and it's attractions, it was 2017 and it had been several years since I had last frequented the only place on earth you'll find me with a genuine smile on my face.  I often daydream and envision myself there whenever I feel down as a coping mechanism with things that more often than not go horribly wrong in my lifetime.  Some people have the beach, some have extravagant places like Bali, the Maldives or the Bahamas.  My place was, is and will always be Disney World.  

Since then, however, I'm pleased to say that I've gone back an additional two times and have another lengthy trip planned for 2027 for my mother's 60th birthday and...well, just because we want to go.  We went last year in 2024 and had an absolute blast.  We stayed for ten days at the Pop Century Resort and got to experience new things I hadn't done before, trying new meals, rides and shows as well as going back and revisiting our old friends.  As for my 2019 trip, I'm convinced that trip saved me from spiraling back into my depression after several rough patches over the three years preceding it.  My grandmother and I went and we had a shorter but also quite an intimate experience there.  We both got to meet our favorite characters (Ariel for me and Chewbacca for her) and I continued to relish in things more than I did when I was a kid.  

Which is a good thing, since Disney World has changed since 2011.  It's changed a lot.  Of the 10 Rides I had listed as my favorites back in 2017, half of the list has either been reimagined in some way or completely removed from sight in the never ending attempts by Disney to keep the parks new and vibrant for generations to see.  While many old classics are still around, some have been retrofitted into newer experiences and some newer rides have definitely left a lasting impact on me.  

I don't plan on changing my all time favorite rides, so instead, I figured I'd look through all of the new rides I've been on and rank them from 10 to 1 in terms of which of them were my favorites, based on my last two most recent trips.  And if I'm not mistaken, there will be even more to experience when we go in 2027, as Disney has announced a massive overhaul of many areas of their parks in Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom.  So, without further ado, let's take a look at the new rides I've seen and how I thought of them (there are some rides I didn't even know existed until these more recent trips) 

Firstly, some honorable mentions:

"Na'Vi River Journey" - a Dark Ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom where you see an up close and personal look at the world of Pandora.  It's tame and definitely something to use to escape the heat, but not something I would want to ride multiple times in a single trip, kinda like Peter Pan's Flight.  

"Tom Sawyer's Island" - Believe it or not, my first ever trip to Tom Sawyer's Island was in 2024.  Why hadn't we gone before?  I don't know.  Ask my past self.  Since this area is no longer accessible, I will just say that it was once the perfect place to escape from crowds.  The island was empty but 100% explorable.  My only regret was that they didn't have the food stand open there and we were definitely parched after a day at Magic Kingdom.  It's being changed into a Cars extension to Frontierland and the upcoming Villains Land, so I'm not too sad this one is gone.  

"Journey into YOUR Imagination" - I don't understand the beef people have with this ride.  I get the original was nostalgic and iconic to them, but this ride is cute and always a light line to venture through.  As you'll see in my countdown, Epcot wasn't a park I used to frequent too much as a kid, but I have appreciated it more and more as I've gotten older.  And this ride is another thing to admire.  Figment, the Imaginary Dragon, takes you on a quest to find your imagination with the help of Eric Idle.  And there's a fun play area there too.  Again, what's the beef about?  

"Alien Swirling Saucers" - Nothing too much to say about this one.  Just a fun carnival style ride in the Toy Story area of Disney's Hollywood Studios (you have no idea how hard it is to type that since I default to MGM).

"Frozen Ever After" - I rode this one before.  Back when it was called Maelstrom.  It's fine now, but I definitely liked the historical look back for the Scandinavians.  Still a fun ride, though.  

"Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Coaster" - This one is only an Honorable Mention because we didn't get ot ride it.  We had a Virtual Queue lined up for it at 515, but it got pushed back until we were eating dinner at Biergarten and thus had to pass on it.  Our waitress said we could probably walk onto the line as it got later, but we decided to do a different ride instead.  I've heard nothing but good things about this, though, so here's hoping for 2027.  

"Tiana's Bayou Adventure" - I remember when this one was based on a movie Disney doesn't like to talk about...now it's, based on a movie Disney also doesn't acknowledge enough.  This one wasn't open yet when we went last year, so hoping it's as memorable as Splash Mountain was, though since that was my favorite ride, I have my doubts.  

"Castaway Creek" - Remember how I said there were things I hadn't done before?  Well, we went to the Water Parks for the first time last year and fell in love with Typhoon Lagoon.  In fact, we loved it so much we only did two rides.  One is their lazy river which serves as a way to traverse the entire park as it winds around the entire water park.  The other...well, we'll get to it eventually...

"Toy Story Mania" - This one came so close to cracking the Top 10.  It's a 3D arcade style shooter where you and your fellow ride partner hit as many targets and score as many points as possible.  I love this one so much, but alas, it just barely missed making the list.  

"Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid" - A Dark Ride themed to one of my favorite movies?!  Hell yeah!  Honestly would have cracked the list if this was the only Ariel based thing in the area, but since the meet and greet is right next to it, sorry not sorry.  

"The Seas with Nemo and Friends" - Like I said, we rarely touched Epcot back in the day.  This one is more for the after show aquarium for me.  The ride itself usually has no wait time and is cute enough with all the references to Finding Nemo.  This is usually a one and done for us each trip, unlike a few other rides in the park which we'll get to...

"Living With the Land" = Okay, I get it.  I didn't do much in Epcot for years.  Look, when I thought of Disney, I thought of the other three parks.  Sue me, lol.  In all honesty, learning about how they cultivate the plants and fish needed to feed the people of Epcot is nothing short of interesting for me.  Plus, the ride's wait times are usually short, so I'm not the only one skipping this gem...

I think that's all of them...now, onto the list itself...

#10: Slinky Dog Dash (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

Roller Coasters tend to be the big draws in Disney World.  The lines are usually super long and waits are usually worth it.  Slinky Dog Dash is no exception, though the wait does tend to grate on you after a while.  The signature ride of Toy Story Land, Slinky Dog Dash is a tame yet fun roller coaster where we ride on Slinky through a track personally made by Andy himself.  The ride is a fun way to stay out of the heat, but usually a difficult ask for people to want to wait over an hour for.  If it's got a relatively short wait, I think this ride is a guaranteed hit for you and your family.  It's in the same Toy Story spirit that the rest of the rides are.  Again, just make sure you packed water and maybe some of those electrolyte packs to add in for those super hot days.  

#9: Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

I'm still trying to figure out how Hondo Ohnaka got a hold of the Millenium Falcon (or how he's still alive after all this time), but I digress.  If you've ever wanted to be directly involved in a mission while piloting, gunning or protecting the Millenium Falcon, now is your chance.  The roles are doled out at random and most of the critical people of this ride tend to end up as Engineers cleaning up the eff ups of the other two classes, but I've never personally minded, unless it's a dumb kid piloting it (lol jk).  Having done the piloting job myself, it's not an easy task, but if you all work together well enough, you should be able to complete your mission for Hondo and keep the Millenium Falcon in tact.  If not, well...you'll have to answer to one of the greediest yet funniest characters in the Star Wars Universe.  Definitely a must ride at least once for me.  Hoping to be a gunner, which is the only one I haven't done yet, for my next trip.  

