Top 10 Favorite Songs from Rankin/Bass Specials

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)

4. Jimmy Durante – Frosty the Snowman

3. Burl Ives – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

2. The Vienna Boys Choir – The Little Drummer Boy

1. Fred Astaire – Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

In closing, I wish you all a Happy Holidays!!

Top 10 Favorite Christmas Specials (Christmas Post Part 1)

The Christmas season is now upon us, the best time of the year. A time for family and friends and of course for many of us, this is also the time where we watch numerous Christmas specials and Christmas-themed movies. They’ve become such an iconic part of the season and we have had plenty of great specials and movies, both timeless classics and recent hits. So this month on Rhode Island Movie Corner, I’ll be listing both my Top 10 personal favorite Christmas specials and my Top 10 personal favorite Christmas movies. This will be a two-part post and today I’m delving into my Top 10 favorite Christmas specials of all time. There have been many, many Christmas specials over the years so if one of your favorites is on this list, the reason for it will mostly likely be because I haven’t seen it yet. And for the record, this is not a ‘Best of’ list; these are just my Top 10 favorite Christmas specials, the majority of whom I’ve seen on an annual basis ever since I was a kid. Finally, I want to note that in regards to the Christmas post I did last year on most of the Rankin-Bass specials, I assure you that this list will not be entirely dominated by those specials; in fact, only three of them made the Top 10. So without further ado, grab a seat in your favorite chair with your hot chocolate and/or eggnog as I give you my Top 10 all-time favorite Christmas specials. But first, some honorable mentions…

HONORABLE MENTIONS

As I just noted a few seconds ago, I didn’t want this list to be dominated by Rankin-Bass specials. So with that in mind, I’ll be starting off the Honorable Mentions sections with the three Rankin-Bass ‘runner-ups’ that missed the final cut. First up is one of the most iconic entries in the company’s filmography, ‘Frosty the Snowman’. I’ll personally admit that of the three most famous Rankin-Bass specials (SPOILERS: You’ll see both of them somewhere on this list) this is probably my least favorite of the three (not that there’s anything wrong with the special itself) but regardless of that it is still a Rankin-Bass classic. Then there’s ‘Jack Frost’, one of the funniest (if not the funniest) specials in the Rankin-Bass filmography highlighted by the hilarious villain Kubla Kraus, the wicked Cossack King. And finally there’s ‘The Year Without a Santa Claus’, which is actually remembered more for two of its side characters, the Miser brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser, than the actual special itself. Still, it’s another solid entry in the Rankin-Bass lineup thanks to the company’s usual top-notch stop motion animation, the great writing and strong themes of Christmas spirit and the spirit of giving, and of course the Miser brothers, who are undeniably the biggest standouts of the entire special.

As for the non-Rankin-Bass Honorable Mentions, I’ll start things off with the recent ‘Prep and Landing’ specials produced by Disney. This series focuses a special group of Santa’s Elves, more specifically the duo of Wayne and Lanny, whose job is to prep homes all over the world for Santa when he visits them every year on Christmas. There have two specials so far, the original ‘Prep and Landing’ from 2009 and ‘Naughty vs. Nice’ from 2011, along with a seven-minute short ‘Operation: Secret Santa’ that was released in 2010 with another special currently in the works. Both benefit from their solid premise and great animation and voice-acting and I am very eager to see what they do next with this franchise. Finally, there’s ‘Merry Christmas Drake and Josh!’ the series finale to one of my favorite shows when I was a kid, ‘Drake and Josh’, in which Drake Bell and Josh Peck starred as two boys who end up becoming brothers when their parents get married. In this special (technically a TV movie), the two of them get in trouble with the law resulting in them having to work to give a group of foster kids ‘the best Christmas ever’ in order to avoid going to jail. Fans of this sitcom will no doubt enjoy this special as it has everything that made the show great; humor, the great camaraderie between the two leads, and much more.

Starting things off at Number 10 are a pair of direct-to-video Christmas specials from Disney. Despite their ‘direct-to-video’ status, I do watch them every year because I really enjoy them both and I always love seeing the classic Disney characters.

