It's That Rankin-Bass Time of Year Again

Heat Miser does battle with brother Snow Miser in the Rankin-Bass holiday classic The Year Without a Santa Claus

It's well into time of year where I re-package my Rankin-Bass obsession. But since there's still time to catch the specials on TV (check schedule below), I humbly give you an updated version of this yearly recycled piece. Holidays are for re-gifting!

There's a whole generation of us who grew up on Rankin-Bass' stop-motion animated holiday specials that are now of an age in control, so it's no wonder the specials have been an anchor of ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas schedule going back to 1996, when it was still FOX Family. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, and the cult favorite The Year Without a Santa Claus were always required viewing growing up in my household this time of year, and I continue to find myself searching these titles on the TV schedule, to rekindle that old magic.

Early on, these holiday productions of Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass were certainly magic, but the pressure to catch lightning in a bottle over and over again made for a lot of misfires, like the long forgotten Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July, or The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (video) and the LOTR inspired The Life And Adventures Of Santa Claus (now conveniently packaged with Nestor the Christmas Donkey!), which puts Claus in the fantasy drama, pitting him against characters like The Gnome King and the Commander of the Wind Demons. (See trailer below.)


While most of the Rankin-Bass titles were based on existing Christmas songs, many original songs were written for these specials that quickly became part of the holiday tradition. For instance, Johnny Marks, who had written "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," was brought in to write seven more songs for the Rankin-Bass production of the same name, and much like Vince Guaraldi did for A Charlie Brown Christmas (which airs tonight, December 15, @8PM), these songs elevate the animated special to holiday classic.

I've ranked my top five favorite Rankin-Bass holiday musical memories below, and as expected, Rudolph's nabbed the majority. You'll also notice, these are all original songs for the specials, so no pre-existing classics like "Rudolph," "Frosty," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Blue Christmas" here.

5. "Silver & Gold" - Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives) / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) [video]

It's probably surprising that it's not ranked higher, as the song is undoubtedly the most recognizable of the bunch here. But having the narrator Sam the Snowman singing it separates it a bit from the Rudolph story, and even beyond that, when you hear it, a visual of Burl Ives comes to mind more than his animated character, Sam. To tell the truth, I'm creeped out by both visuals, as Sam was one ugly snowman. Apparently, he was drawn to look like scriptwriter Romeo Muller, who at least as a snowman, was certainly no Romeo.


Already aired -- before Thanksgiving, November 23rd on CBS :(

4. "We're a Couple of Misfits" - Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards) and Hermey the Elf (Paul Soles) / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) [video]

When Rudolph met Hermey: Rudolph is a tale of alienation, with the underlying message that it's okay to be different. I get the feeling if Hermey D.D.S. was introduced today, the Christian right would wrongfully target him like Tinky Winky and SpongeBob Squarepants. Thankfully, no one wants to sully our memories in political correctness. Oh, wait, I guess they do. Looking at it again, Hermey and Rudolph are kind of gay -- and by gay, I of course mean happy.


Already aired -- before Thanksgiving, November 23rd on CBS :(

3. "Put One Foot In Front of the Other" - Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney) and Winter Warlock (Keenan Wynn) / Santa Claus is Comin' To Town (1972) [videos all taken down]

Besides "Silver & Gold," this has to be the other most memorable song in the Rankin-Bass canon. I've always found myself singing its ridiculously catchy chorus, but it's the verses that still stand the test of time. It's no wonder some identify it with AA's 12-step process.

If you want to change your direction
If you're time of life is at hand
Well don't be the rule -- be the exception
A good way to start is to stand.

Airs Christmas Eve - Saturday, December 24th at 7PM (ABC Family) -- see schedule below for more

2. "There's Always Tomorrow" - Clarice (Janet Orenstein) sings to Rudolph / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) [video]

This is probably the most underrated Johnny Marks song, and easily the best ballad from the Rankin-Bass collection. This tune really should rank up there with Disney's "When You Wish Upon a Star," but it's never truly been given its due. Red Red Meat covered it majestically a few years back, and when I find myself singing it as a lullaby to one of my boys, it never fails to give me goosebumps.


