I was struggling for a topic to write about until I walked into Shoppers Drug Mart one day and saw a big, stuffed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for sale.
The reindeer looked just like he did on the holiday specials I remembered seeing on TV. And just then I realized I had my column idea for this month.
I’m writing on holiday specials on TV, because that’s mainly what you are in for for the next couple of weeks. The timing of this couldn’t be better, in fact, because the Rudolph special airs tonight, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. local time on CBS.
The cartoons are probably my favorite part of the whole Christmas season, which is easy to say as Christmas shopping is a total pain.
What I find remarkable is the fact they have kept on rerunning the same cartoons over and over again, every year. These are specials that were on the air back when I was a kid.
There are four of these specials that have achieved particular “cult” status. If there was a Christmas TV Special Hall of Fame, these would all be in there.
These are A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Each is distinctive in its own right. A Charlie Brown Christmas aired for the first time in 1965 and was the first of what would be a long line of Peanuts specials. They were produced by veteran animator Bill Melendez, who made his name from all the Charlie Brown work he did for TV. Most distinctive was the jazz-piano score by the legendary Vince Guaraldi that would be part of countless specials.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on the book from Dr. Seuss, aired a year later. This story of how the Grinch tried to steal away the Christmas of the Whos down in Whoville was directed by the legendary Chuck Jones, who was famous as the director of Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner back in his Warner Bros. days.
Like A Charlie Brown Christmas, the music was memorable, especially the tune You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch. The special was narrated by the legendary Boris Karloff, best known for his work in horror movies, who provided a distinctively sinister-sounding voice for the Grinch.
Frosty the Snowman aired for the first time in 1969, and it, too, featured legendary voices. It was comedian Jackie Vernon who played Frosty and big-nosed Jimmy Durante who sang the title song, appearing in cartoon form as well.
The producers were the duo of Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. They made their big mark in animation producing several holiday specials for TV including such efforts as Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy and a few others.
Frosty the Snowman was by no means the first special they had done, though. In fact they paired up in 1964 to produce what is still their most famous work: Rudolph.
When Rudolph first aired, Lyndon Johnson was president, Lester Pearson was prime minister, the Cold War was raging, the Beatles and Beatlemania had just swept North America, and television was still picked up by rabbit ears on mainly black and white TV sets.
I am not sure why it is that of all the specials that aired in the 1960s that it was Rudolph that ended up surviving in pop culture to this day.
Think of the TV shows that aired in 1964. You hardly see any of them these days, except maybe Andy Griffith or something like that occasionally.
A big reason behind Rudolph’s survival must have something to do with the fact that the special was produced in colour — still a rare thing for 1964.
Also, the look was distinctive, and distinctively cheesy. You had this stop-motion animation going on with these characters, most of whom were decidedly oddball. Among the weirdest was Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist.
That was the subtext of the special — it was about all these “misfits,” like the elf who didn’t want to make toys like the other elves, or the reindeer with the red shiny nose who wasn’t allowed to play in any reindeer games as a result, or the unwanted toys that end up on the Island of Misfit Toys.
I am thinking this must be a part of its enduing appeal, with its plotline featuring these sympathetic characters all being discriminated against unfairly. I’m thinking many of those watching on TV can relate to the feeling of being unpopular or unwanted — a “misfit” — in their own lives.
There’s an interesting story about the voice talent involved in the special. The narrator was Burl Ives who appeared in snowman form and sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.
But the other voices were all done from Toronto. Check out the credits at the end of the show and you’ll find such names as Paul Soles (as Hermey), Paul Kligman, Larry Mann and Billie Mae Richards, with the latter playing the voice of Rudolph.
This voice talent essentially stayed together to do several animation projects, with the best known of their work being the 1967 version of Spider-Man. Soles played the title character in that one.
Because the voice for Spider-Man was done in Canada, that show counted as Canadian content and ran on Saturday morning TV in Canada forever. That is why all you Babyboomers cannot get that famous theme song from Spider-Man out of your heads.
So that’s the story behind the connection of Spider-Man to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this season.
You know, the world keeps on moving so fast. It’s great to know there are still some familiar things still on the tube — like Rudolph and Hermey and all the misfits.
With that, have a holly jolly Christmas.