#8: Soarin' Around the World (Epcot)

Yes, I don't go to Epcot enough and it deserves more respect than I give it.  Otherwise, I'd miss out on gems like this.  It's a motion simulator ride that brings you up and gives you the sights, scents and sounds of exploring around the world with Kronk himself Patrick Warburton as your skipper.  You'll see valleys, savannahs, Sydney Harbor, Paris and other sights along the way (ironically many places you could have gone on vacation instead of Disney, as many point out).  When I first heard of this ride's development from the History Channel's Modern Marvels episode on Disney World, I was intrigued but not too excited.  I have since ridden this three times and love it more every time I have ridden it.  This is an absolute treasure of a ride, one I hope doesn't change anytime soon.  The only downside is that if you're wearing loose shoes, there is a small chance you might lose it, so try to keep them on your feet as tightly as possible.  Or wear sneakers, I don't know.  

#7: Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom) 

I'm neither a big fan of motion simulators or the Avatar Franchise, as many of you know.  I prefer actual rides over the simulations, hence why I have next to no interest in going to Universal to see their simulators, even if some of their actual rides look awesome.  While I cannot say this ride makes me feel that much better about either Avatar or these kinds of attractions in general, I will say that this is easily one of the best motion simulators I've ever been on.  After you're made into your own personal avatar in the pre-show, you are able to command one of the Banshees as your Na'Vi and fly it around Pandora, all while you're strapped into an oddly shaped vehicle that jerks and bounces around as needed.  The sights are what catch me off guard every time I go on this one.  The score is also something worth admiring.  To put it bluntly, this is one of those rides worth the 60+ minute wait it usually is unless you rope drop.  And since DinoLand USA is gone now, I guess we'll be rope dropping this again when we go back.  Because it's that damn good.  

#6: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Magic Kingdom)

As I was a fan of the original Snow White themed attraction in Magic Kingdom, once they announced they were updating Fantasyland, I was curious to see what their new Snow White ride would be.  When I heard it was a roller coaster, I was initially skeptical, as I was afraid it would be one of those carnival travel coasters with one drop or something.  I shouldn't have doubted Disney Imagineering, as this is easily one of the most unique Roller Coasters in all of Disney's history.  It serves as both a Dark Ride and a Coaster, as you have multiple scenes of watching the Dwarfs in their mine doing their work as well as a scene at the end of them dancing with Snow White in the cottage.  It's not an intense coaster by any means and it's wait time can often put Slinky's to shame, but it is yet again another stellar ride by Disney Imagineering that gives me hope that they'll make more rides like this and less motion simulators in the future.  This is probably the signature attraction of Fantasyland and usually a high priority for rope dropping the parks, though we still go to Tomorrowland first.  Hee Hee.  

#5: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure (Epcot)

For years, I'd heard nothing but amazing rumors about trackless dark rides being in Tokyo Disneyland that got me to wondering why we hadn't been blessed with one yet in Orlando.  Fortunately, we got three of them and they're all the next three rides we'll be talking about.  We'll start with Remy's ride in the French Pavilion in Epcot.  The reason this is low is because we rode this last after being at Epcot from Rope Drop to Closing.  We were exhausted and waited nearly 75 minutes for this ride after getting spurned by Guardians of the Galaxy.  But our grouchiness was immediately curbed when I got to witness one of the most fun and unique rides in Epcot.  You take on the identity of a rat helping out in Gusteau's kitchen (I'm assuming during the events of the first movie). being chased by Skinner and trying to get food and help out with recipes for Remy and Linguini.  Each ride is different from the last and there's so many different unique ways the ride system tricks you into thinking you'll go one way and then the next.  Another masterpiece from Disney Imagineering.  

#4. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

The theme song to this ride will never leave your head.  No matter how much you try, and I've been trying for a year...when I first heard they'd be replacing "The Great Movie Ride" with a Mickey and Minnie themed ride with the art style from the 2010s Mickey Mouse Shorts, I was definitely put off.  This ride hadn't opened yet when I was there in 2019, but I got to finally ride this in 2024.  I wasn't a fan of the Mickey Mouse Shorts before 2024, but they've grown on me since I've come to look at them the same way I do The Looney Tunes Show in comparison to old Looney Tunes cartoons.  It's not meant to be the Mickey shorts from my childhood or the old Disney Cartoons.  It's chaotic energy that I absolutely love.  And this ride captures all of that chaos.  You're prepped by watching a cartoon of the "perfect picnic" between Mickey and Minnie, only for the cartoon to tear apart and prompt you to go inside and ride Goofy's train to try and figure out what happens in the cartoon.  You take zigs and zags in multiple directions from encountering Pete, Donald and even joining Daisy's Dance Class, all in an attempt just to finish a single cartoon.  This ride is a masterpiece.  Probably the best thing that could have replaced The Great Movie Ride, save for a Muppets Parody.  

#3: Star Wars: The Rise of the Resistance (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

The Crown Jewel of the Trackless Dark Rides in Disney World has to be Rise of the Resistance, however.  There is just so much character in this ride, that it evokes both older rides in the park's lore with interactivity as well as some of the best and most interesting visuals in any ride Disney's done.  You are recruited to join the Resistance and combat the First Order, but your first mission ends in colossal failure as you're captured by an army of Stormtroopers.  Before you can be tortured for info, however, you manage to commandeer a ride vehicle that you try to use to escape the Star Destroyer you're held prisoner on, encounter AT-AT Walkers, stormtroopers and even Kylo Ren himself.  You don't have to like the Sequel Trilogy or understand them to ride the ride and have fun, but it does add to the fun.  This is easily one of the most fun and engaging rides in all of the Disney World resort.  My only regret was that I only rode it once on my last trip.  This is definitely a high priority ride for me on our next trip.  

#2: Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool (Typhoon Lagoon)

When it comes to Water Parks, I'm generally a Slide and Lazy River type of guy.  I'm usually not one for the Wave Pool, as it's usually just swimming around with the occasional rush of light waves making swimming slightly more challenging.  The Surf Pool in Typhoon Lagoon completely flips that concept on it's head.  Instead of a few slightly larger waves than usual appearing every few minutes, every 90 seconds there is one massive wave that absolutely rips into anyone brave enough to swim out past four feet depth.  These waves truly make you feel like you're at the beach trying to catch waves and surf.  I spent north of 2 hours in the Wave Pool alone on our last trip, so much so that my mom had time to go to the bathroom and grab a beer for herself two separate times.  With the new deal Disney is announcing regarding going to both water parks on your first day for free if you stay on property, this is easily a deal we shall exploit, just to come here.  I don't even need to see Blizzard Beach at this rate.  Typhoon Lagoon has won me.  Easily the best thing about the park and I've yet to even do some of the more thrilling slides or even the water coaster.  

