December 4 - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

In a lot of ways, this is the granddaddy of the modern holiday specials. Along with "A Charlie Brown Christmas", Rudolph has remained evergreen over the last 48 years or so and was the first "animagic" stop motion animated special. I cannot express how much I loved the amazing little world that Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass created as I was growing up. How fortunate we're children of the 60s and 70s to have a new RankinBass show every couple of years.

Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman adorns my front lawn each holiday season in 7 foot tall, air inflated, illuminated glory. The Island of misfit toys is such a creative idea and I always wished that we could have had a special focussing on more of them, back in the 60s and 70s, although a lower quality computer animated special was produced in the late 90s without the true RankinBass magic.

Finally, Yukon Cornelius and the "Bumble" are also wonderful characters who deserved at least one more holiday screen appearance. Waaaaahooooooo! Did you know that rather than silver or gold, Yukon was actually prospecting for peppermint? It is a deleted scene from the special that is available on the DVD. Check it out!

Also, please visit my friend Rick Goldschmidt at his most outstanding site www.enchantedworldofrankinbass.blogspot.com

Rick has become THE authority on the RankinBass specials and movies and has authored several wonderful books on the subject. It is a wonderful site and you will be glad you visited!