What I Got 2 Say: A Rankin-Bass Christmas: An Index and Top Five


Arthur Rankin Jr.

So, here we are at the end of this look through the Christmas specials produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and most of the time, Jules Bass as well.

I didn't grow up with these specials. I can't recall sitting through an entire special during my early years, so I had no nostalgia for them going in. I knew they were some of the most famous Christmas specials, right along with A Charlie Brown Christmas and Chuck Jones' animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Jules Bass

As a creative person myself, it was more interesting to see how the style of the specials changed over time. Rudolph was their first that set a standard, but they very quickly improved on it. So when I get to my Top Five, remember that while I recognize how important that was to their legacy, I believe they did better as they went on.

Anyway, here's an index to all of my blogs about their Christmas specials:

A little bit about availability. Most of these have digital copies available. For those who enjoy having physical media, read on.

2022 EDIT: There is now a complete set of the specials from 1964 to 1985 available in a DVD box set from Universal and Warner Brothers. This does not include "A Christmas Tree" or Santa, Baby! But aside from those, it makes an easy way to get the collection all in one go at last.

2023 EDIT: A Blu-Ray edition of the Complete Specials set is being released.

There are three companies who own distribution rights to these specials. Classic Media owns the Rankin-Bass library up through the end of 1973. The company was acquired by Dreamworks, who are currently owned by Universal. The five Christmas specials are widely available on DVD and Blu-Ray, both individually and as a set. Older DVDs and Blu-Rays of Frosty the Snowman also included Frosty Returns, but it is not on the latest releases. Select episodes of Festival of Family Classics have been released on DVD, but are out of print, and "A Christmas Tree" wasn't released on them. As of yet, that episode has only been officially released on VHS. If you ask me, it would be ideal to include it with The Cricket on the Hearth, but no one has.

If you're wanting to get one of the complete sets, be aware that there are some early Blu-Ray sets that don't include The Little Drummer Boy and Cricket on the Hearth. A later edition added them in, but with Cricket in standard definition as a bonus feature.

Warner Brothers controls most of Rankin-Bass' output from 1974 onward, this includes the Christmas specials, with the lone exception of Santa, Baby! which was released on DVD by Virgil Films, but is long out of print. However, digital versions are available for rental and sale. I've tried to see if Virgil Films is the official distributor of the special, but haven't had any luck.

Warner Brothers has released all of the specials they distribute to DVD and The Year Without A Santa Claus and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to Blu-Ray. (The former includes Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, but only in standard definition.)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, The First Christmas, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July and Jack Frost have all received individual releases. The Year Without A Santa Claus also includes Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Nestor. There is also a DVD that puts both Frosty's Winter Wonderland and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas together as a double feature.

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is available from Warner Archive, paired with Nestor. The Little Drummer Boy Book II is available on a DVD from Warner Archive along with The Stingiest Man in Town, Pinocchio's Christmas and The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold.

There are sets that bundle DVDs together and have some exclusive discs, so if you're trying to build a complete collection, these can save you some trouble and money. A four-disc set titled Classic Christmas Favorites bundles nine Rankin-Bass specials with the Chuck Jones version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The first disc is exclusive to this set (but the disc in my set is stamped with the title How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Deluxe Edition, which is a different set that bundles the classic with other Grinch animated specials, but despite that, it's the correct DVD) that bundles the Grinch special with The Stingiest Man in Town, Pinocchio's Christmas and The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold. The next disc is the DVD of The Year Without A Santa Claus with Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Nestor. The other two DVDs are the Frosty's Winter Wonderland and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas double feature and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.

The three-disc set Santa's Magical Tales has the first disc also include the Grinch special, Pinocchio's Christmas and The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold. Bafflingly, you'd think it'd be easy to just include the same disc from the Classic Christmas Favorites set, but reviews confirm that The Stingiest Man in Town is not on this set. The second disc is the same The Year Without A Santa Claus DVD with the two other specials, but the third disc is an exclusive that includes Jack Frost, the non-Rankin-Bass A Miser Brothers Christmas and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.

Finally, there are two collections in the 4 Kids Favorites lines, which each bundle four previously released DVDs together. The Merry Masterpieces set includes Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Jack Frost, The First Christmas and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The Holiday Family Fun set includes Jack Frost as the sole Rankin-Bass entry, along with A Miser Brothers' Christmas, Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper and The Flintstone's Christmas Carol.

With these options, it is possible to build a complete set of the Warner Brothers distributed titles, but what options you choose will dictate if you get overlaps or not. All of them except the Warner Archive discs can be found inexpensively. And the Warner Archive discs aren't too expensive, but they aren't easily found in stores. It would be helpful if Warner could release a set or release more on Blu-Ray.

As previously mentioned, Santa, Baby! was released on DVD, but is now out of print. Copies can be found, but it depends on what you're willing to pay.

All right, now for my Top Five...

5 - The Little Drummer Boy

The second Animagic special reaches out to the Christian audiences with a family friendly but very well-told story. Some technical issues pop up, but don't ruin a very enjoyable story.

4 - Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

A big "finale" to the Rankin-Bass specials about Santa Claus, Rudolph and Frosty, this pulls off an exciting story. Plus, you get Ethel Merman.

3 - Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

Rankin-Bass' original take on Santa Claus' origin provides a good time for families, complete with some really good songs.

2 - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

I admitted to my bias earlier, but this is my list. Adapting a L. Frank Baum book, this was the darkest of the specials. Entering the mid-1980s, this should've been a new direction for Rankin-Bass, offering a story for all ages to sink their teeth into with enough whimsy and songs to make it fun for the young. Unfortunately, it was the last one for fifteen years.

1 - The Year Without A Santa Claus

The most entertaining of the Rankin-Bass specials with the absolute banger that is the pair of Miser Brothers songs with a sweet story. If you only have time for one hour-length Rankin-Bass special during the holiday season, you can't really go wrong with this one.

I'm not interested in ranking the other fifteen. Most of them are good and if your favorite didn't make my top five, that's okay, it's just my list. However, I do have a pick for the worst... The Cricket on the Hearth.

What I Got 2 Say

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

A Rankin-Bass Christmas: An Index and Top Five

No comments: