25 Days of Christmas Reviews Thread

Hello my fellow film enthusiasts,

Everyday day during the month of December I will be watching a different Christmas movie, or special. I will then share my thoughts of the film/special in a short review that I will post within this thread.

I don't know all the films I plan on watching, so if there are any films you wish for me to review, or recommend, please feel free to suggest them by posting a reply.

Every Friday during the 25 Days of Christmas Reviews, I will be posting my "Scrooge of the week", where I will review a different reiteration of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol.

Day 1: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Day 2: Frosty the Snowman (1969)
Day 3: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Day 4: A Christmas Carol (1938)
Day 5: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

Day 6: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Day 7: Frosty the Snowman (1954)

Nice idea. Enjoy yourself and I will be following along.

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That sounds daunting! Do you know about the Michael Hordern TV version of A Christmas Carol? I only found out about it around five years ago, but it's very interesting that Hordern had already played Marley opposite Alastair Sim.

My favourite is the George C. Scott film.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Directed By: Jeremiah S. Chechik

This 1989 Christmas special is the third film in the Vacation series since John Hughes's 1983 comedy hit, National Lampoon's Vacation. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and the rest of the family return in this film that covers Clark's hectic journey to throw the best Christmas for his family. Along the way, Clark will encounter all of the holiday hijinks you would expect, from the Christmas lights not working to a mix-up with the holiday dinner and there is even a surprise attack by a flying squirrel!

Despite the film's PG-13 rating, there is definitely plenty of humor for the whole family to enjoy. Perhaps that is the biggest problem I have with this film though, it is more focused on the jokes per minute than providing a strong Christmas story that audiences will remember. The performances are great, but again there needed to be more development with the characters and the situations the characters undergo. When I was watching the film, I didn't think I was watching Clark Griswold, but rather a generic father figure who has neighbor issues and, although has his family's best interest at heart, he finds himself in sticky situations. These character traits that are overdone, from Homer Simpson to Al Bundy and even Tim "The tool man" Taylor, we have seen these types of characters over and over again.

Part of the issue is that the director, Jeremiah Chechik had no prior directing experience, nor saw any of the previous movies in the Vacation franchise. Jeremiah was a photographer for Vogue before getting his directing gig.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is an entertaining family comedy that you can enjoy over a cup of hot coco, but there is nothing unique that this film brings to the table.

Thanks, I will check them out. Maybe you'll even see the George C. Scott film reviewed within this thread.

I love National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, it's the one I watch every year

Yes, I hope so.

I liked Christmas Vacation a lot back in my teen years. I think I have seen it too much. The humor falls flat for me now. Your right though, it is a good flick to put on with your family at the holidays.

Just found this thread, cool idea Pelican!...I probably will be watching Christmas Vacation this month. I've already ordered a bunch of Christmas movies for the season.

George C. Scott makes the perfect Scrooge, so does Patrick Stewart. My wish list is that Lionel Barrymore could have made A Christmas Carol, Lionel almost made the film too:

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/articl...-Classics.html

I think "Christmas Vacation" just is what it wants to be. A simple, silly film that basically anyone can watch. I haven't seen it for a few years, but I remember liking it. I should really watch it at some point this year, if I get the chance, to see how much I would like it now.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Christmas Vacation's my favourite and I think it's dated a lot better than Scrooged, which I saw recently and made me cringe a bit (Groundhog Day is the better film).

Has anyone heard the audiobook version of A Christmas Carol that Patrick Stewart did years ago? It's abridged, which is a great shame, but I was pretty impressed with his distinct characterizations. I seem to remember they do silly things like saying "Blind Man's Bluff" instead of "Buff" but I suppose that's no worse than the ludicrous "British Beef" joke in the TV Movie (I hate that with a passion).

Talking of audiobooks if anyone hasn't heard Tom Baker reading A Christmas Carol (unabridged) it's unbeatable and truly atmospheric. I now listen to it every year.

It's funny that you mentioned, Scrooged, because I haven't seen that version yet, so that is one of the versions I was planning on taking a look at for next Friday.

Well I think if you've never seen it you'll really enjoy it.

Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Directed By: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr.

