There’s no greater sense of tradition than the annual Christmas television special. People of all ages sit down and watch the television, glued to programs from the 1960s. There’s a strong market for this niche. This kind of stuff puts people in the Christmas mood, so having some sort of holiday-themed television special often means the production will air and be lucrative for years to come thanks to December reruns.
Nowadays there’s an arguable oversaturation of holiday specials, many of which trying to become the next instant holiday classic. But there are three arguable kings of the holiday specials: Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and The Grinch. There are plenty of other classics that have aired around the same time, but these are the definitive specials that garner the strongest ratings every year. My mother, who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, would always talk about how these three specials were appointment viewings for her generation. They only aired once a year, so kids would try to finish up their homework to catch these shows.
These three specials have become so iconic that Hollywood has continuously capitalized on their success. Remakes, sequels and other new installments, all trying to capture the success of these famous productions. Some are successful, some not so much. But it seems interesting to do a brief retrospective of the many new interpretations of these timeless stories. From the good to the bad.
Rudolph
From Rankin-Bass Productions, this 1964 special tells the classic story of a reindeer with a shiny red nose. Even though he may be bullied over it, his nose ends up being the saving grace of Christmas. This wasn’t the first Rudolph adaptation. 1948 saw an animated short directed by Max Fleischer, best known for Betty Boop and Popeye. But this special is considered the definitive Rudolph story and made the character a household name. It saw instant success and would inspire other holiday productions from Rankin-Bass, including Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman.
This would also include three sequels and a theatrical film remake. 1976 saw Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, which involved Rudolph attempting to find Baby New Year before midnight New Year’s Eve, or else it will be December 31 forever. This special involved Rudolph traveling to different islands all taking place in different time periods. Rudolph traverses through the caveman days to medieval times to Beatlemania. It never saw the same success as the 1964 classic, but it still gets an occasional airing on channels like ABC, Freeform and AMC.
1979 would see Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July. This was a crossover between two Rankin-Bass productions, as both the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Living Snowman finally collided with one another. In a day and age where everything gets crossed over, this doesn’t seem all that special. But for kids in 1979, this was probably mind-blowing stuff. Nowadays, the special doesn’t see much airtime on television.
1997 saw another Rudolph production, only this time not from Rankin-Bass. This was a theatrically released Rudolph film, this time from GoodTimes Entertainment. They were best known for their mockbusters of Disney animated films. At the same time when movies like Aladdin or Pinocchio would be released on home video, GoodTimes would have another version of the same story out at the same time, often with very similar-looking covers, to capitalize on the market of confused parents trying to buy a Disney movie for their kids. Disney would later sue GoodTimes for this infringement.
Anyways, GoodTimes’ Rudolph had quite the cast. John Goodman, Eric Idle, Whoopi Goldberg, Debbie Reynolds and Bob Newhart were all featured. However, the film was not a hit. Critics derided the film’s cheap animation and weak songs, and the film only grossed $113.4 thousand dollars. On a $10 million budget, it was a massive bomb.
A few years later, in 2001, GoodTimes would release another Rudolph story. This time, it went straight-to-video, and was a computer-animated release. It was titled Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. This took place several years after the last film, and featured actors like Rick Moranis, Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Dreyfuss. It’s obscure and not very popular, and for good reason. Many considered it to be dull and forgettable, failing to hold a candle to even Shiny New Year.
Charlie Brown
Based on the famous Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schultz, A Charlie Brown Christmas was released in 1965 on CBS at the height of Peanuts popularity. The storyline focuses on Charlie Brown, an unlucky boy who can’t get into the holiday spirit. But through directing his school’s Christmas pageant and his good friend Linus, he discovers the true meaning of Christmas.
Commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company, its production was very rushed. It was written in the span of a few weeks and animated in six months. Their budget wasn’t very big either. The special’s tone, pacing, music, voice acting, and animation was unlike most television animation productions. In short, both the producers and networks thought this was going to be a flop.
But when it aired, it soon garnered a captivated audience and won an Emmy. This success would later see more Peanuts specials themed around different holidays, like Halloween and Thanksgiving. And of course, there have been many other Christmas specials featuring these characters.
1992 would see It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. This combined several different stories, including Charlie Brown selling wreaths, tomboy Peppermint Patty trying to write a Christmas book report, and the other Peanuts kids attempting to put on a Christmas play. While well-made, it never saw the same popularity that the first Christmas short saw. The last television airing was in 2000, when CBS had the television rights to Peanuts.
2002 also saw another anthology Christmas story with Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales. This focused on different stories featuring dog Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and other characters. This special is much shorter than the other two, clocking in at 20 minutes. When ABC acquired the broadcast rights to Peanuts, they had a problem. Due to changes in advertising minutes and closing credits, it was impossible for A Charlie Brown Christmas to air in a half-hour. In an act of brilliance, the network commissioned a 20-minute filler special to air alongside the 1965 classic, making the whole experience, with commercials, an hour long. Since then, the special still airs alongside A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The following year saw the 41-minute long special I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown. Focusing on Linus and Lucy’s brother Rerun and his yearning to have a dog as a Christmas gift. This special introduced Snoopy’s brother Spike, who typically lives far away in the desert. The most famous scene featured Lucy fattening up Spike after noticing how skinny he is. The special sees an occasional re-airing, but it has never caught on the same way other Peanuts specials have.
The Grinch
1966 would see the release of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, based on the Dr. Seuss children’s book of the same name. Directed by Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame, and starring Boris Karloff of Frankenstein fame, it depicted the titular character, a grumpy, sniveling creature, taking away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville. The special was another instant hit and is considered the best Seuss adaptation.
This arguably saw the most success out of any holiday special at that time. The story has since earned not one but two big-budget theatrical films. The first came out in 2000. This was a live-action retelling, directed by Ron Howard, and starred funnyman Jim Carrey as the big green guy. Being 105 minutes, the film expanded on The Grinch’s backstory, as well as the character of Cindy Lou Who. To this day, the film has had audiences split. Some believe it’s hilarious and heartfelt, with an excellent Jim Carrey performance. Others find it annoying and reliant on adult humor, which seemed disgraceful to the original author.
Personally, I never liked the 2000 film, even as a kid. Jim Carrey can sometimes get a laugh out of me, and its heart is in the right place, but it’s a bit too obnoxious and tries too hard to be “hip” for my liking. But I can understand why it has a following. I am getting tired of seeing that Twitter meme though.
This year saw another big-screen movie. This time from Illumination, best known for the Despicable Me franchise. Benedict Cumberbatch is now the voice of the titular character. Much like the other film, this also expands upon the original story, although it’s much shorter at around 86 minutes. The Grinch is given a backstory, although it isn’t focused on too much, and Cindy Lou Who has a subplot all about trying to find and capture Santa. There’s also a new character named Bricklebaum, a jolly doofus played by Kenan Thompson, and a fat reindeer named Fred.
This has also earned a mixed response. Some like it for its animation and warm spirit. Others believe little was added to make this interpretation stand out. As for myself, I didn’t expect to like this movie all that much. But surprisingly, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. It certainly has some groaner gags and Cindy Lou Who’s subplot is a chore. But there’s still a lot to like here. The animation is wild and expressive, the designs are lovely, there’s some good slapstick and by the time the film ends, it leaves the viewer with a real sense of warmth and coziness that it’s hard not to have a smile and a sense of Christmas spirit after leaving the theater. It’s likely still playing in a theater near you, so go check it out.