10. MICKEY’S ONCE AND TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS

These two films both feature a series of Christmas stories starring the classic Disney characters; Mickey Mouse and his friends. ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’ was released in 1999 and is a traditionally-animated special while 2004’s ‘Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas’ was computer-animated, basically serving as the first foray for Mickey and his friends into computer animation (along with the Mickey’s PhilharMagic attraction at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World). As far as the animation goes, both are solid (as far as direct-to-video projects are concerned) and feature just the right amount of Christmas spirit and heartwarming moments that one would normally expect in a Christmas special. Actually before I begin I just want to talk about something interesting that happened to me when I was younger. One of the first DVD’s I ever remember owning (that my parents bought for me) was ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’. But here’s the thing… while the DVD had the correct packaging and the front of the DVD itself was for ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’, that DVD was for a completely different movie; ‘Thomas and the Magic Railroad’. This is the only time this has ever happened to me and to this day I’m still baffled over why this happened. Sound off in the comments section below if something like this has ever happened to you as well.

Anyway, there are three stories in ‘Once Upon a Christmas’. In ‘Stuck on Christmas’, Huey, Dewey, and Louie make a wish that it would be Christmas every day. Their wish comes true but it just ends up being that the same events of that Christmas day end up repeating themselves over and over and over again a la ‘Groundhog Day’. In ‘A Very Goofy Christmas’, Goofy tries to prove to his son Max that Santa does exist when Max’s faith in Santa starts to falter when their neighbor Pete tells him that he isn’t real. Finally, there’s ‘Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi’, which follows the same general plot of the short story ‘Gift of the Magi’ by O. Henry. Mickey and Minnie are looking to get each other Christmas gifts that go along with their prized possessions, Mickey’s harmonica and Minnie’s watch, respectively. But due to their financial troubles, both end up selling their prized possessions just to get each other their gifts but they realize that their love for each other is all that they ever need. The animation is really nice and while it admittedly can be a bit overly sentimental at times, that doesn’t bother me too much (I guess you can say I’m a fairly sentimental guy). My favorite segment of the three is probably the ‘Gift of the Magi’ story for its heart and emotionally poignant moments.

‘Twice Upon a Christmas’ ups the ante by having five stories, which are as follows. In ‘Belles on Ice’, Minnie and Daisy get into a fairly heated rivalry when the two perform in a local ice skating competition. ‘Christmas: Impossible’ centers on the trio of Huey, Dewey, and Louie who realize that due to their constant troublemaking, they are sure to end up on Santa’s naughty list this year. So with little time for them to clean up their act the old-fashioned way, they sneak up to the North Pole to try and put themselves on the Nice List. In ‘Christmas Maximus’, Max, now grown up after the ‘A Very Goofy Christmas’ story from ‘Once Upon a Christmas’, finds himself continually embarrassed by Goofy when he brings his girlfriend home for Christmas. ‘Donald’s Gift’, as the title suggests, focuses on Donald, of course, as he becomes more and more agitated by the holidays (specifically due to the constant playing of the song ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’), wishing only for peace and quiet and a good hot chocolate. ‘Mickey’s Dog-Gone Christmas’ closes out the group of stories with Mickey and Pluto, the latter of whom runs away to the North Pole after getting into trouble with Mickey while he was in the middle of decorating the house.

