# Lost animated specials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635 "2017-03-20T18:59:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/61 "2017-03-23T22:30:58Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > [A Cosmic Christmas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cosmic_Christmas) > > A vague memory of the ET wise men haunted me for years until I had the opportunity to look it up when the internet got big. Never heard of that one before, but watched it last night. The intent was good, I suppose, but it is very uneven, and I can see why it did not become a beloved classic. (Also, I see that it is an early work by the same studio that made the Boba Fett segment of _The Star Wars Christmas Special_.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/62 "2017-03-23T23:26:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > [Bambi Meets Godzilla](http://nightflight.com/bambi-meets-godzilla-the-1969-student-film-that-started-it-all/), Marv Newland, 1969. I had heard about that for years before I saw it. So when it came on, I settled down to watch it. I wasn’t disapointed. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/63 "2017-03-23T23:28:38Z")
[The Night the Animals Talked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_the_Animals_Talked). (Wikipedia link.) Shown only four times on ABC, from 1970 to 1973, never since; and never released on VHS or DVD. But apparently, [now available on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smu-KI0NpP4). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/64 "2017-03-23T23:48:03Z")
[Hooves of fire](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219086/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (Robbie the reindeer). It’s not as old as most of the others mentioned here, but it managed to go from being shown to being not shown, without going through ‘classic’. Perhaps it didn’t age as well because it references “Chariots of Fire” instead of “A Christmas Carol”, but I liked it. (Never heard the American voice-overs, only the English version). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/65 "2017-03-24T00:33:15Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [The Enormous Egg (1968)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311075/combined), about an egg that hatches into a triceratops. Hey, **Earl** , just so I can be sure I’m not going loopy, that wasn’t animated, right? I mean, I was a sprout when I first saw it, but I would swear it was live action. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/66 "2017-03-24T01:59:29Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I enjoyed the music of **Olive, the Other Reindeer.** It was based on a picture book. Olive is a dog. Cartoon Network used to show this one several times every December up until a few years ago. Probably lost the rights, and as far as I can tell, no other network has picked them up. It was our family’s viewing tradition, and it’s gone. (No, going to Target, buying the DVD and popping it in at home doesn’t count. Just like A Charlie Brown Christmas just isn’t right without ads for Dolly Madison snacks.) I search the channel guide every December, and it’s just not there. I remember watching a number of Dr. Seuss adaptations from the 1970s. None of them had the staying power of The Grinch. There was The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax (which got reissued when the CGI adaptation came out a few years ago), and several others. I dimly remember a Ziggy adaptation in the early 1980s. Ziggy didn’t talk. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/67 "2017-03-24T02:35:26Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Hey, **Earl** , just so I can be sure I’m not going loopy, that wasn’t animated, right? I mean, I was a sprout when I first saw it, but I would swear it was live action. Yeah, I think you’re right. I think I’m conflating it with a ‘Gumby’ ep where he (somehow) encounters a triceratops (named ‘Trixie’). ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/68 "2017-03-24T02:55:53Z")
> [@OsageOrange](#): > > If you only want drawn animation, no soap for me…but if stop-motion animation a la Rankin-Bass is okay, then I miss “Rudolph’ Shiny New Year” and “Nestor, The Long-eared Christmas Donkey.” And come to think of it, there _is_ a cel-animated special we never see anymore…a cartoon version of “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.” Among other things, that one got Fenris Ulf’s name right. No other production has ever done that. The animation was done in pretty simple lines, but that just made Aslan look more authoritative and a little scary. you can get all of the Rankin bass Christmas specials from warner’s in various multi disc collections ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/69 "2017-03-24T10:44:51Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Cartoon Network used to show this one several times every December up until a few years ago. I thought you must be mistaken on that, since it was only made a few years ago. So I googled, and it was made in 1999? Holy crap, _Olive the Other Reindeer_ is old enough to vote! > [@](#): > > I remember watching a number of Dr. Seuss adaptations from the 1970s. There’s also _Horton Hears a Who_. I have that one on DVD, because it was a double-feature with _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ (the originals of both, not the remakes.) (As an aside, I’ve always if “lorax” was supposed to be a pun on “hyrax.” Never found an answer, though.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/70 "2017-03-24T11:11:05Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > One of my favorite Xmas special songs was from that show (sung by Joel Grey): “Even a Miracle Needs a Plan” It’s one of your favorites, and you didn’t notice that the lyric is “hand”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/71 "2017-03-24T13:20:51Z")
