My Seven Favorite Christmas Films/TV Specials

I like Christmas. The main reason I like it is the embracing of optimism and the recharging of your soul with Good Will Towards Others. So each year I enjoy watching the same classical movies and TV specials to help pump me up for dealing with the same old Evil we have to face everyday...which is probably true of all of you, too, right? In my Christmas circuit, though, I usually don't watch ALL of my choices every year; I usually skip a year. For example, I'll watch Grinch this year but not Frosty, then put Frosty back on the rotation circuit for next year. I'm sure some of you will disagree with my choices, but here in no particular order are My Magnificent Seven Christmas Films. 

Ken-Bun-Ki "US Christmas = Japan's New Year"

Note: "Russell's Ken-Bun-Ki" is a series of articles I wrote for my Japanese City Hall newsletter back in 1996-97. They were articles about life in America or life in Japan as experienced by an American. This one is from December 19, 1996. 

 Here's a quiz for you. What holiday is it where your family gets together to eat a special dinner, you visit relatives, you give presents to people who have helped you out in the past year, you watch special TV programs and movies, and it's the kids' favorite time of the year?

I'm sure everyone (in Japan) said, "New Years," of course. However, in the United States the answer is, "Christmas."

In America Christmas is a family holiday. There are no "Christmas Parties" or "Office Parties" on Christmas day. There are office parties with your co-workers where you drink, dance, and date, but usually these are New Year's Eve parties.

In America we don't have drinking parties for "Forget the Last Year" or "Welcome the New Year." When work is done many offices hold Christmas parties at the offices. Many companies finish work before Christmas or New Years and take a few days off. Most companies are off approximately four days. On the last working day, many offices have either an office Christmas party or New Years party. At most of these the spouses are also invited. Have you seen the movie Die Hard? the beginning of that movie is an office Christmas party. The star, Bruce Willis, is the husband of one of the employees. In this type of situation, attendance as a couple is normal.

In America we do not send out New Year's greetings cards; we send Christmas cards. Christmas has a religious connection as Christ's birthday, but because there are many different religions in America I prefer the greeting, "Happy Holidays!" to "Merry Christmas!"

Have a great new year!

(I'm sorry if this is hard to read!)

PS

This is another one of those articles that was written for the Japanese about US customs. So let me tell you more about what the Japanese customs are so *you* can compare.... 

Christmas in Japan is an excuse for young adults to have sex. If you are in a relationship it's a huge date night. (Think US New Year's Eve!) You will most likely have a dinner date with your significant other and you will get a hotel room for the night because you both still live with your parents (or in a college or company dorm).

Another Japanese Christmas tradition is Christmas Cake. I think this treat came from Europe, because I had never heard of it. I'll never forget the first time my Japanese friends showed up at my house with a Christmas Cake and were terribly disappointed that I didn't know what it was! By the way, young women over the age of 25 are often derogatorily called "Christmas Cakes" because, similar to the confection after Christmas day, after they are 25 nobody wants them. 

The other odd Christmas tradition in Japan involves Kentucky Fried Chicken. I don't know how this tradition started, either, but at the end of December *everybody* gets a family pack of chicken from KFC. I think it has something to do with Colonel Sanders' resemblance to Santa Claus.

Likewise, in Japan New Years is a waaaay low-key affair. You stay home with your family and watch the Japanese equivalent of "Dick Clark's Rocking' Eve," called "The Red-White Song Battle." It's a show where teams of male and female singers alternate live concerts for the three or so hours preceding the New Year. On New Years' Day you watch live marathon/relay races while eating a special brunch, then at about 11 am you look over all the New Years' cards you get, delivered en masse by the Post Office *on* January 1. Then you may get dressed up and visit the Shrine to pray for prosperity in the new year. Finally you spend the rest of the day with relatives eating special foods and getting drunk. At least, that was the way people celebrated the New Year in my Japanese home-town. :-)

Christmas POGO 1949-1950 Post-Script

In the last two weeks I wrote about Walt Kelly's initial celebration of Christmas on a national stage, after POGO was syndicated more than just locally. Along with that topic I wrote about what I thought was the first appearance of Kelly's satirical "Deck Us All With Boston Charlie."  However, upon closer examination I found that I had made a huge mistake: I thought the strip wasn't syndicated nationally until 1950, when in fact it started nationally in May 1949! 

So the strips I am showing you here are the actual true debut of Christmas in POGO *and* the debut of the famous Christmas Carol. It had made it's local debut a year earlier in a strip for the New York Star that Walt re-did for 1949 when it was being syndicated nationally. Sorry for the mistake, and I will try to be better in the future! 

Click on it to get a readable version. 