#1: TRON Lightcycle Run (Magic Kingdom)

Not only is this ride based on a criminally underrated franchise that Disney is finally giving attention to again with a new film in the franchise, but this ride is hands down one of, if not the best roller coaster in all of Walt Disney World.  Though I failed to snag a ride on Guardians in our 10 Day Stay at Disney last year, we did get to ride this gem, twice.  Once on our third day and once on our ninth, thanks to the Virtual Queue, which is no longer needed to ride this treasure of a ride.  You are brought onto the Game Grid and convinced to ride on behalf of users and against the evil programs of the Tron Universe.  You sit yourself on a "lightcycle" and go down a short path before rocketing into the air at a lightning fast take off that filled me with so much adrenaline that I used that to coast through an entire rest of our stay in Magic Kingdom from rope drop to fireworks.   While my Mom took a break midday, I stayed in the park and rode a bunch of rides on my own until she returned for our TRON ride. And we both adored this one.  This is one of her favorites, though she claims she had her eyes shut on the first ride.  This one may actually make it into my favorite all time Disney Rides soon.  Though a short ride in comparison to Space Mountain or Thunder Mountain, this one absolutely deserves at least a peek if you're a fan of thrills, which this ride delivers in spades.  

 

Stumbling and Fumbling: The Decline of Disney Music

 

Ugh...The backbone of Disney's resurgence from corporate laughingstock to media juggernaut can almost directly be attributed to the immense success of Disney Feature Animation beginning in the late 1980s with both Oliver and Company and The Little Mermaid.  While the former film had been in the planning stages for years, the culmination of events that led to the success of the latter came from many fronts, but specifically a return to Disney's classic storytelling methods (largely being updated for modern audiences) and an update to the musical formula that had been at the heart of many of the company's beloved "Classics" from Snow White to The Jungle Book.  Much of that has to be attributed to the work of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who had come to Disney off the backs of their smash off-Broadway hit "Little Shop of Horrors".  Ashman had many projects he wanted to work on at Disney, but it was his interest in The Little Mermaid that would change the trajectory of both modern storytelling and modern filmmaking forever.  

Yeah, it's been a long time since I frequented this blog, innit?! A lot has changed for me since then. Fortunately, the bowels of everyone's favorite pandemic didn't kill me, so that means I got to live long enough to enjoy the fruits of Hollywood's labor. Isn't it... magical?

Okay, there's a lot I would love to discuss should I elect to remain here for the foreseeable future, but this topic was something I've actually been cooking up for a while.  In fact, I actually was in the process of writing this out as a video for my YouTube Channel in a video essay style before I opted to not completely reshape the way my channel is going.  Besides, I've already got about five or six other projects I'm working on over there, so I figured the place to put this would be here.  

I am far from an expert when it comes to writing music in any shape or form, as you'll see in this post. I am just a guy who's been struggling to be a writer while making YouTube Videos and slowly making it through every day of my slow and monotonous life. One of the things I do take stock of in my writings, however, is the importance of finding an emotional balance for your character, persona or whomever you're writing about or for. Emotionally connecting to your audience is essential, especially in the realms of musical theater, or in the case of this particular segment, motion pictures. While I have had many tutors in my life who've conveyed this message to me, from my original editor Theresa Altebrando to my High School English Teacher Ms. Walsh and other members of the Long Island Writer's Guild who've taught me major aspects of how to write carefully and properly, one could argue that the greatest teacher for me in my emotional writing was, in fact, Disney.

The Walt Disney Company has been through... quite a tumultuous era since the Pandemic, haven't they? Getting into feuds with the Governor of Florida, hemorrhaging money over a failed Star Wars resort and the steep decline in quality from their animation department which began with Ralph Breaks the Internet in 2018 and culminated in the disastrous 100th Anniversary event film, Wish. There's a hell of a lot more to talk about when it comes to them, but that would be a post for another day. This post is going to be about something specific that comes from Disney: their music.

I will admit to not being the biggest fan of Encanto, a movie that many see as the last truly magnificent Disney Film to come out.  I respect the film for what it was and can agree that it's at the very least comparable to some of the finest Disney Films out there, but I wouldn't put it in the elite tier personally.  Because of this and my sheer hatred for the Disney Remakes and apathy towards Marvel movies since Endgame, I kinda just steered clear of the movie theater the last few years.  Yes, I've seen a handful of films since then (most notably the Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer), but specifically from Disney's output I've more or less tried to avoid it as much as possible.  However, since getting Disney+, I've been able to explore and reevaluate all of the Disney Movies I can possibly fathom, both live action and animated, as well as indulging in TV Shows I might have missed or just had no interest in upon initial release.  This includes most of Disney's recent library, basically every film since Ralph Breaks the Internet.  And aside from my opinion of Frozen II and Encanto being slightly warmer than my initial views of these films, the rest of the films have either since remained very lukewarm or have gotten even worse for me (with the exception of Pixar, who's output has remained mostly consistent apart from Lightyear).  This includes Raya and the Last Dragon, Strange Worlds, Moana 2 and yes, even Wish.  As for the Live Action Remakes, which I reluctantly was forced to watch with my sister and a few cousins recently, they remain as awful as I expected them to be, if not worse than I could have imagined.  

But getting back on point, one of the things I deeply respect about Encanto is its music. And if fans are going to use the music in the film to justify its placing as an elite Disney film, I will concede that point to them happily. But the rest of Disney's output has seemed... off. And this goes beyond the last five years. In reality, at least for me, this problem began with the 2017 Beauty and the Beast remake. For the life of me, I've spent the last few years trying to articulate why these movies rub me the wrong way, specifically from the aspect of music. I've watched videos explaining it, tried to get into music theory and even bought a large book on songwriting from my job to try and justify my anger properly. But it turns out all of that wasn't necessary, as all I had to do was go to the sources themselves and go through the "Making Of" and "Behind the Scenes" specials of all of the studio's most beloved musicals to get to the point I wanted to make. The final nail in the coffin was a 2016 Disney Special about the music of their Broadway Shows I saw while visiting my grandmother for Easter this year. It's something that I think Disney has lost sight of and don't seem too keen to rush back to anytime soon.

Ashman brought his signature style of "Broadway" into the Disney universe.  Characters who might have been underplayed or subdued to fit into the story were given free reign to essentially be whatever he wanted them to be.  He changed the crusty, old crustacean character who worked with King Triton into a reggae singing, deep voiced little crab named Sebastian, after all.  But the one thing Ashman stressed to everyone he worked with was something he inherited from all of his time working on stage shows: which is the ability to simultaneously sing and act.  You could essentially hire anyone to sing a song, but it took a special breed of talent to be able to sing and act at the same time.  And Ashman was strict and very particular in getting the right voices for his roles.  

