Maya and Miguel: Miguel’s Wonderful Life

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.

DT-TV Wonders: Rudolph (1964)

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.

Pinocchio’s Christmas

This is a special from 1980 from this group of people I have reviewed (and consistently praised) the works of many times. Besides Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass usual composer Maury Laws and writer Romeo Muller are back. I love this group of guys, and I love Pinocchio. On paper this is a wonderful project for me, but I find it mediocre (from me that is a bad sign). The real problem is they cannot figure out Pinocchio. Is he malicious or just really gullible? He keeps going back and forth.

It was released on the Disney version’s 40th anniversary. I think they wanted to make a faithful film version like their adaptation of The Hobbit, but they had to settle for this.

In the opening scene Pinocchio sees snow and Christmas for the first time, and like the other late Animagic works this looks great. Big props to them for using toys for everybody and making Pinocchio look so different from the rest. I think Geppetto calling Pinnocchio “My little acorn” is cute, but also a mean reminder he is not a real boy. It is an interquel to the book. It is not a great adaptation by any means, as Pinocchio is too nice, Cat is too dumb, the general people are way too nice, and The Blue fairy has a name, but this is a much better adaptation than I expected with many things I assumed would be cut.

This leads to the first song where Geppetto sings about the difficulties of buying a present. It is a mediocrely written song, but I like the small details. I am a sucker for showing an internal debate my making the character talk to himself in the mirror, and I really like that the craftsman moves his hands around so much when thinking. It ties in to the themes that presents are not important (I also appreciate a Christmas special for going against them), and his double voice synchonizes with himself nicely, but the song is just not that interesting for an opening number. Just contrast it to “Immortality” from Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

Geppetto pinches his pennies to buy Pinocchio a math book, which Pinnocchio of course sells back for a lower price. I think Pinocchio is one of the greatest fictional characters ever made. You can put him in different genres and stories, and he is amazing. This version has the basic qualities of a great truer to the text Pinocchio except for one problem- he is way too dumb. Getting the book back for a 1/9 value reduction is already a small problem, but it is then shown he cannot count past 1 anyway, and… In the original book Pinocchio is not the brightest, but he does quite often show great cunning, and it takes real work to fool him. Here this foreshadows that he will fall for any trick. Tell him name is actually “Idiot,” and he will believe it.

After this come Fox and Cat’s real introduction, and they are my favorite characters (aside from how they are clearly designed to look like Gypsies). Cat casually asks if she should beam him with a brick before Fox stops her, and that is a great introduction. Fox is the sole brain of the outfit. Cat is pointlessly evil and dumb, while Fox is a plotter. In an adaptation of a chapter in the book they trick Pinocchio into planting a money tree, and they then dig it all up to steal it (In the books Pinocchio is an amazing fighter, so just mugging him was out of the question).

To make the money back he gets a job performing for a puppet master, and he really messes this up. This whole sequence shows that this version of Pinocchio is not a good natured but gullible kid like in The Disney version (I love the Disney version to pieces despite its adaptational deficiencies), but I am happy to see him presented as a very bad boy here. He falls in love with a lifeless puppet named Julietta. When that happens in the show the camera cuts to the puppet master voicing her words making sure we know she is lifeless. Pinocchio steals her under the hopes she will come to life and not be remade despite as shown later (and hinted earlier with the acorn line) Pinocchio knows he was alive even as a tree, so that cannot happen. After stealing her now the police are after him, and Pinocchio is now a fugitive hiding in the enchanted forest. The only good thing for him is the cops were too scared to follow him there.

In all of this is a Geppetto bit I cannot decide if it is dumb or brilliant. He hears about the living puppet, but he sees the stage name and assumes it is another living puppet and leaves. In the book there are other living puppets, so it can be a reference to that or mean there are others, just not with the puppet master. It might just also mean he is dumb.

After that is the best scene in the movie. Like in the book Pinocchio was alive as a tree, and he narrates that part to Julietta in a surprisingly book faithful scene. Instead of him biting Geppetto he kicks him in the butt, which is the general idea. It has some very good father-son moments, and a desire by both to help each other. It captures the lesson from the book that being part of a family makes all the parties better by focusing on self improvement.

After that he is shown making all sorts of problems. Unlike Fox he does evil for evil’s sake, and… Sadly the designs and voice just do not fit how they are writing him. After that he has no friends… That is not book faithful. Instead of having no friends due to his evilness in the book he easily makes friends, evil friends. He befriends Fox and Cat who teach him to be eviler.

The next piece with the Cricket really shows the special problems. Pinocchio like in the book takes out the cricket with a book. It is actually more evil than in the book, as there it was 3rd degree murder, and here it is second degree murder. It is then ruined when it is presented as an accident he did not mean to happen.

In the same inn from the book (but clearly based off the Disney version) Fox and Cat make a deal with a coachman to sell Pinocchio to a rich man as a gift to his children. After this they find him in the forest (I actually can see why Pinocchio views them as friends), and they make up a thing he needs to bring Julietta to life and then sing the best song in the special “It’s The Truth.” Basically Fox says it is the truth or lightning should strike him down, and instead the lightning keeps hitting cat or a tree and knocking it on her.