As far as the animation is concerned, I can’t really say it’s ‘as good’ as the animation in ‘Once Upon a Christmas’, which I mainly attribute to the fact that this is one of Disney’s first attempts at computer animation after taking a hiatus in regards to doing hand-drawn animation. I don’t think the animation is bad, for the record, it’s just that it’s more or less what you would expect from a direct-to-video release. As for the individual stories, ‘Belles on Ice’ was probably my least favorite as a kid (in fact, sometimes when I watched this, I skipped over it) and looking back on it, it still is. There’s not really anything wrong about it as it has some colorful animation/visuals but I realize that there’s not much about it related to Christmas unlike the other four segments. On the flipside, ‘Christmas: Impossible’ was my favorite growing up and it still very much is with its solid pacing and fun premise. One that is slowly becoming one of my favorites of the five is ‘Christmas Maximus’, which gets across a lot of heart and emotion which is impressive given that it might be the shortest of the five segments and is mostly non-dialogue as a song plays over the story. ‘Donald’s Gift’ and ‘Mickey’s Dog-Gone Christmas’ are also pretty solid too, with the former having many unique ways of playing the song ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ (watch the movie and you’ll know what I mean by that). Ultimately, I kind of prefer ‘Twice Upon a Christmas’ (mostly due to the fact I’ve watched it more times than ‘Once Upon a Christmas’ given the whole mislabeled DVD scenario I mentioned earlier) but I do feel that the first one is slightly better. Still, I do watch these two movies every year and I’m always a fan of watching stuff with the classic Disney characters.

Two Christmas specials from two of my favorite shows while I was growing up are on this list and the first comes in at Number 9 from one of my all-time favorites… SpongeBob SquarePants.

9. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: CHRISTMAS WHO?

On paper, the idea of a SpongeBob SquarePants Christmas special seems a little preposterous given that this is a series about a group of sea creatures. But even with that in mind, SpongeBob delivered a really nice little special in ‘Christmas Who’ which really looked into the idea of what a Bikini Bottom Christmas would be like. In this special, SpongeBob first learns of Christmas and Santa Claus through his friend Sandy Cheeks, the only land creature living underwater. So then he tells everyone else about it and they all get excited for Christmas, all except Squidward who of course is his usual grouchy self as he feels that it’s all just ‘a scam’. But everyone else in Bikini Bottom ignores this and goes on with their celebration… that is until Christmas Day when Santa doesn’t appear. With their enthusiasm now gone, Squidward initially revels in being right for once but after seeing how depressed SpongeBob gets about the whole situation, Squidward finally sees the error of his ways and works to set things right. This special features a nice little arc for the usually bitter Squidward, who I think it’s safe to say has some similarities to another famous Christmas figure (who we’ll get to in a little while) and despite the strange notion of sea creatures celebrating Christmas, it is still pretty fun to see everyone in Bikini Bottom get into the holiday spirit. And that is why ‘Christmas Who’ is another solid Christmas special, coming from one of my favorite animated shows of all time.

(P.S. I haven’t watched the other SpongeBob Christmas special, ‘It’s a SpongeBob Christmas’, at the time I’m writing this and, to be honest, given the current run of the show, I don’t really plan on checking it out, despite the fact that it was made in a style similar to Rankin-Bass with the stop-motion animation).

I’m going with a little more ‘mature’ Christmas special at Number 8. The best of this series’ Christmas specials for one primary reason that I don’t even want to spoil.

8. SOUTH PARK: WOODLAND CRITTER CHRISTMAS

There have been quite a lot of ‘South Park’ Christmas-themed episodes, a lot of which centered on the character Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo. But the episode that easily takes the cake for being the best of South Park’s Christmas specials is Season 8’s ‘Woodland Critter Christmas’, which is currently the most recent Christmas episode of the show… and it first aired a decade ago. Why is this one so great? Well, I can’t even tell you the main reason for this because I fear that doing so would spoil the episode. The plot involves Stan (referred to by the narrator (because it’s a Christmas special, of course and the reveal of who the narrator is truly is comedic gold) as the ‘boy in the red-poof-ball hat’) who comes across a group of talking woodland creatures who are celebrating the holidays. One of them is having a baby who the animals refer to as their ‘Savior’ but they reveal to Stan that they constantly come into conflict with a mountain lion who always eats the expecting mother so Stan tries to help them out. And really that’s as far as I can go with the plot without giving anything else away. The big twist revolving around the Woodland Critters is so hilarious showcasing how this special may seem like your average light-hearted Christmas special but in reality it isn’t and like with many of the other great South Park episodes, you really have to hand it to creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for their writing. Sure, it gets incredibly dark and sick at times, something you really don’t see with most Christmas specials, but like many of the other ‘South Park’ episodes, it’s also incredibly funny, which is why it’s at the Number 8 spot on this list.

