The Christmas season is upon us once again, and for many of us, that means one thing; watching all the great Christmas TV specials and films. From the classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story to more recent releases like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and The Polar Express, there are plenty of great Christmas specials to be found around this time of the year. But when it comes to the ‘best of the best’, I’m sure many will agree with me in saying that there’s nothing better than the classic stop-motion animated specials from Rankin/Bass Productions. I’ve talked about this legendary studio several times in the past, including not one but two separate retrospective-type posts on this site about their wide array of holiday classics. Yes, I’ll admit that these specials have aged quite a bit in various ways, but around this time of the year, they’re quite timeless in my opinion; like many others, I grew up with these specials and I hope to one day share them with my own children. But today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, I’m delving into one of the most underrated aspects of these specials, their music. If you ask me, the musical numbers of Rankin/Bass specials are just as great as the specials themselves. And who do we have to thank for a lot of them? That would be composer Maury Laws, who was Rankin/Bass’ primary music director for two decades. Beginning in 1964 with the one and only Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, he would go on to compose the music for almost all of these specials alongside Rankin/Bass co-founder Jules Bass. With that in mind, Mr. Laws and Mr. Bass, consider this post as a fond tribute to your finest work.
Now I only have two major ground rules for this list. The first is quite simple; one entry per special. Because, really, if I didn’t enforce that rule, then this entire list would be dominated by songs from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The other ground rule is one that I feel will make this particular list a bit more interesting. For this list, I will not be counting any of these specials’ ‘title songs’. In other words, this includes the likes of Burl Ives’ ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, Fred Astaire’s ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, and ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ as performed by the Vienna Boys Choir, just to name a few. The reason why I’m not including them on this list is because, let’s face it, these are easily some of the most famous Christmas songs of all-time. They’re so famous, in fact, that in some cases, the versions used in Rankin/Bass productions are arguably not even their most well-known renditions. For example, the often forgotten 1975 special The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow featured Angela Lansbury singing the tune ‘White Christmas’ which, of course, is best-known for the version of it that was sung by Bing Crosby from 1942. For this list, I wanted to honor the songs that are true Rankin/Bass originals. So, without further ado, I present to you my Top 10 favorite songs from Rankin/Bass’ beloved holiday specials.
10. CHICKEN TODAY AND FEATHERS TOMORROW (RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY)
We start things off with a song from Rankin/Bass’ 1979 feature-length special, Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July. The film served as a crossover between the studio’s two biggest icons, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. And while I admittedly find it to be one of the weaker Rankin/Bass specials, mainly due to a gloomy second act in which the beloved reindeer is framed for a crime that he didn’t commit, it’s still worth watching for that good old-fashioned Rankin/Bass charm. A good chunk of that charm comes courtesy of the special’s best supporting character, Lilly Lorraine, voiced by the legendary actress/comedian Ethel Merman. The owner of a seaside circus, Lorraine gets many of the special’s best lines and is even the one who ends up defeating the main villain Winterbolt. How? By throwing her pistols at him, thereby destroying his staff! But I’m getting off track here… from this special, I’ll be going with the song ‘Chicken Today and Feathers Tomorrow’, and before any of you wonder about that title, it’s an old expression that explains how sometimes you have great days and sometimes you have bad days. Sure enough, this applies greatly to the context of this song, which Lorraine sings to Rudolph after the circus is set up for its next performance and Rudolph remarks that “running a circus is no easy job”. Not much more to say here other than the fact that it’s a fun song performed by an equally entertaining supporting character. And really, who better to sing a song like this than one of the most celebrated stage actresses of her time?
Runner-Up: Just barely missing out on being its special’s candidate for this list is ‘Don’t Let the Parade Pass You By’ which, as the title suggests, is sung by Lilly Lorraine during her circus’ big parade. Simply put, it’s another fun song performed by the legendary Ethel Merman, who also sung this special’s rendition of ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’.