Frosty the Snowman is a classic Christmas tale that has been told for over 45 years and still holds up today. Anyone who has heard the 1950 jingle, written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nielson, knows of the:

"Jolly happy soul
With a corn cob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made of coal"

The 1969 TV special is brilliantly executed and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. The story was developed and written by the ingenious and imaginative mind of Romeo Muller. Muller grew up in NYC during the Great Depression and wanted to liven people up through his knack for story telling. He wrote many of the Christmas tales we know and love today, including: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town and even Jack Frost. The same goes for Frosty the Snowman, as Frosty even says in the special that he doesn't want people to get "all slushy"

The film follows a three act structure where the audience follows Frosty and his elementary school friends on an adventure to the North Pole. The first act follows the lyrics of the song exactly as you would expect. The kid's build a snowman, he his brought to life by magic and they frolic around the town, singing and dancing. It is at the end of this act though that the clever writing, even for a 25 minute special, starts to show. Muller uses the last stanza in the song to transition the last section of the first act. The lyrics go:

"Frosty the snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye sayin', Please don't cry
I'll be back again some day"

He is literally waving to all of the children, but Karen, who decides to help guide Frosty to the North Pole. The true genius of this is that the soundtrack not only tells the story, but actually progresses the story, that is my favorite part of this TV special. In addition to the great narration and likable characters, Muller manages to take a simple idea (song lyrics) and span it out into a 25 minute special that never gets boring.

The 1969 version of Frosty the Snowman will never melt from climate change, nor melt away from the hearts of young children with Christmas spirit, as the film is timeless.

Wow, you were a little hard on this movie, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion...I think it's the second best film in the franchise, behind the original.

The George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol is my favorite too.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Directed By Bill Melendez

"My golly, we've killed it."
-Bill Melendez

The director of this 1965 CBS Christmas special truly is a jack of all trades. José Cuauhtémoc Meléndez (A.K.A Bill) got his start at Disney's animation department in 1938 working on classics such as: Fantasia (1940), Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941). He then received a job animating programs for Warner Brothers, which he continued to do for over half a century!

While working on an automotive commercial in 1959, Meléndez was introduced to "The Peanuts" creator, Charles M. Schulz. Series creator, Charles "Charlie" Schulz was so impressed by Meléndez's proficiency and dedication to his craft that he became the only cartoonist that the series creator ever gave permission to animate, "The Peanuts."

Meléndez would go on to become the longest running staff member for "The Peanuts" related programming, producing/directing and animating: over 70 specials, hundreds of commercials and even four movies! He made such a significant impact on the series that even after his death in 2008, producers Craig and Bryan Schulz used archival recordings of Meléndez, for the voice of Snoopy in the recent 2015 film, The Peanuts Movie, because it wouldn't be a Peanuts movie without him! His legacy started with his first directing gig in this 1965 holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The special is all about Charlie Brown's quest for the true meaning of Christmas. Charlie, like many others, has been put down in the dumps by the over commercialization of the holidays. His depression only escalates as the story progresses, so Lucy gives him the idea to direct a Christmas play. Through the reading of the New Testament, (Luke 2:8-14) Charlie learns its about celebrating the birth of Christ.

A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered on CBS at 7:30 P.M. on December 9th 1965 and as implied by the quote above, the producers and TV executives initially thought the special was going to bomb, but this couldn't be further from the truth. The non-conventional usage of a jazz score and the removal of a laugh track, don't hinder the special, but rather give the audience a better way of connecting with Charlie's depressed state of mind. In addition, the usage of child actors adds a sense of realism to the program.

The strongest element in, A Charlie Brown Christmas is without a doubt its soundtrack. The musical score was composed by San Francisco born jazz pianist, Vince Guaraldi. Guaraldi was first approached by TV producers, Lee Mendelson and Bill Meléndez in the early 1960's to create a musical score for a documentary about Charles Schulz. When that program got canned, Guaraldi worked on A Charlie Brown Christmas instead. Guaraldi made seven original pieces and a few covers for the special. It was his work through A Charlie Brown Christmas that put the composers name on the map and led future filmmakers Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away) to use his work in their later works.

Since 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas has been enjoyed by millions on an annual bases and even was presented the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming in 1966. To this award the series creator, Charles Shulz joked, "Charlie Brown is not used to winning, so we thank you." This program is a winner certainly worth watching.

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Due to technical difficulties, I wasn't able to post anything since Thursday, but I should be able to post all of the reviews I wasn't able to post and start back up with Monday's review tomorrow.
Just so you all know this is what I was planning on posting:

12/4: A Christmas Carol (1938)
12/5: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 TV Short)
12/6: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

December 4th

A Christmas Carol (1938)

Directed by: Edwin L. Marin

"Humbug"
-Ebenezer Scrooge

The 1938 adaptation of Charles Dickens 1843 holiday classic, A Christmas Carol is not the first, but certainly one of the earliest on screen performances of the novel we all know today. Reginald Owen plays as the stingy business mogul in this MGM classic edition of the tale, but fun fact he was not originally scheduled to play the part. Owen was cast in as a last minute replacement for It's a Wonderful Life star, Lionel Barrymore.