It is so dumb, but I have to laugh at it. In Pinocchio’s defense lightning never actually strikes Fox (does God have sucky aim in this universe?) It is a great comedic song. Before this there have been quite a few skippable songs, but this is one of three that actually are good.

The puppet master makes a new lifeless Pinocchio. After he bombs the lifeless puppet is thrown out, and Geppetto mistakes him for the real Pinocchio and thinks he is dead. It does not go anywhere, but it is a nice scene. Again that is part of the problem, is there is not much plot. In fact I just skipped over an entire scene because it gets undone right after.

In all seriousness, that scene contributes to the theme that presents are not important, so Pinocchio no longer wants to cheat himself to a present for Geppetto, but Fox and Cat tell him he is going to help Santa Claus with… That upcoming imagination suck really sucks. It is just repeating the same word over and over.

He is taken by the Coachman with his donkey driven carriage to the rich man as a Christmas present, and the ending is pretty basic. The rich man is a Duke who can only see his children for three minutes per year, and Pinocchio convinces him to instead spend more time with his children (how disastrous are the international relations if the Duke needs to work on them that much). At least it contributes to the message time is more important than presents.

In the closing action he is reunited with Geppetto, and some scenes from the book are foreshadowed. Again, this makes me think Rankin and Bass wanted a full movie, but it might be for the best they did not make one. By their standards this is a bad adaptation.

This short is fine. It has some really nice animation and messages, but many character and pacing issues. As a big Rankin-Bass fan (outside of their really early work) and Pinocchio fan that is not good praise.

Coming up is my end of the year posts and maybe another quick post or two about Christmas and/or the blog’s future posts.

The Smurfs’ Christmas

Have you ever wondered who would win- Papa Smurf vs. Satan? Of course you have. This is the special for you.

I really do enjoy The Smurfs. It is simple yet there is something really fun about watching them. It might be how great the music is. Part of it is their long list of villains. I know Gargamel is the only one in the popular conscience, but there are many actually threatening ones for more dramatic episodes. I think it really is the very simple characters. They are basic, and that is why it is so fun to watch them. It might also be their really cute designs.

It starts with quick introductions to the characters. The Smurfs are decorating the village for Christmas, Gargamel is being his usual miserable self, and two children, William and Guinevere, are on a sleigh ride to their uncle’s castle. I know they are not important, but I really enjoy the Smurfs’ day to day antics. Harmony is trying to practice his solo for “Goodness makes the Badness go Away.” Is he the only Smurf bad at his name? He sucks at music, and that seems to make him the black sheep of the Smurfs. It is so bad it makes Jokey’s present blow up before he can give it to somebody else.

Gargamel is upset the Smurfs are happy so he uses a normal weapon, “mother’s recipe for making others miserable.” What type of mother was she? No wonder he acts like that. It does not work, and our villain is introduced. He is… Never named nor does he appear again. He is considered the most evil and powerful villain in the show, and having only one appearance keeps him mysterious. Based on his powers it seems he is a demon. He is introduced sending wolves on the sleigh and just coldly watching. Their so much emotion from all the other characters, and that makes his calmness uncanny.

The Children arrive at Gargamel’s tower seeking help, and of course he turns them down when they have no money to offer. After this Satan arrives. I am used to seeing Gargamel look giant compared to the Smurfs. Like in many episodes the greater villain towers over him, and in some shots Satan looks to be twice Gargamel’s height. A gust of wind appears out of nowhere making Satan’s cape blow where no wind can come from the opposite direction. It might just be an animation error, but it really helps to give the impression he is not a human. In some very quick exposition the rundown is given. The children’s uncle’s regularly stops Satan’s evil actions. Satan wants to kidnap his niblings as vengeance, but he can only do that from an act of betrayal. He will give Gargamel the location of the Smurf village if he betrays them to him. Not being a fool about treachery Satan will only pay him after he delivers the children. I really am impressed at how the writers got this exposition out of the way. It really adds to the knights of Cerebrus they are using. Or maybe Satan is just mad the uncle is the only person in the special with black dot eyes instead of eye whites. Why did the animators give the minor guards eye whites and not this key minor character?

I think a key contrast between Gargmel (human) and Satan (maybe just a human) is their motivations. Gargamel is not evil for evil’s sake. He wants food, power, and wealth. Satan has no motivation other than being evil. At one point it is apparent he wants evil slaves like Gargamel, but that is the only thing he stands to gain from any of this. In fact I cannot recall any other Smurf villain being evil for evil’s sake. Sure the genie only gains amusement, but that is something.

The moral is incredibly basic- be good, but Gargamel really does add a lot of extra depth to it. He runs into the uncle, and he makes a plan to backstab both parties. He will deliver the children to Satan and then Satan to the uncle to collect a reward. By not picking a side at all he will be the enemy of everybody and be in the worst position at the end.