Have you ever wondered why the original casts of both The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast largely were filled with people who were predominantly stage actors?  Why Disney didn't hire someone like Madonna or Whitney Houston to play Ariel or Belle?  This reason is specifically why.  Both Madonna and Whitney were fantastic singers in their own right, but would it be worth the financial investment if they also could not act?  Ashman had worked with many of his preferred actors before on several projects, including Jodi Benson and Jonathan Freeman whilst also having a deep respect for the older stage actors such as Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury.  People who have made their careers as both singers and actors with the ability to do both at once.  

My go to examples for how to properly illustrate this point have always been in both of the leading ladies first singing moments in "Part of Your World" for Ariel and "Belle" for Belle. In "Part of Your World", the final moments of the song have Jodi's vocal range reaching its apex as Ariel continues to convey her hearts desires to Flounder and by proxy the audience. When she swims up to the top of her cavern, singing about how she wished she could reach the shores up above, the music builds and builds until it stops. You see Ariel's bright eyes wane and her expression change. She goes from desperate to sad and her voice changes from melodic to almost melancholy. Rather than use the opportunity to show off Jodi's range, which the song had already done a good job of by this point, Jodi reveals the vulnerable side to Ariel we haven't seen yet. She is both close to her dream and as far away as she can be and she gives into her despair before slowly finishing her song. We see Jodi go from jubilant to mournful in just a few lines of song as Ariel's realization sinks in for her.  She's right where she doesn't want to be and is unsure of if her dream will ever come true.  And we as the audience fall in love with her and wish for her desires to come true.  

As for "Belle" on the other hand, an almost entirely different concept comes from Paige O'Hara's performance.  In a small break from choir, Belle takes a moment to sit by a fountain and read her book aloud to a few nearby sheep, explaining to them (and again by proxy, us) why this scene in her book is her favorite.  In O'Hara's delivery, however, something extraordinary happens.  You can actually hear her smiling behind the drawings.  Think about that: O'Hara delivers the lines in the song so well that we can actually hear the smile on her face as she's singing it.  She is enveloping herself into the character of Belle in ways that only a stage actor can.  

Ashman wanted to get to the heart of every character he wrote, even those who may not have a musical number for themselves.  This is why Ashman gets a writing credit in The Little Mermaid and was heavily involved in the writing for both Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin before his death in March of 1991.  And while Ashman's death no doubt had a profound impact on the direction of Disney Animation afterwards, that doesn't mean that his writing partner Alan Menken was incapable of realizing the same things as him.  Menken would go on to incorporate his longtime collaborator's teachings into every subsequent project he took on at Disney and has gone on to have quite a lucrative career as a songwriter and composer.  And Ashman alone wasn't the only writer who would work at Disney that realized this notion.  It was also heavily in the writings of other non-Menken driven musicals that Disney would churn out over the decades, including The Lion King and Moana.  Both Lin Manuel Miranda and Elton John have understood this aspect of writing and incorporated it into their songs, which have become as beloved as the ones written by Ashman or Menken, if not more.  

In modern times, however, it would appear as if there has been a fundamental change in the way Disney articulates it's music, be it in newer films or the remakes of their classics.  Nowadays, when Disney needs a song written, it's less about the journey of getting to the song and more about wanting this song to be the next "Let it Go" or "You're Welcome".  Instead of finding a song that fits the mold of the story, the focus shifts to this needing to be a song that articulates something they want expressed, even if it has nothing to do with the story.  We went from actors who could sing and act simultaneously, to singers who cannot find the blend between the mediums,  In the 90s and 2000s, when Disney hired an actor to play a role that could not sing, they would often cast someone as a singing voice instead.  While both The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast avoided the need for this, it was a driving force behind many of the actors in other films of the Disney Renaissance.  Characters like Aladdin, Jasmine, Jack Skellington, Simba, Nala, Pocahontas, Esmeralda, Hercules, Mulan and Shang would all get separate actors to sing and act, but only someone with a keen ear would be able to tell that this wasn't the guy or girl singing that also acted.  In the remakes, however, while it's clear the people they cast can sing, they usually struggle to act alongside it.  

My go to example here is comparing the singing performances of Jason Weaver from the original Lion King to JD McCrary's performance in the 2019 remake.  No one argues that McCrary cannot sing, as he clearly has talent and is best suited in a pop or hip hop style.  However, "I Just Can't Wait to be King" is written in the style of being a theatrically produced song.  Simba has to be able to articulate his excitement about one day not taking orders from anyone and being free to make any rules he sees fit.  Weaver's performance gets his feelings across perfectly, whereas McCrary seems like he's just singing any other song he's performed before.  It lacks the enthusiasm and spirit of the original film and only adds gasoline to the fire of why that entire scene flopped so badly in the remake.  If you're not going to hire someone capable of following the singing and acting playbook, then the only way for a song to work is for you to rework the song into the style of the new voice.  Disney tried to do this for Will Smith's interpretations of the songs in the 2019 remake of Aladdin, and while I can respect that, the fact that it wasn't done for the other actors or any other actors in any of the remakes seems as if it were a decision by Smith and not the studio.  This was not done for either Donald Glover or Beyonce in "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", Mena Massoud or Naomi Scott in "A Whole New World" or any other songs for that matter.  

This trend would only be made worse in the 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid.  Again, Halle Bailey can clearly sing and she showed in this movie that she can at least act, but doing both at the same time was next to impossible for her.  Nowhere is this clearer than in "Part of Your World", where at the same exact point where Jodi Benson allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable, they instead take the time to show off Bailey's singing voice in a "show offy" way.  How am I supposed to get emotionally invested in the character when you don't allow them to be emotional with us?  

Oddly enough, the opposite was the problem with Emma Watson's Belle in the 2017 remake. Emma can clearly act, but she definitely needed at least a singing coach to be there with her as she sang. Because the overuse of autotuning is clear and present in every single line from your leading lady, which is kind of a problem. It's also there in JD McCrary's Simba voice as well, but it's most profound in Watson's performance. I don't hear it much in anyone else's voice in that film, but guys like Josh Gad and Luke Evans were on stage before this, so it makes sense.  

And don't even get me started on the remake of Snow White and it's awful music.  We will get into that when I inevitably tear that film a new one in a review.  But for the time being, we're going to shelve the remakes and put our focus on the newer animated musicals by Disney.  After all, Lin Manuel Miranda is behind the songs for Moana and we all loved the songs in Frozen and Encanto, so surely the newer films have to be good in terms of music, right?  Well, no.  

