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What’s your favorite Christmas/Holiday Special?


RLR_FYE
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In my opinion, no matter the TV show, it’s almost guaranteed that the Christmas special is one of the best episodes! 

They’re cheery, uplifting always have a happy ending, there’s Christmas truces between protagonists and antagonists, (peace on earth and good will towards men am I right?) or some grumpy person who learns the true meaning of Christmas.

We know the tropes, we know the morals, we know the soundtracks, etc.

So in your opinion which one is the best of the best?

For me it’s between the Hey Arnold and the Bump in the Night Christmas Special.

On the one hand, you have a CLASSIC and ICONIC Hey Arnold episode with so many feel good moments and an ending that just makes you cry tears of joy.

Even though I know it’s about to happen I always feel a tear welling up when Mai comes to the door and says “Father?”

Then you have one of the zaniest and wackiest Christmas Special ever produced in Claymation. It’s got catchy songs, compelling character arch’s and one off characters for the show that are both hilarious and memorable in Joachim the worm and Dorris the Hummingbird.  It’s just a bucket of fun!

Honorable mention goes to the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Easily an instant classic. 

 

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23 minutes ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

A fellow Christmas enjoyer. Good tidings my friend, and Merry Christmas!

I'm a classics kind of guy, I just can't deny the Charlie Brown Christmas Special for this title.

The ONLY reason I didn’t pick it is because while it is a Christmas Special, it’s a stand alone episode. Historically, it came out BEFORE the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show so it may be that it’s non-canon.

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I suppose the Rankin-Bass specials are just a given at this point. They're all classics of course. Of the few I've actually watched, I'd say Frosty the Snowman is the one I enjoyed the most.

I dunno if this counts as a special, but I want to give a mention to Santa Bear's High-Flying Adventure; a short, obscure Christmas movie I once had on VHS. It had simple animation and a simple premise with a nice moral that everything you say or do--be it good or bad, even if it seems to go unnoticed--can make a difference. All in a 20-something minute runtime.

4 hours ago, RLR_FYE said:

The ONLY reason I didn’t pick it is because while it is a Christmas Special, it’s a stand alone episode. Historically, it came out BEFORE the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show so it may be that it’s non-canon.

Even with that being the case, it's still a holiday classic in everyone's book. Heck, three of the songs ("Christmas Time is Here", the jazzy instrumental of "O' Tannenbaum", and the Peanuts main theme "Lucy and Linus") are played on the radio this time of year. And I'm sure for lots of people (myself included), A Charlie Brown Christmas was our first time hearing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Though I always hated how they never quite finish the verse before the audio fades.

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Not quite sure if this should count as its more of a movie than a TV special per-se, but The Muppet's A Christmas Carol, although unfortunately only the versions that include "When Love is Gone". Its one of the most important songs in the movie, and inexplicably removed from most versions. That moment when the older Scrooge joins in the song his might have been wife is sing, only to breakdown as they are singing about dreams falling through shows you why this monster of a man is redeemable. Heck they even have a callback to this song in lyrics of the last song of the whole thing to further emphasize its importance. When I was growing up we had a VHS version with it, and when we finally switched over to the DVD version, the song's absence was palpable, and even the more recent streaming version keeps it out (hiding the HD version away in some special features...).

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3 hours ago, Baron the Shining Blade said:

Even with that being the case, it's still a holiday classic in everyone's book. Heck, three of the songs ("Christmas Time is Here", the jazzy instrumental of "O' Tannenbaum", and the Peanuts main theme "Lucy and Linus") are played on the radio this time of year. And I'm sure for lots of people (myself included), A Charlie Brown Christmas was our first time hearing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Though I always hated how they never quite finish the verse before the audio fades.

I’ll give you that.

Hey Arnold just has a special place in my heart because the ending makes me cry. It’s very powerful.

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Pretty much everything, not gonna lie.. I love Christmas so much. I can't choose one! Though I love the Home Alone movies that always come on TV during Christmas if that counts?

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9 hours ago, Michelaar said:

Pretty much everything, not gonna lie.. I love Christmas so much. I can't choose one! Though I love the Home Alone movies that always come on TV during Christmas if that counts?

Well I was thinking more TV specials when I posted this topic but…

I mean why limit it? Tis the season right?

18 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Not quite sure if this should count as its more of a movie than a TV special per-se, but The Muppet's A Christmas Carol, although unfortunately only the versions that include "When Love is Gone". Its one of the most important songs in the movie, and inexplicably removed from most versions. That moment when the older Scrooge joins in the song his might have been wife is sing, only to breakdown as they are singing about dreams falling through shows you why this monster of a man is redeemable. Heck they even have a callback to this song in lyrics of the last song of the whole thing to further emphasize its importance. When I was growing up we had a VHS version with it, and when we finally switched over to the DVD version, the song's absence was palpable, and even the more recent streaming version keeps it out (hiding the HD version away in some special features...).

I know! That song is so good! When they skipped it on Disney Plus I was like… wait what?

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These animations are my very favorite holiday specials. I can't remember which ones I've watched, but they are nostalgia in video form for me.

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21 minutes ago, Benice said:

These animations are my very favorite holiday specials. I can't remember which ones I've watched, but they are nostalgia in video form for me.

Was this special made by Canadians? Because that's the only way I can imagine a character whose entire gimmick is liking hot weather saying that 60 degrees is acceptable.

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12 minutes ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

Was this special made by Canadians? Because that's the only way I can imagine a character whose entire gimmick is liking hot weather saying that 60 degrees is acceptable.

Apparently the company is from New York.

...Is it cold in New York? I know costal cities tend to be very brisk, but I've never been to North America's east cost.

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1 minute ago, Benice said:

Apparently the company is from New York.

...Is it cold in New York? I know costal cities tend to be very brisk, but I've never been to North America's east cost.

By the standards of states below Virginia, it's very cold.

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