top 12 Ranklin Bass Christmas specials

Well, the tree is set up, I have my shopping day planned out with all of the stops, the list is made, and I have all of the fics ready to be written. So, what to do, well...in case you guys didn't guess from the introduction of Snow and Heat Miser, I am a fan of the Ranklin Bass specials. Yes, I am a big fan, as in...I have the DVDs of most of them just to have the uncut versions because I had gotten tired of watching them edited fan. Now, I would love for someone to do a list of the best of these and have a little fun; but who? I can't think of the Critic doing it (hes too much of a wimp! I mean, come on! Creeped out by this? I have seen creepier things on the front page of this site!) and CR might be able to do a good job, but due to me sending an egg-bomb to his house I have kind-of been forbidden from watching his stuff ever again. So, there is only one writer I trust for this...

ME!

Hey! Cut that out! I can do a good list, and besides...it'll be fun.

So here we go, my top 12 Ranklin Bass Christmas specials.

But before we go, lets see my most hated.

1) Rudolph and Frosty's christmas in July- GOD I HATE THIS THING! It tries to connect all of the previous specials together, and bless the makers hearts they try but ultimatly it becomes a huge mess. The continuity makes no sense, the songs are all lackluster, and the villian is about as well written as Sombra. The story is just pathetic. Hmmmm, maybe one day I'll do a full on review of it and riff it.

2) Twas the night befor christmas- Y'know that one annoying person in your life that seems content to throw in his "logical advise" and you really don't want it? Y'know, the guy who will spoil the magic of the magic show by describing how the trick works while you just wanted to enjoy the show? Yeah, now think of what happens when you make a film about it and you are supposed to sympathise with the turd. That's this movie in a nutshell, a mouse ruins the day for his town and ends up making Santa not want to visit them. However, it gets worse! The humans lose their job and the mice that lives with them also lose their means of support. The mouse tries to fix it and ends up helping them...but does he get his commupance for almost starving his family? NO! He doesnt!

Now that my hate has subsided, let's get into the fun! Now, why 12? BECAUSE ITS CHRISTMAS!

12) Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer- Now, I know what you are thinking and yes...I am that handsome in real life. But besides that, why did I put this one at the bottom of the list. Well, first is that you have to understand that I like to move and do things differently from everyone else and I am pretty sure that this is going to rank at least the top five or so for most. It is wasy to see why, it is cinematic, and the story (though short) is fun. However, I feel like certain bits are short and the sexism is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen. I also feel like its weaker than the others on our list in terms of character and story.

11) The year without a Santa Clause- Yeah, I said it. It’s a classic, but to me the only fun bit is when we meet the Miser Brothers (and the only reason why the special surrounding them is not on here is because I have no idea if it is Ranklin Bass created). Everything else is just down there, we have a mother who smiles contently and knowing but does NOTHING (who am I?). We also have the stupidest police in existance (hey, that animal with hooves and horns, is most likely a dog) and the worst cover of Blue christmas that has even been put to film. On the other hand, Mother Nature is awesome!

10) Santa Clause is coming to Town- Ah, Fred Astair, you seem to have the best luck in knowing what the kids are thinking. Either that or you kidapped them to force them to listen to the story. In any case, this ranks kind of low on my list mainly because I have seen other and better Santa origin stories (pushes aside the one that features Ed Asner as Santa to the side) and actually takes the time to explain the immortality question a bit (the questions of world travel, chimney, and others can be handled myself thank you very much). Also, Jessica’s song near the end has to be one of the most useless songs out there.

Now, that isn’t to say that I condemn this completly. The rest of the songs are awesome, I love Mickey Rooney as Santa (Though Rise of the Guardians Santa will always hold a place in my heart), and I love the Winter Warlock.

9) Nestor the Long eared Christmas Donkey Rifftrax- Yes sir, nothing like a good riffing to make yourself feel better in the morning. Mike Nelson plays an innocent man trapped in the interwebs, joined only by a small robot for warmth and company. Together, they must make a stupid ass face the facts that his story is just a shorter, dumber, worst version of Rudolph.

ALCHEMY! THOU WILL PLACE YOUR TRUE NUMBER 9!

Opps, sorry your highness!

