In all this world, there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child

[vovat]

Today, I watched the Rankin-Bass version of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. I have a certain fondness for this one simply because it's based on an L. Frank Baum book, but it doesn't seem to be particularly popular among the general public. I believe it had a different screenwriter than most of the other Rankin-Bass specials, and it's somewhat slower-paced and lacking in the humor of the others (which I guess mostly means that nobody in it has a delayed reaction to anything). But then, the book is also somewhat slower-paced and lacking in humor when compared to Baum's other fantasy novels, so I guess that's only fair. Among Baum fans, the main attraction to Life and Adventures is that it gives the most detailed picture of Baum's mythology, which borrows from European tradition while still adding a lot of Baum's own touches, like the Knooks and Ryls. I like the way that Rankin-Bass portrays Baum's immortals, even if some of them don't look exactly like they're described in the book, and a few are missing. As evidenced in the recent Onion AV Club article (see item #4, although I'd say the rest of it is also worth reading), it seems like what people tend to remember about this one is the battle with the monsters, which doesn't really take up that much of either the book or the TV special. I guess action scenes are generally the most memorable, though, and this one is pretty weird. Also memorable, at least for me, is the "wooden cat with yellow-green eyes" song, which firmly lodged itself in my head after I'd watched this special.

Rankin-Bass is primarily known for their stop-motion animation, and while I'm sure part of this is because of the novelty and charm of this style, maybe it also has something to do with how their more traditional animation kind of sucks. I hadn't seen Frosty the Snowman in years, and seeing it as an adult made me notice how lousy the animation is. It was still nice seeing it again, though. bethje said that, if she were enrolled in a law class, she'd ask who had the legal right to ownership of the magic hat. There were a whole bunch of Frosty sequels, and I can't remember which one it was where he got a wife. Does anyone know?

I also watched Garfield's Christmas special last night. While I know it's in vogue nowadays not to like Garfield, I bear no ill will toward the Cat of Three Punchlines and Three Trillion Commercial Endorsements (which doesn't mean I have any intention of seeing the live-action films, mind you), and this special was pleasant enough. You get to see Jon's family, including his seldom-seen grandmother, whose reminiscence over her late husband comes across as oddly melancholy for a property that usually focuses on the suckiness of Mondays. There's also Odie building a functioning back-scratcher for Garfield. Here you thought he was stupid, yet he does a much better job with that than Snoopy does at decorating his doghouse. And seeing an old Garfield cartoon in this day and age makes me miss Lorenzo Music.

Speaking of holiday television, this isn't exactly an original observation, but pretty much every commercial at this time of year presents whatever it's selling as the ultimate Christmas gift, be it a $1 lottery ticket or a $100,000 luxury car. A fair number of ads present cell phones as something to give your kids, even though I'd say they're more utilitarian than fun, putting them more in the category of socks and razors than toys and games. But maybe that's just because I never had much fun talking on the phone when I was young (well, younger).

Comments

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

firstly, this:
whose reminiscence over her late husband comes across as oddly melancholy for a property that usually focuses on the suckiness of Mondays.

made me laugh. And I'm having a sucky day (but it's wednesday!) so thank you.

Secondly, my favorite part of the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (which just might be the most BAD ASS x-mas special ever, featuring pixies and immortality and the guy that did the voice of Panthro from Thundercats) is the green haired pixie mommma of Santa. And when they sit aruond the table. I remember a lot of tabling and discussing. I LOVED IT.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Since my current days off are Monday and Tuesday, today is sort of like everyone else's Monday for me.

Secondly, my favorite part of the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (which just might be the most BAD ASS x-mas special ever, featuring pixies and immortality and the guy that did the voice of Panthro from Thundercats)

According to the IMDB, the voice of Lion-O is also in it, as the Commander of the Wind Demons. And J.D. Roth is the young Claus.

the green haired pixie mommma of Santa.

I really do like the way they portrayed the Wood-Nymphs, even though it is a change from the book, in which Necile is described as having chestnut brown hair. I guess they thought they wouldn't look as other-worldly on one of the stop-motion puppets.

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

yeah. with brown hair she'd just look like a girl with big eyes.


I forgot Lion-O is in it too. It's my brother's favorite christmas special and he tells me that every, single, time we watch it.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

with brown hair she'd just look like a girl with big eyes.

And antennae (which also aren't mentioned in the book).