Already aired -- before Thanksgiving, November 23rd on CBS :(

1. "Snow Miser / Heat Miser" (Dick Shawn, George S. Irving) - The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974) [video]

Really, the only reason TYWASC achieved cult classic status is because of this song and the dueling half-bros Snow and Heat Miser. It's the snappy delivery from Dick Shawn (as Snow) and George S. Irving (as Heat) that make it a classic, and this song will always be the one I think of whenever Rankin-Bass comes up. Sadly, there's never been a digital release of the soundtrack, so no song is technically available to download or stream. A remake that aired in 2006 nearly ruined the legacy of TYWASC (Just watch what they did to the miser bros duel to see what I mean. Thankfully, disappeared from everyone's memory quicker than The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold. An ABC Family original sequel entitled A Miser Brothers Christmas did nothing to alleviate the damage (video), instead merely piled on. Lesson learned -- the miser legacy should be left well enough alone.

Airs Christmas Eve - Saturday, December 24th at 7PM (ABC Family)

Bonus playlist: Here's a collection of artists who grew up with Rankin-Bass doing covers of songs from the animated specials:
Rankin-Bass Holiday Covers

Previously: Miser in Reverse ("A Miser Brothers Christmas"), Ranking the Music of Rankin-Bass (Tracklisting)

Miser in Reverse

This weekend I watched ABC Family's attempt at rekindling the The Year Without a Santa Claus magic with their A Miser Brother's Christmas special. Of course, the brothers Miser deserve their own show, but unless it's going to be in some worthy hands, I say let the Rankin-Bass classic be.

Cuppa Coffee Animation did a fine enough job bringing them back to life for the special, but the new music was forgettable and the dialogue was pretty much what you expect from sanitized holiday fare for children these days. The only highlight for me was hearing theater legend George S. Irving back voicing Heat Miser as he did 34 years ago in the original (Mickey Rooney is also back as Santa,) but it only made the absence of Dick Shawn as Snow Miser that much harder to bear (Shawn, a comedian, died during a stand-up performance in 1987). Rankin-Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt agrees with my assessment for the most part, based on the five minutes or so that he could stomach watching:

I knew it would be bad BUT could not believe how awful it was! I had to turn it off after about 5 minutes. RANKIN/BASS classic Holiday TV specials have lasted over forty years....things like this last about 5 minutes and then are forgotten about forever.

Let's not forget this is the second time the brothers have been brought back with lackluster content. NBC's live-action version of The Year without a Santa Claus was just a waste of talent: John Goodman (Santa,) Michael McKean (Snow Miser) and Harvey Fierstein (Heat Miser).

There were a handful of Rankin-Bass classics that a generation of us was raised on, and they deserve their due. I did a top five music moments from the specials last year, and it's worth revisiting. Naturally, the original miser brothers' performance sits atop the list.

Previously: Ranking the Music of Rankin-Bass Holiday Specials

The parcheesi of my people

It was the last Chuck of 2007, and while we have to wait until January for more, it was a pretty good one to go out on, don't you think? A Christmas holiday party, Chuck in a tux drinking a martini, Sarah in a bikini, and Casey's usual quips.

Ah yes, Major John Casey... much is obviously given to the conflict of interest in the relationship between Chuck and Sarah, and Casey even lectures Sarah to that end, but there's much to the relationship between Chuck and Casey as well. Even though he's still obviously in a supporting role here, Adam Baldwin (playing Casey) was given a spotlight of sorts, to help hint at some sort of internal conflict over his job to both protect and eventually terminate Chuck. Subtle, to be sure, but under Casey's macho exterior lies a beating hear to be sure, and Chuck has to have grown on him. What happens at the moment Casey's called upon to do the job should be the real climax of this first season -- if we even get to it, thanks to the writer's strike.

Speaking of climax, seeing Casey clean his 1985 Ford Crown Victoria (to the obscure Henry Turner's Crystal Band song "Giving My Love Up To You,") was a bit much for the eyes, but hearing him say "you bet it's shiny" gave me a little Firefly thrill. It's also worth pointing out here that they used a black Crown Victoria as the vehicle of choice in Men in Black, and while that one turned into a rocket ship, they both had a nice prisoner containment unit. RIP Crown Vic, we barely knew ya.

Musically, there was some fun to be had, with the opening scene involving recently converted Lester taking the other Buy More grunts' money playing dreidel like a game of dice all to Nelly's "Pimp Juice." "This is the parcheesi of my people!" he intones when his rules are challenged by Anna. Tonight's the first night of Hanukkah (Happy Hanukkah!) so it's appropriate to address the mystery of Lester's conversion Judaism, readdressed in the episode. Since Schwartz didn't make Chuck Jewish (even thought that Zach Levi is) it's interesting to see him comically interject Judaism via the character you'd last think to be Jewish. Like calling Jeff 'bubalah', Yiddish for 'sweetheart' or getting politically correct with the boss on calling the party a 'holiday' party. Speaking of the party, it was great hearing some "Christmas in Hollis" from Run-DMC, probably my favorite Christmas song ever recorded.

Another song that played early on, was Burl Ives singing "Holly Jolly Christmas" which is only significant in that in the background scenes in the Buy More, they showed a couple Rankin-Bass classics on the television screens, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in which the song famously appeared. The other one they showed a tiny bit of was The Year Without A Santa Claus, and while it wasn't the Miser brothers, seeing Jingle and Jangle Bells had me feeling a bit of synergy with my post from yesterday.

Playlist: Chuck - Episode 1.11
1. "Pimp Juice" - Nelly - Lester takes money playing dreidel
2. "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" - Burl Ives
3. "Deck The Halls" - First Com
4. “Giving My Love Up To You“ - Henry Turner’s Crystal Band - Casey lovingly washes his 1985 Ford LTD Crown Victoria
5. "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" - First Com
6. "I Saw Three Ships" - First Com
7. "Christmas In Hollis" - Run DMC - The Buy More holiday party kicks off
8. "Melt with You" - Modern English - The Buy More holiday party

Previously: Klingon and Kevlar (Episode 1.10)

Ranking the music of Rankin-Bass

A whole generation of us grew up on Rankin-Bass' stop-motion animated holiday specials. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, and the cult favorite The Year Without a Santa Claus were always required viewing growing up in my household this time of year, and I continue to find myself searching these titles on the TV schedule, to rekindle that old magic.

Early on, these holiday productions of Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass were certainly magic, but the pressure to catch lightning in a bottle over and over again made for a lot of misfires, like the long forgotten Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July, or The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold and the LOTR inspired The Life And Adventures Of Santa Claus, which puts Claus in the fantasy drama, pitting him against characters like The Gnome King and the Commander of the Wind Demons.
You can catch a bunch of these lesser-known Rankin-Bass productions Saturday, December 7, when ABC Family runs a marathon starting at 7 am.

While most of the Rankin-Bass titles were based on existing Christmas songs, many original songs were written for these specials that quickly became part of the holiday tradition. For instance, Johnny Marks, who had written "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," was brought in to write seven more songs for the Rankin-Bass production of the same name, and much like Vince Guaraldi did for A Charlie Brown Christmas, these songs elevate the animated special to holiday classic.

I've ranked my top five favorite Rankin-Bass holiday musical memories below, and as expected, Rudolph's nabbed the majority.

5. "Silver & Gold" - Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives) / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) [video]

It's probably surprising that it's not ranked higher, as the song is undoubtedly the most recognizable of the bunch here. But having the narrator Sam the Snowman singing it separates it a bit from the Rudolph story, and even beyond that, when you hear it, a visual of Burl Ives comes to mind more than his animated character, Sam. To tell the truth, I'm creeped out by both visuals, as Sam was one ugly snowman. Apparently, he was drawn to look like scriptwriter Romeo Muller, who at least as a snowman, was certainly no Romeo.

