Hello there! Today i’m going to do something a little different. As the title suggests I am going to put together a list of my favorite holiday titles and I will include at least one fun fact with each entry. Let’s get started!
12. RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY” [1979]
Did you know that this film was originally released in theaters?
The film was released theatrically first, but it played on only a few dates and was a flop. One sheet from the theatrical release is out there, but rare. Some often mistake it for a T.V. movie.
11. THE SANTA CLAUSE [1994]
During his tour of the workshop, Scott Calvin [TIM ALLEN] tries out a tool belt then shakes his head as if to indicate that tools aren't for him. This is a reference to ALLEN’S then-hit TV show, “HOME IMPROVEMENT” (1991-’99) where his character's (Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor) life revolved around tools.
10. DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS [2000]
Perfecting “THE GRINCH’S” face took a lot of work. Special makeup effects creator RICK BAKER remembered shooting screen tests for as many as six different “GRINCH” looks, one of which entailed painting JIM CARREY’S face green and doing little else. “It looked like some reject cast member from “CATS”,” the actor said. While UNIVERSAL STUDIOS executives were worried that more elaborate makeup would render CARREY unidentifiable—and therefore not worth his $20 million fee—everyone else agreed that the green face paint wasn’t cutting it. To prove that CARREY would still be recognizable beneath a prosthesis, Director RON HOWARD filmed several actors in full “GRINCH” regalia and asked his daughter and her friends to pinpoint CARREY on the tape. “The minute he started moving, they all said, ‘That's JIM,’” HOWARD told NEWSWEEK.
9. DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS [1966]
[I’m not sure if this counts as cheating or not.] “THE GRINCH’S” green color was decided by director CHUCK JONES experiences renting cars in the Washington-Baltimore area which he claimed always turned out to be the exact shade.
8. THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS [1974]
The painting hanging in Santa Claus' bedroom is the same one that is put up in the town hall at the end of “SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN”.
7. SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN [197O]
In the shooting script, the penguin's name was “TOPPER” and that was his name in the original broadcast. In some later broadcast versions, the penguin's name was changed to “WADDLES” for unknown reasons. Current broadcasts and all home video releases have reverted the name back to “TOPPER”.
6. RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER [1964]
In the original TV version of the show, “RUDOLPH”, “HERMEY THE ELF”, and “YUKON CORNELIUS” visit “THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS” and promise to help them, but the “MISFITS” are never seen again, only mentioned as “SANTA’S” first stop before he flies off in his sleigh. After it was shown, the producers were inundated with letters from children complaining that nothing had been done to help “THE MISFIT TOYS”. In response, RANKIN-BASS produced a new short scene at the end of the show in which “SANTA” and his reindeer, led by “RUDOLPH”, land on the Island and pick up all the toys to find homes for them. This scene became a part of the standard version of the show run during the holidays.
5. FROSTY THE SNOWMAN [1969]
Watch carefully when Frosty attempts to count to 10: He has five fingers on one hand for a brief moment, then when he clasps his hand and flexes his digits, he’s down to four fingers. Maybe that falls under the category of “animation blooper” rather than “magic.”
4. CHRISTMAS EVE ON SESAME STREET [1978]
For “KERMIT THE FROG’S” appearance in this special, the puppet from “THE MUPPET MOVIE” [1979] was used. Around that time, the company that made the green cloth that were originally made for Kermit went out of business. While CTW [Now known as SESAME WORKSHOP.] usually had a series of Kermit puppets built at the same time specifically for “SESAME STREET” [1969-Present] remained in use on the show until 1981, the 1978 puppet was used here.
3. THE POLAR EXPRESS [2004]
In the North Pole City communications room, an elf describing a bad little boy in NEW JERSEY named “STEVEN” who is terrorizing his two little sisters. This line is a nod to ROBERT ZEMECKIS’ friend and mentor, STEVEN SPIELBERG. SPIELBERG grew up in NEW JERSEY, and has admitted many times that he frequently terrorized his two younger sisters.
2. MICKEY’S ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS [1999]
In the segment "MICKEY & MINNIE’S GIFT OF THE MAGI", the Dixieland jazz band at the charity toy drive is made up of firefighters and named THE FIREHOUSE 5”. This is a nod to “THE FIREHOUSE FIVE PLUS TWO”, a seven-piece Dixieland jazz band founded in 1949 and consisting of DISNEY animation staff members (including lead animators WARD KIMBALL and FRANK THOMAS , two of DISNEY’S famed “NINE OLD MEN”).
“THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL” [1992]
