TONY’S LIST OF CHRISTMAS TV SPECIALS YOU SHOULD TRY TO WATCH

I love Christmas! I love the entire season and the hope and joy it brings to so many people! I have many great memories growing up watching all the Christmas specials that were available to us. I found it sad that as I got older a lot of the Christmas specials had kind of disappeared from TV and I wasn’t able to share them with my own kids. Even classics like Rudolph and Frosty are hard to find if you’re not paying attention nowadays, and Charlie Brown isn’t even on TV anymore! That’s a a crime. With DVD and streaming services though you should be able find most of the Christmas classics you grew up on, and maybe some you forgot. One thing I love about these claymation stop motion shows is that the bad guys are scary looking beyond their cartoon exterior. I mean, take a close look at some of those creatures closely and they remind you of demons in your nightmares. With that is the wonderful songs that came with them like the Snow Miser/Heat Miser songs, Why Am I Such A Misfit, and Christmas In Kilarney. In fact, you can buy The Complete Rankin Bass Collection at retailers and at Amazon! So grab some Dolly Madison Zingers and beware of The Zinger Zapper, and hope that someone gives you a McDonald’s gift certificate book while you pour a pot of Folger’s coffee enjoying the fact that “Peter” made it home for Christmas.

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) – Duh. Also, Comet is a jerk.
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) If you can find a way around paying for it, even better.
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) These top four are really no-brainers.
• Frosty the Snowman (1969) Again, duh. Prof. Hinkle is comedic gold.
• Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970) A great telling of how Santa came to be and why he delivered toys. Catchy songs.
• ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) A story about a nerdy, jerk of a mouse and how he almost ruined Christmas for a town. Great song: Even A Miracle Needs A Hand.
• The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974) My personal favorite! So many people sing the Snow/Heat Miser song but don’t even remember where it came from.
• Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (1976) The true sequel to Frosty! Not that 90’s version that has make shift “Peanuts” characters and weak songs. Jack Frost is a jerk.
• Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976) Fun songs, weird adventures in different themed islands, and a terrifying bird!
• Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) If you don’t cry at one specific point you have no soul.
• Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) Rudolph and Frosty in an Avengers-like team up try to help save a circus and also defeat the wizard that drummed up the storm Rudolph helped Santa with.
• Jack Frost (1979) Jack Frost is not a jerk. He defeats the most insane Russian bad guy there ever was. For God’s sake his only friend is a puppet!
• Pinocchio’s Christmas (1980) Similar story only with a Christmas twist. For some reason Pinocchio has a slight New York accent.
• The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold (1981) Perhaps the most scary creature created by Rankin Bass is the banshee from this show. Nightmare fuel. Watch in full daylight.
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) Another Santa origin story. He is raised by a lion, he is attacked by scary claymation creatures, he almost dies in his sleep! Kids will love it and only be mildly scarred.