Favorite Christmas Time Animation

~ Howdy, Folks!

Anybody out there have a favorite Christmas time animation from Warners Brothers? One of my favorites of course is "The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives" a Christmas-themed Merrie Melodies cartoon short, originally released in 1933. It makes use of a Great Depression setting of Christmas where Santa Claus is seeking a good little boy. The short takes place in a shantytown, a slum settlement whose homesites are made of plywood, corrugated metal, and cardboard boxes. They are usually found on the periphery of cities, public parks, or near railroad tracks, rivers, lagoons or city trash dump sites.

This short is so much fun to watch and the music is quite infectious. But it's rare in that it also contains real pathos that pulls at your heartstrings.

Here is the YouTube link;

That's a good one. Another one I like is Gift Wrapped.

I love "Gift Wrapped." That ending with the Christmas stamps over Sylvester and the unnamed bulldog that I call "Spike" is a stroke of genius. However, I am glad that it's uncut on DVD because it used to get chopped to bits when I used to watch it on tv. At first only the bit where Sylvester dressed up as an Indian popping out cowboy Tweety's cork in the Christmas tree was taken out--which I had never seen on tv, yet somehow knew it existed. Then one day to my dismay, Cartoon Network got rid of the other bit where Sylvester is dressed like an Indian and attempting to capture Tweety with a suction cup arrow only to get hit with one from Indian Granny.

Yet, the cartoon is a great short, which I enjoy watching not just during the holidays, but all year round.

I also admit having a bit of love for "Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales" which is the special that includes the three holiday themed shorts "Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol" "Freeze Frame" and "The Fright Before Christmas." While the bridging sections that attempt to tie the three shorts together aren't very strong, the shorts themselves are quite good. In fact I used to think these shorts were a lot older than they actually were because the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show used to air them as separate shorts during the holidays along with the other cartoons.

In particular, I always liked "Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol" best, which loosely adapts the well known story with an appropriate Scrooge, Yosemite Sam himself. I always got a kick out of Bugs playing ghost and scaring the crap out of Sam to reform--especially the bit where he wanders through the halls banging a drum.

I have a soft-spot for Bedtime For Sniffles. I know it's a toon from Chuck Jones' "Disney" period (i.e., adorable) but I really enjoy the wordplay that smartens the narrative and the sweet disappointment of Sniffles drifting off to sleep just as Santa's sleigh arrives, despite his every effort to remain awake for the big man.

~ hey, mreiof!

I love "Bedtime for Sniffles". The little details are everything... all the strategies that Sniffles tries to keep awake! Playing the radio loud, making a pot of coffee, startled awake to find his face covered with snow. And of course after all that just missing Santa!

I also love "Tom Turk and Daffy". I know it's not really a Christmas cartoon but it's sure feels like one!

Yes! "Haxwell Mouse" coffee! And Tom Turk And Daffy definitely qualifies as a toon for the holidays! "Over here! No, over here. No, over here!…"

Yeah, Tom Turk And Daffy is a good one for both Thanksgiving and Christmas (even though Thanksgiving usually isn't associated with snow).

~ Hey, saltyboot!

Here in San Diego it's always sunny and warm around Thanksgiving. But it's usually cold and snowy in the rockies, the great plains and portions of the east coast. Brrrr!!!! They can have it!

There is an interesting historical note in "Tom Turk and Daffy"(1944). When Daffy does his "stool pigeon" bit and Tom is hiding in the snowman, he says, "Quisling!" This is in reference to the Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling who collaborated with the Nazi party during World War II. It didn't take long for "quisling" to equate to "traitor" in the public mind as he wasn't executed until October 1945.

So that's what Tom says. I thought he was saying "what did he say?" but I wasn't sure. lol.

I notice that in this short Harman-Ising are already attempting to improve the overall production values of their cartoons; such as in the establishing shot of the orphan as he approaches the house in the snow