my top five favorite favorite christmas television specials

there is no shortage of christmas specials for your viewing pleasure this month. many are mediocre, some are fantastic, and some would make you lose your holiday spirit for life....like the star wars holiday special from 1977:



but we are not here to speak of the bad. here is my top five favorite favorite christmas television specials!


5. Frosty the Snowman (1969)
jimmy durante narrates and sings this hand drawn classic. "happy birthday! hey, i said my first words. but... but snowmen can't talk. ha ha ha, come on now, what's the joke? could i really be alive?" it's pretty much the song acted out... well drawn out, with a not so hot magician added as some what of a villain. but nobody stays naughty at christmas time.


4. rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer (1964)
the first popular release from the rankin-bass team. narrated by the great burl ives who also sings the famous title song and silver & gold. fantastic characters like hermey the elf who would rather be a dentist, yukon cornelius the self-proclaimed "greatest prospector in the north", the abominable snowmonster (a.k.a., "Bumble"), and all the misfit toys. nothing says childhood christmas like claymation.


3. the bear who slept through christmas (1973)
you probably have never heard of this one. I have only actually seen it on television twice, but I own it the VHS (remember that unstoppable format). it stars tom smothers as ted edward bear...get it (ted e. bear), a sweet little bear who lives in Bearbank....get it? as we all know, bears hibernate during the winter. ted has always heard of this thing called christmas. he decides to stay awake this year and find out for himself what it's all about. I am surprised this special has never found a bigger audience. makes me sad.


2. a charlie brown christmas (1965) -
simple characters and simple drawings keep this classic so endearing. charlie's adimate frustration with the commercialization of christmas has always seamed funny to me because of his young age. the special celebrates everything great about christmas from the picking out of the tree, to the christmas pageant, to the most important part of christmas, the birth of christ. as mentioned in my top five favorite christmas albums post, the soundtrack is my favorite christmas album of all time. this special perfectly captures and celebrates the childlike spirit of christmas.


1. how the grinch stole christmas (1966) -
call it an obvious pick. i know it's probably the most famous of the five. i can't remember the first time I saw this special. I just remember always knowing about it. everything works so well. directed by chuck jones who is most famous for his work on the loony tunes shorts. you can see the similarity between some of his loony tunes from that period. especially from the roadrunner and coyote stuff. narrated and voiced by the iconic boris karloff, and the fantastically whimsical song lyrics and story by dr. seuss. it's a wonderfully redemptive story that always seems to stay relevant each year.