It was quite the year here, and I look forward to another big year next year.
My PBS Kids retrospectives will revert to a previous form. Instead of finishing a group of episodes, writing it, and then publishing it I will now watch a group of episodes, write it, watch the next group, and then publish. This is what I did with Fetch!, and I think this will help especially with determining “last appearances of X. Martha Speaks should be done with a few months. After that is Wishbone followed by The Magic School Bus.
For movies I got a long list and with 22 a year max I got several more years of content. One list coming out soon is a ranking of every Illumination film. I do plan on doing three live-action movies, Dragonheart 3-5, so hopefully watching these frame by frame for screenshots is fun. They have big shoes to fill after Fetch!
For the 5th year in a row I shattered my yearly views record. I do not really know what that means, but I will take it. I also broke my record for most posts per year. It took 10 years, but 2016 has been beaten.
It was my busiest year ever. Before this 2020 was my busiest with over 61,000 words. This year I got to just under 88,000. My 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14, 17th, and 18th longest posts ever are from this year, and all were about PBS Kids.
I reviewed 120 episodes, 60 from Fetch! and 60 from Martha Speaks. I also finally did a top show list (long term dream), top theme songs, and a Christmas episode from a show not mentioned on any list. It really was a year of rewatching nostalgic TV from my favorite network for me.
Time for the rewards.
Best review is Big Top Scooby-Doo. After a lot of Scooby movies I thought my writing would be stale by now, but I think this was a great write up.
Best movie award goes to The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. It was the only 5 Tree Star review, so it was an easy choice.
Worst film reviewed is Injustice. Again it is an easy pick.
Best season of a show reviewed award goes to Fetch! season 5.
Hardest review was the top PBS Kids Shows. That took around 2 months after all. Spending a week debating if Sagwa or Magic School Bus would be higher was not on my 2025 bingo card.
Most disappointing was Curious George back to the Jungle. Most surprisingly delightful was The Day the Earth Blew Up.
For my twenty-three major posts I reviewed fifteen movies. There were 7 lists, and 1 “As an Adaptation.”
Now for my favorite part- favorite images of the year. Fetch! and Martha get their own galleries.
One of my favorite gags is George always imagines Bill Crying.
I have written about great holiday specials. I have written about bad Christmas specials. I have written about holiday specials from franchises I love. Now it is time to talk about a mediocre Christmas episode from a mediocre show, Maya and Miguel. The series’ broadcasting rights just expired, so it is as a good a time as any to give it a little spotlight.
For those too young to remember linear TV being the only option, mediocre shows were a fact of life. Sometimes your favorite shows came on at 4:00 and 5:00. Maya and Miguel was that show that came on in between. Nobody I knew actually liked it, but we all watched it. Overall it was a fine show. It sometimes had stand out episodes, and it sometimes had bad ones, but it was normally best described as “okay.”
For years this was the worst show on PBS Kids Go, and that shows how good that block was. I was never excited for their worst show, but I never dreaded it. When I went through the episode list I could tell I have seen (at least partially) 64/65 episodes, but this is the first time I have seen one in 16 years.
The basic premise is two fraternal twins (the titular characters) get in escapades because Maya has a savior complex, Miguel must get her out of the problems she creates, and their friends do their things with their basic but proven character traits. The biggest weakness is the lead herself, Maya. She is very insufferable and acts like a grandma trapped in 10 year old’s body.
It is one of the few episodes that break the usual formula, as it is more about Miguel than Maya. Overall that is a good thing, as this show is really formulaic. None of the children are voiced by children. The adults are fine. None sound like children, but unless you have say been watching hordes of shows like Arthur, Fetch, and Martha Speaks it is not very noticeable. Especially as other PBS Kids shows like Cyberchase, Postcards from Buster, and Wordgirl (also fellow Deborah Forte show Clifford) had adults voicing children.
