Christmas will soon be upon us, and to celebrate the holiday
I decided to go ahead and do a Christmas-themed retrospective. At first, I was
initially considering doing lists of both the Top 10 Christmas Movies and Top
10 Christmas Specials, but I decided that I will wait for next year to do those
two lists. Instead, I’ll be looking at a bunch of specials that are near and
dear to many of us… the stop-motion animated television specials produced by
Rankin-Bass, the company founded by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. Sadly,
the company shut down in 1987 but their specials, despite the fact that most of
them were made nearly five decades ago, still stand as some of the best
Christmas specials ever. So without further ado, it’s time to look back at the
Rankin-Bass specials.
I’m not really going to be looking at these specials in any
real chronological order (in other words, by the years that each special came
out). Instead, I’ll be doing it more in the order that I personally experienced
them. Also, I’m not sure if I’ve seen every Rankin-Bass Christmas special, so
this is not really a ‘complete’ retrospective of their work. I won’t be
covering specials like ‘Pinocchio’s Christmas’ or ‘Nestor, the Long-Eared
Christmas Donkey’. However, for the most part, I have seen most of them, at
least the ones that most people will remember. Still, some of them I think are
rather underrated and are just as good as the most revered of their lineup. As
a kid, I really only saw three of these specials on a yearly basis; these three
in question are arguably the most famous of the company’s lineup. They are…
RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
Of course, we kick things off with the first of Rankin-Bass’
stop-motion Christmas specials and the one that effectively put them on the
map; ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, based on the song, written by Johnny
Marks, and the 1939 poem both of the same name. It’s currently the longest
running Christmas special and has now been running for 50 years and for good
reason. It probably has aged a bit since it first came out (again, like most of
these specials might be), but nevertheless it’s still a classic, one that many
of today’s parents will no doubt remember watching when they were kids, which
they’ll hopefully show to their kids, making this special quite timeless. It
has a nice story with a well-handled message of nonconformity, a whole bunch of
memorable songs (most of them sung by Burl Ives, who also serves as the
narrator, Sam the Snowman), and plenty of memorable characters. As for the best
of these characters, that’s easy. That honor goes to Yukon Cornelius, ‘the
greatest prospector in the North’ who’s out looking for gold… and then later
silver (he changed his mind). All in all, this is not only one of the best
Christmas specials, but one of Rankin-Bass’ best. In fact, it might just
actually be their best.
FROSTY THE SNOWMAN
Unlike most of the other Rankin-Bass Christmas specials,
‘Frosty’ is a traditionally animated special. Regardless of this change in the
animation style, it is another classic in the studio’s lineup. This is mainly
because of the main character, Frosty (voiced by Jackie Vernon, who would
reprise the role in the other Rankin-Bass specials that the character starred
in). He’s like Winnie-the-Pooh in that I find it impossible that anyone would
not like him. In fact, these two are even more similar in that while they’re
not that smart, they both are extremely likable and kind. This character is
what makes this special the classic that it is; I’ll admit that it’s not really
my personal favorite but nevertheless it is still a very good special.
Also, while this next one isn’t technically from Rankin-Bass,
I saw this special a lot during my childhood so I’ll include it as well.
FROSTY RETURNS
This was not made by Rankin-Bass. This was made by CBS and was
directed by Bill Melendez and Evert Brown, who are mostly known for directing
the ‘Peanuts’ specials. It may seem like this is a sequel to the original
special, but if you go into this for the first time expecting that, you’re
going to be disappointed. It bears little resemblance to the original; for
example, whenever Frosty loses his hat in this special, he doesn’t revert back
to being a normal snowman. Also, it seems like the people in the town of
Beansboro (where this special takes place, also not like the original) are
perfectly fine with the idea that a snowman is alive and walking around. Compare
this to the original where everyone in the town was startled to see a living
snowman. So, because of all this as well as an environmental message that,
let’s face it, is pretty heavy-handed, it seems like most people don’t really
like it that much and considering all of the things that I just mentioned, that
does make sense considering the original’s status as a Christmas classic.
