# Forgotten Christmas specials/movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157 "2012-12-06T04:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/21 "2012-12-06T15:43:06Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > I stumbled upon [“It Happened One Christmas”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzldKb_CkXc), a remake (or perhaps ripoff) of “It’s A Wonderful Life”, with Marlo Thomas cast in the George Bailey role. I remember this as a very little kid, but haven’t seen it aired in around 30 years. Any Christmas specials or movies you’ve seen in the past that seen to have disappeared? I absolutely remember seeing this. The interesting thing for me was, I hadn’t seen nor heard of “It’s A Wonderful Life” at the time I saw this on TV, so I didn’t know it was based on better material. My younger self thought it was very good. Of course, since I finally got to see Jimmy Stewart do his thing a few years later (and had the good fortune to play George Bailey onstage once myself!), I definitely feel a connection to “Wonderful Life,” but still have an appreciation for Marlo Thomas as my first exposure to the story. On topic, before the advent of DVRs and DVDs, I used to record TV Christmas specials on VHS so our kids could watch them whenever they wanted. One of the ones we taped was the Claymation Christmas special featuring the California Raisins. That has some really, really fun moments (my personal favorite is the walrus skating dance, with the penguins getting in the way). You don’t see that one on TV any more, I don’t think. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/22 "2012-12-06T15:43:19Z")
The “Married With Children” Christmas episode that spoofed “It’s a Wonderful Life”. With Sam Kinison as the angel trying to get his wings. It’s still on in reruns occasionally, but AFAICT there’s no effort to broadcast it near Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/23 "2012-12-06T15:52:19Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > [Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075988/). Well, if we’re going Henson, how about **The Christmas Toy** , the hour-long Christmas special that [**Toy Story** sorta kinda ripped off years later](http://www.cracked.com/article_19852_5-famous-movies-that-shamelessly-ripped-off-obscure-ones.html). Really, the plots are just about identical: the old favorite toy (Rugby the tiger) is about to be replaced by a new, space-themed toy (Meteora) that doesn’t understand at first that she’s just a toy. Edit: > [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > On topic, before the advent of DVRs and DVDs, I used to record TV Christmas specials on VHS so our kids could watch them whenever they wanted. One of the ones we taped was the Claymation Christmas special featuring the California Raisins. That has some really, really fun moments (my personal favorite is the walrus skating dance, with the penguins getting in the way). You don’t see that one on TV any more, I don’t think. LOVED that special. Their version of “Carol of the Bells” is still one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/24 "2012-12-06T15:55:10Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Well, if we’re going Henson, how about **The Christmas Toy** , the hour-long Christmas special that [**Toy Story** sorta kinda ripped off years later](http://www.cracked.com/article_19852_5-famous-movies-that-shamelessly-ripped-off-obscure-ones.html). Really, the plots are just about identical: the old favorite toy (Rugby the tiger) is about to be replaced by a new, space-themed toy (Meteora) that doesn’t understand at first that she’s just a toy. > > Edit: > > LOVED that special. Their version of “Carol of the Bells” is still one of my favorites. Meteora looks way sexier than Buzz Lightyear. I’ve never heard of this one before. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/25 "2012-12-06T15:56:13Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Of course, since I finally got to see Jimmy Stewart do his thing a few years later (and had the good fortune to play George Bailey onstage once myself!), I definitely feel a connection to “Wonderful Life,” but still have an appreciation for Marlo Thomas as my first exposure to the story. Ooh…were you in a straight play or the (sadly underappreciated) musical with music by Joe Raposo and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick? If you guys want some interesting forgotten specials, visit Platypus Comix’s [Island of Misfit Christmas Specials](http://www.platypuscomix.net/hollywood/misfitsindex.html). There’s one that originated around the Philadelphia area–The Spirit of Christmas. It’s done entirely with marionettes. The first half is an enactment of The Night Before Christmas, with rather cartoony-looking (and somewhat creepy) puppets. But the second half is a dramatization of the Nativity with amazingly lifelike puppets and detailed sets. If you can get past it looking like The Gospel According to Thunderbirds it’s well worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/26 "2012-12-06T16:01:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **A Carol for Another Christmas**. . . > Unfortunately, I don’t get TCM. I have a copy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/27 "2012-12-06T16:04:55Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > There’s also **Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus** –not the CGI one they aired a couple years ago (which wasn’t bad in itself) but a 1974 animated retelling from the Bill Melendez studio, which made the Peanuts specials. The children’s character design looks VERY Peanut-ish, although a bit cruder, and the adult design is rather wonky. Furthermore, it has quite a bit of multiculturalism for what’s supposed to be a late 19th-century setting–one of Virginia’s friends is African-American and another is Chinese (the son of a restaurant-owner). Still, it has its share of charm–not least in the kids’ line deliveries, which, like the Peanuts specials, seem natural and unforced. And Frank Church sounds like a trombone: WAH, Wah-wa-wah, wah WAH wa Wa-wa-wah.