Next scene is the best written in the special. The Smurfs here the children cry out when wolves are about to eat them, and Papa Smurf saves them by talking to the wolves. He is immediately very firm with them about not eating the children, but he is also friendly to them. He gently pats the leader on the head and calls them “friends.” It works and they leave (it is not hard to imagine the Smurfs give them a food allowance and actually do help them). It really contrasts to how Brainy acts.

Other than Jokey Brainy is my favorite Smurf. He is so entitled and a know it all. He finds something really obvious, and he tried to make a everything into a Shakespearian play like it will be quoted in a great book. Everybody else then just moves on. In contrast to how respectful Papa Smurf Brainy is very disrespectful and always talks down. I know Brainy could easily be cut, but both of his pretentious scenes add some good comic relief.

After this is the first time “Goodness makes the Badness go Away” plays Based on the lyrics I think it is not general goodness and badness, but that your personal goodness is needed to stop you from being evil.

After this Gargamel swoops down (apparently he can super jump now) and kidnaps the children. He hands them over to Satan, and I love the detail Gargamel is cowering behind the children using them as shields. I know he is often a lame main villain, but he makes a great side villain. He slips out a gold pun, and I think Satan right there knows what is coming. His tone is very sarcastic like he knows Gargamel is about to betray him.

Gargamel destroys the Smurf village, as Tracker Smurf (his last speaking appearance) tracks down Satan and the children. Gargamel immediately tells the uncle where Satan went, but to his anger he will be paid after the children are safe. After they leave to rescue the children Satan shows up from the other direction (either he knew or automatically knows when he is betrayed), and he creates a snake/hydra hybrid with devil horns to subdue Gargamel.

After this is surprisingly scary scene that really implies “Satan” is Satan (in contrast to the valid interpetation he is just a wandering wizard). To go back “home” he summons a giant ring of fire to teleport him “home.” No need to ever say “Hell” or “Lake of Fire,” but it really gets the message out. The ambiguity about whether he is only going to kill the children or torment them for a prolonged time really adds to the mood.

Tracker finds them leading to the question I have been wondering for 20 minutes- How are they going to make Papa Smurf battle Satan on a network children’s show? By battling him with a chorus vs raging flames of course. He leads all ten other Smurfs they could afford to animate in singing “Goodness makes the Badness go Away.” This results in Satan elevating the fire, and the children joining in for a back and forth music battle until Papa Smurf find his ace in the hole, Gargamel. Earlier Papa Smurf and only Papa Smurf felt pity for Gargamel, and now he demands he joins in the song. I love how Gargamel keeps sounding like he is about to throw up, Azrael laughs at him, and Gargamel nearly stops to strangle his cat. After he joins in the fires go away, and Satan collapses and dissapeares into oblivion. Apparently Papa Smurf has destroyed Satan (or he was able to teleport himself to the safety of Hell and only needed the ring of fire to teleport the others). After Gargamel surprisingly helped save them the children are found by their uncle and convince him not to slaughter Gargamel on sight. It is a nice aesop (also shown with the wolves) about there being goodness even in villains despite how deep it has to be).

After that The Smurfs snuggle up at the remains of their village. The blankets they are wrapped in are a nice touch showing they lost everything, but they are happy. Even Grouchy is happy in a grouchy way. Harmony starts playing his solo, and it turns into beautiful music, as the village is restored. Papa Smurf calls it a miracle, and it ends with a shot of the Christmas star implying God gave them a gift at the end.

I am really surprised at how much I enjoyed this, and I think a lot of that is due to the 23 minute runtime. All the ambiguity and quick pacing is how this works. It would fail if padded into even an hour long special, but it works great in this runtime. It is a great balance of comedy and horror.

Next time a return to Rankin-Bass.

Pinocchio’s Christmas.

Contested Sequels: The Legend of Frosty the Snowman

Do you ever hear about a piece of media that sounds terrible? You hear it is terrible, the reviews are terrible, it looks terrible, and it sounds terrible, but then you enjoy it. I do not mean ironic enjoyment over how bad it is, as I mean really enjoy it. Well that is what happened to me.

It begins with the narrator talking about rediscovery. I think it is about adults rediscovering joys of Christmas when they have kids (by doing things like watching Christmas specials). After that Frosty’s magic hat breaks out of five locked boxes to escape tot he town of Evergreen. I think the name is great. While it on the surface screams anti-winter the evergreen tree is actually a huge symbol of Christmas and life amidst the darkness of winter. Nice foreshadowing for what the town seems to be (overly uptight) compared to the more fun place it actually is. In addition we get plenty of mystery on why his hat was locked up like that.

Part of the dislike is this clearly takes place in a different world from the first Rankin-Bass special. I do not have a problem with that. It is the only one to use the design from it, and it does allow greater creative freedom to tell a darker story. Surely the writer of the first special, Romeo Muller will hate this… He co-wrote this too. Never mind.

Like every Frosty special but the first one this is not about Christmas but Winter. Why are the only Winter specials famous around Christmas time instead of say February? It is because by then we are tired of Winter. In December we welcome it for the heat being gone.

