by Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Ask people of a certain generation to name famous Christmas movies. Most will remember the 1964 stop motion classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Santa Claus is coming to town. Still, while Made famous by their annual broadcasts (and yes, before the broadcast, we used to wait to see the show that aired once a year), there's another stop-motion Christmas special that's not as famous, but still a classic. Claymation Christmas celebrationanother stop-motion television special filled with musical numbers, most notably, The California Raisins, first aired in 1987 and became a favorite among the younger generation.
Claymation music
Created by talented animator Will Fenton, Claymation Christmas celebration It begins with its dinosaur hosts, Rex and Herb, and introduces the running joke of the two arguing over how to pronounce the word “wassailing.” They then perform various musical numbers, including anthropomorphic bells performing “Carol of the Bells,” a pair of walruses ice skating to “Angels We Have Heard On High,” and then the two crowd-pleasers, “We Three Kings.” Which mixes the classic song. With an R&B aesthetic, then “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” as performed by the California Raisins.
The erratic stop-motion performances are balanced by “O Christmas Tree,” in which the camera pans over to different decorations to show celebrations around the world, and “Joy to the World,” which is not stop-motion but instead a series of gorgeous, moving panels. Every sequence is someone's favorite, and the banter between Rex and Herb that ends each segment pays off in the end. However, it is clear that Claymation Christmas celebration Greater than the sum of its parts.
From the marketing campaign to the Christmas classic
California Raisins were a marketing gimmick for Sun-Maid, exploding into popular culture with the “I Heard It Through the Grape-Vine” cover, but there was something about them that resonated with people, giving rise to Raisin merchandise, albums and albums. Multiple TV shows. Raisins creator Will Fenton would go on to create the M&Ms mascots, The Noid, and Pajamasamong dozens of others. Arrived one year after the appearance of raisins, Claymation Christmas celebration It earned Fenton one of multiple Primetime Emmy Awards for animation, a category he would dominate for the next decade.
Big draw for Claymation Christmas celebration It was California Raisins, and although it was created by an ad agency to appeal to the masses, it fit in perfectly with the rest of the stop-motion creatures. It was always my favorite clip when I was a kid, but now, I can't pick one favorite, as they all have great things about them, even “Joy to the World,” which was my least favorite growing up because it wasn't. You have no mud.
Claymation Christmas celebration It was released on DVD in 2003, and to date, this is the most recent release of the TV special in physical format. As for My neighborthe special no longer exists, and even YouTube uploads are deleted on a regular basis. It's unfortunate that the special, one of the best examples of stop motion of the 1980s, became, like so many… Dolls The projects are lost to the media because they are worth watching every Christmas.
