Wednesday, December 14, 2022

XMAS CARTOONS AND SELECTED SHORTS.

 Christmas is the perfect time to watch these cartoons which are not readily available on TV or on the main streaming services but can be found navigating the internet, principally on YouTube and Vimeo. I remember watching all of these when I was very young and television was just gaining momentum, (mid-50s, early 60s). Needless to say, it was a veritable nostalgia trip when I found them after all those years.


CHRISTMAS NIGHT (1933) starring Oscar E. Soglow's The Little King.



Ub Iwerks' THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER  (1934)









THE SHANTY WHERE SANTA CLAUS LIVES (1933)  
WB Merrie Melodies Directed by Rudolph Ising

 



SANTA'S WORKSHOP (1932) -  A Walt Disney Silly Symphony





GIFT WRAPPED (1952) WB Looney Tunes -  Directed by Friz Freleng






TOY TINKERS (1949) Walt Disney





PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE (1952) Walt Disney



And these are my selected shorts, which I watch whether it's Christmas or not:

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in BIG BUSINESS (1929) 
Directed by James W. Horne and Leo McCarey






THE FIXER-UPPERS (1934) Directed by Charles Rogers


"Jingle bells, jingle bells
coming through the rye.
I wish you a merry Christmas
even as you and I"

And without further ado, I bid you farewell and a Merry Christmas to you!

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Monday, December 12, 2022

THOSE GREAT CHRISTMAS TV SPECIALS!

I don't really know which was the very first Christmas TV special but, as far as I can remember, the first one I saw was "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol".     Ever since then, there have been hundreds of them through the years, but only a few have become classics and of those, I have just a chosen few which I never tire of watching during the holidays . 

These are my favorite Christmas TV Specials, in chronological order: 

MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1962)




RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (1964)






A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (1965)


HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (1966)






FROSTY THE SNOWMAN  (1969)


SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN (1970)





A PINK CHRISTMAS (1978) 

 


BUGS BUNNY'S LOONEY CHRISTMAS TALES (1979)






MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL  (1983)


 Other Christmas favorite viewing treats are the hundreds of Yuletide cartoons and shorts that are featured on every TV channel, streaming service and internet pages and which are easily accessed today by anyone.
I will list a few of these in one of my next blog entries.

Saturday, December 10, 2022

MY TOP 10 CHRISTMAS MOVIES

 Every year, at this time, I prepare myself to watch my favorite Yuletide Season movies and I have ranked them in order of preference. They're all great films and their place in the list does not deter from their merits. All 10 are highly recommended if you like classic films and/or Christmas themed movies.

1.-   A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)


2.-   NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989)


3.-   BABES IN TOYLAND (MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS) - 1934


4.-   THE BISHOP'S WIFE  (1947)


5.-   WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)


6.-   IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)


7.-   MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947)


8.-   ELF (2003)


9.-   POLAR EXPRESS (2004)


10.- THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992)


There's also the matter of the excellent and essential Christmas TV specials which I never miss during this season, but that is the subject of my next blog entry!

Thursday, December 8, 2022

The Celebrity Grim Reaper

Many celebrities have died during the last few months of 2022 which leads me to believe there is a special Grim Reaper whose specialty is doing away with well known names and who works overtime as the year comes to a close.