For yet to be explained reasons Frosty is trying to reach the Mayor’s scared son, Tommy. Tommy refuses out of fear of displeasing his dad, and I can relate to that. Interestingly the children have realistic personalities in contrast to the adults being very over the top. Just like the main family, mom is an enabler, Mayor Tinkerton is an overly cheerful control freak, Charlie (older brother to Tommy) is an ass-kissing bully who wants his dad to be happy, and Tommy is a nervous younger sibling trying to find his place. It reflects in the acting. Most of the adults are voiced by comedians. The children are voiced by veteran actors, but they are played with more depth, and they all sound like children.

Frosty then tries another child Walter, who is anxius to find something to take his mind off his over-bearing mom, and he goes out with him.

This is the most magical I have ever seen Frosty. The hat is who he is apparently, as it coems to life by itself, flies around, and even does tricks like cartwheels. Frosty as a Snowman is much more magical than he used to be. Instead of effectively being a man made of snow he is now living snow in the general shape of a man who makes snow games out of himself and moves his head around. The creators do a very good job at contrast. The Frosty scenes are very fast paced compared to the slow paced scenes with Mayor Tinkerton and Principal Pankley. Everybody moves naturally in the Frosty scenes compared to the much stiffer movements when he is not there.

After this are a few scenes with Frosty helping every kid deal with their issues by letting them chill out instead of stressing life too much except for Tommy who stays away. Even Charlie, as even the bully is a realistic person. This makes the adults furious due to perceived rules being broken. Ironically Frosty actually is shown caring about the rules, and they actually behave better after playing with him.

I have never seen much snow in my life and lived through one blizzard, and I can confirm they way they are learning to play with the snow is very realistic. The snowmen are very wonky, and it is hard to make the right snowballs. It really does feel like watching winter much more than any other on screen interpretation I have seen. 

At the library the hat leads Tommy past the manners and etiquette section to a comic book about his creation by a boy (pretty obvious he is a young Mayor Tinkerton), and how the hat brought him to life. His father is a magician who tells him how every trick works, and I think that explains his rule stickler mentality. When tricks involve sawing somebody in half everything must go according to plan.

I think the real weakness is the villain, Principal Pankley On one hand he is manipulative. He convinces Mayor Tinkerton to give him the clipboard and put him in charge, and he realizes Walter feels left out and wants a special spot for being the first to play with Frosty. Pankley wants this for… Honestly I cannot tell. He used he snowman to be in charge, and I do not see why he needs him gone. I really cannot figure out why he is like that. In fact he seems to end the special still as principal, as he never actually did anything illegal. 

It is a slow paced Christmas special with lots of characters, and I really enjoy it for how slow and dark it is. I had a very good time watching it, and I think it is what rekindled my interest in the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. 

I do have to ask, what is with that awful map?

DT-TV Wonders: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

From 1985 this is the last Rankin-Bass Christmas special. It is adapted from the book of the same name by L. Frank Baum. Now that they are at the peak of their craft they get to to the beginning with Santa Claus.

It begins with The Great Ak saying “In all this world there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child.” A great way to estblish why Claus will gain immortality (Spelling “Claus” without the letter E will be very hard for me thanks to Tim Allen). Then it goes to The Forest of Burzee “an age ago.” Decent way to establish not to take the small details too seriously.

The immortals are meeting over discussing if they should give Santa Claus immortality (it can be inferred from context, but they skip the part in the book where they say they only have one veil of immortality, so they can never give it to anybody else.

The immortals come to the meeting as the song “Ora e Sempre” plays. The rhythm shows how otherworldly they are. They lyrics state they are always were and always will be in their present shape until the world ends (it does seem obvious they are both powered by nature and forces of nature). The one who gets immediate focus is The King of the Wind demons. With a name like that you would think he would be hostile, but it is the opposite. The other immortals are disgusted with the idea of giving away the veil, but he insists he will listen and is clearly very sympathetic to the mortal children of the world. The great Ak tells them that after Claus’s sleigh ride that night he will die unless they give him the veil, so he starts the frame story.

60 years ago The Great Ak found an abandoned baby and left him the care of the lioness Shiegra. The nympth Necile sees it, and wants to raise him resulting in both of them raising him. He is named Claus meaning little one. (In the book alone that is short for Ne-Claus which is how we get Nicholas). It appropriately means this story about gifts to children starts with them giving a child the gift of living and a home.

To what I can tell there is a make believe vs reality theme. By being a mortal who later reenters their world raised with immortal nature spirits who can communicate with any plant or animal Claus is a product of both worlds. One interesting adaptation change they made is the animals do not talk. In the book they all talk with Claus and the immortals. It might be to show off the impressive set of roars they have for Shiegra or give more reality to the land of make believe.

Great image

One interesting scene about how being from both worlds is not fun and games is his goodbye with his adopted mother, Necile. In the book they say that due to only Claus aging he goes from seeing her as a mother to a sister and eventually a daughter and granddaughter. Here they get a goodbye scene where them looking the same age highlights how odd her being his mother is.