9. EVEN A MIRACLE NEEDS A HAND (TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS)
In 1974, Rankin/Bass produced a special that was based on the classic poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Instead of being a simple retelling of the poem (because let’s face it, it would only be like five minutes long if that was the case), the special focuses on a small town in New York named Junctionville that tries to get back on Santa’s good side after an angry letter written to him causes him to threaten the town with the possibility of being ignored on Christmas Eve. In order to appease St. Nick, a special musical clock tower is built by the town’s clockmaker, Joshua Trundle (voiced by Joel Grey). Unfortunately, the clock ends up malfunctioning, therefore making it seem unlikely that Santa will come to Junctionville on Christmas Eve. Despite this setback, however, Trundle assures his kids that everything will be all right with the song ‘Even a Miracle Needs a Hand’. As the title implies, Trundle explains to his kids that miracles can happen as long as they do all that they can to ensure that it will happen. In other words, this song is all about keeping the Christmas spirit alive, which I think is a nice message for this time of the year. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this song is the fact that it would later appear in, of all things, South Park. Yes, in the Season 4 episode ‘A Very Crappy Christmas’, Kyle sings this song to Stan and Kenny when they find themselves in an equally hopeless situation. There’s even a point where Joshua Trundle’s face is juxtaposed over Kyle’s face. I guess it just goes to show that while ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas may not be the most famous Rankin/Bass special ever, it still has its place in pop culture history.
Runner-Up: The other big song from this special is ‘Give Your Heart a Try’. The song is performed by the other main character of the film, Father Mouse (George Gobel), when he tries to convince his son Albert, who is revealed to be the one who wrote Santa the bad letter (in which he claims that Santa isn’t real), to see the error of his ways. Like ‘Even a Miracle Needs a Hand’, it’s another charming melody that’s all about getting into the Christmas spirit.
8. I NEVER KNOW WHAT GIFTS TO BUY, DO YOU? (PINOCCHIO’S CHRISTMAS)
1980’s Pinocchio’s Christmas is, understandably, one of the more obscure entries of Rankin/Bass’ filmography. Heck, it wasn’t until just a few years ago when I myself finally watched this special for the first time. Even with that in mind, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite enjoyable. In this holiday-themed spin on the classic story of the wooden puppet who strives to become a real boy, Pinocchio finds himself in yet another troubling situation when he tries to get a gift for Geppetto. And as it turns out, Geppetto is having some problems finding the right gifts himself. Thus, we have the song ‘I Never Know What Gifts to Buy, Do You?’, a ‘duet’ between Geppetto and his mirror reflection (don’t ask, it’s Rankin/Bass…) that allows the two of them to vent about the struggles of getting the perfect gifts for Christmas. And they practically cover everything in this song when it comes to gift-buying woes, from buying sweaters that will just get returned later to books that have already been read. Plus, whenever Geppetto comes up with a potentially good idea for a gift, his mirror reflection immediately shoots it down knowing that it isn’t that good of an idea. It’s a surreal sequence, for sure, but it’s easily one of the best parts of the special thanks to large part to Geppetto’s voice actor, George S. Irving. And if that name sounds familiar to you, then that’s because we’ll be getting to his other big Rankin/Bass character later on in this list.
Runner-Up: Another memorable song from this special is ‘It’s the Truth’. This song is performed by the Fox and the Cat to Pinocchio when they try to convince him that they can be trusted. As the lyrics state, they assure him that they’re telling the truth and will only be proven wrong if ‘lightning strikes them down’. Sure enough, during this sequence, the cat repeatedly gets struck by lightning whenever that lyric is sung.
7. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY BOOK II)
While it’s not necessarily as good as its predecessor, 1976’s The Little Drummer Boy Book II is still a decent follow-up to Rankin/Bass’ classic tale of the Little Drummer Boy named Aaron. And one of the main contributing factors to its success comes in the form of its main antagonist, the greedy Roman general known as Brutus. Voiced by Zero Mostel AKA Max Bialystock in Mel Brooks’ comedic classic The Producers (the original one from 1967), Brutus is a delightfully over-the-top antagonist who spends most of his time yelling at his lieutenant Plato (“PLATO, YOU FOOL!!”) and forcing the people of Bethlehem to pay their taxes. This includes a bell maker named Simeon who has crafted a special set of silver bells to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. These bells end up getting taken by Brutus and his gang and, thus, the main plot of the special sees Aaron, Simeon, and the Wise King Melchior trying to get them back before they’re melted down. Whilst camped out for the night, Brutus proceeds to teach his men about the early days of commerce, when people traded items with each other in exchange for what they needed during a time when money did not exist. And thus, we have the song ‘Money, Money, Money’… admittedly, there’s not much more to say about this song other than the fact that it’s a fun, underrated villain song that’s performed excellently by Zero Mostel.
There’s no Runner-Up pick for this special, folks, as ‘Money, Money, Money’ is basically the only original Rankin/Bass song in it. There is the classic melody ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ that is performed at the end of the special, but I can’t count that here because it’d go against my ground rule of not using any ‘famous’ Christmas songs in this list.
6. WHY CAN’T THE ANIMALS SMILE? (THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY)
And now we move onto the original Drummer Boy special from 1968 which, as I alluded to in the previous entry, is easily one of Rankin/Bass’ best specials. It’s the heartwarming story of a young farm boy named Aaron who must learn to let go of his hatred for humanity after his mother and father were killed by bandits. It all begins when Aaron becomes the unwilling captive of a greedy street performer named Ben Haramed, who brings him to the city of Jerusalem to perform in his traveling caravan. However, as it soon becomes clear, the performers that he’s hired aren’t very good, thus putting Aaron in charge of saving their show. And despite Aaron’s hatred for humanity, he does manage to put on a charming performance as he uses his animal friends in a delightful little number titled ‘Why Can’t the Animals Smile?’ During this number, he proceeds to list off all sorts of animal anachronisms, from a grinning gator to a giggling gaggle of goose. Sadly, this charming moment ends on a gloomy note as Aaron starts to recognize the faces of those who killed his family in the crowd, and after he lashes out of them for ruining his life, Aaron and the caravan are forced to flee from the city. Despite this somber ending, though, this musical number was a much welcome light-hearted moment in what is generally one of the more serious Rankin/Bass specials.
Runner-Up: Another outstanding song from this special is ‘One Star in the Night’. It plays during the moment when Aaron and his animal friends notice the Christmas Star and then proceed to follow its light to the city of Bethlehem. It’s a powerful scene, for sure, and just like the special’s title song, this tune is performed phenomenally by the Vienna Boys Choir.
5. WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD WE LIVE IN (RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR)
I must admit that it was surprisingly rather hard to pick just one song from Rankin/Bass’ 1976 special Rudolph’s Shiny New Year. Now with that said, yes this follow-up to the original Rudolph isn’t really much of a Christmas special. As the title suggests, it’s more focused on the celebration of the New Year. Despite this, though, the special still benefits from creative production design, a great cast of characters, and, of course, great songs. And as for the song that I’m featuring on this list, I’m going to go with the one performed by the narrator Father Time (voiced by legendary comedian Red Skelton) as Rudolph and friends explore the medieval island of 1023, ‘What a Wonderful World We Live In’. For those who haven’t seen this special before, the plot involves Rudolph traveling to a magical locale known as the Archipelago of Last Years to rescue the Baby New Year so that he can be returned in time for the New Year to happen. Each island in the Archipelago is run by former Baby New Years and, thus, resembles the world that they had resided in back in their day. In the case of the island of Sir 1023, a loud and proud knight voiced by Frank Gorshin (AKA the Riddler from the original Batman TV series starring Adam West), it is home to all the classic fairy tales from Cinderella to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Sure enough, these beloved stories provide this musical number with some excellent imagery; plus, Red Skelton’s got a great singing voice, which is used to full effect in this special as he also sings a few other songs in it including its rendition of ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’. In short, this and the many other great songs from this special are one of the main reasons why Rudolph’s Shiny New Year is one of my personal favorite Rankin/Bass specials.