The episode starts with Maya giving Miguel a breakfast in bed to look for her Christmas present hidden in his room. Do any ten year olds actually buy/make their own Christmas present? This shows one of the biggest problems, these are not elementary children. They are high schoolers at youngest in elementary children bodies. This is a really obvious trick by Maya, and they have to make the other characters dumber for it to work, and that was a common thing in the show.
She ruins his book report by thinking it is paper towels and… How does she think loose leaf papers on a desk are paper towels? Their parrot paco does the transitions this episode, and this guy is a really unfunny comic relief pet. I do not think this bird is ever funny.
I do not like these designs. The poor animation is a problem, as this show really relies on wacky slapstick, and the animation style is too realistic for it to work. It does not look very realistic thanks to those really skinny and long necks. They are a little boring and a little ugly. Next few scenes Maya solves some problems (Way bigger success rate than she normally has in the show), and this somehow keeps resulting in Miguel getting hurt.
After a few boring minutes the plot actually kicks in. Miguel’s present to his parents is a painting of the family. Maya thinks her nose is too big and selfishly tries to change it messing it up in a scene with actual good animation. Miguel then wishes she never existed resulting in the upcoming dream plot.
I think Maya is a terrible protagonist, but I think she is really good this scene. For once she acts like a real kid making realistic (considering it is exaggerated for comedy) mistakes, and it is in character.
It is really obvious this will all be just a dream, but it is a nice change of pace from the normal structure. It actually changes the usual “It’s a Wonderful Life” plot. Instead of the protagonist never existed it is the sibling never existed.
It is a basic but okay plot. Without Maya the things she did earlier in the episode are undone, the good she did in the first episode is undone, and some good she did off screen is undone. It makes Miguel wish for her back, and… Apparently dream Paco knew all along.
There is a recurring gag about Miguel and underwear that shows how he feels about Maya’s schemes. Early on they result in his pants falling down in public, and this makes him mad. Later without her he gets underwear for Christmas making him sad. Then after she is back his pants randomly fall down in public, and he is just happy she is back.
This episode is… Moderately good. Decent episode for a decent show. I remember thinking this episode was above average for them. It is a good message about appreciating siblings.
This is the real irony. This show’s spinoff, Wordgirl, was way more successful and popular, yet this Christmas episode blows Wordgirl‘s Christmas episode out of the water.
This was the last main post of by far my busiest post ever (barring something really weird happens). Next will be a recap of the year with loose plans for 2026’s 24 main posts and additional PBS Kids “Minor” retrospective posts.
Rankin-Bass, I love y’all’s work. I have seen and reviewed so much from y’all that I never saw until I was at least 20, and I passionately love. From a masterful Christmas special, to masterful Tolkien adaptation, The Flight of Dragons, and so much more. That is why it feels so wrong that I never liked their most acclaimed work of all.
The second adaptation of Rudolph is their most famous special or movie, and it is highly divisive. Either a masterful children’s movie or terrible. A great message or full of awful messages. Wonderful or awful characters. There is basically no middle ground.
Fun fact: The Roman numerals are wrong and say it came out in 1164.
Romeo Mueller is known for very faithful adaptations, and that makes me wonder about this. Wikipedia says he could not find the book. That makes sense, but the cited source is not a primary source, gives no source, and it just says that was a rumor and cannot be verified.
It starts with its first problem, newspapers about a storm. Like the next Rudolph adaptation it has horrible unity of plot. In the original the storm is the villain, as it is man vs nature. Both longer adaptations make it about fighting something else, and then the storm is a tacked on epilogue. They describe it like it is the main plot, and that makes it feel disjointed. Then it cuts to Sam the Snowman.
“If I live to be 100…” You are a snowman in the North pole. You should be calling Methuselah a whipper snapper. “Never seen a talking snowman before?” Yes I have. I guess this was a shock to 1964 children, but when I was born in 1996 this just comes off as slow.