Then back to a magical scene where he goes flying with The Great Ak to see the land of mortals. Part of how it feels magical is the way The Great Ak talks. He is a blunt guy who accepts the ways of the world, which includes that it changes and can be for the better. It really makes him sound wiser than anyone else. Part of it is the exciting music, and then how it gets darker when they quit flying in space and literally come down to Earth for the darker scenes.

Next few scenes The Great Ak shows Claus the world of mortals with its wars, starvation, death, and selfishness. I think Claus’s dialogue could have been better, but that might have ruined the TV Y-7 rating. Throughout this Claus’s conclusion is that with how hard life is childhood should be spent having fun before it is too late, and they have to go through with all this.

When he shows Claus war The Great Ak says sometimes they are for good causes but normally not. That will be important later. I did look into L. Frank Baum’s life, and I saw he was a frontierman, and they were known for a martial culture.

Klaus with Jingler the Sound Nymph and Shiegra moves to the land of mortals and grows into a man who is a friend to all children. Sometimes montages really are effective ways to tell years of stories in only a few seconds. Necile sends him a cat named Blinkie, whom Shiegra dislikes. Claus makes a wooden carving of him, which becomes the first toy. It becomes a huge hit with all the children, and he makes more and expands on it with many other toys.

One part of the book removed is Shiagra convinced him to make one of her too. It terrifies everybody but Claus, so nobody wants it, but it made Shiagra happy.

This really shows how far Rankin-Bass came. The stop-motion (animagic as they called it) is so much better than it was in Rudolph, so is the flying, and of course Santa Claus. Will I ever go through a December without criticizing their Rudolph? Probably not.

Claus giving presents to the rich is heavily trimmed down. In the book he initially does not want to do that, but he realizes they should not be punished for their family, and they also need happiness, as he saw they were no happier than the poor children. In the special it is a few seconds where he says “children are children.” I prefer the book version, but stuff needs to be cut for time, and it keeps the message about not taking out anger at the rich elite on their children.

Surprisingly great look considering they just glues horns and fangs on a gorilla.

They are attacked by the Awgwas. They can turn invisible, so Claus says they must be on their guard.

Literally the next scene. In the books it is said the Awgwas elect their king based purely on his evilness. They gain joy from children being evil, and Claus’s toys stop that, so they try to capture him, but some immortals save him. Why not just cut his throat in his bed or kill him in other ways? They save that idea for later.

They repeatedly capture all his toys and hide them in a cavern. I do not know why they do not mash them. Maybe they like playing with them.

The Great Ak summons The Awgwas and threatens them for threatening to kill his friend, and I really like this scene. It is full of lightning and later dialogue makes it clear they are both summoning it as a show of power. Remember earlier when The Great Ak said sometimes the cause for war is just. This is one of them, when an evil people continue to make problems and then welcome war (they are the ones who actually declare it). A key detail is The Awgwas are confuses he has the power to make them stop being invisible and do not realize that means he will beat them in battle.

The lead up to the battle has a very somber tone letting Rankin and Bass show off their tears they mastered so well for their Pinocchio special. Then it is fittingly broken by King Awgwa laughing, until the immortals use their natural elements to turn attacks back on them and turn them into flowers. Another key detail is the Awgwas first instead of fighting send their monsters and then seemingly wet themselves as they run away. The war ends with The Great Ak sadly telling Claus they are now all dead, and they both look sad at the news, granted the music seems happy.

Got to give it props for making war look both cool and glorious and sad and painful at the same time.

After that he cannot pull the sleigh, so Peter the Knook gets reindeer to pull the sleigh. They adapted out Will the Knook who tried to sabotage him by only allowing it one night a year and inflicting the deer with horrible stinging gnats (The Great Ak removed them when Claus asked).

I really like how when he brings joy to children he brings his adopted mother to ride along.

Near death Santa Claus tells his immortal friends he is about to die, as is natural while decorating a tree. They promise to decorate it every year in his memory. It might just be that I am my family’s tree man, but I really love this description of my favorite Christmas decoration.

Back at the meeting of the immortals The King of the Wind Demons says it touches even his “cold and windy heart.” Based on how incredibly compassionate he is I think he only calls himself a demon and heartless is to put more weight on when he is so kind. I guess sometimes a name is just a name. He leads the immortals in accepting the pleas to make Claus an immortal, as the tune to “Ora E Sempre” plays.

Never before has a bat/mosquito hybrid been so adorable.

And that is my favorite of the Rankin-Bass specials. I love it, and it reminds me of how good they can be. Next time is “The Legend of Frosty The Snowman.”

I want a Dog for Christmas Charlie Brown’s Meaning

Spike is making a snowman out of tumbleweeds, but it blows away. Rerun is making a snowman, but the sun melts it. They each have a Christmas wish that the other can solve, but their failed snowman symbolize that the answer to their Christmas wish is “no.”

I love this holiday special since it first premiered. It is very funny and it focuses on key characters from the ’90s strips that rarely make animated appearances. By Peanuts standards it is wackier and more comedic than usual, and it has two of my favorite characters, Linus and Lucy, in major supporting roles, and this helps it to stick out from the others.