Whether they did so intentionally or not, Disney seemed to go out of their way to learn the wrong lessons from why the music in their other films were bad and instead doubled down on the "Pop" style of music.  In the hands of someone who works on theater, such as Miranda, it can work.  However, in the hands of people who have never written for a film and with Disney giving them creative control with only a very short and to the point message about what they wanted from it, you get the kinds of songs that appeared in Wish.  A movie that has been panned as one of the worst to ever come out of the company, this film's music felt as if it were written by AI.  There was no rhythm, no flow and nothing that could be seen as a step back into the classic style of writing.  That doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing, but when I'm not even sure which parts of the song are a verse or a chorus, that means you kinda flopped when it comes to writing the music.  I don't blame the writers for this, as they were given an impossible task, but I do blame Disney for phoning in what was perhaps their most important film release since a certain red-haired mermaid appeared on screens back in 1989.  And every single song in the film has this same issue, from the lead "I Want" song, to the villain's "song" and so forth.  There's no hook and again, while I know Ariana DeBose can sing, no theatrical style singing, which means we struggle to emotionally connect with Asha and most of the other characters as they sing.  

And don't you worry, I will be ripping this film a new one when it's time to, as the music is far from the worst problem in the movie.  But since this is a post about Disney's musical shortcomings, I feel we have to move onto the next few films in question.  I will give Moana 2 the barest of passes, as the film is clearly a cut together movie based on a Moana Disney+ show that was being written that Disney needed to get into theaters after the disasters of their prior films.  But the one I will not give a pass is the last major Disney "remake" to come out in Mufasa: The Lion King.  

I think that Disney is in dire need to find their next Alan Menken/Howard Ashman type of songwriter that can carry the studio melodically on his back for the next few decades, because they have bounced around various different song writers on numerous projects over the years.  Whether it be the consortium of writers for the Descendants Films, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez of Frozen fame, or Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice of infamy for Wish.  They seem to be trying to recapture that magic they had in the 90s.  And someone at Disney thinks that the person in mind is Lin Manuel Miranda.  After all, he is the biggest thing on Broadway going with his work on Hamilton and he's already had success for Disney, so surely it means he's ready to write Disney songs on par with the classics of old, yes? 

Well, no.  And his efforts in both the Live Action remake of The Little Mermaid and then Mufasa are the golden example as to why he's not and will never be Alan Menken or Howard Ashman.  Now, let's preface this with the fact that neither Ashman nor Menken was involved in the music for The Lion King.  That honor went to Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer, who all worked together to create arguably the most iconic film soundtrack of all time.  And adding someone who is so stylistically different into the legacies of not one but two of Disney's most significant films seems to have rubbed people the wrong way.  His songs that were new for Mermaid were more or less bland and forgettable or just downright obnoxious (Looking at you, "Scuttlebutt").  And the same can be said for all of the songs written for Mufasa, but whereas the former had the classic songs to fall back on, the latter did not have the luxury of being able to just incorporate songs from Elton John and Tim Rice.  And apart from "I Always Wanted a Brother", I don't think I remember even the names of the other songs without googling it.  Eric's song at least gets the benefit of having Eric's lead actor giving his all to the song "Uncharted Waters".  Where is the benefit for "Bye Bye" (which yes, is the name of the song from the villain of Mufasa)? So, no, I don't think that Lin Manuel Miranda is up to the challenge of superseding Menken or Ashman, because his style of writing isn't for the refined Broadway of Menken and Ashman, but for the more modern, pop driven Broadway of now.  Who would want to see an original Broadway show when we can go see "& Juliet" or "Moulin Rouge" instead and listen to pop songs we can hear on the radio?  

Disney has for sure lost their way in many aspects of storytelling, but the sharp decline in music has to be the most disappointing for me.  I'm not inspired by any song Disney has put out in the last decade.  I don't feel compelled to write about a hero based on "Uncharted Waters" and I definitely don't feel inspired by "Speechless", "Spirit", "Scuttlebutt" or "This is the Thanks I Get".  When I'm writing a scene for a villain, I'm not thinking of that travesty of a song.  I'm thinking of "Poor Unfortunate Souls", "Be Prepared" or "Hellfire".  I'm not thinking of "Into the Unknown" or "Family Madrigal" when I write or think about Disney.  If you do, congrats, and I hope you find success in whatever it is you're doing.  But for me, the steep drop in quality is something that might haunt Disney for a long time.  You know, unless people stop going to see these godforsaken remakes.  

Oh well, a man can dream right?

Ranking the "Eight" Seasons of Total Drama

 It's been a very long time...my old friend...

For starters, I'd like to apologize for the intense lack of content for the year 2022.  To put it bluntly, this year has been utter hell for me.  I've had several very serious depressive episodes as well as two separate stints of everyone's favorite pandemic virus.  On top of that, I've had to endure family drama, my laptop literally offing itself and being unable to make consistent content for YouTube or this site.  I had several different things to write for here, but all of my drafts and files were written on my other laptop and the one I use now is a Chromebook.  For those of you unaware, Chromebooks may be slick, sleek and nice to use, they have several major drawbacks, including a constant need to be connected to the internet as well as automatically blocking any and all devices that aren't made by Google (IE, no flash drives or my Elgato Capture Card) could be read and thus, I was forced to do little more than work on my Crimson Fury story, which is available for reading on Fanfiction.net  

During my bouts with COVID, I revisited lots of shows I own on physical media or have access to via streaming services or the internet.  These shows include Star Trek: The Next Generation (a show I mean to make a post about), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (already watch the original religiously), various Pokemon series, Frasier, Yellowstone and many more.  But one of the ones that has helped me most recently has been a friend of mine I haven't really thought about in a long time.  And wouldn't you know it, Total Drama is coming back.  

I haven't spoken about Total Drama since I made the "Fixing Total Drama All Stars" post many years ago, chiefly because of how terrible it was.  And it still is.  I've watched all eight (yes, eight) iterations of Total Drama since I've been sick and to be frank, it has been quite an experience.  The show that I still praise for it's creativity and it's parodying skills actually did the impossible by going on past an awful fifth season and made shows that were all at the very least entertaining.  And isn't that what we're looking for in a show, especially in this hellscape we call life?  

Eight seasons/shows of varying quality leading up to this new show are definitely a sight to behold.  And explaining how good/bad all of them are is a definite must for me to post on here.  Seeing as how I have no access to functional video editing things within my budget (paying for a lot of things at the moment, including the only car in the house as well as saving money for a new laptop and a trip to Disney in 2024), this place is the best place to go.  And boy do I have a lot to say about these shows.  Even the poopie one...

But first...

Total Dramarama

This one is just so...strange.  I mean...wow!  