So why am I including it in this retrospective then, you
ask? Well, for one thing, despite the fact that this is not Rankin-Bass, it’s
always packaged with the original both on TV and in the home video releases.
The whole situation of the owners of all of Rankin-Bass’ work is a little
complicated (from what I can gather, DreamWorks owns everything they made
pre-1974, and Warner Bros. owns everything after that), but basically CBS
currently owns the rights to ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and as I mentioned earlier,
they were responsible for this one despite the fact that this has little to do
with the original. Also, despite the fact that it is clearly not as good as the
original, I don’t think it’s that bad. Sure, I might be a little biased because
I saw this special a lot during my childhood but as for the special itself, I
think it’s harmless. I don’t think that there’s anything in this that’s bad for
children, and John Goodman does a really good job as Frosty, filling Jackie
Vernon’s shoes quite well. But while the original felt more like a true
Christmas special, this one kind of feels more like a Saturday morning cartoon
(in fact, I think I remember seeing this one time on a Saturday morning). So
basically, this special may not be that good, but it’s not that bad either.
Just don’t go into this expecting the same level of quality as the original.
You won’t find it here.
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ is my personal favorite out
of all of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. Is it the overall best in the
studio’s lineup? Probably not, but I just love this one for numerous reasons.
The story of Santa Claus is told in the style of a traditional origin story but
one that feels down-to-earth and not too overtly fantasy-like in nature. Again,
like most of these specials, it has a great collection of songs, including the
iconic ‘Put One Foot in Front of the Other’, a duet between Kris Kringle and
the Winter Warlock (or Winter as he later prefers); that one has become a
classic. It is kind of interesting to note that when this special is aired on
TV nowadays on ABC, they usually cut two songs from it namely to save time for
commercials, though one of the songs they cut, ‘If You Sit on my Lap Today’, I
kind of understand why because it is a little, um, rather politically incorrect
by today’s standards. However on ABC Family, the two songs are put back in,
albeit by having a couple of other scenes cut in its place. I guess you have to
stick to the home releases to see this whole thing in its uncut form.
Mickey Rooney does an excellent job in the lead role of
Kris, providing both the charm and kindness that one might expect from this
role, one that he would reprise in a couple other Rankin-Bass specials. But
like Kris, the whole cast of characters is memorable, from the previously
mentioned Winter (who actually starts off as a quite terrifying villain until
Kris warms his cold heart) to the main villain with the hilarious name,
Burgermeister Meisterburger (voiced by the talented Paul Frees, a voice actor
who, like Rooney, also appears in multiple Rankin-Bass specials though, in
Frees’ case, as different characters). This special also has one of my favorite
narrators out of all of these specials. Now to be frank, they all have pretty
good narrators, but S.D. Kluger (played by Fred Astaire) is my favorite. I
can’t really explain why, but I do like how he covers pretty much every aspect
of Santa’s origin, from how he began to put toys in stockings to where he got
his name. So in the end, I wouldn’t say this is the best Rankin-Bass special,
but this is probably the one that I come back to the most.
As I grew older, I began watching some of the other Rankin-Bass
specials; ones that I now appreciate just as much as the ‘Big 3’.
THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY
Here’s another one of my personal favorites from
Rankin-Bass. Why? Well, because I consider this special to pretty much be a
masterpiece. I can’t think of anything that is wrong with the special; the
stop-motion animation is great, the songs are great (especially the performance
of the title song by the Vienna Boys’ Choir, easily the highlight of this whole
special), and it has a terrific character arc for the main character, Aaron the
‘Little Drummer Boy’. Once the happy son of a shepherd, Aaron began to hate all
humanity after bandits attacked his family’s farm, resulting in him becoming an
orphan and it is only through his experience witnessing the birth of Jesus when
he begins to change his views on people. ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ is
still a classic and timeless special, but this one is just as good as that one.
