Random Rankin/Bass Stop-Motion Christmas Stories From Your Youth Are Weirder Than You Remember (11 items)

• 

  (#5) Rudolph's Shiny New Year

  • Red Skelton

  Rudolph's Shiny New Year is just what it sounds like: a New Year's-set sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The oddities of this Rankin/Bass peculiarity stem from its time-travel storyline. Rudolph visits a multitude of periods between 1 million BCE and 1965 in his quest to find the missing Baby New Year.

  What's even more strange and distressing: Baby New Year, whose name is Happy, gets taken by a villainous vulture named Eon who hurts him emotionally.
• 

  (#4) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

  • Alfred Drake, Bob McFadden, Earle Hyman, Earl Hammond

  The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus was the last stop-motion animation Christmas special produced by Rankin/Bass. And, boy, does it deal with some weirdly heavy subject matter for kids' programming.

  Based on the L. Frank Baum book of the same name, this special makes no bones about the fact that Santa is a mythical being. In fact, he's living in a mythical world full of nymphs and fairies and fantastical creatures. There's a whole good-versus-evil thing going on, but the story mainly centers on whether the mythic folk who inhabit Santa's world will make him immortal.
• 

  (#1) The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold

  The biggest Rankin/Bass headscratcher has got to be The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold. It can't really decide if it's a Christmas or St. Patrick's Day special, but that's not the most baffling part. There's a very loose and threadbare story - about an Irish sailor unleashing a banshee on an island full of leprechauns - yet the majority of the movie is a long-winded explanation of life in Leprechaun Land.

  It goes on at length about all the laws and customs the leprechauns must adhere to, even though this information has exactly zilch to do with the story.
• 

  (#10) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

  • Janis Orenstein

  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer portrays Santa as having something of a messiah complex. He forces the elves to sing about what an incredible boss he is and how lucky they are to work for him. Also, the female reindeer are relegated to second-class citizens, confined to their caves and forced into problematic and archaic stereotypes.

  Furthermore, there's an uncomfortable message being sent regarding acceptance and inclusivity. To name two examples: Rudolph is only loved and accepted when he's found to be useful to Santa, and defective toys - those toys deemed less than perfect - are exiled and banished forever.
• 

  (#9) Jack Frost

  • Buddy Hackett, Don Messick, Paul Frees, Larry Storch, Dave Garroway, Robert Morse, Dina Lynn, Sonny Melendrez, Debra Clinger, Dee Stratton

  You'd be forgiven if you thought this was a lighthearted fairytale about that little winter sprite who's always nipping at your nose. But joyous it's not. In fact, Rankin/Bass's Jack Frost is a major downer of a holiday special.

  The title character is briefly made human, only to be returned to sprite form in the end. And he doesn't even win the heart of Elisa, the woman for whom he transformed. Instead, he has to watch as she falls in love with someone else.
• 

  (#8) Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey

  • Roger Miller, Brenda Vaccaro, Don Messick, Paul Frees, Linda Gary Howerton

  Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey tells the story of Mary and Joseph's donkey. He guides the young couple to Bethlehem, where Mary gives birth to Jesus. It's a sweet tale, but like Jack Frost, it's a heartbreaker.

  All the animals in the stable mercilessly bully Nestor because of his oversized ears, to the point that Nestor's mother gives him socks to cover up his floppy appendages. Then Nestor is separated from his mother when his owner throws him out into a blizzard.

  Listen to the title song, if you dare. But bring Kleenex. Some of the lyrics include:

  And all the camels teased him

  The other donkeys, too

  They said, look at little Nestor

  There's nothing he can do

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking