Anyone who lived near the Chicagoland area or received WGN probably remembers these Christmas Classics from the Garfield Goose Show. It aint Christmastime until I hear "Hardrock, Coco, And Joe" at least once. I figured Frosty was a pipe smoker so he's 'on topic'. The other two are questionable, but help to make the season bright. I imagine Frosty's an aromatic smoker and has his pipe loaded with C&D "Corn Cob Pipe And Button Nose".
Fellow Chicagoan here, and I grew up watching "Hardrock, Coco, and Joe", "Suzie Snowflake", and "Frosty" every year. Great memories. I love watching old cartoons and tv shows from the 50's and 60's. I wish it wasn't so difficult to find them nowadays. It seems like all the "Classic TV" channels show relatively recent shows, which I'm not a fan of.
Growing up during the VCR era, my parents made a tape of some classic Christmas cartoons. "Rudolf", "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "A Bugs Bunny Christmas", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", and "Frosty the Snowman" were the first five movies on it. We watched it every year, until DVD became the norm, and the tape disappeared into one of our closets.
Now for Christmas, I watch the winter themed episodes of MST3K. "Santa Claus Conquerors the Martians", "Santa Claus", and "Jack Frost". While they don't have the nostalgia like my old Christmas tape, they still bring me plenty of warm Christmas feelings.
On a side note, while I'm a fan of A Christmas Story, does it really need a 24 hour marathon? I wish more channels played classic Christmas movies on Christmas, but it seems like the popular thing to do is play anything that doesn't involve Christmas. What a shame.
@thebadgerpiper - I am personally one of those who hates "A Christmas Story." So, no, it doesn't need a 24 hour marathon. The same applies to "It's a Wonderful Life." I would much prefer marathons of some of the older versions of A Christmas Carol. May favorites are the 1951 version with Alastair Sims, the 1970 version with Albert Finney. 1984 version with George C. Scott and 1999 with Patrick Stewart.
They can leave off all the ones like Scrooged with Bill Murray or the ones that either changes Scrooge into a woman or moves it into modern times. Leave the animated ones for the kids channels.
@PappyJoe My wife hates A Christmas Story with a passion, which makes Christmas movie watching with my family a bit awkward, as it's my mom's favorite Christmas movie.
I don't hate It's A Wonderful Life, but I don't need to watch it every year. As a lad, my mom would put on It's A Wonderful Life and the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. I hated both movies, they felt so slow and went on forever. Now I appreciate them, but it took years to get there. A friend of mine loves A Muppet's Christmas Carol, but it's been years since I've seen it, so I wouldn't mind viewing it again.
It's been years since I've seen a new Christmas movie that I liked. The last one was Elf, which I watched in theaters with my wife for our very first date. It's the last movie that I felt captured the joy of Christmas time.
I first saw "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Music Box Theater in Chicago (a fantastic place!). Before the showing, Santa Claus came out and played holiday songs on their organ. The theater had dredged up old cartoons of those songs with the words on the bottom and an animated bouncing ball to help you sing. The whole place sang along. It was a beautiful moment when I felt a connection with everyone in Chicago - a difficult thing to feel in a large, gray, city.
I have a chest full of movies devoted to Christmas including the genuine classics as well as those Hallmark movies my wife enjoys watching. I saw "A Christmas Story" for the first time in a theater and loved it. Since it takes place in Hammond, Indiana - which is just a few miles from us there was a local connection to the movie. Names of stores and streets were quite familiar to us. And having grown up in the 50s', which was a few years after Ralphy's magic Christmas - there was still enough which was similar to my childhood memories, making it a nostalgic look back on the past. I think people have started disliking the movie since stations started playing the film 24 hours a day. The over-saturation has made a great many people sick of it by now. If it was pulled out once a year like "It's A Wonderful Life" or "The Wizard Of Oz" was then people might look forward to it. "It's A Wonderful Life" is another great movie, and those who hate it are probably more cynical by nature. The message of the movie is just as much a learning experience as "A Christmas Carol". It's sentimental, I'll grant you that - but sometimes we need a little warmth in our hearts to balance all the evils of the world that play out each night on the news.
And for those who may have tired of "A Christmas Story" but found it entertaining after the first few watches I'd suggest the movie "My Summer Story" which are the further exploits of the Parker family. Different actors are cast in the role but Charles Grodin plays a great Dad - and the remainder of the cast are perfect in their roles.
Yeah, I'm no fan of "A Christmas Story" either, but I do like "It's a Wonderful Life". If there's absolutely nothing watch-worthy on the tube and it's on, I'll watch it.
Once you get tired of all the warm feeling you get from a good holiday movie try flipping the script with a little Christmas Horror Flick like "Krampus", "Black Christmas", "A Christmas Horror Story", and "Saint Nick". And don't forget "Gremlins" is a Christmas tale as well.
