THE BEST OF THE BEST: CHARLIE BROWN, THE GRINCH AND MORE!

Here it is, Christmas Eve. As I should have guessed, the holiday just got busier as it got closer to Christmas. Katie and I have been so busy that posting on a daily basis has become quite hard.

We wanted to do full reviews of our top five favourite Christmas specials but had to rework our post to accomidate our hectic schedules. We are posting our top five favourtie Christmas specials today!

5: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Tim Burton and Disney teamed up to bring us the story of Jack Skellington, a citizen of Halloweentown who stumbles into Christmastown and discovers its wonder and excitment. The stop motion animation is truly amazing and Danny Elfman penned some really touching and funny songs. I am a big fan of Tim Burton's style and this movie captures it perfectly.

This is my personal favourite Christmas movie but we couldn't place it number one because of a disagreement between Katie and me. She says this is not really a Christmas movie. She says that Jack messes up Christmas and realizes Christmas is not for him. He doesn't discover the true meaning of Christmas. He instead discovers that Halloween is where he belongs and what he does best. There is no big Christmas message (other than leave it alone) and therefore it can't be considered a Christmas Movie. I don't think so Katie.

-Kurtis

4: A PINKY AND THE BRAIN CHRISTMAS

This will not be one of those classic specials that gets shown every year because as the years go by, new generations will not know who Pinky and the Brain are. But this will remain atop of my must-watch list every year and I will make sure that my kids will know these two mice bent on world domination.

I have already review this special (which you can read here) but I just want to mention one thing I didn't already. Tom Ruggers score in this episode is a treat to listen to. Each episode is individually scored to give it the feel of the old Looney Tunes shorts. Listen as Tom drops samples of various Christmas songs into his score.

-Kurtis

3: FUTURAMA: XMAS STORY

Okay so maybe this is a weird one to go on the top 5 list. But I think what makes this "Christmas Special" unique is that it doesn't take itself seriously. It still gets across a message of love and togetherness but it does it in it's typical comedic style. Fry learns to put others before himself, Bender learns that people are easier to mug on X-Mas Eve, and the Professor learns you're never too old to sing naked X-Mas songs around the piano.

-Katie

2: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

This one is my favourite Christmas television special. I really wanted it to be number one but we decided to let The Grinch win that slot because the animation is so much better. And after all, this is an animation blog.

Charlie Brown captures every essence of Christmas spirit through the depresseing life of Charlie Brown as he sets out to discover what Christmas is. He finds out that it is not about the gifts or the aluminum Christmas trees, in fact, this special speaks out against commercialism; Linus tells the story of Christ's birth from the Bible; And ultimately the gang help Charlie Brown realize that friends and family make the simplist of things, like his underappreciated Christmas tree, seem extra special.

-Kurtis

1: HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Not only is this number one on our list because of story and characters... it has to be the best animation as well (2D animation anyways). Chuck Jones directed this cartoon, so it has a very Looney Toons feel to it. There are times that the Grinch's reactions or expressions remind me so much of Bugs. Chuck's timing is perfect and the characters (especially Grinch) have such personality, even in such a short Christmas special.

The message of this cartoon, although not quite as on the nose as Charlie Brown, is still really great. It speaks against materialism when the Grinch steals every last present and piece of food... the Whos still gather in the center of town and sing a thankful Christmas song. The Grinch learns his lesson (and of course everyone gets their presents back) and the Whos even accept him into their society.

-Katie

FUTURAMA XMAS

Xmas Story
It's Fry's first Christmas in the future. He misses his family and friends, but when he realizes that Leela never even had a family he decides he needs to buy her a Christmas gift. As he leaves to shop his friends warn him not to stay out past sundown. In 2801 a robotic Santa was built to determine which children had been naughty, and who had been nice and distribute gifts accordingly. But a calculation error caused Santa to label everyone as too naughty to deserve gifts. The Santa of the 31st century, therefore, is a murderous villain who you don't want to hear on your rooftop on Christmas Eve. In the end of course Fry and Leela both end up running from Santa through the streets of New New York and in the end, through a grand moment of team effort, Santa is defeated.

I love this episode for so many reasons. It's a Christmas episode but it doesn't feel any different than any other Futurama episode. The humor is the same, the characters are the same, and they even develope Fry and Leela's relationship just a little more.

John Goodman voices the robotic Santa, which is perfect. He's done quite a bit of voice acting in his career so it's not just a celebrity voice actor for the sake of having a celebrity. He blends in well with the rest of the cast.

Something else I love about this episode (and the entire series, really) is the attention to detail. Fry asks a question about "Christmas" to which the reply is, "What-mas?" The crew finally realizes that he means "X-mas"... he's just using some archaic pronunciation. Just like when he says "Ask" instead of "Aks." For the rest of the series, whenever someone says Christmas or "ask"... they use the pronunciations from this episode.

In the end the crew gathers around the piano to sing Christmas carols, and the Professor gives us a jolly, naked holiday greeting as only the Professor could do.

A Tale of Two Santas
Santa's back! And the crew has to deliver his letters to Neptune where his icy fortress is located. Fry decides that this is their opportunity to bring back what Christmas used to be. They travel to Neptune and trap Santa in the ice. Bender takes over as the new, kind Santa who delivers toys instead of death and destruction. Unfortunately no one trusts Santa anymore and Bender is shot at, lit on fire, and over all unwanted in peoples' homes. He's arrested and the crew has to bring back the real Santa to prove Bender's innocense.

I like this episode because, like the first Christmas special, it's just another episode of the show. The crew is always sent on these missions that are either ridiculously dangerous, or they get sidetracked on their way there.

One reason I absolutely love Futurama is for their geeky Star Trek references that only about 3 people get. In this episode it's Leela's theory that, because Santa is a robot, he will be destroyed if presented with a logical paradox. This "rule for robots" is from the Star Trek Original Series episode I, Mudd. I just thought I'd point that out for any Trekkies reading the blog.

This episode references Rudolph when Santa asks Bender, "Won't you join my slaying tonight?" It's great when Christmas specials reference each other.

In the end, the crew realizes that "Fear has brought us together! That's the magic of X-mas!"