Going back to the shows of my childhood, we have Number 7, a special that offers a very unique take on the concept of a ‘time loop’ story like ‘Groundhog Day’, ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, or the ‘Stuck on Christmas’ story from the aforementioned ‘Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas’.

7. FAIRLY ODDPARENTS: CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY

Like the ‘Stuck on Christmas’ story from ‘Once Upon a Christmas’, the first Christmas special from ‘The Fairly Oddparents’ also had a plot centered around what it would be like if Christmas happened every day. For those who haven’t seen the show before, it’s about a ten-year old boy named Timmy Turner who is granted a pair of Fairy Godparents in Cosmo and Wanda, who are able to grant his every wish allowing him to deal with his everyday problems. In ‘Christmas Every Day’, Timmy is incredibly eager about Christmas given that it is one of the only times of the year where he can spend time with his parents, who are rather neglectful towards him most of the time leaving him with his ‘evil’ (literally) babysitter Vicky. So Timmy ends up wishing that it could be Christmas every day. But the key thing about this special is how it handles the whole ‘Christmas Every Day’ concept. In ‘Stuck on Christmas’, it was done in a way similar to ‘Groundhog Day’ in which the day kept repeating over and over again. But here the day doesn’t actually repeat; instead, it’s just that every single day is Christmas which as we see soon starts to take its toll on everybody. Schools, banks, and supermarkets remain closed, Christmas Carolers have to make up new lyrics for the song ’12 Days of Christmas’ once they go past 12 days, and everyone tries to prevent Santa from delivering presents to them. Even the military tries to take him out, which is easily one of the funniest moments in the entire special.

That’s the biggest strength of this special, as it offers a really unique spin on the whole ‘Christmas Every Day’ storyline, showing that although the idea of every day being Christmas might sound nice, it will start to get on your nerves. Not only that, but this special shows that even Santa can be pressured by this due to the fact that he constantly has to make new toys for kids to the point where he has to try and combine various objects when he starts to run out of ideas. The first day of Christmas, Timmy has an ‘ocean’ of presents to open but a few days later, that ocean becomes just a tiny ‘puddle’ of toys. Also, it’s worth noting that all of the fairy godparents in the world give most of their magic to Santa during this time of the year so Timmy just can’t wish things back to the way they were. And then to top it all off, the other holiday mascots, like the Easter Bunny and the April Fool, try to get rid of Santa by basically ‘banishing’ him to the imaginary date of ‘February 33^rd’. Yeah this show can be pretty weird when you really think about it but as far as Christmas specials go this is another one of my personal favorites as it has the fun and imagination that made ‘Fairly Oddparents’ such a great show along with plenty of Christmas spirit.

Like I said before, I made sure that this list wasn’t going to be entirely dominated by Rankin-Bass specials. But at Number 6 we have the first of the three of their Specials that did make this list and while it may not be Number 1, I feel that this special is pretty much a masterpiece.

6. THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY

Growing up, I usually just watched the big 3 Rankin-Bass specials; ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, and ‘Frosty the Snowman’. It wasn’t until I got a little older when I really started to watch the other Rankin-Bass specials and ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ is easily one of the best of the non-Big 3 specials of Rankin Bass, if not the best of that group. Pretty much everything about this special is terrific. The animation is solid (as usual) and the narration by Greer Garson is excellent as is the performance of the title song by the Vienna Boys Choir, which is easily the best rendition of this classic holiday melody. Also, as is typical with many Rankin-Bass productions, the characters are of course incredibly memorable, from the Three Wise Men (all voiced by the same actor, Paul Frees, who also voiced Kubla Kraus in ‘Jack Frost’) to the ‘villain’ Ben Haramad to the Little Drummer Boy himself, Aaron. One of the best things about this entire special is that Aaron has a nice little arc in this as he learns to trust all humans once again after bandits killed his parents some time ago. All in all, it’s a really touching story with a heartwarming finale where Aaron performs on his drum for baby Jesus, which is a truly mesmerizing moment. All in all, this results in one top-notch effort from Rankin-Bass. It was followed by a sequel 8 years later in ‘The Little Drummer Boy Book II’ and while I can’t say it’s as good as the original, it’s still a pretty solid special highlighted by a scene-stealing performance by Zero Mostel as the leader of a band of Roman soldiers.