9) Frosty’s Winter Wonderland- Why? Because of Andy FREAKIN Griffith! I love Griffins and I think they need more screentime in the show proper and...oh. I just got a feed from Twilight Sparkle that Griffith is not, in fact, a Griffin. My apologies, but the dude is still funny and this is a lot of fun to watch. Though I have to complain about the use of Jack Frost in this, and the parson was just too conveint to the plot.

8) The first Chrsitmas snow- Yeah, its a sob story about a blind kid growing up in the church, but what can I say? This one, unlike a certain song that will not go named on this list for fear that Luna will hit me again.

What can I say, the song displeases us that much.

This thing can also be really sweet at times, what with a nun actually not going for the cliche “Mother Superior being evil” and the kids actually being nice. I also like the idea that the snow and the miracle of the day was able to give the kid his sense of sight back. It’s just a shame that they had to ruin it with a bad cover of a great Bing Crobsy song.

7) Santa Baby!- Blackspoitation I know, but what can I say...Ertha freakin Kitt as a cat and singing a few lyrics of ‘Santa Baby’, I’m sold. I also like the use of the father and how he was being trained to become a temp Santa, it was a nice twist that I never saw coming as a kid. I also liked the way that the story celebrated the family without being too overt or too focused on one thing.

6) Lepprucan’s gold- I can’t help it, its unique, the story is kind of fun, and I love ANYTHING involving Irish myth and lore. I also like how this story can be placed anywhere in the year without much change. The plot of this is kind of fun and entertaining while allowing us time to get involved with the characters.

5) Rudolph’s Shiny new year- Yeah, I am starting the top five with a new year’s special...so sue me. What I really like about this special, beyond just furthering the reindeer’s story and having a but load of characters, is the lore. If you looked at some of my favorites and some of my own stories, I do try to work a lot with the lore and stories behind the world that I am involved in. What can I say, I am an explorer at heart. I love the idea that they set up how the years go by, that there is an entire island of lost years where the old years retire, and how all of the eras are connected. I mean, I want to visit some of those islands.

4) Frosty the Snowman- Now, I know what you are thinking, and yes I update quite frequently. But beyond that! You might wonder why I am putting this on here? Well, at first, it is fun and friendly all throughout. The villian is more fun than threating and the character of Frosty is really charming. I also love how badass Santa is in this, as soon as he pops in, the bad guy knows that he is flipped. Also the feel of the special in general is just a big ball of warm fluff that I can’t help but be cheerful watching it.It is just a fun and overall fun special.

3) Little Drummer Boy- I like to show this to the people who complain about all the specials being the same...HA! Is this cheerful? NO! Not until the end! Is this filled with talking animals? NO! Heck, the main character is a spiteful, hateful boy that hates humanity and sticks to it. Heck, he has good reason for it, he feels like no one deserves to be happy because of his own greif and it is something I think we all relate to at one point. I love how in the end it takes the time to remind us, that having a heart full of revenge and hatred is not always the way to do things. Such things are destructive, sometimes the best way to get over grief is to let a little ligth in your heart. Its a wonderfully dark special with a really great light at the end of the tunnel.

2) Jack Frost- OH, I can gush about this one for hours! Ok, so its about JAck Frost wanting to get a girl so he becomes human, but that is not the end of it. The villian is a delightfully insane badguy and Jack is a great hero archetype character to follow. The songs on this are all awesome to listen to (I swear, the imaginary gift song stays with me throughout the year), and I love the voices. I also find it interesting that this is the only one on the list...that ends bittersweet. Yeah, Jack doesn’t get the girl in the end, she winds up with a nice guy who makes her happy. That’s right, the nice guy doesn’t get her. He saves the town, the people, and everthing else, but gets no reward for his troubles.

Just a kiss, to an old friend.

I like the way that it ends with that note, showing that not all things end happily, not all thing need to be perfect for a happy ending, and sometimes our hero is not the right one for the girl. The story helps to really give us that image.

1) Life and Adventures of Santa Clause- CR said it best, “Lord of the Rings with Santa” Ironic considering that JRR Tolkien had been known to write his children letters about a Santa that kicked butt and names. This story was brought to us by Frank L. Baum (he of the OZ books fame) and it shows. The lore leaves a lot to explore, the immortals are a blast to watch and plan. I love the interactions between Clause and his mother and there is just so much more to love about this that I cannot tell you without spoiling it.

And that is my top 12. Complaints? Well, remember its my personal list and we all have different tastes. But you would always direct the complaints to the Critic and see what he has to say about this list.