Wednesday, December 9, 2009

That Spirit of Christmas

When I think of Christmas time, I think of a VHS tape my parents recorded when Natalie and I were five years old. It started out with the old "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1964), followed by "A Garfield Christmas" and concluded with "Claymation Christmas" - all were broadcast on CBS, of course.



Not only were these the best three animated Christmas specials on TV at the time (or perhaps ever), but the VHS also included the commercials from 1987, which are almost as fun to watch as the shows, i.e., Sony's commercial - I'd like a bike, I'd like a pony, but what I'd love is My First Sony!"





Other great commercials included the classic 7up Santa beard countdown-to-Christmas calendar, Oreos, and ads for the limited time offer stuffed reindeer that came in McDonald's Happy Meals.


It has become a Christmas tradition to watch this VHS tape every year. In fact, my mom keeps it in the safe at home. It's been 22 years since I first watched these shows, and it still never feels like Christmas each year until I watch them again. It brings back the magic you feel as a kid during the holidays.



In case you've never seen any of these great shows, I suggest you check them out. Luckily, they're all over YouTube.



"Carol of the Bells" - a segment from Claymation Christmas.
Click here if the embedded video doesn't show up.






A segment from Garfield Christmas. The grandma is my favorite character.






There should be three videos that appear in this blog. If those of you who receive this via email don't see the videos, click the links provided.

1 comment:

Hannah Hall said...

Ah, these bring such happiness. I started to watch the clips, but I didn't want to ruin the official viewing. You are coming around this Christmas, aren't you?