Another Holiday Classic takes up the Number 5 spot. We’ve all seen it and it’s fairly impossible not to like it.

5. A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

In some ways it’s fascinating to see this special become one of the most iconic Christmas specials of all time given that on paper it seemed like it was going to be a disaster. It was produced on a fairly minimum budget of $76,000 (later going $20,000 over-budget) and made in a very short span of time in just six months. But as Doug Walker (AKA The Nostalgia Critic) rightfully put it, this may be the reason why it is so good; because it isn’t trying to be something it’s not. It’s a very straight-forward story but one with a lot of heart critiquing the whole commercialistic side of Christmas, like how most of Charlie Brown’s friends get angry at him because when he told to go get a big aluminum Christmas Tree (which by the way I must ask… was that ever really a thing?), he go gets a small fir tree. But of course it was the thought that counts and as Linus puts it at the end, ‘all it needed was a little love’. To paraphrase something Doug said, this is a ‘No BS’ special and because of this, it leaves quite a lasting impression on everyone and is quite timeless. What more can be said about this true Christmas classic?

And yet another Holiday classic comes in at Number 4, this one from the minds of animator Chuck Jones and author Dr. Seuss.

4. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Animator Chuck Jones has quite an impressive filmography. He’s worked on multiple Looney Tunes shorts and was also responsible for the creation of iconic characters such as Marvin the Martian, Pepe Le Pew, and Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. He also directed the first major TV special based on the works of author Theodor Geisel AKA Dr. Seuss with ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’. It’s the tale of a surly curmudgeon known as the Grinch who lives on a mountain and hates Christmas, especially due to the fact that he has had to deal with the Whos living down in the town of Whoville, who, in contrast with him, absolutely love the holidays. Fed up with it all, he decides to ‘steal their Christmas’ by disguising himself as Santa Claus and sneaks down into the town stealing all of their presents, decorations, etc… There are plenty of good things about the special; the animation, the music, the writing of Dr. Seuss, and the dual performance of Boris Karloff in the roles of the Grinch and the narrator. Of course, I’m sure that many of us grew up with the works of Dr. Seuss so this might be one of the first specials most of you have ever seen and needless to say it’s another timeless Holiday Classic.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about my thoughts on the other major adaptation of this story… well… I’ll get into that next time… needless to say a lot of you are going to disagree with me when it comes to what I think about that one.

We’re heading back to Rankin-Bass for Number 3 and it’s a big one; after all, how can someone not love the one Christmas special that effectively made Rankin-Bass a household name.

3. RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

You really can’t go wrong with this one now, can you? We’ve all seen it, we all remember the characters, the songs, the animation, the sad moments, the happy moments, etc. It was Rankin-Bass’ first major stop-motion animated Christmas special and even though it’s now been half a century since its original release, it is still an undeniable Christmas classic. It has a great message of non-conformity showing how it’s okay to be different than others, shown through Rudolph’s journey as he is initially teased by the other reindeer because of his glowing red nose (to quote his father Donner, ‘his beak blinks like a blinking beacon!!’) but soon finds his true purpose in life to guide Santa’s sleigh when it seems like the worst blizzard of all time might end up ruining Christmas. Of course, there’s the other great characters in the special, like Hermey the Elf, who just wants to be a dentist, and of course everyone’s favorite prospector, Yukon Cornelius, who’s on the search for gold (GOLD!!!!!!! YA-HOO!!!!... (licks pickaxe) Nothing!). Hopefully this special lives on for another 50 years and even longer after that because it truly is one of the all-time best Christmas specials of all time. But wait, you’re probably asking, then why is it only number 3 on this list? Well, that’s because while I do love Rudolph, there’s another Rankin-Bass special that I love even more.

