As the title says, this is a thread about your favorite holiday specials. Here are the guidelines:
Give your top three. Yes, it’s hard to pick. That’s the point.
“Special” in this case means standalone broadcast. Specifically: not a movie. If it has an MPAA rating or was originally released in theaters, it doesn’t count. Also specifically: not a holiday episode. If it was broadcast as a standard part of a series, it doesn’t count. However, shows can still have “specials” if they are distinct from a normal episode (with special air date, runtime, etc). So Garfield and Dr. Who Xmas specials count, but Xmas episodes of Community don’t.
The definition of “broadcast” is flexible; non-TV specials are included, like radio, streaming services, Youtube, etc. But it should be at least ~15 minutes long. I don’t want your favorite Tik Toks or Coca Cola commercials. I’m a big fan of the classic “Hardrock, Coco, and Joe”, but it’s an interlude, not a full special. On the other side of that coin, we're talking about a single show. "25 Days of Christmas" on the Freeform network is 25 shows, not a way to cheat and get everything you like included on your list.
You can decide any criteria for something being “holiday” related, as long as the holiday is normally between American Thanksgiving (4th Thursday of November for you non-yanks) and New Years (January 1st). It does not include New Years or Thanksgiving as holidays. The idea here is to be inclusive of different religions and cultures. Those of you south of the equator can even use summertime stuff if you want. But I don’t want a repeat of the “does X count as a Xmas movie” thread, nor am I looking for things like Halloween or Easter specials.
“Favorite” means whatever you want, as long as you defend it as your favorite.
Here’s mine:
- Will Vinton’s “A Claymation Christmas Celebration”. This is a some of the best Claymation ever made, paired with amazing music. It truly is art, and seamlessly stretches from serious to comedy, and secular to religious. I think it’s a shame that it’s not more well known.
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol. I like this version of A Christmas Carol even more than the Muppet version. So many of the characters fall into the roles so well. And the light and dark parts are handled perfectly within a short half hour running time.
- He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special. Admittedly, this is nowhere near the quality of the other two I have mentioned, and is fueled mainly by nostalgia. But robots, swords, and skeletons are tragically underrepresented in holiday specials, so I’ll stand by it. I think it’s very meme-able by today’s standards. The way that evil is defeated simply because of the “Christmas spirit” is both terribly laughable and completely representative of this entire genre.
Tell us yours!
Give your top three. Yes, it’s hard to pick. That’s the point.
“Special” in this case means standalone broadcast. Specifically: not a movie. If it has an MPAA rating or was originally released in theaters, it doesn’t count. Also specifically: not a holiday episode. If it was broadcast as a standard part of a series, it doesn’t count. However, shows can still have “specials” if they are distinct from a normal episode (with special air date, runtime, etc). So Garfield and Dr. Who Xmas specials count, but Xmas episodes of Community don’t.
The definition of “broadcast” is flexible; non-TV specials are included, like radio, streaming services, Youtube, etc. But it should be at least ~15 minutes long. I don’t want your favorite Tik Toks or Coca Cola commercials. I’m a big fan of the classic “Hardrock, Coco, and Joe”, but it’s an interlude, not a full special. On the other side of that coin, we're talking about a single show. "25 Days of Christmas" on the Freeform network is 25 shows, not a way to cheat and get everything you like included on your list.
You can decide any criteria for something being “holiday” related, as long as the holiday is normally between American Thanksgiving (4th Thursday of November for you non-yanks) and New Years (January 1st). It does not include New Years or Thanksgiving as holidays. The idea here is to be inclusive of different religions and cultures. Those of you south of the equator can even use summertime stuff if you want. But I don’t want a repeat of the “does X count as a Xmas movie” thread, nor am I looking for things like Halloween or Easter specials.
“Favorite” means whatever you want, as long as you defend it as your favorite.
Here’s mine:
- Will Vinton’s “A Claymation Christmas Celebration”. This is a some of the best Claymation ever made, paired with amazing music. It truly is art, and seamlessly stretches from serious to comedy, and secular to religious. I think it’s a shame that it’s not more well known.
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol. I like this version of A Christmas Carol even more than the Muppet version. So many of the characters fall into the roles so well. And the light and dark parts are handled perfectly within a short half hour running time.
- He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special. Admittedly, this is nowhere near the quality of the other two I have mentioned, and is fueled mainly by nostalgia. But robots, swords, and skeletons are tragically underrepresented in holiday specials, so I’ll stand by it. I think it’s very meme-able by today’s standards. The way that evil is defeated simply because of the “Christmas spirit” is both terribly laughable and completely representative of this entire genre.
Tell us yours!
