That's why this PEANUTS special has always worked, and likely always will.
It's funny how the kids' holiday specials which have lasted the longest have been from the mid-'60s... RUDOLPH, CHARLIE BROWN's CHRISTMAS, THE GRINCH and GREAT PUMPKIN.
And I'm old enough to have known really early on that they would.
There's just something in them that subsequent specials can't conjure.
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Yes, well put. When I watch those (as I do, most years), I marvel at how creative and well-made they are. I think about the meetings they had as they worked on the stories. Very impressive.
shareAnd the new ones have never been the same since. Odd.
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Non-sequiturs are delicious.
Nearly half a century old now. But ABC has started cutting it again. Sheesh.
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LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA
Cutting it?
shareIt's being rerun tonight or tomorrow, uncut. Last week it was sliced and diced.
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LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA
Don't forget "Frosty The Snowman."
You've got to go through Hell before you get to Heaven.
Yes, all of those shows have a certain melancholy to them. I'd start with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, which really was the first of the animated specials that found a place in our collective hearts. Why it isn't shown every year is beyond me, but I saw it the very first time in 1962, when I was in the 4th grade. What these specials have that others lack is their originality. They were the first, period. The blazed the path, so anything coming afterward--like the endless Peanuts specials and Rudolph sequels--just look pale by comparison.
And let's face it, the children who watched these shows in the 60s are now senior citizens. That's something to seriously think about. And that's where the melancholy really shines--we're all getting older, childhood isn't forever, and we miss the days of our youth.
Yes, all of those shows have a certain melancholy to them. I'd start with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, which really was the first of the animated specials that found a place in our collective hearts. Why it isn't shown every year is beyond me, but I saw it the very first time in 1962, when I was in the 4th grade. What these specials have that others lack is their originality. They were the first, period. The blazed the path, so anything coming afterward--like the endless Peanuts specials and Rudolph sequels--just look pale by comparison.
And let's face it, the children who watched these shows in the 60s are now senior citizens. That's something to seriously think about. And that's where the melancholy really shines--we're all getting older, childhood isn't forever, and we miss the days of our youth.
Don't forget "Frosty The Snowman."
I agree with you about Frosty not being as good and about the melancholy feel coming "right away." I remember as a kid--and I watched it during the first broadcast--the end of a Charlie Brown Christmas got me "right there." When all the kids shout, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!" and then start singing Christmas carols, the tears just flowed.
And I also experienced choking up and feeling sad (and yes, melancholy) when Rudolph leaves his friends (Hermie and Yukon) in search of his destiny.
And there were other specials, too. Certainly, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, when young Ebeneezer sings "A Hand for Each Hand," and later, Belle--Scrooge's fiance--sings "Winter was Warm," which is a real heart-tugger. Oh, I could go on and on. Even the classic Christmas films had this same melancholy. When George returns from his "dream" of having never been born and starts running home to Mary...the part in Alistair Sim's "Scrooge" when he visits his nephew, Fred, and speaks to his wife (a great scene, which always chokes me up). It's akin to The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy must say goodbye to her three companions in Oz...an emotional quality that's sadly missing nowadays.
Well, now I gotta go have myself a good cry...
Awwe cheer up ScaryMary. Remember this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEQb2OppEow
My own favorite part of The Great Pumpkin has always been and probably always will be this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xN-bgcjp0g