Having a party for Porky makes this strip even more meaningful. I don't know how I missed this!

As an extra added bonus, here are the words to the entire song "Deck Us All With Boston Charlie", from the book GONE POGO in 1961. Also included are the infamous "second verse", "Deck Us All Bow-Wows of Folly." Unfortunately, Beauregard doesn't make an appearance here to harmonize with his brothers. 

 

Christmas Comics

I have read an awful lot of comics in my time. Out of all of those I think The Best Christmas Comics are the three I have listed below. There have been plenty of Christmas themed comics, some pretty good and most pretty bad, but these three feature my favorite characters AND are very good. I would call them Classics. DC and Marvel both publish Holiday Themed collections every other year or so, and sometimes the stories in these are great. Mostly, however, they are not. Besides, for most of these it's still too soon to call any of them Classics. These three stories are genuinely  awesome.

The first one I came across was TEEN TITANS 13, which was reprinted in CHRISTMAS WITH THE SUPER-HEROES special in 1974. I actually got this as a Christmas present, probably because it was big and cost $1. I think this was the first time I had ever seen the Teen Titans; I may have known Aqualad from ADVENTURE COMICS or the Aquaman cartoon, but I'm sure I didn't know who Wonder Girl or Kid Flash was.
This was a great introduction to these characters for me, because this is one of the best TT adventures ever! It definitely didn't hurt that it features killer Nick Cardy art. And it definitely didn't hurt that the story was a modern "hip" re-telling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (of course). You can't argue with classics! If you have never read this story, you should. It's a truly sentimental yet exciting adventure. It's been re-printed a few times around, so you should be able to find it at an inexpensive price.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 110
I tracked this story down a few years after it came out as part of my hunt to get all of the JLA back issues. My copy is badly damaged on the spline and somewhat water-damaged, but I don't care. This is probably the absolute best Christmas story I have ever read. Not only does it start with Superman and Batman on their way to various orphanages to visit kids (totally in-character for both of them), but it also features all the other JLAers and what they are doing on this Christmas Eve. Of course, it's the Atlantis Festival of Lights that has me really interested; no writer ever mentioned this festival again. Who knew Aquaman was Jewish? ;-) Anyway, after a wonderful adventure where each member in turn sacrifices himself in order to save his friends, there is a wonderful "Gift of the Magi" like twist ending (you mean they aren't all dead?) and then this wonderful exchange as Black Canary, Superman, and Green Arrow try to explain Christmas to Red Tornado. The wonderful story is by Len Wein with absolutely beautiful art by the late great Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano.

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE 152

This is the second JLA Christmas adventure, and although it doesn't compare to JLA 110 above, it has it's own sense of charm. In it, three aliens bearing gifts are following a star to another universe when they are waylaid to Earth and taken advantage of by one of our megalomaniac super-villains. The JLA acts to make things right, and along the way Red Tornado picks up his orphaned "daughter," Traya.
The story by Gerry Conway could have been tighter and more dramatic (the whole super-villain thing should have been pared waaay down) and the art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin is adequate with a few touches of awesomeness. But the meaning of the story: that Christmas isn't just a legend, and that good will towards men is actually a real goal for the planet, has never been done quite so well.
In fact, I liked the plot and overall story so much that I used it as the  basis for one of my bilingual comics I created while I was in Japan. 

Merry Christmas everybody! 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were near to us

Will be dear to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now

 lyrics by Hugh Martin 

music by Ralph Blaine

My Seven Favorite Christmas CDs

I like a lot of Christmas songs. I hate a lot of Christmas songs, too, but that's a topic for a different post. Today I'd like to tell you generally about the music I listen to (AFTER Thanksgiving), and specifically about the seven CDs in my collection I listen to more than the others.
Click on the hyper-links to go to youtube to see/hear the songs I am talking about!

In order of purchase, oldest to newest:

1. A Very Special Christmas
This is probably my favorite Christmas CD, for a few reasons. For one thing, it's my oldest. I had a few favorite albums as a kid, but those are long gone. As an adult, this was the first one I ever bought. Secondly, of the 15 songs on it they are all great, and I really like atleast 10 of them. Unfortunately, I've been buying this series for the past 25 years and most of the other CDs in this series can't meet that claim.  My second favorite in this series is probably #2, but the first is always the best.
Favorites: 
Do You Hear What I Hear? by Whitney Houston
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by John Mellencamp
Baby Please Come Home by U2
Lump of Coal: 
Never liked Gabriel's Message by Sting or The Coventry Carol by Alison Moyet.

