A Special Sesame Street Christmas

Premiered December 18, 1978.

It's Christmas time on Sesame Street.  Its residents Big Bird (Caroll Spinney), David (Northern Calloway), Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) Maria (Sonia Monzano) and Bob (Bob McGrath) are in a celebratory mood.  They're joined by singer-actress Leslie Uggams, who is visiting for the holidays.

However, Oscar the Grouch (Spinney) hates Christmas and lets everyone know his opinion.  The others are tired of his attitude, he's starting to get in the way of having a good time.  Oscar seems determined to ruin Christmas for everyone.

In the middle of all this, Maria rescues an injured stray cat in the alley.  She and Leslie decide to name it "Tiny Tim" after the character from Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  Oscar doesn't like the cat because it tried to steal trash out of his can the previous month.

Leslie gets an idea.  She will give Oscar the "Scrooge" treatment and try to get him to change his ways. She recruits Anne Murray to pretend she's the Ghost of Christmas Past...

...Imogene Coca to be the Ghost of Christmas Present...

...and Dick Smothers to portray the Ghost of Christmases yet to come.

Can these "ghosts" work their magic in time to save Christmas and make Oscar little less grouchy for the holiday?

Plus, musical performances from Leslie Uggams, Anne Murray and Ethel Merman!

J.A. Morris says:
People who grew up in the 1970s and 80s remember Christmas Eve On Sesame Street, the Emmy award winning special that (deservedly) became a classic and was rerun for several years on PBS.  A Special Sesame Street Christmas was produced the same year but was never rerun and quickly forgotten (until its DVD release).  Upon watching it for this review, I can understand why.

It's an odd special, it feels more like a Leslie Uggams variety special, with Sesame Street actors as guest stars.  Some of the celebrity cameos are strange and random.  Michael Jackson appears onscreen for less than 5 minutes, yet his face is slapped on the DVD cover.  Screen legend Henry Fonda gets even less time.

If you're a fan of Oscar the Grouch, you'll enjoy this special.  Oscar is hilariously mean to all the entire cast.  Carol Spinney does a great job, the highlight being a funny performance of the Coasters' "Yaketty Yak."  I don't think I've ever seen Oscar "play" an electrical guitar anywhere else.

Tiny Tim the cat is certainly cute and sympathetic and serves as a nice contrast to Oscar.

Ethel Merman's appearance is memorable if nothing else.  She tells Imogene Coca that she "looks like an idiot", which is a strange thing to say in a special aimed at children! Merman's performance of the song "Tomorrow" belongs in the "over-the-top" showbiz hall off fame.  She certainly gives it her all though!

Anne Murray has a good voice, but her performance of "You Needed Me" (which topped the music charts the year this special was produced) feels out of place. Same goes for some of Uggams' songs.

On a positive note, I like the ending of the show.  Uggams and Merman join the Sesame Street folks in a medley of Christmas songs.  This means we get a brief duet of Merman singing "Winter Wonderland" with Oscar!

And I have to say that Maria and David look pretty cool in 1920s clothes during the "Christmas Past" scene.

A Special Sesame Street Christmas is more of a curiosity than essential viewing, but it's recommended to everyone who watched Sesame Street in the 1970s and especially recommended if Oscar was your favorite character.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

2 and a half candy canes.
  
RigbyMel says: 

A Special Sesame Street Christmas is interesting but ...odd.   The writing feels very uneven.  As J.A. says above, there is some dialogue that seems inconsistent with Sesame Street's message of kindness and tolerance.

Plus in wacky 1970s variety special fashion, the celebrity cameos are random as all get out.  Henry Fonda shows up on a fire escape in a bathrobe to expound about Christmas morning for a grand total of maybe 30 seconds.  Michael Jackson literally walks across the set, hands Oscar a book about ghosts and leaves.

We get a couple of Broadway songs that have tangential (at best) relationships to the story, such as Ethel Merman's memorable performance of "Tomorrow."  Anne Murray sings her hit song "You Needed Me" to Big Bird, which seems wildly out of place as it's a romantic love song.

The special is also odd in that although it involves some of the regular human cast (Maria, Bob, David and Mr. Hooper) in addition to Big Bird, Oscar and Barkley the Dog (Toby Towson), it does NOT involve important contributors such as Jim Henson and Frank Oz, which may have contributed to the issues the special has with tone.

That being said,  Caroll Spinney does a great job as Oscar and Big Bird.  Casting Oscar in the "Scrooge" role makes a lot of sense, and Tiny Tim the Kitten is adorable. 

In doing some research about the special,  I found that others have compared it to the Star Wars Holiday Special, because of its weird 70s variety special format, celebrity cameos, and the fact that it only aired one time on a major network.  Both also maintain a cult following.

A Special Sesame Street Christmas has its moments, and the cast gives their all, but I can't really give this a strong recommendation unless you're a hard-core fan.

RigbyMel's rating:

2 candy canes

Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July

Premiered June 30, 1979.

It's late June, but in the North Pole it's still chilly.  Rudolph is hanging out with his best friend Frosty and his snow family.  Santa shows up to tell us (the viewers) that the North Pole was not always such a nice place to live.

Years ago, an evil sorcerer named Winterbolt ruled the North.  Lady Boreal, Queen of the Northern Lights, ended his reign by using her power to put Winterbolt into a deep, but not permanent, sleep.

During Winterbolt's long nap, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived in the North Pole and set up their toymaking workshop with the Kringle elves.

Winterbolt awakens and learns, from his Ice Genie, that Santa is the most beloved man on Earth due to his kindness to children at Christmas.  The sorcerer is jealous and creates a terrible blizzard to keep Santa grounded and force the cancellation of  Christmas.

