When I’m on the road or shopping during the month on December, I always seem to be in the Christmas spirit. This could be due to the very fact that I’m not on the road or in stores, but I attribute this more to the availability of holiday music and TV specials available at the click of a button. A couple weeks ago I told everybody about Betamaxmas, a wonderful website that streams clips of classic 80’s and 90s holiday shows. Sure, there’s Star Wars and Charlie Brown, but I thought I would concentrate on some of the best geeky holiday classics that many people may not think about when binging on holiday cheer. Here is the first part of my top 10, counting down from 10 through 6.
10) Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special (1988 – Available on Netflix)
As I talked about in last week’s post, a staple of animation in the 80s was Claymation. One show that incorporated this whenever it could was Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, usually in the cartoon of the day. This holiday special incorporates all fun aspects of Christmas specials, becoming a parody of itself. With many unexpected guest starts (Whoopi Goldberg, Magic Johnson, Cher), ice skating and snowball fights (if you don’t have snow, just use 20 lbs of coconut shavings), musical numbers at ridiculous moments, and of course the kid who wants everything and doesn’t appreciate casual gifts like fruitcake (Pee Wee). And be sure to say the magic words when you make your Christmas wish. It’s the perfect show for the entire family to watch and celebrate the end of another great… year. Aaaaahhhhh!
9) Will Vinton’s A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987)
Will Vinton’s more popular creation was the California Raisin, known from the commercials for the California Raisin Advisory Board. The pruney sextet can be found alongside other creations such as its hosts, Rex and Herb, two dinosaurs who enjoy the season and announce each Christmas carol. When I was a kid, every time the raisin commercial would come on TV, I would always stop what I was doing immediately to watch it, so this special has always been my favorite.
8) Community – “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” (2010)
Community had plenty of bizarre Christmas tributes, but the episode that sticks out for me is when Abed wakes up to discover everything is stop-motion animated, and therefore that day must be a Christmas special. Worried about Abed, the group tries talking him through a therapy session, which instead leads Abed on a mission through his own Winder Wonderland to the North Pole to find the meaning of Christmas. Unlike the rest of the series, but not unlike the way Christmas specials should be, this episode includes many original holiday melodies, which makes Abed’s winter wonderland even more special.
7) Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy – “Billy & Mandy Save Christmas” (2005)
To prove that there is a Santa Claus, Grim creates a hole in the fabric of space so he, Billy and Mandy can travel to the North Pole. At the workshop, they discover that Santa’s been turned into a vampire, and the only way to save Christmas is to kill the Head Vampire, Baron Von Ghoulish. When they discover that they actually need to stake the Head Head Vampire (they did this whole reorganization thing a couple hundred years ago), Mandy, Grim and the Baron continue on the adventure. Meanwhile, Billy remains at the workshop helping Mrs. Claus do all the work Santa has promised to do since marriage but has been too busy to do. If you have ever seen The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, this is a must watch. If not, it’s a great start into enjoying the adventures of sarcastic Mindy, mindless Billy, and their Jamaican Grim Reaper, Grim. The only qualm I have ever had about this episode is that Santa is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried. I have nothing against him, but I would never peg him as a vampire.
6) K9 and Company – “A Girl’s Best Friend” (1981)
Nothing says the 80s better than a robot dog using lasers to fight evil witches on Christmas Eve. When Sarah Jane Smith travels to visit her Aunt Lavinia, she discovers her Aunt has left early for a tour in America and has forgotten Sarah Jane is coming for Christmas. Luckily, she has her aunts ward, and a mysterious crate that turns out to have K9, a robot dog from the Doctor, inside. While staying at her aunt’s home, she learns that the town does not like Lavinia because of her scathing letters to the newspaper against witchcraft. This may be due to the local coven of witches who must do a blood sacrifice on Christmas Eve, that apparently only K9 can stop. You would never know this was a Christmas special if not the end scene where K9 learns how to sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” but it has the same spirit throughout.