Favorite Holiday Specials! – Synergy

Sometimes you just have to call the team together for a special BSCkids Synergy where you talk about your favorite holiday specials.  Well what we have is a special first edition of Synergy from the reviews, editors, and owners of BSCreview.  As everyone knows this is a topic that is very close to my heart, plus it is always interesting to see what people have to say.  There are a lot of classics out there, but which one of those classics makes it to the top of your list?

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My two favorites are, and pretty much always have been, A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In these two minimal animated features, all that is pure with Christmas and all that is wrong is revealed. In fact, the first (of two) airings of the Peanuts special this year was edited for time…to allow more commercials. How wrong is that?

For as much as I love those two shows, there are two movies (actually one done twice) that I only watch during this season and I only watch them once per year. Usually, I prefer to watch the first one on Thanksgiving night and the second a day or two later. Together, they kindle the holiday spirit and really get me in the mood. They are Home Alone 1 and 2. Capturing the heart of the Christmas season, these two movies show what’s really important: family and the love within, despite all the trials and tribulations that go with family. John Williams’ score (namely the theme “Somewhere in my Memory”) is imbued with magical Christmas dust so much so that you can almost feel the warmth of a fire from the melodies being played.

If you just had that aspect of the movies, they would be mere sugary treats to be slurped with abandon and forgotten easily. The slapstick portion of the films is what makes them truly memorable. I start laughing at the coming scenes as I put the videotape in the player. I laugh a Daniel Stern’s shriek in the first film as Macaulay Culkin places the tarantula on Stern’s face. I laugh in the second film as Tim Curry, as the hotel manager, had to get on his knees and tell the man he can’t see how much he loves him.

To be honest, the second film is almost the exact same as the first. But the heart is still there. The laugh-out-loud, tear-inducing pratfalls are there in both. They are the can’t-miss movies every Christmas season for me.

~Scott D. Parker

Scott D. Parker is a technical writer living in Houston, Texas. He writes about pulp fiction, crime fiction, music, and other things at his crime fiction blog. He writes about science fiction & fantasy at SF Safari and he has a weekly column at Do Some Damage. He has published a story at Beat to a Pulpand has written the historical mystery Treason at Hanford: a Harry Truman Mystery. A native Texan, one of his professional goals as a writer is to help put Houston on the crime fiction map.

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Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town – I love that the narrator is Fred Astaire, I love the stop motion animation, the Winter Warlock rocks, the town with no toys is suitably sad but amusing and the romance between Jessica and Kris who become Mr. & Mrs. Santa is just really sweet.  Actually all the Rankin/Bass stop motion specials are great but this one is my favorite.  However, the special that has my favorite Christmas song (Holly, Jolly Christmas sung by Burl Ives) is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

I still watch them all and the new ones that come out every year.  I’m just a kid at heart!

~April

I’m a 40 year old desk jockey who amuses herself with lots and lots of reading. My favorite things in books are dragons, steampunk, wizards, comedy, and lots of action!

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon and book).  It’s got so much going for it.  First, Dr. Suess–win already. Then it’s got that adorable dog who has to dress up like a unicorn reindeer.  Then it’s got one of the most fabulous villains of all time, the Grinch, who not only thinks up an insidious plan but ACTUALLY MANAGES TO PULL IT OFF.  Then it’s got the wonderful ending where, despite the Grinch having stolen the material trappings of Christmas, the Whos of Whoville come together to show that underneath all the trees and the lights and the presents, what Christmas is still (and, hopefully, always) really about is community, family, love, forgiveness, and peace between men. And food, since the whole tops off with carving the roast beast. Mm. Brilliant.

~Elena

Elena Nola reads things, watches things, and edits things. She writes her BSC Review column, Elena’s World, to tell you all about it all.

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Charlie Brown Christmas.

The pageant reharsal with everyone dancing is a classic.  If you mention this scene to anyone, they can more than likely bust out one of the dances the kids are doing.  A couple of which are physically impossible to do if you’re not animated.  Plus you got Pig Pen on bass.  Also, those same people have probably used Charlie Brown’s pathetic tree as a metaphor for something disappointing in their life.

