MickeyHoliday Chestnuts
Hey folks- sorry about the hiatus but I've had hot and cold running relatives/friends/acquaintances/people who showed up for the past week. Some days I didn't even have time to log on for my daily dose of spam. Of course there was plenty of time for watching TV (can't spend all day watching the cat stalking an errant bit of wrapping paper- three or four hours, tops), especially with all the favorite Holiday treats on and about...
Sunday night's Adult Swim on Cartoon Network featured some brand new timeless classics. Robot Chicken featured a true-crime style documentary on Who Killed Kris Kringle- okay, tad dark by holiday standards, though certainly not by Robot Chicken standards. The Venture Brothers "A Very Venture Christmas" managed to touch on an amazing number of Christmas cliches for a half-hour show. Fortunately by now we've all seen enough Christmas specials to get all the references.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a seasonal favorite cartoon for good reason. From the idealistic but intelligent writing of the good Dr. Seuss to the very effective narration by Boris Karloff this one is still watchable even after literally dozens of times. We even hauled out Rudolph the Radioactive-Nosed Reindeer again, though these modern times the audience can't help but to yell at the screen for Rudolph to just fly south to the Xavier School for Gifted Children.
My singing voice has been described as "cruel and unusual," so my caroling was pretty much limited to various versions of A Christmas Carol. Mr. McGoo's Carol is fun for all ages- who doesn't sing along when the dregs of society are dividing up their loot? Another holiday favorite is the Rich Little Christmas Carol. Technically a one-man show, Little portrays the various characters as various other characters: for example, Scrooge is played like a stereotypical (but still effective) W. C. Fields.
Not that a serious version doesn't have its place; in my last post I mentioned how fantastic Patrick Stewart did portraying Ebenezer Scrooge. Alistair Sims and George C. Scott have also turned in top-notch performances of the cold-hearted miser who finds redemption in learning to enjoy the holiday. Of course, once the spirits (holiday and otherwise) start flowing peoples' taste in holiday specials tends to take one Giant Leap For Elfkind away from the serious works...
Family Guy did a Far-Freaking Out Christmas Special (it works because everyone is still in character for the Christmas story). Peter's explanation for the season is wonderfully twisted, Stewie's struggle to be good for the sake of getting the plutonium he wants from Santa is spot-on, and what homemaker couldn't identify with Lois freaking out over the holiday plans going up in smoke?
A good Christmas-themed movie is a great way to blot out the evening's reruns. Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation is a yearly favorite, as is A Christmas Story. This time of year I also enjoy a distinctly not particularly good movie, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Obviously aimed at special-needs children, and shot on a budget of whatever the director could dig out from his own couch cushions, I sincerely recommend the original or the Mystery Science Theater version for any aficionado of bad cinema looking for some nicely twisted holiday cheer.
Sunday night's Adult Swim on Cartoon Network featured some brand new timeless classics. Robot Chicken featured a true-crime style documentary on Who Killed Kris Kringle- okay, tad dark by holiday standards, though certainly not by Robot Chicken standards. The Venture Brothers "A Very Venture Christmas" managed to touch on an amazing number of Christmas cliches for a half-hour show. Fortunately by now we've all seen enough Christmas specials to get all the references.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a seasonal favorite cartoon for good reason. From the idealistic but intelligent writing of the good Dr. Seuss to the very effective narration by Boris Karloff this one is still watchable even after literally dozens of times. We even hauled out Rudolph the Radioactive-Nosed Reindeer again, though these modern times the audience can't help but to yell at the screen for Rudolph to just fly south to the Xavier School for Gifted Children.
My singing voice has been described as "cruel and unusual," so my caroling was pretty much limited to various versions of A Christmas Carol. Mr. McGoo's Carol is fun for all ages- who doesn't sing along when the dregs of society are dividing up their loot? Another holiday favorite is the Rich Little Christmas Carol. Technically a one-man show, Little portrays the various characters as various other characters: for example, Scrooge is played like a stereotypical (but still effective) W. C. Fields.
Not that a serious version doesn't have its place; in my last post I mentioned how fantastic Patrick Stewart did portraying Ebenezer Scrooge. Alistair Sims and George C. Scott have also turned in top-notch performances of the cold-hearted miser who finds redemption in learning to enjoy the holiday. Of course, once the spirits (holiday and otherwise) start flowing peoples' taste in holiday specials tends to take one Giant Leap For Elfkind away from the serious works...
Family Guy did a Far-Freaking Out Christmas Special (it works because everyone is still in character for the Christmas story). Peter's explanation for the season is wonderfully twisted, Stewie's struggle to be good for the sake of getting the plutonium he wants from Santa is spot-on, and what homemaker couldn't identify with Lois freaking out over the holiday plans going up in smoke?
A good Christmas-themed movie is a great way to blot out the evening's reruns. Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation is a yearly favorite, as is A Christmas Story. This time of year I also enjoy a distinctly not particularly good movie, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Obviously aimed at special-needs children, and shot on a budget of whatever the director could dig out from his own couch cushions, I sincerely recommend the original or the Mystery Science Theater version for any aficionado of bad cinema looking for some nicely twisted holiday cheer.