At the same time, Lady Boreal's powers are dwindling.  She pays a visit to the baby Rudolph and tells him that she has empowered his red nose in order to help Santa.  However, if Rudolph ever uses his nose for evil, it will no longer shine.   We all know the story of how "the most famous reindeer of all" uses his nose to save Christmas, so Rudolph definitely has used his shiny nose for good purposes.

We cut to the "present day", where Rudolph receives a visit from his friend Milton, an ice cream man who sells his product from a hot air balloon.

Milton is sad because he is unable to marry Lanie Lorraine, a high wire performer in the circus.  They were set to marry when they had to cancel since the circus, owned by Lanie's mother, Lilly is near bankruptcy.

The circus will have to go on the road to make money, thus preventing Milton and Lanie from being together.  Meanwhile, a nasty businessman named Sam Spangles is maneuvering to acquire ownership of the circus for himself.

Winterbolt watches all of this in a crystal snowball and gets some evil ideas.  He manipulates Milton into asking Rudolph to perform at the circus on the 4th of July.

Frosty's kids, Millie and Chillie, are excited about the concept of a circus and beg to go see one. Their mother Crystal agrees that it would be a good experience, but Frosty reminds them they'll melt in the Summer sun.  Winterbolt conveniently materializes in front of them and gives the Frosty family medallions that will allow them to see the circus and the fireworks on Independence Day.

There's a catch though,  the medallions will stop working when the final firework of the 4th has been detonated.  Prompted by Winterbolt, Santa says he can whisk away the snow family near the end of fireworks.

Rudolph and Frosty's circus act is a rousing success.   Winterbolt still schemes to destroy Rudolph's power. He recruits a reindeer of dubious morals named Scratcher to get a job at the circus.

That way Scratcher can frame Rudolph for robbery.  Rudolph inadvertently  gives the circus' revenue to Sam Spangles, who impersonates a police officer.  This somehow violates Lady Boreal's rule and Rudolph's nose shines no more.  

Back in the North, Winterbolt causes a tornado to threaten Santa and Mrs. Claus, slowing down their arrival at the Circus By The Sea.   Excessive delay could lead to the melting of Frosty and his family.

Will Winterbolt succeed in his quest to take over the world, starting with the North Pole?  Can Lilly keep her circus?  Is this the end for Rudolph and Frosty?


J.A. Morris says:

According to its wiki, Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July received a theatrical release, but only overseas.  I recall first watching it on HBO in 1981.  I've long had mixed feelings about this movie.

I'll start with the positives:

It's great to see Frosty and family get the Animagic treatment.  It was also nice to see Rudolph and Frosty, Rankin-Bass' most popular characters, interact on screen.

The voice acting is excellent.  Billie Mae Richards and Jackie Vernon reprise their roles as Rudolph and Frosty, respectively.  Shelly Winters, Red Buttons, Don Messick and Paul Frees are also good as usual.

Lilly is voiced by the legendary Ethel Merman.  Any movie with Merman voicing a cowgirl can't be all bad, right?  And we get to hear Merman sing "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer", in her own inimitable style.

Mickey Rooney plays Santa Claus, who he voiced in Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and A Year Without A Santa Claus.  Rooney always made a great Santa.

The featured song "You Are Everything I've Ever Wanted" isn't the best song of the Rankin-Bass oeuvre, but it's sung well and contains some sweet sentiment.  The movie also includes a performance of "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree".  This song, was written by Johnny Marks, who also wrote "Rudolph, The Rednosed Reindeer."

There are also attempts to maintain some continuity between this and earlier Rankin-Bass specials.  Big Ben from Rudolph's Shiny New Year makes a cameo appearance.  Clarice, Rudolph's girlfriend from the first special, is seen in a flashback.  Jack Frost, previously featured in Frosty's Winter Wonderland and his own self-titled special, plays a small but important role.

There aren't many 4th of July specials, so it has that going for it as well.

The main problem is that the plot is very convoluted.  Winterbolt's plan is way more elaborate than it needs to be.

And there are loose ends at the end.  Scratcher plays an important role in framing Rudolph, but we never learn Scratcher's fate.  Did he get punished?  Was he reformed?  Is Scratcher evil or just misunderstood?

One other thing I need to mention.  Lilly's circus troupe contains three "Indians" who are ugly stereotypes. I'm sure the people behind the movie meant no harm, but they should have known better than to include this depiction of Native Americans by 1979.

Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July isn't bad, but it's not something I watch every year either.  Worth checking out at least once for the Animagic and the great voice-actors.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 and a half candy canes.

Or should it be 2 and half Flags?

.5



RigbyMel says:

I really wanted to like this movie better than I did.   It has Rudolph as well as Animagic Frosty and family.  It has attempts at tying various strains of Rankin-Bass continuity together.    It contains great voice work.  It has an evil antisanta-type wizard with a sled pulled by snakes.

Snake-y Sled!!

 And Ice Dragons too!  

Ice dragons! 

The summer/Christmas in July theme is an interesting idea, but the story is way too complicated to make it a classic.

Did we really need a retcon explaining what made Rudolph's nose shiny?  
What happens to the wrong side of the tracks reindeer Scratcher?  He just disappears.      
Why would Rudolph's innocent mistake in helping give the money to someone he thought was a policeman cause him to lose his powers?  Does Lady Boreal's spell not take intentions into account?  That seems a bit draconian.

If you grew up watching Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas In July,  it might bring back fond memories,  but I came away feeling a bit disappointed.    For me,  Rudolph and company are happier in a Christmas context.  This special strikes me as something of an interesting misfit.

RigbyMel's rating:

2 candy canes