The Snow Creature!
I’ve been feeding you guys a lot of cheesy cartoons lately, so I thought we’d dip back into horror to mix things up.
Here’s The Snow Creature, because abominable snowmen are so much better during Christmastime:
It’s from 1954, and boy does it ever look like it’s from 1954.
The Glo Friends Save Christmas!
1. Yes, there really was a Glo Friends Christmas special.
2. The title — The Glo Friends Save Christmas — kinda gives away the ending. đ
If you don’t remember Hasbro’s Glo Friends, they were a bunch of cute buggy action figures inspired by the much more famous Glo Worm plush toy.
We’ve had one of the figures sitting in a planter outside for like five years now. I don’t say hi when I go out there, but sometimes I think about it.
Home Alone 2: Behind the Scenes.
Knocked a few items off of my traditional Must Do Before Christmas list:
1) Went to Toys âRâ Us, which is no big deal usually, but I always try to get there at least once when itâs all Christmassy and insane. Itâs even nicer when I have no intention of buying anything, because then I donât have to deal with the lines, or worse, trying to push a cart through the crowded store.
Course, Iâll need to get back there one more time, because no Christmas season is complete until Iâve been at TRU during its late night holiday hours. (I think theyâre open until midnight now? If not, they will be soon.)
2) Earlier tonight we went on our first official âGet Starbucks & Drive Around Looking at Christmas Lightsâ drive, which has become one of my favorite traditions.
My hometown isnât so great for a lot of things, but the people around here sure know how to decorate for Christmas. Despite the many houses with a thousand bucksâ worth of lights and animatronics, Iâm more moved by the families that just throw a few strands of obviously ancient lights up and call it a day. Those houses always feel so oddly sincere.
Have you done anything holidayish yet? I get the feeling that this is kind of a âwhateverâ year for lots of folks, but man, Iâm determined to not let it get too whatever. Pretty soon itâll be January, and January sucks, yâknow?
Tonightâs video choice was inspired by my buddy Chad, who just randomly found the VHS version while hunting at thrift stores. Imagine my surprise to find Home Alone 2: Behind the Scenes on YouTube!
Itâs exactly what it sounds like: A BTS look at Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, a movie that I saw in theaters and still adore today. I guess it doesnât hold a candle to the original if weâre judging them objectively, but the sequel is just a damn fun movie. Every time I see it, I want pizza, Tim Curry and big cookies, in that order.
(And yes, I of course consider Home Alone 2 a Christmas movie. Turtle doves are a major plot point, for Christâs sake.)
A Garfield Christmas!
Before you settle in for tonightâs video, make sure youâve checked out the super enormous new article on the main page, which uses an old home movie to examine my familyâs 1986 Christmas party. I donât get to cover such meaty topics very often.
(Or maybe you should save it until youâre more awake, since itâs like ten bazillion words long? Your call.)
Itâs the final minutes of December 1st as I sit here. Writing that giant post reminded me of how the literal entirety of my Decembers used to be all about Christmas. Iâd think about it constantly and do Christmassy things constantly. I routinely messed up in school during December, because I just couldnât be bothered with anything that had no tangential tie to Santa.
Doing these Christmassy countdowns on X-E and Dino Drac for so many years has been my way to keep the season meaningful for me. If it makes yours a little more meaningful in the process, thatâs a great bonus.
Make time for the season, if you can. It can be pretty therapeutic once you get past the bullshit parts.
Maybe start by setting aside 22 minutes for A Garfield Christmas, which is by far my favorite of Garfieldâs holiday specials. Itâs so good, guys.
The Thanksgiving special is just kind of there, and as much as I love Garfieldâs Halloween Adventure, watching it now is mostly for nostalgiaâs sake. This one, though⊠this one still holds up.
The touching moments still touch me, and the sorta funny moments still seem sorta funny. Like I could totally see this still being an annual network television thing irrespective of Garfieldâs current pop status. This stupid cat cartoon transcends, man.
When youâre done watching it, you might also enjoy this old post, in which I tried to name every single gift Garfield wished for at the start of the special. It was hard to do.
