Friday, December 18, 2015
epnews.com There are only a few days left before Santa Claus, who’s comin’ to town, will be guided up to our rooftops by Rudolph and the other gleeful reindeer including Dunder and Blixem. (No typo there, Hermey. In the original 1823 version of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” Clement Clarke Moore called the last of the eight reindeer Dunder and Blixem, which are Dutch for thunder and lightning. If you’d had a little less rum in your eggnog at one of those ugly sweater parties everyone is going to this year, you would have known this from the holiday trivia game you played. Remember? You’d also recall who wrote Auld Lang Syne: Robert Burns in 1788. This is important stuff to know. Like algebra.) Soon out will jump dear old Santa Claus, who will squeeze himself down through our chimney with lots of toys and deposit good cheer around our Charlie Brown tree. With the dawning of the day, all of the Little Cindy Lou Whos will tumble out of bed, pad to their tree and gaze in awe at the sight before them. Then, with a broomstick in his hand, Frosty will lead them here and there, all around the square, where they’ll form a circle, take the hands of Burgermeister Meisterburger, and sing along with the little drummer boy. Pa rum pum pum pum. (There’s that rum again!) Ebenezer will throw open his window and call out “God bless us, everyone!” over the distant sound of voices in song, and then the group will fall silent as Linus steps into the spotlight to tell the true meaning of Christmas. I always thought the people of Whoville gathered to sing “Wah-who toe rays” because of all the little Whotoes awiggling, but really, this is what they sing: Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas! Come this way! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas! Christmas Day! Makes sense to me. (It helps that I’ve had a bit of rum in my eggnog. Hey, can’t beat ‘em? Join ‘em.) It is a joyful time, made even more so by the television “specials” that still rerun every year. The magic of Christmas first came to animated life in 1962 with Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol. It was the first animated holiday program produced specifically for television— and the only one until 1964. Then Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer aired, in which Burl Ives was the wise old snowman. Rudolph is the longest-running Christmas TV special ever—celebrating its 50th year in 2014. We’ve been watching Rudolph for fifty years! The following year introduced A Charlie Brown Christmas and as a re-
sult, the eponym “Charlie Brown tree” was born. In 1966, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas came to the tube, with Boris Karloff as the Grinch and Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger, singing the lurky “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” (You can hear it in your head right now, can’t you?) In 1968 we saw Little Drummer Boy in the listings as we scanned the TV Guide for the other show times. This animated special featured characters with eyes as big as sugar cookies, was narrated by Greer Garson and showcased the Vienna Boys Choir singing the title song. A year later comedian Jackie Vernon gave voice to a snowman while Jimmy Durante sang the popular song in the cartoon Frosty the Snowman before he melted away. And last in my book—or on my screen—but not least, was Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, first airing in 1970. Mickey Rooney played Kris Kringle, Fred Astaire was a dancing mailman, and the bad-turned-good Winter Warlock had Gandalf-like qualities long before Lord of the Rings came to the silver screen. This show incorporated a love story similar to Rudolph and Clarice’s. As a young girl dreaming of romance, my favorite scene was when the birds pulled the tie from Jessica’s red hair as she discovered that her hometown wasn’t as friendly as she thought. She determined that she should be with Kris, wherever he was. She set out to find him, became Mrs. Claus, and shortly after that her hair turned white. (That tells ya something about marrying a guy who leaves his wife behind to take care of the halfpints while he travels the world.) This is where I get off the Polar Express train. By the 1970s I had no interest in new shows and only wanted to watch my traditional favorites each year. Many of them have an underlying goodwill message; the most important one coming from the Whos down in Whoville after the Grinch stole their Christmas. “They sang without ribbons, sang without tags, they sang without packages, boxes or bags: Christmas Day is in our grasp So long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be Just so long as we have we.” My wish for all this Christmas Day is to find some “we” around the tree. You may let The Thunker know what you think at her e-mail address, donoholdt@gmail.com. © 2015 Sarah Donohoe
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