In fact, dare I say it; it might be a tad bit better.
THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY: BOOK II
In 1976, Rankin-Bass produced a sequel to ‘Little Drummer
Boy’ in ‘The Little Drummer Boy: Book II’. Having just said that I am a huge
fan of the first special to the point where I’d argue that it just might be the
best Rankin-Bass special, what are my thoughts on the sequel? It’s good, but I
can’t say it’s as good as the original. Then again, the same can be said for
pretty much any sequel to a great film, despite some exceptions. Anyway, I’m
impressed that they were able to do a sequel to ‘Drummer Boy’ and I’m fine with
the fact that the animation looks different than it did in the original; it had
been a few years since that special was made. Zero Mostel is a scene-stealer as
Brutus, the leader of a band of greedy Roman soldiers who steal a bunch of
silver bells that were made in honor of Jesus’ arrival. My only complaint is
that for Aaron, they have a different actor than the original who sounds much
younger, which is a little jarring coming off of the original. Still, it’s an
enjoyable special that may not be as good as its predecessor, but it’s still
pretty good.
THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS
JACK FROST
‘Jack Frost’ (not to be confused with either the family film
starring Michael Keaton or the B-horror film about a killer snowman (no, I’m
not joking; that latter film does exist), both of the same name) is probably
the funniest out of all of the Rankin-Bass specials. That is mainly because of
the main villain, the wicked Cossack king Kubla Kraus (voiced by Rankin-Bass
regular Paul Frees). He may not be exactly menacing, but he is very funny. He
has this sidekick named Dummy, who is literally a ventriloquist dummy, a whole
army of robotic creatures (including his ‘horse’, Klangstumper, and an army of ‘Keh-Nights’),
and a fun musical number, ‘There’s the Rub’ (Rub-a-dub-a-dub-dub, the rub). He’s
the most memorable character in the special although admittedly everything else
is in it may not be as memorable as him. Still, it’s another very enjoyable
special from the Rankin-Bass lineup with a lot of humor but also a lot of heart
as well (the ending is quite touching).
RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR
For the first sequel to ‘Rudolph’, everyone’s favorite
red-nosed reindeer went from saving Christmas to saving the New Year. Sure,
this special may not exactly be Christmas-related, but it is still a pretty
good special as far as Rankin-Bass is concerned. This is mainly because of this
special’s really creative premise. Here, Rudolph goes on a quest to rescue
Happy, the Baby New Year, who ran away because he was ridiculed for his big
ears. If he is not returned by December 31st, then it will stay that
date forever. Happy runs away to a place known as the ‘Archipelago of Last
Years’, a group of islands where the Old ‘New Years’ retire when their time is
done. These islands are styled to resemble the year that they ruled in. For
example, the island belonging to 1023 (a knight voiced by Frank Gorshin;
probably the most memorable character in the whole special, mainly because he
shouts everything he says) is represented as a medieval land where all of the
fairytale characters (e.g. Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood) reside. This
special stands out because of all of the creative places, characters, and
designs that appear in it, and overall it’s one of my personal favorites from
Rankin-Bass for that reason.
FROSTY’S WINTER WONDERLAND
Now we go from Rudolph’s first sequel to Frosty the Snowman’s
first sequel; by that I mean the first ‘true’ special from Rankin-Bass, not
counting ‘Frosty Returns’. The two characters would each make one more
appearance in a Rankin-Bass special (that’s coming up next), but for now let’s
look at ‘Frosty’s Winter Wonderland’, another traditionally animated special
where we are introduced to Frosty’s wife Crystal (voiced by Shelley Winters).
As for the special itself, it’s okay. That’s the thing about this one; I don’t
think there’s anything bad in it, but at the same time there’s nothing in it
that really stands out aside from, once again, Jackie Vernon’s performance as
Frosty, who’s just as likable as always. It’s basically just your typical
sequel that is good, just not as good as the original. Still, it’s good enough
for the family to watch, though I think this one’s suited a little more towards
kids.
RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY
After they each appeared in two of their own Rankin-Bass
specials, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman would unite for
‘Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July’. Not only was this the snowman’s first
appearance in stop-motion, but at over 90 minutes, it’s practically a
full-length feature. Overall, it’s pretty good, but there are two things that
bug me about it. First of all, even though it features both Rudolph and Frosty,
it gets pretty dark at times. There is quite a bit of frightening imagery as
well, namely from the main villain Winterbolt and his minions; his pair of ice
dragons and his ‘genie’, which is pretty an ice version of the mirror from ‘Snow
White’, though a lot more freakier. Not only that, but for a long stretch of
the special, there’s a surprising lack of joy and cheer. This is because
Rudolph gets framed for a crime because he was tricked into doing it, resulting
in him becoming an outcast and losing the glow in his nose, effectively facing
his lowest of lows. It’s not like the original ‘Rudolph’ special; Rudolph experienced
some low moments, but they were only for a little while. Here, it goes on for
at least 8-10 minutes making that certain part of the special rather
depressing. That’s not something I want to see from a Rankin-Bass special. Now,
this isn’t a bad special. It’s cool to see Rudolph and Frosty on screen
together, especially considering that this is the only special where that happens.
However, the special itself sort of suffers from scary imagery and for being
rather depressing. Also, on a side note, I think this one might need a new
restoration as far as video and audio are concerned.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS SNOW
This is probably the most underrated out of all of the
Rankin-Bass specials. I say that because I have a feeling that even some of the
biggest Rankin-Bass fans might be unfamiliar with this one. Unlike the other
Rankin-Bass specials, I rarely see this one airing on TV. It wasn’t until last
year when I saw it for the first time and overall it’s a really nice special.
The story centers on a boy shepherd named Lucas who gets caught in a lightning
storm, becoming blind as a result of it. He is then taken in by a group of nuns
from the local abbey and, after being told about snow (having never seen it
before) by the head nun, Sister Theresa, Lucas wishes that he will be able to
experience it one day even if he would be unable to see it. Lo and behold, a
small Christmas miracle occurs when Lucas is chosen to be an angel in the abbey’s
annual Christmas pageant. The standout of this whole special is Angela Lansbury
as Sister Theresa. She imparts a sense of love and compassion into the role and
also does a really nice cover of Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’. If you’ve
never seen this one before, then I highly recommend you do because it’s just as
good as the other Rankin-Bass specials. Hopefully it gets more recognition in
the next few years.
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS
Finally, we have ‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus’,
which also serves as the final stop-motion animated special from the company;
it was released in 1985. Now, originally I wasn’t going to cover this special
in this retrospective (my original intro reflected that as an example of one of
the specials I hadn’t seen). But, I finally did see it so I decided to include
it as well. Like ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, this special is an origin
story of Santa. However, while ‘Coming to Town’ had a more traditional story,
this one has a lot more fantasy elements in it. That makes sense considering
that the story for this was originally written by L. Frank Baum, the author of ‘The
Wizard of Oz’. In this story, the man who would become Santa is raised by the
creatures of the forest of Burzee. The story is told by Ak, the Master
Woodsman, who tells the tale to a council of the Creatures of the Forest in
hopes that they will grant Claus immortality. I still sort of prefer ‘Santa
Claus is Coming to Town’, but then again this is the first time I’ve seen this
one. Still, I found this take on the story very interesting and this special
has a whole bunch of unique character and location designs. Overall, this
special delivers; like ‘Christmas Snow’, there might be a chance that this one
is also rather underrated, although it airs more frequently on TV. Still, if
you haven’t seen this one, I recommend checking it out if you’re interesting in
seeing a more fantasy-like take on the story of Santa Claus.
And with that, this Rankin-Bass retrospective has come to an
end. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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