Runner-Up: For this special, my runner-up pick goes to ‘The Moving Finger Writes’, which is sung by Father Time as he explains to Rudolph the process of how the Baby New Year grows up over the course of a year before they pass on the role to their successor. It’s a nice song that features some great imagery as we see a Baby New Year grow older with each passing month. Sadly, this song has been cut from the special’s current TV edit along with quite a few other scenes, therefore making Rudolph’s Shiny New Year one of the most truncated Rankin/Bass specials currently airing on TV.
4. THERE’S THE RUB (JACK FROST)
Rankin/Bass’ 1979 special about the titular winter sprite who yearns to become human is one of my personal favorite entries in the studio’s lineup. This is due in large part to the fact that it’s one of their funniest specials thanks to a lot of excellent dialogue. And as for the MVP of the entire special, that honor would go to its main antagonist, Kubla Kraus, the wicked Cossack king. Right from the get-go, we learn that he is the evil tyrant of the peaceful town of January Junction, forcibly taxing its residents to the point where the townsfolk have to rely on frozen coins made from icicles to use as money during the winter season. However, as we soon learn, Kraus is more of a goofy antagonist as it’s established that he has been ostracized by his fellow Cossacks. Thus, he now spends most of his time alone in his castle, where his only companions are his ventriloquist puppet Domi and his army of mechanical soldiers known as Keh-knights. And it is in this castle of his that we get the song ‘There’s the Rub’, during which Kubla Kraus reflects upon how he could’ve been a ruler wherever he went were it not for something that always prevented him from doing so (e.g. he could’ve been a Rajah, but couldn’t find any elephants to own). This accurately reflects the title of the song, which is an old proverb (similar to ‘Chicken Today and Feathers Tomorrow’ from earlier) that is meant to express this very situation. And it’s all bolstered by a terrific performance from Rankin/Bass regular Paul Frees in the role. In short, while Kubla Kraus may be more of a silly antagonist than a sinister one, he’s still one of Rankin/Bass’ most memorable villains, and this song is one of the main reasons why.
Runner-Up: Going from the main antagonist to the main protagonist, we have Jack Frost’s big solo ‘It’s Lonely Being One of a Kind’. The titular hero sings this song when he begins to express a desire to become human, having become lonely due to the fact that he’s unable to interact with humans as the winter sprite that he is.
3. WE’RE A COUPLE OF MISFITS (RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER)
And now, we finally return to the original Rankin/Bass classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Let me tell you, it was hard to pick just one song from this special because its entire soundtrack is excellent. There’s ‘Silver and Gold’, sung by Sam the Snowman after the introduction of Yukon Cornelius (“The Greatest Prospector in the North!!”), and ‘There’s Always Tomorrow’, a soothing melody sung by Rudolph’s love interest Clarice to help cheer him up after he’s ostracized by his fellow reindeer because of his glowing red nose. There’s the Elves’ jolly choral number ‘We Are Santa’s Elves’, in which the Head Elf suddenly has a different voice for some undisclosed reason, and ‘The Most Wonderful Day of the Year’, sung by the residents of the Island of Misfit Toys. But for this list, I’m going with the anthem sung by main protagonists Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Hermey the Elf, ‘We’re a Couple of Misfits’. This song is played three times in the special, with the first two instances being more somber in tone. First sung by Hermey and then by Rudolph, the song is first used to establish their outcast status in society. Instead of being one of Santa’s elves, Hermey dreams of becoming… a dentist. And in the case of Rudolph, as we all know, he’s teased because of his glowing red nose. It all culminates in the two of them meeting up and deciding to stick together as the misfits that they are, resulting in one more performance of the song. And because they’re no longer embarrassed about what makes them different from everyone else, the song now adopts a more upbeat attitude that ties in nicely to the special’s main theme of being proud of who you are regardless of what others may think.