@motie2 You might find this interesting. It's a Wonderful Life was a box-office flop! From the accounts I read, it didn't come to fruition until TV channels starting playing it as a "filler" Christmas-based story. Once the public was exposed to the "shelved" movie, its popularity soared.
One of my favorite Christmas oriented movies is The Bishop's Wife, I mean the ORIGINAL one starring Carey Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven. It may be a little hokey in some places and when "special effects" are used, they tend to make you chuckle, but to me it is a very heart-warming movie.
Wow no one even mentioned White Christmas! one of my favorites, as well as Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th street, Holiday affair with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh, Christmas in Connecticut, with Barbara Stanwych, Remember the Night also Barbara with Fred MacMurry,It happened on 5th Avenue, and all the different ver
I'm getting ready to go to the movie room with the wife and watch Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland. Most people don't think of that as a Christmas movie but it was / is ...
Speaking of Christmas movies I have two recommendations for those out there who enjoy British comedy. I know it can be an acquired taste ... had my sister and brother-in-law watch the two TV episodes I'm about to recommend and they didn't get the belly laughs that my wife and I got. The two episodes are from the British comedy staring Dawn French called "The Vicar Of Dibley" in which she comes to this strange little town to replace the old Vicar who passed away. At first it's something of a scandal to have a woman Vicar, and It takes a few episodes for the residents to warm up to her but eventually they end up loving her. The small town is filled with unique oddball characters who make the show quite entertaining. But the two episodes I'm recommending are the Christmas episodes: the first one is from Season One called "The Christmas Lunch Incident" and the second is from Season Two and it's simply called "Winter". Both are quite entertaining ... even more so once you've become more familiar with the quirky characters. Throughout the month of December my wife and I watch as many Christmas movies as we can squeeze in ... but we also add these two episodes of "The Vicar Of Dibley" as well. Also try to watch the Christmas episode from the old show "Amos n' Andy" - another Christmas classic.
@KA9FFJ My mom is a big fan of Meet Me in St. Louis, and she considers it a Christmas movie. For a few years, I'd buy her dvds of old Christmas movies, such as White Christmas and Holiday Inn.
@ghostsofpompeii If you're a fan of dark British comedy, you might enjoy The League of Gentlemen's Christmas special. I haven't watched the show (only heard about it on a podcast I listen to), but I've heard the special is self contained, so you don't need to see the whole series beforehand.
For Christmas specials from TV shows, I loved the Christmas episodes for Community and The Office. The Christmas Community episode that's part musical is a personal favorite.
I LOVE a "Christmas Story". We took our kids to see it in the theater the year it came out. I have seen it (on purpose) at least once every year since then. I think it will be considered a Christmas Classic in years to come if it is not already considered so now. We also like "Christmas Vacation", and as I have said before ALL of the "A Christmas Carol" versions ever made.
There are tons of goofy Christmas movies on the TV channels such as the Hallmark channel that are actually pretty bad, and made I am sure just to be able to pause for equally horrible commercials every 10 minutes or so for wanton commercial reasons.
I used to as a very young "yute" really enjoyed the black and white productions using puppets of "The Birth of Christ" and the "Night Before Christmas". They were sponsored by the Western Electric Employees. About 2 years or so ago, a local PBS channel showed them to my absolute delight. They are real classics. I need to find these on DVD or CD somewhere, they take me back to my childhood.
I meet up once a week with a bunch of Retired Field Types and we're occasionally adding one more to the group. We collectively own a copy of the infamous "Leg Lamp" that we give to a new guy at this time of year to put in the window while SWMBO isn't home. We then gleefully await his description of his Wife's reaction to it. we're waiting now for the report from our latest member.
@pwkarch Did you ever see the version of "A Christmas Carol" with Basil Rathbone as Scrooge? It was apparently a TV production from sometime in the 50s'. The program is only a half hour long so as you can imagine the story is chopped up considerably ... yet the gest of the story is told. Budget constraints really hampered what might otherwise have been a promising version. Rathbone did a marvelous job as Scrooge. All the ghosts including Marley were presented as invisible beings - keeping the cost down even further. You might be able to locate it on YouTube. I had a copy on DVDR that someone burned for me, but after doing some housekeeping and re-arranging I seem to have misplaced the disc or included it in the same case as another movie and can't remember which one. With my luck I'll probably come across it in the middle of July.
Ghost: Yes I have, I don't think anyone can find a version I have not seen. Many, many years ago when our kids were young, we took them to a live production at a local theatre group. Even with their small budget they put on a great play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT5Ohgl7eTM
Comments
Growing up during the VCR era, my parents made a tape of some classic Christmas cartoons. "Rudolf", "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "A Bugs Bunny Christmas", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", and "Frosty the Snowman" were the first five movies on it. We watched it every year, until DVD became the norm, and the tape disappeared into one of our closets.