2. "Dreaming of a White Christmas" 24 Great Christmas Songs
I bought this while I lived in Japan. I got it through my office's Co-Op Sales, and I have never regretted it! Although the song titles are all in Japanese, the songs themselves are the originals. Besides Elvis, Nat "King" Cole, and the others on the CD cover you can see there is also Doris Day and Gene Autry.
Favorites: 
Blue Christmas and Here Comes Santa Claus by Elvis Presley
Christmas Song and Caroling Caroling by Nat "King" Cole
Lump of Coal: 
Mahalia Jackson bringing the gospel to Sweet Little Jesus Boy and Silent Night.

3. "I Want To Listen To Jazz" Christmas Album
This was part of Toshiba EMI's release of jazz standards by artists on their label. So here's Ella Fitzgerald, Nat "King" Cole, Lou Rawls, Jo Stafford, Duke Pearson, and Peggy Lee, to name just a few. Classics, all!
Favorites: 
Christmas Waltz by Nancy Wilson
Jingle Bells by Duke Pearson 
Lump of Coal: 
Only because I hate the song itself, O Tannenbaum by Nat "King" Cole
Not really a fan of Dean Martin's version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, either

4. John Denver & The Muppets A Christmas Together
I bought this as a collection with some other now-forgotten CD at Costco or Sam's Club. This was the keeper. I remember watching this TV special years and years ago, but I don't think I ever had the actual album before finding this CD...
Favorites: 
Twelve Days of Christmas by everybody!
Have Yourself A Merry Christmas by Rolf and John
Christmas Is Coming by Robin, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Miss Piggy
Lump of Coal: 
The original compositions by John Denver, The Christmas Wish and Alfie/Carol For a Christmas Tree, don't stand the test of time. Skip 'em.

5. Santa's Top 10 Favorites 
I found this after calling up an FM radio station when I lived in Indiana and asking, "Who sings that Little Drummer Boy song you just played?" They told me it was the Harry Simeone Chorale, so I went on a search for it and found it on THIS album. As Christmas CDs go, this is a good one: short and sweet, with no absolute clunkers in the mix.   
Bought For: 
The Little Drummer Boy by Harry Simeone Chorale
Favorites: 
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland
A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives
Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms
Lump of Coal: 
None, really, but if hard pressed I don't need another copy of Bing Crosby's White Christmas, and I'm not really a fan of Pat Boone's I'll Be Home For Christmas.

6. Casey Kasem presents All-Time Christmas Favorites
I always wanted a copy of Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano and Sleigh Ride by The Boston Pops. With this 2-CD set I had to buy 28 other songs to get them, but it was still worth it.
Bought for: Feliz Navidad, Sleigh Ride
Favorites: 
It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams
Frosty the Snowman by The Beach Boys
Lump of Coal: 
I hate Perry Como, so I can't stand his White Christmas. I had high hopes for The Twelve Days of Christmas by Harry Belafonte, but....no. 

 

7.The Music GLEE: The Christmas Album
The first is always the best. Although Lea Michele sings a bit too much here, all of the "group" songs are adorable. Only one mis-step, and you can skip over it easily.
Bought For: 
We Need A Little Christmas, Baby It's Cold Outside
Favorites: 
Deck The Rooftop, The Most Wonderful Day of the Year (The Misfit Toys' Theme)
Lump of Coal: 
You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch by Matthew Morrison. Mr. Shue, you are NOT Boris Karloff. Sorry!
Note: I couldn't find any actual GLEE videos on youtube, but I figured you know who/what they are, right?

Extra Special Added Attraction: 

My second favorite Christmas song, and one of my favorite versions: 

The Monkees' Christmas Song "Riu Chiu"

Last week I forgot to post about the anniversary of The Monkees' FIRST live concert, which was held in Honolulu on December 3, 1966. Oops!
This live concert showed anybody who was paying attention that these guys were not "just actors" who didn't deserve to have a few Number One songs and albums. The boys showed the world that they could and DID play their own instruments and that they were not just puppets dancing to Don Kirshner's drum. To me and millions of fans it is a slap in the face to not have The Monkees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And now poor Davy has passed and he will never know the honor of having his name in that hallowed hall. For shame, Cleveland, for shame!

To make up for not posting about this *last* week, I decided to start my Christmas music collection early with this obscure (?) song by The Monkees, "Riu Chiu." Dig the harmonies, baby!

The lyric "Riu Riu Chiu" is supposed to represent the song of the Nightingale. This Spanish song is about the birth of Christ. The song itself is from the Renaissance, circa 1550, and was handed down by generations. This version is from their TV episode, "The Monkees' Christmas Show" first broadcast on Dec 25, 1967. The song can be found on the CD, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd." It's a beautiful, beautiful song.