The Smurfs Christmas Special!
The Smurfs Christmas Special is an old favorite of mine:
The special debuted back in ’82, and eventually found a second life on cable channels, with Cartoon Network in particular treating it with great reverence even decades after its premiere.
Weird note: The special has some surprisingly vicious moments!
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.)