There have been many adaptations of the classic story that my Number 2 pick is also adapted from, but quite frankly this is my personal favorite of them all.

2. MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL

‘A Christmas Carol’ has easily been one of the most adapted stories of all time when it comes to film. There have been many films and TV movies based on Charles Dickens’ classic story, some going the traditional route while others do some things different, like having the film be a musical or, in the case of something like ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol’, have famous characters play the characters of the story. ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol’ is perfectly cast in regards to who is playing who; Scrooge McDuck as Scrooge (obviously), Mickey as Bob Cratchit, Jiminy Cricket, the Giant from ‘Mickey and the Beanstalk’, and Pete as the Three Ghosts, etc. Another great aspect of this special in particular is how it effectively condenses the whole story of ‘A Christmas Carol’ into a twenty-six minute short film. Sure, there are some elements of the story that aren’t in this version but it moves along at a solid pace and still has the emotional beats and heartwarming moments that show why this story is so iconic. Why else would it be adapted into either a film or a TV-movie so many times? I have a feeling this is possibly the first major adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ that a lot of people saw when they were younger, hence why it’s so timeless and that’s why it’s my personal favorite take on ‘A Christmas Carol’.   

And finally we have Number 1, which is not only my all-time favorite Christmas special, but my personal favorite from the Rankin-Bass lineup (yes, even more so than Rudolph). To top the list, we have…

1. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

It can be argued over which is the absolute best Rankin-Bass Christmas special of all time and ultimately while I still very much love ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’, my absolute favorite Rankin-Bass special, as it has been ever since I was a kid, is 1970’s ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, narrated by Fred Astaire in the role of mailman S.D. Kluger. It’s the tale of Santa Claus back when he was known as Kris Kringle and how he became known as Santa Claus as we learn many things like how he got his famous red suit or where he got his flying reindeer from. This special is incredibly well-paced, features the usual great stop-motion animation that Rankin-Bass was known for, and a great cast of characters. There’s Kris Kringle/Santa Claus of course, perfectly voiced by Mickey Rooney who has the right amount of kindness and warmth for the role. There’s also Keenan Wynn as the initially evil Winter Warlock, who turns out to be a pretty swell guy when his frozen heart melts (no ‘Frozen’ pun intended) and the funny bad guy in Burgermeister Meisterburger, voiced by Rankin-Bass regular Paul Frees. And then there’s the iconic songs including ‘Put One Foot in Front of the Other’ and ‘First Toymaker to the King’. The bottom line is that I love pretty much every aspect of this special and I think the writing is superb giving us a really fun look at the origins of Santa Claus, which is actually a more traditional take in this special compared to the other ‘origins of Santa’ special from Rankin-Bass, ‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus’, which was more like something out of ‘Lord of the Rings’, which is fitting seeing how it was written by ‘Wizard of Oz’ author L. Frank Baum. Still, there’s no denying the timeless nature of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, hence why it is my all-time favorite Christmas special.

So those are my Top 10 all-time favorite Christmas specials. Check back in soon for part 2 of this post, in which I list my Top 10 favorite Christmas movies.

Rankin-Bass Christmas Specials Retrospective

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

Well, I can’t talk about this one and not start by saying the best thing about the whole special; the mischievous brothers, Snow and Heat Miser. I mean, odds are that these two are the first things that come to mind when you talk about this special and for good reason. They are the standouts of the special, thanks to their fun rivalry, their clashing personalities, and their iconic musical numbers. But aside from them, the special itself is still pretty darn good. It’s a nice tale of keeping the spirit of Christmas alive for at first it seems like people no longer believe in it. This initially compels Santa to take the year off, along with the fact that he wasn’t feeling too well. Mickey Rooney returns to voice Santa and is once again excellent as he was in ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’. The special has its fair share of good songs, and the bit where they play ‘Blue Christmas’, where Santa reads a sad letter from a little girl, is both touching and sad at the same time. Obviously, this is a must-see if only because of the Miser brothers, but as a whole, the special is just as good as its two standout characters.   

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 31^st, 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!