Rerun wants a dog for Christmas and most of the runtime is him asking for one, bargaining for one, playing with Snoopy, and his antics. Meanwhile Snoopy’s brother Spike is trying to get out of the desert, and he gets to stay with Rerun for a while.

It really seems to be setting up a happy ending where Spike becomes Rerun’s dog, but it turns out the temporary arrangement remains just that. At the end Rerun and Spike have to go their separate ways.

BTW, Beagles should not be pulling sleighs. They lack the muscle mass and would just zig zag all over the place.

It is an important lesson to kids all people that we cannot get what we want. At the end they both accept the reality of their situations and find solace in things staying the same and avoiding the difficulties in gaining a pet/master in a bittersweet ending.

Obscure Animation: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer the Movie

This movie was released by Goodtimes in 1998 in… October. It was a complete box office disaster but got new life on home media. It is from very late in the Renaissance age (probably the very beginning of the Pixar age actually), and it really screams that style.

This film has a big rivalry with The Rankin/Bass special (“the original” even though there are at least three older versions), and I have praised their work highly in the past. If you think I am going to constantly say how much better their work is than this you are wrong. Honestly I do not think either are good, and they are both greatly inferior to the Fleischer short. This one has better unity of plot (but still not good), and inferior world building. Both have bad animation. Granted I think this is based more off their special than the book or song.

It starts with the sprites of Northern Lights singing the famous song, and they most just show up every now and then as a Deus ex machina. Do they know the future? They are singing about Rudolph being famous when he is just a baby. One detail I like is everybody gives the reindeer different homes. Fleischer and the book gave them human houses and beds. Rankin/Bass gave them caves. This gives them stables. Rudolph is born with a red nose that glows, which moderately worries his parents. More notable that his baby design is just his older design but smaller. I really do not like these designs. Blitzen has a fur patch that is just a lightning bolt, and another deer has one that is just a heart on his forehead. It looks weird and too cartoony for the tone. In addition the animation is way stiffer than I remember. Shots like the close up of his eyes really look off.

Most of the songs in this movie are very generic, but I really like “What about his nose.” It is a crowd song about how evil everybody else is simply because Rudolph is different. Normally these are way more upbeat, so this actually sticks out. I think these North Polities come off as far worse than in Rankin/Bass where Rudolph’s nose at least blinds them, here they are just malicious. As weird as this is to say I want a PG-13 version of this story, a man vs society plot where Rudolph is really struggling with saving these jerks.

A little later we are given an introduction to Santa Claus that is done much better later, but also the villain, Stormella. Due to some political/social things she said I have come to really dislike Woopi Goldberg, but her acting is good… normally. Here her comedic scenes are good, and her dramatic and scary scenes are bad. She is clearly based off The Snow Queen, and I like the fan theory she is Elsa after she turned evil. Earlier in the film some elves (they have minor roles that are not worth discussing) accidently destroyed her ice statues. Her plan is hard to follow.

Whoever wrote the TV Tropes page on this film is really off. The writer kept calling Stormella and other villains complex with good and sympathetic motivations. Whoever did that did not watch the film in recent memory and I presume is writing nostalgically with no viewings in years. Stormella is not out to right them making a mistake. She is clearly trying to pick a fight with Santa Claus, which is later clearly established as for the evulz. This is just her excuse.

Based on a handful of pieces of dialogue later (Stormella saying she needed an excuse) and all the dialogue here there is a higher unnamed authority of justice in The North Pole. So her plan is to demand the two elves for torture knowing Santa Claus will not do it. This gives her an excuse for a giant storm to knock him out of business. No wait, she can now close her bridge so if anybody crosses it she can then throw the storm. Apparently she then just waits for 2 years and until then vanishes from the story and passing mention.

As shown later she can makes dresses out of ice, so why not just remake her statues? Because she’s evil. There is no complexity. This is the typical renaissance age black vs white morality.

By next Christmas a few scenes happen that as an adult are just a slog to get through. One key problem is the score. It is way too dramatic and constantly plays loud when no music would be better. Arrow the bully becomes the main villain, and he sucks. TV Tropes says he has issues with Rudolph flirting with his “doe friend” and his blinding nose. They are wrong. He is just a blood thirsty pure evil plot device that was like that before Rudolph did anything involving him.

Say what you will about Bumble (villain from Rankin/Bass), but he is the villain the entire time. Here storm Ella is the villain, then she vanishes and Arrow takes over, then Arrow vanishes and Storm Ella takes over again. The scenes with Arrow and brief showings off everybody else joining in just make this whole place so unlikable. The only one who does not is Zoey, the love interest, and she sucks. For one her only real role is being the damsel in distress. Rudolph running away has nothing to do with her either. There needed to be something like she is banned from being with him or she turns on him, but no. He leaves in spite of a potential Doe friend. Their romance is very dull and generic, but this should be expected for a movie written for 4 year olds. The real problem is she is actually very cruel just different from Arrow. For some reason she is dating this psychopath, yet she is constantly flirting with Rudolph when he is not around. Let the guy off the hook already and just leave him. I am kind of rooting for Storm Ella. The reason I am not is Santa Clause.