Do you guys remember shows like Muppet Babies, Baby Looney Tunes or even something more recent like Camp Koral?  You know, where they make shows of adult characters into children to appeal to a younger demographic.  Well, Total Drama tried this route and...the show was a trip.  Basically speaking, Total Dramarama is a spinoff where many of the original Total Drama stars (and a few cameos from others including Jude from 6Teen of all things) are turned into toddlers that go to a Daycare Center run by Chef Hatchet and various bizarre scenarios that come from that.  

Sure some of the characters remain the same or are slightly diluted from their previous selves, like Duncan and Courtney being basically the same characters and Izzy basically being the toddler version of her whacked out self from the original show.  But the highlights of this show are the other characters they changed.  Gwen is no longer a wannabe Goth/Disney Princess and went straight up disturbed child with her personality.  Beth is absolutely 10x better than her original character, being basically a watered down version of Izzy in causing trouble either unintentionally or completely intentionally.  Cody is basically Eugene from Hey Arnold, in that he's the character that constantly gets dunked on and tormented by the others, especially Duncan.  Other Total Drama characters like Lightning, Sugar, Max and Ella make some appearances, but the primary focus is the original kids, even if some fall into the background (like Bridgette, Noah and Leshawna).  

The best part of this show is the chaotic scenarios they find themselves in.  Some are standard episodes like trying to figure out why Cody can't sleep during nap time or with the kids trying to get all of their confiscated toys back from Chef.  But then you get the totally bonkers ones, like the new teacher being a robot, Jude and Izzy going hyper on a Slushie drink, going to alternate universes and even Duncan doing everything he can to keep a certain children's music duo from performing (with a twist that is so funny I can't help but keep it from you to avoid spoiling it).  Sure, the zaniness may grate on people and I do find a bunch of clunker episodes throughout the bulk, but for what it's supposed to be, I can't help but give the show a chuckle in ways I only used to give to shows that I laughed at as a child, such as Spongebob or Rugrats.  

And now...the Main Attraction

7. Total Drama All-Stars

You all know this was going to be here.  And I've done more than my fair share of bashing this show over the years.  But suffice it to say, I will highlight some of the gross atrocities this show committed.  To briefly summarize, members of the Original Cast (Duncan, Courtney, Gwen, Lindsay, Alejandro, Heather and Sierra) join up with members from Season Four's Revenge of the Island (Scott, Jo, Lightning, Mike, Zoey, Cameron and Sam) in a bout of the best Total Drama had to offer.  Please note that popular favorites Cody, Owen, Noah, Dawn and Leshawna aren't involved in the show at all.

Should I start with how awfully the show was written?  I mean, I know the writers brought on board had no real connection to the previous Total Drama series, but seriously?  Did any of them even watch the few shows?  Courtney and Gwen are best friends?  Since when?  Not even in World Tour did they bond over much of anything apart from one episode, and they both barely qualified the other as "friend-ish" as both had strong feelings for Duncan.  But now the two both barely acknowledge Duncan?  Lindsay became flanderized to the point of being almost unrecognizable, Cameron and Sierra's plot points are insanely awkward and uncomfortable (did they really have nothing else for Sierra to do but obsess over someone besides Cody?), Scott once again lasts way too long in the game, I despised the entire plotline involving Mal taking over Mike's personalities and it really seemed like little more than a broken record of Total Drama's previous "hits" and I use quotes because Revenge of the Island is coming up soon.  

The positives of the show are basically Courtney's character not being completely ruined by the Gwen arc and remaining as cutthroat as she's always been and Zoey being the de facto protagonist of the show.  I even liked Duncan's arc of struggling between being a "bad boy" and a "goody two shoes", even if the ending seemed a bit forced.  Beyond that, there isn't much.  This show really felt like Total Drama was running on fumes and should have been put out of it's misery (which is oddly enough not the case considering the next two seasons).  This show was a mess and really either needed to be expanded upon with more episodes or scrapped altogether.  

6. Total Drama Revenge of the Island 

I do not like this show.  Not as much as I loathe All Stars, but this show is just not interesting to me.  The new cast of characters is not as engaging to me as the original cast (which makes sense considering they had three seasons to win me over) and many of the plots/subplots didn't really gel with me.  Jo and Lightning's interactions are funny, but they get old by the fifth time Lightning things Jo is a guy.  Mike and Zoey's relationship is cliche and obnoxious considering they delay the revelation of Mike's multiple personality disorder to the last moment.  Dawn was my favorite character (mostly because of how blunt she was about her interactions with characters), but she's gone from the show early.  Sam and Dakota have arguably the most believable romance on the show (the pudgy gaming nerd who is the only one fawning over the hot model character who lost all the attention she had).  Any character I haven't mentioned is just not a particularly interesting character.  And the whole toxic waste island idea was worn out basically by the sixth episode.  

Honestly, the best part of the show to me was all the interactions with the original cast, who would be randomly brought in to cameo in episodes.  Bridgette, DJ, Heather, Duncan, Lindsay and others all appear in various moments and steal the spotlight.  If the main characters are so vapid and blank that I can't even focus when they're on screen, why should I care about the rest?  

5. Total Drama Pahkitew Island 

People absolutely HATE this series...and I don't know why.  Sure, it has similar problems to the last two series (IE over the top characters and writing, ridiculous scenarios etc.), but this series was more like a fever dream or a Looney Tunes cartoon than a Total Drama series.  Tonally, it's completely out of left field, but that was what this series needed.  I mean, this show literally has parodies of Dr. Evil and Snow White.  What kids act like that?  To briefly explain, an entirely new cast of oddballs (Beardo the Beatboxer, Leonard the LARPer, Rodney the Farmboy, twin sisters Amy and Samey (Sammy), Ella the Songbird, Topher the Wannabe Host, Dave the Germaphobe, Scarlet the Genius, Max the Villain, Sugar the...Honey Boo Boo parody?, Jasmine the Aussie Amazon, Sky the Gymnast and Shaun the Zombie Fighter) all compete to win a million dollars on a completely new island that has a few...quirks...

This show is just pure chaos and I find nothing wrong with that.  I mean, they do so many tropes that other shows do and I can see a bit why people wouldn't like it, but I found this show glorious for what it changed.  I couldn't imagine another show like All Stars or Revenge, which is why this show is so mesmerizing.  Sure, the show has characters I do hate (Sky might be the worst human being on any of these shows and Dave isn't much better, which is probably why their interactions are the worst), but whenever one of the oddballs were on screen, I was strongly entertained.  Topher's obsession with replacing Chris as host, Rodney's random bouts of feelings for any girl that touched him, Scarlet's arc from being awkward genius to super villain and Ella as Snow White was just fantastic.  All of these were so much fun to watch.  I just wish the show had more of these and less of Sky and Dave...ugh...the most toxic couple in this series...which has LOTS of toxic couples...

