Classic Christmas Cartoons
Dec 7 — 8pm (ABC)
A Mailman (voiced by Fred Astaire) decides to answer some of the most common questions about Santa Claus when his mail truck breaks down, and tells us about a small baby named Kris who was left on the doorstep of the Kringle family (toymakers). When Kris grew up, he wanted to deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. But its Burgermeister (love the Meisterburger) is too mean to let that happen. And to make things worse, there's an evil wizard named Winter who lives between the Kringles and Sombertown, but Kris manages to melt Winter's heart (as well as the schoolteacher's) and deliver his toys.
2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Dec 12 — 8pm (CBS)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is an old classic with Burl Ives as narrator. The show uses innovative puppetry and stopmotion animation to tell the story of an outcast reindeer, an aspiringdentist elf, and an island of misfit toys who help Santa save Christmas.
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Dec 8 — 8pm (ABC)
One of the most endearing of all Peanuts' specials finds Charlie Brown nurturing the thinnest, scraggliest Christmas tree ever. At first the gang makes fun of Charlie for choosing such an ugly tree for the holiday but a timely assist from Linus makes the true message of the season come shining through. Everyone realizes in the end that a little affection can make all the difference in the world.
4. The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
Mrs. Claus tells us about the time Santa had a bad cold and decided to take a vacation from Christmas. Two of his elves, Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells decide to go out (with Vixen) to find children to convince Santa that the Christmas spirit is still important to everybody else. But they have to get past Heat Miser and Snow Miser, first, before they land in Southtown, USA, where it never snows for Christmas. But the Miser Brothers can't agree to let it snow in Southtown. But Mrs. Claus knows their mom--Mother Nature who puts the boys in their place, at least for one day.
5. Frosty the Snowman (1969)
Dec 18 — 8pm (CBS)
An animated cartoon about Frosty the snowman, who springs
to life when the children place a magic hat upon his head. We
all know the song, “Frosty the Snowman,” and the upbeat wintery
feeling it brings.
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
The familiar prose of the great Dr. Seuss comes to life in
this Christmas cartoon classic. The Grinch has a terrible,
awful plan to steal all of the presents from the Whos down in
Whoville, but he is surprised to learn that Christmas is more than he
thought it was before.
It's the same old classic Charles Dickens story with an all star Disney cast. Uncle Scrooge McDuck is appropriately enough Scrooge and is visited by his dead partner and three spirits one night to remember the joys of Christmas.
8. The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
This one has virtually disappeared from TV, probably because
of the religious aspect to it. It tells the story of Aaron, who's
family is killed, he hates all people and his only friends are
the lamb Baabaa, the donkey Samson and the camel Joshua. But an
unscrupulous travelling performer convinces them to join his troupe,
and then sells Joshua to a trio of kings. Aaron follows the star to find
Joshua, but then Baabaa is badly injured, and Aaron must overcome
his hatred of mankind and find a gift with which to approach the babe
in the manger and ask for help.
9. The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975)
Lucas, a young shepherd, is blinded by lightening and some
kindly nuns at a nearby abbey take him in. Sister Catherine
describes snow to Lucas, who has never seen it. Lucas gets
chosen to play an angel in the abbey's Christmas pageant, and
the Christmas snow that falls during the pageant works a small miracle.
While not exactly a Christmas show how many a shows are there about New Year's? Father Time sends Santa a message telling him that the baby new year, Happy (check those ears out), is missing! And without the baby new year, it'll remain the old year forever. But it's foggy and snowing, so Rudolph's the only reindeer for the job. Rudolph learns that Eon (ugly buzzard) is also searching for Happy, so that Eon's life will never end. With the help of 1 Million B.C. and Sir 1023, and 1776, Rudolph searches through the islands of the Archipelago of Last Year and races against Eon to ensure a Happy New Year.