If there is only one thing this blows Rankin/Bass out of the water in it is Santa Claus. Not that it is saying much with how bad their version is (ironic since they later made many great versions), but this version is great. He is so loving, supportive, helpful, hard working, humble, and I really wish John Goodman got to be him in a better movie. Based on how bad the animation is most of the budget went to actors, and almost all of them are wasted and give no impact. Goodman is the exception. His performance is so full of life and care. His role and song “Santa’s Family” is great for keeping the film somewhat light and making me want The North Pole to succeed.

After Christmas another year is skipped to near Christmastime when they do the Reindeer games. Arrow decides to just try to kill the competition resulting in everybody being carted out, and what are the judges doing? What they are doing is kicking Rudolph out (but cruelly waiting until he is declared the winner before disqualifying him) due to one of the only times so far his nose has glowed it blinded Arrow. They instead make Arrow the winner after he nearly killed everybody.

Why did Stormella not just use this as an excuse? For one a disqualification does not mean make another guy the winner, it means redoing it. Where were you in all those injuries? TV Tropes said he was just at the back and did not see it. Everybody in the audience sure reacted, and how do you not see everybody being carted out? The best explanation I have is this guy is on a power craze and enjoying making weird moves.

Slightly before the halfway mark Rudolph runs away, and then the film really picks up due to much better side characters and villains. Okay it picks up after award bait song “Show me the Light” finishes. It is very generic, and the singing voices sound nothing like their talking counterparts.

First he meets Slyly the fox who is the jerk with a heart of gold. Their opening is too dramatic, but I grow to like him. He gives the basic lesson it could always be worst, which really does help him with realizing stuff like he at least has loving parents and Zoey. He even gets Rudolph to laugh uncontrollably at his own nose showing the value of being able to laugh at yourself (handled way better than in “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year”). After that they also gain Leonard. He is useless to the plot and has a distractingly long neck, but he adds a simple kind soul who helps the now happier tone.

Worried about Rudolph Zoey runs away looking for him and… Apparently she is stupid since she decides to cross Stormella’s bridge to look for him. If he did that he is long gone so what is crossing going to do? Predictably she gets captured and thrown in jail. Here comes the giant storm, and Stormella… Why is she taking a nap? You have waited two years for this, go make that storm and preferably start with burying the judge. This is why I do not like her as a villain, she is lazy.

Sprite ex machina tells Rudolph Zoey is captured and to control his nose by funneling his positive emotions and… Is The Ultra-Humanite a fan of this, because he basically gave the same advice? Rudolph goes to save her, and the light from his nose blinds Stormella’s whole security system making it useful. She still finds him, and it turns out a glowing nose is no substitute for weaponry (if only his head was made of weapons). Thankfully for him Slyly did not get captured and retrieves the key. Surely he lives up to his name to trick Stormella…

No he just says what he is doing and that works in the short term. Then she wakes up in the long term and corners them all again. At least it is funny. I know he and Leonard really do nothing important, but Slyly adds quite a bit of needed comedy to this film.

Thankfully for them Stormella is a big klutz and just falls off a cliff, and the heroes rescue her. By some unexplained rules of The North Pole most likely set up by nameless higher power she owes Rudolph a wish as a result.

He then wishes to remove her free will and make her a good guy. “The North Pole’s about to get awfully dull.” Unfortunately she cannot remove the storm, and that is something else this has over Rankin/Bass. Both have the flaw of two distinct climaxes, but here they actually connect.

Rudolph goes back home and from there Santa quotes the song, and they in a lackluster climax get through the storm.

This special is pretty good for young children and gets more and more flawed the older I get. I give it 2 Tree Stars. It has a very boring first half and then a pretty good second half, and it has terrible unity of plot and time. On the other hand this is very memorable. It was a very easy write up.

DT-TV Wonders: A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving

This is a 22 minute tv special in the style of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh with the same cast and animation style. It was nominated for an Emmy with great reception, but it is overall a basic Thanksgiving message about focusing on what we have instead of the ideal we do not have.

It starts with… Why is House spelled correctly instead of “howse”? Oh, bother. Gopher, Owl, Rabbit, Piglet, Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore gather for thanksgiving dinner using the various stuff they happen to enjoy. Tigger just brings melted ice cream for hot chocolate ice cream. Yes, hot chocolate ice cream does exist, and I did not care for it.

Rabbit shows up and gives this special more plot. He says the point of thanksgiving is the traditional turkey dinner instead of seeing it as the traditional symbol of nature’s food we have to be thankful for. The older I get the more I think Rabbit is the most important character. He drives so many plots, is the biggest butt monkey, yet he strives so hard to be the most normal guy.