Airs Tuesday, December 4 at 8PM/7C (CBS)

4. "We're a Couple of Misfits" - Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards) and Hermey the Elf (Paul Soles) / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) [video]

When Rudolph met Hermey: Rudolph is a tale of alienation, with the underlying message that it's okay to be different. I get the feeling if Hermey D.D.S. was introduced today, the Christian right would wrongfully target him like Tinky Winky and SpongeBob Squarepants. Thankfully, no one wants to sully our memories in political correctness. Oh, wait, I guess they do. Looking at it again, Hermey and Rudolph are kind of gay -- and by gay, I of course mean happy.

Airs Tuesday, December 4 at 8PM (CBS)

3. "Put One Foot In Front of the Other" - Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney) and Winter Warlock (Keenan Wynn) / Santa Claus is Comin' To Town (1972) [video]

Besides "Silver & Gold," this has to be the other most memorable song in the Rankin-Bass canon. I've always found myself singing its ridiculously catchy chorus, but it's the verses that still stand the test of time. It's no wonder some identify it with AA's 12-step process.

If you want to change your direction
If you're time of life is at hand
Well don't be the rule -- be the exception
A good way to start is to stand.

Airs Wednesday, December 5 at 8PM (ABC) -- see schedule below for more

2. "There's Always Tomorrow" - Clarice (Janet Orenstein) sings to Rudolph / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) [video]

This is probably the most underrated Johnny Marks song, and easily the best ballad from the Rankin-Bass collection. This tune really should rank up there with Disney's "When You Wish Upon a Star," but it's never truly been given its due. Red Red Meat covered it beautifully a few years back, and when I find myself singing it as a lullaby to one of my boys, it never fails to give me goosebumps.

Airs Tuesday, December 4 at 8PM (CBS)

1. "Snow Miser / Heat Miser" (Dick Shawn, George S. Irving) - The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974) [video]

Really, the only reason TYWASC was a cult classic is because of this song and the dueling half-bros Snow and Heat Miser. It's the snappy delivery from Dick Shawn (as Snow) and George S. Irving (as Heat) that make it a classic, and this song will always be the one I think of whenever Rankin-Bass comes up. Unfortunately, the remake that aired last holiday season might possibly have ruined the legacy of TYWASC. All you have to do is see what they did to the song and miser bros duel to know what I mean. Thankfully, it will probably disappear from everyone's memory quicker than The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold.

Airs Monday, December 3 at 8PM (ABCFAM) -- see schedule below for more

A schedule of Rankin-Bass Holiday Specials airing this week:
Monday, December 3
Rudolph's Shiny New Year (ABCFAM)
The Year Without Santa Claus (ABCFAM)
Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys @9PM (ABCFAM)
Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey @10PM (ABCFAM)
Tuesday, December 4
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer @8PM (CBS)
Wednesday, December 5
Twas the Night Before Christmas @7PM (ABCFAM)
Santa Claus is Comin' To Town @8PM (ABC)
First Christmas Snow @8PM (ABCFAM)
Rudolph's Shiny New Year @10PM (ABCFAM)
Friday, December 7
Frosty the Snowman: @ 8PM (CBS)
Frosty Returns follows this, but SKIP IT. First of all it's not Rankin-Bass, second of all it sucks
Saturday, December 8
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July @7AM (ABCFAM)
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus @9AM (ABCFAM)
Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey @10AM (ABCFAM)
Pinocchio's Christmas @10:30AM (ABCFAM)
Jack Frost @11:30AM (ABCFAM)
Frosty's Winter Wonderland @12:30PM (ABCFAM)
Twas the Night Before Christmas @1PM (ABCFAM)
Rudolph's Shiny New Year @1:30PM (ABCFAM)
The Year Without Santa Claus @2:30PM (ABCFAM)
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town @3:30PM (ABCFAM)

Bonus playlist: Here's a collection of artists who grew up with Rankin-Bass doing covers of songs from the animated specials:
Rankin-Bass Holiday Covers