4. Total Drama Action 

Season Two of the show was...not as tightly written as the First or Third season.  There are several moments where this show basically abruptly ends arcs and starts them back up again.  For example, the first seven episodes are one arc that covers the relationship between Trent and Gwen, ending in a rough breakup.  The second arc was a few episodes long and covered all of the episodes of the aftermath, which included the poorly constructed teams they made and how leadership struggles grow between Duncan and the rest of the Gaffers and Lindsay, Justin and Izzy for the Grips.  The third arc, the longest, covers Courtney's return and her tenuous relationship with the rest of the cast, especially Duncan.  The whole "Drama" part of the show seemed a bit stale after how interesting TDI's ended up, but that's not where this show's strengths were.  

That is in the comedy and obscene challenges the show covers.  They embark on challenges from various Movie Genres and while some of the challenges are boring or not that interesting, they always do something funny during it that's at the very least mildly entertaining.  The characters vary in how much I like them.  This is when Gwen started to grate on my nerves and I basically detest any scene Justin is in.  This is also when I realized just how amazing Lindsay's character is and the tension between Duncan and Courtney is always a sight to behold.  Izzy's pretend personalities do get a bit old after a while, as does Beth's flip flopping between being a nerdy girl no one would talk to then gushing about a "boyfriend" she has (which oddly enough ends up being true).  The best part of this show is basically how half the cast carries the show (Duncan, Courtney, Lindsay, Leshawna, Harold, Owen, Heather, etc.)  Not the worst season, but not the best either.  Basically mid...

3. The Ridonculous Race 

This random spinoff of both Total Drama and "The Amazing Race" was a breath of fresh air for a franchise that was definitely running on fumes.  I think this one worked best because it didn't have to focus entirely on teenagers.  Basically, take Total Drama World Tour and instead of focusing on music, just focus on challenges to embark on a race around the world.  Eighteen Teams (The LARPers, the Tennis Rivals, the Geniuses, the Vegans, Mother and Daughter, the Fashion Bloggers, the Adversity Twins, the Rockers, the Stepbrothers, Father and Son, The Reality TV Pros, the Goths, the Surfers, the Daters/Haters, the Best Friends, the Sisters, the Police Cadets and the Ice Dancers) all compete in various challenges and race around the world for a million dollars.  

What drives this show is the relationships between the teams.  While some are static and others are a bit too predictable (Father and Son plot is basically A Goofy Movie and poor Leonard got no more luck here than in Pahkitew Island) but the other groups have such good chemistry that it carries this show to heights it had no reason being in.  The Best Friends have a cliche relationship (one sided affection that turns to love) but they have such a great dynamic that it's actually rewarding to see them get through this.  I also enjoy the Hater/Dater dynamic.  A toxic relationship that explodes in both directions (negative and positive) that ends up being both heartfelt and comedic simultaneously.  The best dynamics are actually between four different teams.  The main rivalries (The Police Cadets vs the Ice Dancers) are about as interesting as Total Drama has ever reached in terms of rivalries, certainly better than anything Pahkitew Island or anything besides the OG series and World Tour had.  And the relationship that grows between Noah and Emma is just so wholesome and sweet.  Both care strongly about each other, go through good and bad emotions and yet do everything they can for the sake of the other person.  It's sweet to see Noah go from being just a snarky know it all and into a more dynamic character.  Just a solid show overall that really had no reason being this good.  

2. Total Drama Island 

Total Drama Island just fascinates me to such a degree.  I will never understand just how this show ended up being such an important part of my youth.  This was the last cartoon I religiously watched before reaching my teenage years and moving on to Anime.  And I will never look back.  It has basically every teenage cliche you can get rolled into one show, but many of the characters (not all of them) develop lives of their own.  Whether it be the Bad Boy with the heart of gold in Duncan, the goody goody girl gone rogue in Courtney, the Regina George character in Heather, the Disney Princess/wannabe goth in Gwen or even the more bonkers characters like Izzy or Owen.  This show's charm is from it's uniqueness.  There is no other show like it (save for the multitude of spinoffs) and I am glad this and Avatar the Last Airbender were the last cartoons I watched until the renaissance in the mid 2010s.  

The best aspect of the show is kinda hard to explain.  I guess you could say how unpredictably predictable it was, if that makes sense.  I mean, we all know they will keep Heather in the competition as long as they need her to be in (basically the Final Three).  We all know Gwen and Trent will get together, that Duncan won't be able to maintain his fully punk facade for too long and other things.  But the journey we take to getting these characters to their destination makes it so engaging.  Heather's defeat is so cathartic, as is the final showdown between Gwen and Owen and the show even manages a few surprises (Harold and Leshawna's relationship always shocks me even though I know its coming).  To put it bluntly, this show soared to heights no Teletoon show had before, at least here in the states.  

1. Total Drama World Tour 

Take all of the good things in Total Drama Island, replace the island with a military plane that goes around the world and add in some surprisingly well written songs and you get the single greatest thing to ever come out of the Total Drama franchise.  I mean, wow.  I forgot just how amazing this show was.  Even at it's lowest points (Blainely being involved at all was just dumb as was the over reliance on the DJ cursed subplot) this show is a subversive masterpiece.  The music is surprisingly strong.  I can only think of one or two songs that didn't work and they only last about 30 seconds or so.  But there are so many banger songs that they carry this show almost as well as the writing does.  

And the writing is superb.  Whether it be Cody the creeper getting his own stalker after being weirdly obsessed with Gwen, the love triangle between Duncan, Gwen and Courtney, or especially the intense love/hate relationship between Heather and Alejandro, the characters and writing are top notch.  Alejandro even supercedes Heather's cruelty in Season 1 with all of his seduction, deception and betrayals.  I think the only characters eliminated without his input are Ezekiel and Sierra.  Everyone else is booted out with his consent or because of his scheming.  And his only true rival in the game is Heather herself, which makes rooting for a monster like her to win just because he's even worse all the more interesting.  Easily the best Toral Drama show out there and it;'s not even close.  

BTW, the best song in the show is clearly "We Built Gwen's Face", the perfect parody of an ABBA song on top of being both well written and useful to the plot of the show.  

Top 20 Favorite Christmas Specials (TV and DTV)

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)

I have a bizarre fascination with this movie.  Whereas the DTV movies Disney put out like The Little Mermaid 2 or The Fox and the Hound 2 are so bad and unmemorable that we can just put them in the back of our mind and never think of them, there are some that stand the test of time.  Sometimes for legitimate reasons of quality, but in some cases for the sheer chaos it instills.  Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is one of these films.  It is terrible, but in the same way that The Room or Ryan's Babe are terrible.  It's a hilariously awkward and bad movie.  I know I've been harsh on this movie in the past, but you know what, I think I can live with it.  