Rudolf was weak, Frosty made me sad and The Year Without a Santa Claus was too obscure, even though Heat Miser was awesome. 

Charlie Brown, FTW.

~Mark

Mark does the CSS and design work for BSCreview and BSCkids

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My favorite winter holiday special would have to be Rankin Bass’s Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer between the island of misfit toys (especially the king of the island and the polka-dotted elephant), and the Bumble, it has some of the coolest characters of any holiday special. All of that, and Burl Ives singing “Silver and Gold”-what’s not to love?

~Patricia

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My favorite winter holiday special has always been the 1938 film adaptation of A Christmas Carol, starring Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit and Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge. The movie was redone in Technicolor some years later, but I recall watching both versions as a child. I don’t see this version played on television much these days, but it’s still my favorite adaptation because of the emotional impact it had on me as a small boy; the characters’ performances, combined with the impeccable soundtrack, drew me in and I used to watch it over and over again. Perhaps it’s nostalgia that renders this version my favorite – it’s long before my time, as I’m only 32 years old.

~ B.T.

B.T. Robertson is a writer, published author, and avid gamer, and has been playing video games his entire conscious life. Currently, he resides in Pittsburgh, PA with his family and is awaiting the launch of his third fantasy novel. Visit him online at www.btrobertson.com.

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My favorite winter holiday special is the Charlie Brown Christmas one, because it’s one of the first I saw growing up, and I like how Charlie Brown’s selection of a Christmas tree that everyone criticizes is eventually one they all think looks great, once they decorate it.  It gives me a warm feeling, and helps me get in the Christmas spirit.  My teen daughter’s favorite is How the Grinch Stole Christmas,because she likes how the Grinch’s heart gets larger after he realizes that there’s more to Christmas than just receiving presents and eating feasts.  She also likes the scene where the Grinch carves the roast beast for the whos.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas, from

~ Douglas

Professor Crazy here! I have obtained degrees from numerous colleges & universities both Major and Minor, with an emphasis on all of the Various & Sundry schools of Thought & Discipline. I majored in Rhetoric at the University of Illinois, obtained a Master’s degree in English at Arizona State University In Tempe, AZ., and another Master’s in Secondary Education at UALR, in Little Rock, AR.

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We adore Elf!  KatieKat is in complete agreement with Buddy on the four food groups, which she tries to eat plenty of on a daily basis: syrup, candy, candy corns, and candy canes, but easy on the candy canes, because she isn’t too crazy about mint.  Medora loves Elf’s outlook on life – “smiling’s my favorite!” – and tries to remember it when she is annoyed by crazy co-workers or screaming children in the library where she works.  We both think Buddy’s decorating abilities are amazing.  Who else could transform Gimbel’s into such a stunning winter wonderland?  Medora thinks that KatieKat sounds a lot like Buddy, who likes to scream everything instead of just talking, because she has to remind her to talk instead of yelling all the time.  No matter what kind of day you have at school or work, or how tired you might be, Elf is the movie to put you in a better mood, no matter what time of year it is. 

~Medora and daughter, KatieKat

I am a librarian and a doctoral student in American Literature. I like cats, chinchillas, and moogles. When I go to a big city, I have to go to Chinatown. I eat lemons. I love love love NASCAR. This may be all you need to know. Medora’s Blog

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This really is a tough call as I am a fan of so many holiday specials.  I am going to have to give you my top three choices that I am feeling currently.  Charlie Brown Christmas because it is actually one of those specials that manages to push strong morals and even throws in religion.  For me Christmas has the religion piece to it to make it fully complete.  Second would have to be The Year Without a Santa Claus because Heat Miser and Snow Miser songs are just awesome.  Yeah Bumble is cool, but he can not top those two guys.  Lastly I want to say that I just loved Yes, Virginia that they released this year, I really like the animation, characters and the message.  If I had to pick a favorite version of A Christmas Carol I go with the Mickey version.  Darn, I forgot about ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas with the mice that fix clocks, I love that also.  Ok, I give up, I just like too many of them.

Happy Holidays

~Damon

One of the owners of this site, that site, and I handle all the server work for all the sites.  I am a kid at heart and love cartoons.

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