In short, Rudolph and Hermey’s duet is easily one of the best moments in the special… it’s a shame, then, that the version that currently runs on CBS every year is an inferior and messy rendition of it (I'll be providing the link to it here for reference). You see, one year after the special originally aired in 1964, a different musical number was used instead of ‘We’re a Couple of Misfits’, ‘Fame and Fortune’. Featuring new animation (as evident from Hermey’s radically different eyebrows), this sequence was used in the television broadcast for more than three decades until 1998, when the ‘We’re a Couple of Misfits’ sequence was edited back in. However, starting in 2005, a choppier version of the musical number started being used. While it still retained the ‘We’re a Couple of Misfits’ song, the audio was spliced with the animation from ‘Fame and Fortune’ and, simply put, these visuals do not match up with the song in the slightest. In fact, the whole special suffers from some extremely choppy audio and visual editing. So, what to do about this, then? Well, while I’d hate to suggest the idea of going against the tradition of watching this timeless classic on TV, the sad truth of it all is that the best way to view Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at the moment is by watching it on Blu-Ray/DVD. Because from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like CBS is planning on making any new changes to the TV edit anytime soon.
Runner-Up: Despite what I said before about the special’s entire soundtrack being excellent, I’m only going to list one Runner-Up pick from it in order to keep things fair, and in this instance, that honor will go to ‘The Most Wonderful Day of the Year’. As noted earlier, it’s a charming little number that allows us to meet all of the unique residents of the Island of Misfit Toys, from a cowboy that rides an ostrich to a buh-buh-buh-boat that can’t stay a-a-a-afloat.
2. SNOW MISER AND HEAT MISER’S SONGS (THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS)
Ah yes, we can’t forget about this classic duo now, can we? While I will argue that there is more to Rankin/Bass’ 1974 special The Year Without a Santa Claus than just these two, there’s no denying the fact that the bickering brothers Snow and Heat Miser are hands down its greatest selling point. And, of course, that is primarily thanks to their iconic song numbers, which occur during the second act when Mrs. Claus and company try to broker a deal between the two so that Heat Miser will allow it to snow in the town of Southtown. These two songs are great show-tune style numbers that are tailored perfectly to each of their personalities while still sharing the same overall composition. In the case of Snow Miser (Dick Shawn), who’s established as having a friendly relationship with Santa Claus and his wife, his version of the song is more lively and upbeat, showcasing that while he can be quite a troublemaker sometimes, he’s not exactly a malevolent being. But as for Heat Miser (George S. Irving; told you we’d come back to him), his version of the song comes off as being a bit more sinister, especially considering that his version runs at a slower tempo. And really, his remark about how whatever he touches melts in his clutch sounds a lot darker compared to when Snow Miser remarked that things turn to snow in his clutch (which are then shown to regenerate soon after). Despite this, however, Heat Miser is still a fun, over-the-top antagonist and, of course, it’s primarily thanks to his big song and dance number. In short, who doesn’t love the Miser brothers?
P.S. And yes, these songs are still great even after Snow Miser’s song ended up appearing in Batman and Robin (Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze: “Come on, SING! Louder, come on, Sing, Sing, SING!”)
Runner-Up: To answer your first question, yes there are more songs in this special aside from Heat and Snow Miser’s songs. Just to name a select few, there’s the charming little melody ‘I Could Be Santa Claus’, sung by Mrs. Claus (Shirley Booth, who also serves as the special’s narrator) as she considers the possibility of taking the place of her sick husband on Christmas Eve. There’s also ‘It’s Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie’, sung by the Mayor of Southtown when he begins to celebrate the possibility of it snowing for the first time ever in his town. But for this Runner-Up pick, I’m going to go with ‘I Believe in Santa Claus’. This sweet tune occurs when Santa meets with a young boy named Iggy and his family. When Iggy remarks that he no longer believes in Santa, the big guy himself begins to help reaffirm the young boy’s beliefs. Iggy’s father also chimes in during the song, reflecting upon a time when he also stopped believing in Santa; that is, until one Christmas Eve night, when he saw him with his very own eyes.
1. PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER (SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN)
Yeah, I know that this is a totally obvious pick, but it’s hard to deny how excellent of a song that this is from Rankin/Bass’ 1970 take on the origins of Santa Claus. As I’ve stated numerous times before, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is my personal favorite Rankin/Bass special. It’s quite arguably the one Rankin/Bass special that I’ve watched the most of ever since I was a kid. It has a great story, lovable characters, and my all-time favorite Rankin/Bass soundtrack. And, of course, it’s all headlined by arguably the most famous original Rankin/Bass tune, ‘Put One Foot in Front of the Other’. It occurs during a pivotal moment in the special when a young Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney) begins to thaw the icy heart of the sinister Winter Warlock (Keenan Wynn). All throughout this special, we’ve seen glimpses of the terrifying villain, all building up to his eventual confrontation with Kris in the second act. However, when said confrontation occurs, Kris manages to turn old Winter good by giving him a toy train as a gift, resulting in the ancient wizard completely shedding his sinister appearance. But when Winter notes that it’d be difficult to ‘really’ change, Kris assures him that it can be done, thus leading into this timeless gem of a sequence. And really, this entire song and sequence have such a great arc to them, as it starts with an unsure Winter slowly but surely embracing his ‘rebirth’ before ending with him confidently marching hand in hand with Kris. You can’t get much more perfect than that, folks, and that is why ‘Put One Foot in Front of the Other’ is my all-time favorite song from the wide plethora of classic Rankin/Bass specials. Simply put, it’s a phenomenal number performed excellently by Mickey Rooney as one of the best Santa Clauses ever seen on film or TV.
Runner-Up: Good lord, where do I start? ‘The First Toymaker to the King’, which establishes the Kringle family’s history as toymakers, its sinister counterpart ‘No More Toymakers to the King’, sung by the special’s main villain Burgermeister Meisterburger when he begins to initiate his ban on toys, and so much more. Ultimately, I decided to go with the sweet tune that is ‘My World is Beginning Today’. This is the big solo for Miss Jessica, the schoolteacher of Sombertown who ends up falling in love with Kris, resulting in their marriage and her becoming Mrs. Claus. The song occurs right after Kris, Winter, and the Kringles are captured by the Burgermeister; when Jessica fails to get them released, she realizes that the time has come to move on from her past life and to be with Kris. It’s a truly poignant and emotional song that’s performed excellently by Robie Lester, Jessica’s voice actress. However, as I’m sure many of you know, this song has been cut from the special’s current edit on ABC. Why? Well, when you watch the clip, you’ll notice that it’s one of the trippiest sequences to ever come from a Christmas special. Still, like I said before, it is a genuinely nice song, and it can still be seen on the edit of the special that airs on Freeform. However, the Freeform version does cut out a few other scenes, namely the one where Burgermeister burns a pile of toys. Thus, just like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the only way to view this special in its original, uncut format at this time is by buying it on Blu-Ray/DVD.
And those are my Top 10 Favorite original Rankin/Bass songs. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own Rankin/Bass memories. Now, back in the intro, I noted that I wasn’t going to count Rankin/Bass’ title songs in this list given their worldwide popularity outside of the specials. Despite this, however, I still wanted to honor these classic renditions of these timeless holiday tunes. With that in mind, here’s a quick Top 5 of my favorite Rankin/Bass title song performances.
5. Angela Lansbury – White Christmas (from The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow)
In closing, I wish you all a Happy Holidays!!
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