Blast from the Past: Christmas Special Songs!

I haven't had much holiday cheer up yet. So, what better time than now? Some of these songs have left the realm of old holiday specials, and joined the regularly played Christmas tunes. Which is cool.





1. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch - From the Dr. Seuss classic, How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
2. The Who Song (Welcome Christmas) - This one is on the Christmas stations all the time, also from How The Grinch Stole Christmas
3. Christmastime is Here - From A Charlie Brown Christmas.
4. We're a Couple of Misfits - Rudolph and Hermey the gay dentist elf, from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
5. Frosty the Snowman - From the cartoon of the same name, by Jimmy Durante.
6. Heat Miser/Snow Miser Song - From The Year Without a Santa Claus, one of the Christmas specials that filled enough of the logic gaps in the Santa story to keep me believing for a couple more years.
7. One Foot in Front of The Other - From Santa Claus is Coming to Town, with Mickey Rooney and Keenan Wynn
8. Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus - Liar!

That's it for this week. More holiday cheer to come. Happy Monday!

Blast from the Past; Holiday Cheer Edition: Christmas Specials!

The Christmas fairies (both of us) blew in to our household this weekend, featuring a) a spectacular full-wrap of light grids on the big bush out front (eight packs of lights!), and a small display (with a smaller tree) on the coffee table. That's about it this year. We'll be in and out so much over the holiday, there's just no point going overboard. But it's brought the Christmas spirit to Greenlee Gazette with it. However, I'm still shaking some flu-bug symptoms and I'm a little tuckered out. So, I'm going a little easy on myself for this post.

Below are the full videos of every Christmas specials I could find. Not the songs, best parts, or opening themes, the whole episodes. I don't even know as I type this how many I can find, but I'll give it a go! This will save you the time and effort of finding the shows on TV or on video.

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964, Rankin-Bass)
2. Jack Frost (1979, Rankin-Bass)
 

3. Year Without a Santa Claus (1974, Rankin-Bass) Part I
4. Year Without a Santa Claus (1974, Rankin-Bass) Part II
 

5. Frosty the Snowman & Frosty Returns (1968, 1992, Rankin-Bass/Lorne Michaels)
6. Yes, Viriginia, There is a Santa Claus (1974, Bill Melendez)
 

Those are the biggies I could find.  I could only find bits and pieces (or Spanish language versions) of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and the original A Charlie Brown Christmas. There are lots of others, but these are--to me--the quintessential Christmas specials of my childhood. Hope you enjoyed 'em! In the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting numerous Holiday Cheer posts on the blog, so be on the lookout. Happy Monday, and Merry Christmas!

Blast from the Past: Christmas Special Songs!

How original is this? Kidding, it's a total punt. I worked an amazing number of hours doing my freelance work this weekend, so I'm flat out of oomph, if you know what I'm saying. But that doesn't mean this isn't a terrific vat of nostalgia to swim around in. Because it is. Particularly if you grew up around the years of say, 1968-1980. And if you didn't, you probably still know a who mess of them anyway. Enjoy!

And that, folks, is Christmas in the 1970s! The Rankin-Bass studio in particular is responsible for my belief in Santa Claus all the way into 4th grade. They explained away so many of the (ahem) story problems, such as flying reindeer and several other sticky points. And the music sure didn't hurt.

So that's it for this week. Have a happy Monday everybody!

Blast from the Past: Christmas Specials!

Postings to the blog have been light, I know. I've had a very busy weekend, even though we haven't started decorating for Christmas. Time just gets away from you. Even as I type this, there are several other things I should be doing.

So, my idea for this week's edition of Blast from the Past, was simply to post all of the classic Christmas specials I can find, in full! If I can find it, you'll see it below. Here we go. . .





The Year Without A Santa Claus (Rankin Bass) by theperminator


Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Part 1/5 Watch... by Kendrick4363745


Frosty The Snowman (Rankin Bass) by theperminator

Post-Holiday Cheer: Outtakes from Year Without a Santa Claus

This is hilarious. Off-color, slightly twisted, but hilarious.



Found at: AmericaBlog

Holiday Cheer: Raging Rudolph (Mad TV)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the Rankin-Bass classic stop-motion Christmas classic was on CBS last night. I missed the old spinning "Special CBS Presentation" animation. In fact, I changed the channel. I watched Rudolph last year, and I really think it's best enjoyed with a little more distance, to let the nostalgia build up.

Instead, I found a great spoof from Mad TV. Imagine Rudolph as interpreted by Martin Scorsese. . .

Holiday Cheer: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

I have a special affinity for the old 60s Rankin-Bass Christmas special, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Why? A couple of reasons, honestly. First is the character of Hermy, the elf that wants to be a dentist. Hermy has an unusual swoop to his hair, one that I share when I let my hair grow long enough. I was called Hermy by numerous people while I was growing up, and it used to irritate me quite a bit.

But as an adult, I kind of identify with Hermy. And that would sort of be the second reason. You see, Hermy (and Rudolph, and the misfit toys) were all somehow seperate from their peers. They might not understand why, they just knew they were different. This kid could relate! I was too young to know why I was different, but smart enough to know that I was. So it is not so unusual that Rudolph resonated with me as a kid (and still does). And who remembers that Santa was depicted as such a dick?

All these years later, people who didn't even know me growing up have sent me Hermy merchandise. They didn't know why, they just knew it was a fit. So we've come full circle! And now, thanks to the fabulous Internet machine, we can watch the whole thing right here! Take a look.