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) 

Hey, another Disney property.  It's no coincidence that Recess is on a Top List of any kind.  After all, it was one of the most important mainstays of the Disney's One Saturday Morning lineup from 1997 until the show's wrap up in the early 2000s.  And their Christmas episode (as well as the DTV movie that has it and a few other episodes packaged into it in Miracle on 3rd Street) is just another example of why cartoons in the 1990s just felt better than they were in eras before and since.  Whether that remains true is up for debate, but they at least knew how to appeal to us kids.  

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)

 You ever think you might want to see the plot of The Little Mermaid told without merpeople?  Well, too bad.  Rankin-Bass gave us a unique spin on a classic myth of a magical spirit that gives us the cold we either love or hate.  It's one of the more popular specials they made, but not quite up to snuff with the likes of Rudolph, Frosty or Year Without a Santa Claus.  

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)

I had a hard time deciding which of the Rugrats Christmas specials I would use on this list and even came close to putting the Hanukah Special on here as well.  In the end, I chose "Babies in Toyland" because of just how inventive and imaginative of a story it is.  It is a special that I always think of when I'm imagining Rugrats in my head.  

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)

One of the important lessons about the Holiday Season that one should keep close is that the Holidays aren't about personal betterment, but about how to care for and treat those we care strongly for.  And this episode of one of the best cartoons of all time is no exception to the rule.  

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) 

No, not even the most beloved and adored Holiday us earthlings could possibly enjoy was safe from the likes of our favorite failed invader.  I never got to see much of this special as a kid, as my mother was very much opposed to this show, so I had to wait until it was on reruns on the Nicktoons Network.  But when I got to see it, I was as pleasantly happy as I was when I first saw The Nightmare Before Christmas as a kid, but for different reasons.  This one is completely unapologetic about what it is and I just love it for this reason.  

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)

It has taken me years to be able to find this one after I used to see it every year as a little kid.  This is one of the more unpopular Rankin-Bass specials for some strange reason I will never know.  It's got all the merits of some of the other specials, including those I couldn't just find room for on the list.  The reasoning for this being a lesser special makes no sense to me, but I guess I can live with it.  

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) 

Like Rugrats, Spongebob also has two different Christmas episodes to choose from.  But while I do enjoy the stop motion Spongebob Christmas Special from about 10 years ago, I think the original Christmas episode from Season 2 is the better one.  Why?  Well, it's got a bit more of the spirit of Christmas in it than the second one, which seemed more like a parody than anything.  This one is one of the best Nickelodeon specials they've ever done, and is only outdone by one other show's Christmas special.  

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 

I think Disney had their fingers on the pulse of an entire generation back in the 1990's, especially when it came to Christmas specials and movies.  And this one is no exception, with three short stories that all capture the true spirit of the holidays.  

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)

Boy am I going to get some hate for this one...

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 

Why is Winnie the Pooh so wholesome?  I mean, I keep asking myself this whenever I have him in countdowns.  Is it his sincerity?  His innocence?  Or is it just how he always seems to find the meaning of things when he has no idea what he's doing?  It makes complete sense for Winnie the Pooh to be involved in a Christmas story with this knowledge.  And while it isn't as beloved as some of the other Christmas Specials we see every year, I think this one belongs in the conversation with the best of the best.  

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)

Yes, believe it or not, Rankin-Bass can use both Traditional Animation as well as Stop-Motion.  Unfortunately, of the five Traditionally Animated Christmas Specials I can think of, this is clearly the superior of all four.  The other three are...well...more mixed in terms of quality.  "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" is okay, "Frosty Returns" is very meh, "The Night Before Christmas" is pretty good and "Cricket on the Hearth"...well...let's just pretend that one doesn't exist.  But good old "Frosty the Snowman" is one of the best Holiday Specials out there.  So much so that it's one of the few specials that plays on National Television every single year on CBS, whereas ABC and NBC get the other specials.  

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!)

Come on, you knew this one was going to be on here.  I mean, how could I get away with leaving one of the most emotional Nickelodeon Holiday Episodes off of the list?  Man, I don't think us kids appreciated just how good of a show Hey Arnold was during it's initial run.  It dealt with serious issues such as alcoholism, depression and in this episode, separation.  

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)

I don't think I've ever seen this one through to it's completion, because I always almost choke from laughter after being unable to breathe.  This isn't just one of the best Christmas Specials of all time, but it's also one of the greatest episodes of 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)

This one has been a part of my whole life, being one of the few Rankin-Bass specials I can remember word for word and would be so dejected if I ever missed it.  Fortunately, I own it, so now I can watch it whenever I want.  But if there is one Rankin-Bass special that towers over both Rudolph and Frosty in public approval, it's definitely this one.  

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 

I'm still impressed that within half an hour of runtime, Disney managed to make a Christmas Carol retelling that is fifty times better than the Jim Carrey one that's almost four times as long.  And the vastly superior one is the one starring Scrooge McDuck and freaking Goofy.  Come on, Disney.  You can see this, right?  

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)

This special has the opposite effect that Rudolph has on me, in that this one gets better every time I watch it.  I can't tell if it's just how much fun this story has with itself and it's source material, or just the warmth the whole special has.  Either way, there's a reason this one is as beloved as all of the other Rankin-Bass specials and is as awaited by millions every season as both Rudolph and Frosty.  

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 

While Chuck Jones was no longer working on the Looney Tunes cartoons by the 1960s, he still had a bit to offer us.  While some of what he did isn't as memorable or good as the Looney Tunes (AKA his Tom and Jerry cartoons being some of the weaker ones), he did produce one thing that stands out above the rest.  A Christmas special that debuted around the same time as Rudolph and another special we haven't discussed yet.  Though this is the first of many adaptations of the classic Holiday Themed Dr. Seuss book, it's without a doubt the superior one.  After all, while the Live Action one is okay, the Illumination Films one is just awful.  But hey, they are the bane of the Animation World so it doesn't really matter.  

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 

There has never been a more faithful and perfect adaptation of Charles Dickens' fabled story of Christmas salvation than a 1984 motion picture made solely for television.  The acting is top notch, the set pieces are well told and the characters are acting and in place the precise way they should be.  There isn't anything that outright makes Scrooge heel turn too quickly and his miserly and wicked ways are perfectly captured by George C. Scott.  I actually cannot say that there is a better version of this wonderful story, not even the Muppet Version, which is still a phenomenal retelling.  But there is something truly ambitious about this version, especially considering how much work they put into it for a Television Budget.  

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 

Well, this one was going to win no matter what I limited it to.  A Christmas Special so humble, so tranquil, made with such care and on such a tight budget and possessing the Christmas Spirit that makes the season brighter that no doubt makes this the greatest of them all.  And why not?  In a time when Christmas was becoming more commercialized and more about material gains than the spirit of the seasons, this I believe is the second coming of "A Christmas Carol".  After all, this story singlehandedly destroyed the Aluminum Christmas Tree industry and that's always a good thing.  

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.