Ho ho ho, dear readers, and welcome back to A Day With J.
As I correctly predicted back in May, I was indeed asked to play Santa Claus for my school’s unbelievable, star-studded Christmas program this year. I mean, let’s be realistic: I’m chubby, I’m an extrovert, and I’m the only male teacher on staff – what were the odds?
Anyway, as Santa, I’m something of an expert on this whole Christmas business, which is why I’m here to deliver this important message to all of you today:
There are other things to watch at Christmas besides National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, and A Christmas Story.
Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against any of those movies. I watch them multiple times a year just like everybody else. But, apart from the occasional sighting of Love Actually and the stop-motion Rankin-Bass classics, they’re basically the only Christmas shows I ever see on TV when I’m flipping through the channels. Meanwhile, a ton of others are left to wallow in obscurity like a bunch of misfit toys. It’s criminal.
That’s why I’ve compiled the following shortlist of overlooked Christmas shows – personal favorites from my childhood that you and your kids will probably enjoy too.
Here we go.
(1) Mickey’s Christmas Carol
I was taking it for granted that everyone just kind of knew about A Christmas Carol by osmosis, but when I played this for my students this year it quickly became apparent that many of them were only hearing the story for the first time. Most of them knew the words “Scrooge” and “Bah Humbug!” but they didn’t know where they had come from. Being a big ole book nerd (and because it’s my job), I decided to give them a little bit of background. I taught them about round vs. flat characters and explained that A Christmas Carol is probably the most famous example of the Victorian ghost story. They’ve probably forgotten most of that by now, but as for A Christmas Carol itself, they loved it. One of them even commented, “Mr. Wiltz, this story is really good!” Yes, it is. And that’s why it needs to be on your holiday viewing and/or reading list.
Countless versions have been made over the years, but for my money, Mickey’s Christmas Carol (the 1983 version) is the way to go. It’s not too long, it covers all the important parts of the story, the animation is beautiful, and like a lot of children’s programming from the 80s and 90s, it doesn’t mind going really dark in service of the plot. (The Third Spirit literally tosses Scrooge into the flames of Hell to let him know he needs to get his act together.) My only complaint is that the opening title sequence goes on and on and on forever and a day. Be ready to fast-forward.
You can probably find Mickey’s Christmas Carol on Disney Plus.
(2) Ziggy‘s Gift
When I was growing up, my parents had a VHS tape labeled “Christmas Cartoons” that contained something like 6 hours of animated holiday shows they’d recorded off of television – How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Looney Tunes Christmas Special, Garfield’s Christmas, two versions of Frosty the Snowman, you name it. The first show on that tape was Ziggy’s Gift.
Ziggy, as some of you might know, was (is?) a newspaper comic strip character who could often be found on calendars, greeting cards, and coffee mugs back in the day.
As far as I can tell, Ziggy’s Gift was his only television appearance. And I’m hear to tell you, people, the makers of this show got it exactly right. It starts off with Ziggy applying to become a bell-ringer for some sort of charity organization, completely ignorant of the fact that it’s actually a total scam. But plot twist! Instead of collecting money for the scam organization, Ziggy goes around giving to those less fortunate. Along the way, he shows kindness to an unwanted Christmas tree, a lost kitten, a shop full of turkeys, a homeless man, a thief, and a group of foster children. He does all of this without saying a word. No heavy-handed messages about “the true meaning of Christmas” or anything like that here. It’s all demonstration and subtlety – show, don’t tell. A gentle little masterpiece.
You can find Ziggy’s Gift on YouTube (click above). Just be forewarned that you might want to keep some tissue on hand. It can be a real tear-jerker.
The last entry on this list was also on the “Christmas Cartoons” tape – A Chipmunk Christmas starring your old pals Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. In the more popular Christmas stories, there’s usually a character who either doesn’t understand Christmas (see also: Charlie Brown) or just hates it altogether (see also: the Grinch). The climax of the story comes when these characters see the error of their ways and learn that Christmas is all about love, family, giving to those less fortunate, the birth of Jesus, etc. What I love about A Chipmunk Christmas is that it completely flips the script. Instead of a bad situation turning good, it’s all about a good deed that causes things to turn bad.
It begins with Alvin overhearing a mother and daughter talking about a very sick little boy named Tommy, who might very well die soon (there’s that 80s darkness again). Upon learning that Tommy would like to have a Golden Echo Harmonica, Alvin – usually a self-obsessed little narcissist – does something completely out of character and gives Tommy his. This act of generosity creates a problem, however, because the Chipmunks are playing a Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall and Alvin needs the (expensive) harmonica to play a solo. He doesn’t want to tell his foster father Dave what he’s done, because Dave gave him the harmonica and his feelings might be hurt. Thus, the plot revolves around Alvin trying to raise money so he can buy another one.
It’s a great story with an interesting structure, not to mention the strangest dream sequence you’ll ever find in a Christmas cartoon. (Seriously, what were they on?) And P.S. you’re gonna love the final scene that brings everything together.
A Chipmunk Christmas can be found on Dailymotion.
That’s what I’ve got for now, dear readers. I hope you’ll take me up on this and add these to your Christmas watch list this year. Please let me know if you do.
Merry Christmas!
J. Wiltz
12/21/2022
A Day With J. 