Still I like this opening. To Sam the Snowman Rudolph is a well known story, so he briefly alludes to it building up mystery about this giant snowstorm. Then he realizes the audience is unfamiliar and sings the song.
I really do not like these human designs. Animagic came so far from this. These same people doing Life and Adventures is shocking. This somehow makes Santa come off as very selfish and mean. He also sings badly. They are going for a grumpy Santa who then eats more and gets fat and jolly in the end. I just find that whole plot boring and out of character for Santa. Just compare him to his look in Adventures.
I am glad these guys got so much better over the next two decades. Those beedy eyes and emotionless body language were gone.
I have been critical enough, and I have to say this- I am under no delusion that this was lazily made. Rankin focused on the Japanese production with Bass focusing on the North American side showing why they needed two producers. At one point production took a ten hour train ride to watch deer. The puppeteering on this scale was groundbreaking and keeping the white ones clean was incredibly hard. I see why children from 1964 were fascinated by this, and I appreciate all the work even if it is not my cup of tea.
Unlike many detractors I do not hate Donner. He is effectionate in many scenes, and his attempts to hide the nose are just practical. After all Bad Santa said it had to go.
Why is Hermie the only Elf with normal eyes. He wants to be a dentist a job associated with scaring children. As somebody who always had great teeth I never noticed that until now.
Songs are so forgettable other than “We’re a Couple of Misfits.” Santa is right that “Santa’s Elves” needs work. A lot of work. I actually agree with him.
Why is Clarice wearing a Minnie Mouse bow? She already looks different from him. Clarice asks Rudolph why he talks funny. You talk funny Rudolph, as you sound like an adult trying to sound like a boy.
Only time the eyes show emotion. It is not so much it is shiny, but it whistles. It is hardly even big. Santa sucks so bad. Is Comet kicking him out of discrimination or… It is discrimination. They can deal with a little whistling. It does not even blind them, as they can clearly still see. “Tomorrow” is terrible, as her singing voice sounds nothing like her talking voice.
In the original Rudolph cannot stop his nose from glowing meaning it is a constant problem. I do not know why both adaptations made it only glow rarely. That change lessons the tension and plot when they need more plot.
Yukon Cornelius is the best character. Sure he has beady eyes, but his body language gives good emotion. All his dogs are also misfits. His quick thinking is one of the few actual entertaining scenes, and fleeing Bumble is one of the few highlights. For one it is an exciting scene, it has Yukon’s comedy, and he actually does use smart planning to escape. Rudolph is convinced Bumble is tracking his nose, but that seems overly pessimistic, and it hardly ever actually glows.
Why does King not just go to Santa himself or send somebody? Those toys have nothing wrong with them anyway.
By leaving for months Rudolph doomed the toys to wait for months, as Cornelius and Hermie were looking for him instead of helping the toys. Focus on helping this family Santa, not just your sleigh. Why do you have no spare flying reindeers?
In a scene full of convenient coincidences. we get our climax. Bumble happens to have Rudolph’s parents and Clarice trapped even though they were in two different groups. After Rudolph gets knocked out Hermie and Yukon happen to arrive. For a short named after Rudolph he is completely unimportant until the very ending. Yukon does all the work, and Bilbo Baggins has nothing on this. Then the narrator tells us-
“The best thing to do is get the women back to Christmastown.” What type of dialogue is that?
Now with it basically over the actual plot of the book and song starts with a giant storm. Contrary to what Sants said later he now can fly without Donner and apparently some other reindeer (counting Rudolph there are only seven). It ends with the actual events of the song, and all three sequels forgot he got older.
That is their first Christmas special. Sometimes I just think it is bad and other times I think it is awful (I have to give it another shot every few years to see if there is something I missed). I do not like this one at all. I just think almost every scene is either boring or disjointed. The unity of plot is awful. Other than Yukon the characters are forgettable (Hermie) or suck. Larry Mann as Yukon is the only good actor. The animation is very bad.
The Animation Historian 