We will never know how Lionel would have done playing the part, but what we do know is that Reginald executes his role perfectly. You can see the genuine fear in Ebenezer Scrooge's face, as he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and yet to be. The performances are just spot on across the board, from the child actors playing roles such as, Tiny Tim, all the way up to the ghostly appearance of Jacob Marley, played by North by Northwest star, Leo G. Carroll. The casting director selected quite an ensemble that really knows how to work with one another in this film.

The other quality that really impressed me was the lighting, all of the scenes are well lit, especially the night scene in Ebenezer's house right before he is visited by the ghostly figures.

This 1938 MGM classic stays very true to the source material and never lingers on, with a run time of only 69 minutes. This version of, A Christmas Carol is considerd to be one of the best adaptations ever released and currently stands with a 100% rating on rotten tomatoes.

There are dozens of adaptations of the Dicken's classic, but this is a reiteration that is worth a watch.

Directed by: Chuck Jones

This 1966 holiday classic is based on the 1957 book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Theodor "Seuss" Geisel. The book became an instant classic, receiving two on screen appearances and even a Broadway musical! The isolated Grinch, with a heart two sizes too small wouldn't even be a smash hit if it wasn't for the convincing words of long time animator, director and friends of Dr. Seuss, Chuck Jones. Just as Charles M. Schulz was nervous about the on-screen adaptation of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Theodor Geisel was on the fence about the production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. After talking it over with the Loony Toon's animator, Chuck Jones, Dr. Seuss was on board.

The short film takes the clever rhymes Dr.Seuss is known for and the family friendly animation style of the most well known Loony Tunes animator, Chuck Jones and blends them together in this 26 minute CBS special. To say it poetically:

The Protagonist Grinch is a curmudgeon,
to the people of Whoville,
who is judgin',
and grudgin'
the spirit of Christmas.

This is exactly what the story is about, a Christmas Grinch who is sick of the consumerism and can't take it anymore. Upon learning that joy doesn't come from the store, the Grinch's heart begins to soar. (His heart grows 3x).

The program premiered on CBS on December 18th 1966. Just like many other specials of the time, (Frosty the Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) this program will have you singing its noteworthy tone, "You're a mean one, Mr.Grinch." The lyrics were written by none-other than the author himself, Dr. Seuss. The song was composed by Albert Hague and performed by the voice of Tony the Tiger, Thurl Ravenscroft. Ravenscroft is also known for his singing of, "Ev'rybody wants to be a cat" in the Aristocats.

Chuck Jones was not just a huge influence on the TV special, but the legacy of the Grinch all together, as in the original book the Grinch was not green, but instead black and white. The decision to color him green was inspired by all of the green automobiles that Jones saw in the Washington area. In response to the Christmas special, How the Grinch stole Christmas, Chuck Jones said,

"You can say that a Grinch wants to steal Christmas, and you don't need to know anything more about him--he is just a villainous Grinch who hates Christmas. A human being cannot be that simple. If a human villain--an old man, for example--wanted to steal Christmas, we would have to go deeper into the character, to find out whether he hated Christmas because of his age, because he lived alone on a mountain or because he loathed kids. What we do shamefully recognize, of course, is that we are all a bit like the Grinch, for we all hate Christmas a little. Or a lot."

Delving deeper into the once monstrous Grinch, we can recognize the once monstrous Boris Karloff, better known for his role as the monster in the 1931 classic, Frankenstein. He is now grumbling at the villagers of Whoville and reading off the words of Seuss in, How the Grinch stole Christmas, as he plays both the Grinch and the narrator. Karloff does an excellent job setting the tone and keeping the pace. He is joined by the female voice actress, June Foray who plays as Cindy Lou Who and played the role of a little girl in another animated Christmas classic from the 60's, Frosty the Snowman. Even the role of the dog Max is played by a voice actor who knows his stuff, as Dallas Mckennon would make a career out of voicing dogs in both 101 Dalmatians and The Lady and the Tramp.

The special is a catchy and entertaining animation to watch and should be airing on a plethora of networks during the holiday season, such as: TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and even boomerang, as the licensing rights are currently owned by Turner Broadcasting. If you happen to click by this special, put down the remote and give it a watch.