\* That’s trombone-speak, of course, for _YES, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus._ ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/28 "2012-12-06T16:18:56Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > Mac Davis did a Christmas special one year, at least part of which centered around a time in the future when the official holiday was known as Commerce Day and celebrating Christmas was forbidden. I remember a scene where people were hiding in one room in somebody’s house, singing Christmas carols and police or somebody broke in, but that’s about all. > Somewhere in the late seventies, early eighties, maybe? OMG, I remember that. That would be interesting to see again. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/29 "2012-12-06T16:20:32Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > That’s what I came here to say. Best special ever. > > Do they ever show “Olive, the Other Reindeer” anymore? I thought that was cute. I just got that. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/30 "2012-12-06T17:18:41Z")
My favorite Christmas movie is [Christmas Eve on Sesame Street](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve_on_Sesame_Street). They played it every year on PBS and I watched it…until they stopped. I eventually got it on VHS when I was in high school and then got it on DVD in the last 10 years. Now I have 3 copies on DVD. There was a previous Sesame Christmas special [A Special Sesame Street Christmas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Special_Sesame_Street_Christmas) which was stupid and has gone away. There’s a newer special called [Elmo Saves Christmas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo_Saves_Christmas) which I think is pretty good. It’s got a good premise and some very cute jokes. I don’t know how much it was on TV, but I was already 17 when it was made and I had it on VHS. I didn’t buy it on DVD. There’s an even newer Christmas special from Sesame Street featuring Abby Cadabby but…meh. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/31 "2012-12-06T17:24:04Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > Ooh…were you in a straight play or the (sadly underappreciated) musical with music by Joe Raposo and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick? Straight play. Our set was awesome - we had a bridge span soaring over a corner of the stage for the “contemplating suicide” scene. I didn’t know there was a musical version … Joe Raposo, you say? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/32 "2012-12-06T17:31:21Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Well, if we’re going Henson, how about **The Christmas Toy** , the hour-long Christmas special that [**Toy Story** sorta kinda ripped off years later](http://www.cracked.com/article_19852_5-famous-movies-that-shamelessly-ripped-off-obscure-ones.html). Really, the plots are just about identical: the old favorite toy (Rugby the tiger) is about to be replaced by a new, space-themed toy (Meteora) that doesn’t understand at first that she’s just a toy. I really liked this one! I probably have a copy in my old VHS collection. I remember a very lengthy animated movie that aired on Cartoon Network a few times…I think it was called “The Life and Times of Santa Claus”. I only saw part of it; I think it was OK. The movie ends with Santa dying in his sleep, only to be brought back by some angel/fairy because he has so much to give to the world (or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/33 "2012-12-06T17:36:50Z")
I hope that Ernest Saves Christmas is never forgotten about, may Jim Varney rest in peace. God bless you and his family always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/34 "2012-12-06T17:47:12Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ (the one with Burl Ives narrating) was shown once when I was a kid and never (afaik) shown on TV again, but it is now available on DVD > [@CalMeacham](#): > > This is intended as a joke, right? > [@AtomicDog](#): > > Is this a whoosh? Unless I’m mistaken, Friend **Corgaigh** is on the Emerald Isle. In such a situation, it’s entirely plausible that the Rudolph special was not an annual occurrence in the household. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/35 "2012-12-06T19:02:45Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > I just got that. My job is done here… ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/36 "2012-12-06T19:17:42Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > [Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075988/). Got it for my son years ago. Got lost in one of our many moves (cheaper than paying rent). For a few years it was a Xmas tradition for us to watch it together. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/37 "2012-12-06T19:26:21Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > I’m not sure I’d call that one forgotten…But in the sense that they don’t play it regularly, then yes. Forgotten in that networks fail to show it anymore. Nothing listed here is literally forgotten. Would have mentioned [Scrooged](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096061/), but some station showed it recently. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/38 "2012-12-06T19:42:56Z")
Would someone please explain to me how the Flintstones can celebrate Christmas? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/39 "2012-12-06T19:47:27Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Would someone please explain to me how the Flintstones can celebrate Christmas? They don’t live in our stone age. They live in a future stone age following some dreadful apocalypse. Hence their efforts to copy half-remembered present day technology in stone/wood/live animals and their celebration of Christmas. You really didn’t know this? ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157/40 "2012-12-06T19:52:11Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Unless I’m mistaken, Friend **Corgaigh** is on the Emerald Isle. In such a situation, it’s entirely plausible that the Rudolph special was not an annual occurrence in the household. Correct! I was very excited to find the fillum (that’s how we say film here) on DVD and feckit no one had a clue what I was talking about! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-christmas-specials-movies/643157.md?page=3)