Holiday Hits Pt 5: Special Editions

Just like Hollywood hasn't given us that many really classic Christmas films, the small screen has produced only three classics, all from the 60s:

1. Charlie Brown Christmas
2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

You could make a case for Frosty the Snowman or something, but that is pretty much the list.  And really except for TV movies, it seems not that many Christmas specials get made anymore.  Maybe one or two.  None of those turn out to be memorable.  I mean, we're probably not going to be seeing the Ice Age Christmas special on TV 35 years from now--or 3 years from now.

Anyway, between the three classics, I've always preferred Rudolph.  For one thing Charlie Brown is too preachy.  That whole thing at the end with Linus quoting from the Bible and everything.  Though it's funny that even back in 1964 or so they were worried about commercialism ruining Christmas.  Apparently no one really heeds Linus's advice because every year Christmas gets more commercial.  The Grinch is OK, but I've never been a big Dr. Seuss fan.  It's too cutesy for a Grumpy Bulldog.

Whereas Rudolph had a message that was good for the 60s with all the civil rights stuff and is still good today.  That message being tolerance for those we label as misfits.  (Except for the hilarious part where Rudolph's father Donner tells "Mrs. Donner", "No, this is man's work."  Man apparently applying to male reindeer.  And then later Sam the snowman narrator says, "They decided they had best get the women back to Christmas town."  Too bad feminism was still a decade away, right?)


In case you've been living in the Abominable's cave for the last 35 years, the special is an adaptation of the old Gene Autry song.  It's about a reindeer named Rudolph who lives at the North Pole.  He's born with a red nose that his parents try to hide because they don't want him to be labeled as a freak.  He gets found out and is shunned until he runs away, along with a rogue elf named Hermie who wants to be a dentist instead of a toy-making drone.  They meet up with a prospector named Yukon Cornelius.  They get chased around by the Abominable Snow Monster (a yeti) until they wind up at the Island for Misfit toys, where all the defective and unloved toys go.  But eventually Rudolph leaves there and winds up in a showdown with the Abominable before saving Christmas by using his red nose to light the way for Santa's sleigh during a blizzard.

Anyway, I always liked the message in Rudolph, you know, being a misfit myself.  I used to watch it every year on CBS when it came on.  That was maybe my biggest holiday tradition.  Of course now I have it on DVD so it's not so important that I watch it when it's on TV.  That's probably come and gone by now.  Or has it?  I don't pay attention to that kind of stuff, so whatever.

While it may seem odd, you can draw some parallels between Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and my novel Where You Belong, which all good boys and girls should ask Santa for.

To start with, the main character in both has a physical deformity.  Rudolph has a red nose and Frost Devereaux has a scarred face from a car accident when he was three.  That makes them both misfits.  They both leave home in the company of new friends (Hermie the elf for Rudolph an the Maguire twins for Frost) and go on an epic journey of discovery.  Though Frost's journey takes longer and involves sex and stuff.  Where Rudolph meets the gruff but lovable Yukon Cornelius, Frost meets the gruff but lovable Guy Leclair, who is probably a little bit inspired by Yukon Cornelius except Guy makes art with his chain saw instead of looking for silver and gold.

And as the title would suggest, Where You Belong is about a misfit finding the place where he feels at home.  Is it Christmas Town?  No, it's Iowa.  (OK, that's a different movie.)


And tomorrow is finally the day you've been waiting for.  Christmas?  No, even better:  The Bah Humbug Blahgfest!  Lock your doors and windows and prepare to visited by three ghosts!