I was watching earlier today on the Family channel (used to be Fox Family, but now it's the "ABC Family"?) a great Christmas special, The Year Without a Santa Claus. This is one of those stop-motion animation specials of Rankin & Bass, and it featured the classic songs, "Mr. White Christmas", and "Mr. Green Christmas", sung respectively by Snow Miser and Heat Miser. It was a pretty good story, but many people don't even remember the story...all they remember is those 2 characters and their songs. Anyway, it is a great show and my all-time favorite. I also liked Rudolph's Shiny New Year with that baby and the big ears and Red Skelton as Father Time. I could remember when those 2 specials used to be shown every year on TV like on ABC or CBS. Thank goodness that the Family Channel is showing them because it would be a travesty, IMO, if kids growing up today never got to see the Miser Brothers or Happy, the Baby New Year. So, what is your favorite holiday special - Christmas or other holiday?
I second the Peanuts specials because they were such a big part of my childhood, particularly the Christmas special. I used to watch it over and over again when I was six; it's fun to watch it now that I actually understand what's being said (except for the grownups, of course ) This is sort of antithetical to the topic, but I never really liked "A Christmas Story" or whatever it's called - that movie about the '50s kid with the Red Ranger BB gun. I concede thought that I haven't watched it all the way through, so I'm probably not giving it a fair shake.
Although I have to give a nod to various halloween specials, with christmas I just can't forget about all of the claymation I grew up on. The California Raisin's Christmas and has always been a stand out in my mind though. Also if Bill Murray's Scrooged counts, that goes on top.
Charlie Brown Christmas The Year Without a Santa Claus How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon, not the Jim Carrey movie)
Jeff I second that nod for the Grinch (cartoon version). I just couldn't get into the live movie. I also liked CBS Home for the Holidays special because they were trying to help kids find homes and inspire people to adopt.