Damn, I thought this thread was going to be about some new series of animated TV movies spun off of _Lost_. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/72 "2017-03-24T18:19:20Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Damn, I thought this thread was going to be about some new series of animated TV movies spun off of _Lost_. In this episode Scooby and the gang investigate the mystery of the bunker. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/73 "2017-03-24T18:46:19Z")
[Zoinks!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbfkcawlVrA) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/74 "2017-03-24T21:49:00Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I had heard about that for years before I saw it. So when it came on, I **settled down** to watch it. > > I wasn’t disapointed. (emphasis mine) You should have been, if you made a big tub of popcorn, and pop, and candy. 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 25, 2017, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/75 "2017-03-25T08:38:39Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > you can get all of the Rankin bass Christmas specials from warner’s in various multi disc collections Be forewarned though, most DVD versions of “Frosty the Snowman” also contain the abomination that is “Frosty Returns”. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/76 "2017-03-25T16:52:47Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Be forewarned though, most DVD versions of “Frosty the Snowman” also contain the abomination that is “Frosty Returns”. They gotta get rid of it somehow… ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/77 "2017-03-26T01:06:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > (emphasis mine) > > You should have been, if you made a big tub of popcorn, and pop, and candy. > > 🙂 The big build up could have spoiled the experience, but I hadn’t understood/processed the critical structural point of the story arc… …so I got to appreciate it without the weight of accurate preconceptions 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/78 "2017-03-31T11:22:14Z")
There was _Cricket On The Hearth_, a pretty lame Christmas cartoon with the voices of Danny and Marlo Thomas – and one startling scene of totally unexpected violence. _The Mad, Mad Mad Comedians_ was a half-hour collection of animated versions of several living funnyfolks doing their familiar routines. _The Man Who Hated Laughter_ starred animated versions of several then-popular characters from newspaper comics; all I really recall of it is that Little Iodine sang a song. Lastly, I _think_ there was a Fat Albert special long before the series; my memory of it is that it had really original art and animation which looked very urban and gritty. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/79 "2017-03-31T11:47:52Z")
> [@DLuxN8R-13](#): > > Lastly, I _think_ there was a Fat Albert special long before the series; my memory of it is that it had really original art and animation which looked very urban and gritty. This one looks like it [really is lost](http://lostmediawiki.com/Hey,_Hey,_Hey,_It's_Fat_Albert_%28Rare_Primetime_Animated_Special;_1969%29). ---
**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:** [March 31, 2017, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635/80 "2017-03-31T12:08:16Z")
> [@DLuxN8R-13](#): > > There was _Cricket On The Hearth_, a pretty lame Christmas cartoon with the voices of Danny and Marlo Thomas – and one startling scene of totally unexpected violence. > > _The Mad, Mad Mad Comedians_ was a half-hour collection of animated versions of several living funnyfolks doing their familiar routines. > > . \*Cricket on the Hearth was another of Chuck Jones’ efforts. I never saw it. I recall watching _The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians_. it was a Rankin-Bass effort, and better than most, although to much of its run time seemed to be the chorus singing “The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians”. The Smothers Brothers were among those used, but the highlight was a Marx Brothers routine that used Groucho’s voice, although Paul Frees had to dub in Chico and (according to imdb) Zeppo (nobody, of course had to do Harpo). It was the “Napoleon” sketch from their 1924 comedy “I’ll say she is”. it was their highest-rated show ever (according to Wikipedia), and was supposed to be a pilot for a proposed series, but the series never took place. in those post-Flintstone, pre-Simpsons era, prime time animation didn’t get off the ground – all the attempts I recall fizzled. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-animated-specials/782635.md?page=5)