It’s that time of year, when a big chunk of television programming revolves around the holidays, most especially Christmas. And some of that programming has been around for decades. I’m talking about animated Christmas specials. But the thing is, because some of the most popular ones were produced in such different times, they don’t exactly translate very well to our current state of affairs. 

Take Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, for example. Sure, it’s a great little story about a comeback kid who saves Christmas. But it starts out with bullying (encouraged by the adults), abuse and child abandonment! Then there’s the gun- and knife-wielding Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snow Monster who has his teeth ripped out by Hermey the elf to make him kinder and gentler. And in the end, Santa only accepts Rudolph’s mutation because he can use it to his advantage.

And what about Frosty the Snowman? The entire story is full of crime and, again, abuse. The hat that brings Frosty to life is stolen, the magician it belongs to hunts him down to kill him, Frosty and his child companion illegally hop a train and, when the child is literally freezing to death, they break into a greenhouse. What kind of lessons are those for kids watching it?!

Of course, there are all kinds of messed up lessons in the specials from the 60s and 70s if you think about them too much. And every one of them has at least little errors (in The First Christmas, a nun says she forgot that it snowed on the the first Christmas… y’know, in the desert). Plus, watching these with 21st century values can bring up a slew of race and gender issues, which it isn’t exactly fair to throw at productions that are more than 50 years old.

But the point of these specials was that you didn’t need to think much at all, so they got away with a lot of things that may even have been considered moderately unacceptable at the time. It’s not that they’re not enjoyable, but if you’re watching these with kids you might want to point out what’s wrong and use them as teachable moments. And in case you wondered, considering the story and characters involved, the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas is probably one of the least offensive specials around!