Now for Christmas, I watch the winter themed episodes of MST3K. "Santa Claus Conquerors the Martians", "Santa Claus", and "Jack Frost". While they don't have the nostalgia like my old Christmas tape, they still bring me plenty of warm Christmas feelings.
On a side note, while I'm a fan of A Christmas Story, does it really need a 24 hour marathon? I wish more channels played classic Christmas movies on Christmas, but it seems like the popular thing to do is play anything that doesn't involve Christmas. What a shame.
I would much prefer marathons of some of the older versions of A Christmas Carol. May favorites are the 1951 version with Alastair Sims, the 1970 version with Albert Finney. 1984 version with George C. Scott and 1999 with Patrick Stewart.
They can leave off all the ones like Scrooged with Bill Murray or the ones that either changes Scrooge into a woman or moves it into modern times. Leave the animated ones for the kids channels.
I don't hate It's A Wonderful Life, but I don't need to watch it every year. As a lad, my mom would put on It's A Wonderful Life and the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. I hated both movies, they felt so slow and went on forever. Now I appreciate them, but it took years to get there. A friend of mine loves A Muppet's Christmas Carol, but it's been years since I've seen it, so I wouldn't mind viewing it again.
It's been years since I've seen a new Christmas movie that I liked. The last one was Elf, which I watched in theaters with my wife for our very first date. It's the last movie that I felt captured the joy of Christmas time.
Of course, I've not read "Catcher in the Rye," either.
I have a chest full of movies devoted to Christmas including the genuine classics as well as those Hallmark movies my wife enjoys watching. I saw "A Christmas Story" for the first time in a theater and loved it. Since it takes place in Hammond, Indiana - which is just a few miles from us there was a local connection to the movie. Names of stores and streets were quite familiar to us. And having grown up in the 50s', which was a few years after Ralphy's magic Christmas - there was still enough which was similar to my childhood memories, making it a nostalgic look back on the past. I think people have started disliking the movie since stations started playing the film 24 hours a day. The over-saturation has made a great many people sick of it by now. If it was pulled out once a year like "It's A Wonderful Life" or "The Wizard Of Oz" was then people might look forward to it. "It's A Wonderful Life" is another great movie, and those who hate it are probably more cynical by nature. The message of the movie is just as much a learning experience as "A Christmas Carol". It's sentimental, I'll grant you that - but sometimes we need a little warmth in our hearts to balance all the evils of the world that play out each night on the news.
And for those who may have tired of "A Christmas Story" but found it entertaining after the first few watches I'd suggest the movie "My Summer Story" which are the further exploits of the Parker family. Different actors are cast in the role but Charles Grodin plays a great Dad - and the remainder of the cast are perfect in their roles.
@motie2 You might find this interesting. It's a Wonderful Life was a box-office flop! From the accounts I read, it didn't come to fruition until TV channels starting playing it as a "filler" Christmas-based story. Once the public was exposed to the "shelved" movie, its popularity soared.
One of my favorite Christmas oriented movies is The Bishop's Wife, I mean the ORIGINAL one starring Carey Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven. It may be a little hokey in some places and when "special effects" are used, they tend to make you chuckle, but to me it is a very heart-warming movie.
Wow no one even mentioned White Christmas! one of my favorites, as well as Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th street, Holiday affair with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh, Christmas in Connecticut, with Barbara Stanwych, Remember the Night also Barbara with Fred MacMurry,It happened on 5th Avenue, and all the different ver
@ghostsofpompeii If you're a fan of dark British comedy, you might enjoy The League of Gentlemen's Christmas special. I haven't watched the show (only heard about it on a podcast I listen to), but I've heard the special is self contained, so you don't need to see the whole series beforehand.
For Christmas specials from TV shows, I loved the Christmas episodes for Community and The Office. The Christmas Community episode that's part musical is a personal favorite.
There are tons of goofy Christmas movies on the TV channels such as the Hallmark channel that are actually pretty bad, and made I am sure just to be able to pause for equally horrible commercials every 10 minutes or so for wanton commercial reasons.
I used to as a very young "yute" really enjoyed the black and white productions using puppets of "The Birth of Christ" and the "Night Before Christmas". They were sponsored by the Western Electric Employees. About 2 years or so ago, a local PBS channel showed them to my absolute delight. They are real classics. I need to find these on DVD or CD somewhere, they take me back to my childhood.
Ghost: Yes I have, I don't think anyone can find a version I have not seen. Many, many years ago when our kids were young, we took them to a live production at a local theatre group. Even with their small budget they put on a great play.