I really love the dialogue when they ask if Rabbit is right. Eeyore says “even if he isn’t he is.” Apparently Eeyore knows the answer and also that it is pointless to fight rabbit. They are all set to do a task like decorating or gathering food. Why is the tiger sent to get cranberries instead of the turkey and the bear sent to get turkey instead of the berries? This is just bad stuffed animal management Rabbit?

Pooh and Piglet are convinced that turkeys are vicious monsters, as they look for them and the colors get much darker. After that Gopher gives comedic relief by blowing up all the pumpkins. I love Gopher. He just pulls the pieces off the dirty house, and uses dirty mining tools to make one with so much spice it destroys the spoon. It is probably for the best nobody will get to actually eat it.

As predicted everything gets destroyed, and this is too realistic to be as funny as it should be. Rabbit declares that this is now just a chilly Thursday and there is nothing to be thankful for. I enjoy seeing how they mope differently. Piglet and Tigger are just sad, Owl is in full denial, and Gopher is frustrated with working for nothing.

Pooh decides to just celebrate what they do have making it more accurate to the colonial Thanksgivings.

They dedicate their Thanksgiving to Rabbit for all the work he put into a dead project. One nice detail is Eeyore earlier said nobody would eat his thistles but him. At this point Gopher says he loves the thistle soup proving him wrong.

After this they sing their song, “Our Thanksgiving Day.” It is nothing special, but it shows the enjoyment of the quiet and simple preparations of Thanksgiving, and I think that summarizes this well, it feels like Thanksgiving. It is not the big deal like Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too, since that is not what Thanksgiving is about.

Thanksgiving is a relatively simple major holiday, and this special reflects that. It is not big, that memorable, or ambitious. It is a simple work that reminds me of spending time with my family (I am sure it helps that I first saw it with MawMaw).

Arthur’s New Year’s Eve

This is the finale to Arthur’s first season and my favorite New Year’s special. It is an exploration at remembering the good times.

To start Arthur has always failed to stay up until Midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is full of foreshadowing that D.W. can pull it off. This whole beginning and most of the plot is about exploring the false meaning of New Year’s Eve, staying up until midnight expecting to see something big. Throughout the episode the real meaning will emerge.

On New Year’s Eve Grandma Thora will be babysitting (with how rare she now appears I think she might have died) and Arthur, unlike D.W. is deemed old enough to stay up until midnight. D.W. asks if she is stuck in a time warp and cannot get older. Considering she has been 4 years old (most of the time) for 25 years she has a point. Hard to believe that came from season one and was not an intentional joke about that.

The next few minutes seem to have no significance, but they are important to the theme. Arthur and D.W. have their usual hilarious sibling squabbles (Fallon’s D.W. was so great) and fun with Pal). As it will explained later remembering small moments like these is what New Year’s Eve is about. Arthur is happy with it, and then it starts with his friends telling him various things that happen on New Year’s Eve at midnight. They all claim the other one is wrong, and now Arthur wants to see all those weird things. This is a good reflection on all holidays, getting too caught up on tiny traditions that they overshadow the actual meanings.

The best one by far is Binky’s wrestling one. Honestly I am surprised I never got into wrestling with how great Arthur portrayed it. Maybe I doubted it could live up to this bizarre Groundhog Day/ New Years crossover.

A key part of all these scenes is that they are all clearly enjoying this. Remembering these small moments with friends is part of what the holiday is about.

D.W. is trying to stay up and offers to help Arthur who is just upset at her for trying. I do remember how moments like this and the blanket from earlier made one thing clear, at least in the earlier seasons D.W. was the better sibling.

Arthur of course falls asleep, while D.W. makes herself stay up and then it is almost midnight. I think this does a great job at portraying it. Lots and lots of buildup only for another minute to pass. I really do find it underwhelming, and that is how D.W. feels.

Arthur wakes up and now D.W. makes up some nonsense stuff that happened. It also shows how Arthur’s friends had all those weird New Year’s traditions, they made stuff up to make it sound more important than it was missing the actual meaning.

Arthur is very upset at missing the entire point of the holiday until Grandma gives him the real meaning.

It is really about remembering everything great he did the past year. It shows flashbacks to moments of season 1. Curiously they are not key highlights of Arthur’s year like winning the spelling bee, getting Pal, saving buster’s academic life, managing the Tibbles, bonding with Kate, fixing the farm, the video show, cleaning the park, or the poetry read. I had to think this through, and I think I know why the clips are from such normal every day activities, that is for the viewer to reflect on their own life. For an “average” guy Arthur has an amazing life, and the point of the episode is to look back on the amazing things we, not Arthur, did this past year. The clips are normal things like having fun with friends since that is a much more realistic year. The clips show laughing at their harmless mistakes, fun amidst their flaws, fun from their abilities, and just playing with them. This happy reminiscing does make a great scene for what could have been the end of the series.

A small detail I like is Arthur still looks outside with a sad look. After the flashbacks only then does it switch to a happy voice about what he will do next year showing he is now happily looking forward to next year’s lookback.

Next time on Tuesday January 11th- After my upcoming new Year’s look back I want to go through animation history- my favorite animated film of each decade.