Reel Jolly series: A Look At a Few Holiday Staples for the Whole Family

For this review, I felt a little nostalgic and wanted to check out a few older holiday specials that numerous people have seen over the years that are also available on streaming. So, let’s get into “Frosty the Snowman” (Hulu/Peacock),  “The Little Drummer Boy” (Hulu) and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (Apple TV).

In “Frosty the Snowman,” a discarded magic top hat brings to life the snowman that a group of children made, until a magician, Professor Hinkle, wants it back, and the temperature starts to rise. Frosty will melt or no longer be a jolly soul, if the kids can’t get him away from Hinkle and warm weather, so he hops a train to the North Pole with young Karen.

This animated short is a beloved, heartwarming classic that easily resonates with both children and adults. As I was streaming this (just like the others in this review), I had a real nostalgic feeling since I remember checking these out when I was younger.

“Frosty the Snowman” delivers a simple, heartwarming story that the whole family will enjoy, memorable songs and a nostalgic charm that appeals to all ages. Despite being a simple story, “Frosty” also creates genuinely touching moments, from Karen’s determination to save Frosty to the brief but impactful scene where he melts, which can evoke strong feelings of sadness and subsequent joy when he’s revived.

“Frosty the Snowman” is a timeless classic that generations of viewers will easily enjoy. Its annual TV airings and availability on streaming (Hulu; Peacock) have solidified its status as an enduring holiday staple that’s still cherished by everyone.

In “The Little Drummer Boy,” after being kidnapped and escaping, young drummer boy

Aaron searches for his camel and finds himself in the Nativity of the Baby Jesus. Aaron gives Baby Jesus the only gift he has, a song on his drum.

The 1968 short “The Little Drummer Boy” delivers a fairly touching story, a really powerful message of love and giving and a distinctive stop-motion animation style. The narrative of the bitter orphan boy, Aaron, who finds joy and the ability to give a gift to baby Jesus, can be really moving and sincere. “The Little Drummer Boy” also captures the “true meaning of Christmas” and the Christian message without being overly preachy.

The first half of this stop-motion short does have a slightly darker tone as we see what happened to Aaron’s parents that made him filled with hate and anger. The climax at the manger is quite beautiful and overwhelmingly moving that will really leave anyone with a warm, happy feeling.

“The Little Drummer Boy” (1968) is a classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion Christmas special that is noted for its more mature tone compared to other holiday specials, and its strong focus on the themes of love, forgiveness, and the true meaning of the Christmas spirit. It has received mixed to positive reviews over the years, often praised for its heartfelt message and music, though some aspects, particularly its animation quality and character depictions, have drawn criticism.

In “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” feeling down about the commercialism of Christmas,

Charlie Brown becomes the director of the gang’s holiday play. Can he overcome his friends’ preference for dancing over acting, find the “perfect” tree, and discover the true meaning of Christmas?

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is another holiday staple that I watched a lot when I was younger. This acclaimed holiday special tackles the commercialism of Christmas, suggesting that the holiday is about more than just gifts and material things. The iconic scene where the gang decorates Charlie Brown’s small tree symbolizes their efforts to create something meaningful despite the world’s focus on commercialism.

This holiday staple also features a timeless jazz score that features the classic "Christmas Time Is Here,” which is an integral part of this special’s enduring charm. In between the classic Peanuts humor that appeals to the whole family, the special shows how friendship and community can help overcome feelings of sadness.

Network executives at CBS initially predicted the holiday special would flop. However, the initial public response was overwhelmingly positive. Over the decades, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has become a cherished, annual holiday tradition for families, its appeal crossing demographics and ideologies. 

• Originally, June Foray voiced Karen, the Teacher, and the other children. Karen and most of the childrens' voices were replaced with those of actual children before the original broadcast. The end credits were never changed. In late 2017, some sources started listing Suzanne Davidson as the actor who provided the new voices. The original voices can still be heard however on the original MGM soundtrack, re-released years later by Rhino.

• The special begins with children going to school on Christmas Eve, which was common up until the mid-60s.

• While most Rankin/Bass specials are stop motion "Animagic," this was traditionally cel animated. The reason was because Rankin and Bass wanted it to have the feel of a Christmas card come to life. Cel animation also had techniques that were difficult to animate with stop motion, such as Frosty having to jump around.

• This wasn't technically the first adaptation of Frosty the Snowman. In 1950, a three-minute black and white Frosty the Snowman (1951) short was made by UPA. Interestingly, both productions feature a scene of the children dancing around Frosty.

• Unlike other Rankin/Bass specials, this has a fairly minimal voice cast, consisting of only five total (seven after the kids' voices were redubbed). Also, this special does not feature any original songs, just excerpts of the titular song played throughout.

• In 2023 the special was released on DVD for the first time packed with its official 1976 sequel "Frosty's Winter Wonderland." Previously the special was only packaged with the 1992 special "Frosty Returns" which was not made by Rankin-Bass. The reason for the special not including its official sequel for so many years is due to rights issues between two different companies owning each special.

• When restoring the film in 1998 for its 30th anniversary, it was found that the original master 35mm elements for the film were lost. As such, 16mm B-roll footage had to be used instead. Although the sound quality was improved, a majority of the sound effects were lost and a crucial piece of narration by Greer Garson was mistakenly replaced by a scratch track of Paul Frees voicing the line.

• The singer of "Why Can't The Animals Smile?" was not Ted Eccles, who provided the speaking voice for Aaron the Drummer Boy, but rather an uncredited Dick Beals, who famously voiced the Speedy Alka-Seltzer mascot, Gumby, and Davey from Davey and Goliath (1960).

• The Little Drummer Boy (1968) is Rankin/Bass Productions' third Christmas-themed animated TV special, following Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and Cricket on the Hearth (1967). It is also the company's fourth holiday-themed animated TV special following the aforementioned films and Mouse on the Mayflower (1968), and its sixth overall animated TV special.

• Though the show was produced by an American studio (Rankin/Bass) and sponsored by American corporations, it was first broadcast in Canada nationwide four days before its U.S. debut.

• Contrary to popular belief, this special never had any end credits and is one of the few Rankin/Bass specials to do so. It has always ended on the frozen image of the Star of Bethlehem, and had the credits existed they would be intact on the 1998 restoration and older prints. This Star image was likely frozen to allow the music to finish before the fade-out and the lack of end credits can be interpreted as an artistic choice, both due to the credits being featured at the beginning and the special ending on the final powerful note of the star.

• When viewing the rough cut of the show, both Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson were convinced that they had a flop on their hands. After it premiered, they were happily surprised and shocked at the high ratings and excellent reviews that the show received. Today, the show remains the second longest-running Christmas special on US network television (the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) premiered one year earlier and is still broadcast every year on US network television).

• Cathy Steinberg, who did the voice of Sally Brown, had not yet learned to read at the time of production so she had to be fed her lines, often a word or syllable at a time, which explains the rather choppy delivery of the line "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."

• Broke many of the rules prevalent for animated holiday specials during the 1960s: it didn't make use of a laugh track, real children were used for the character voices instead of adult actors imitating children's voices, and Biblical references were used to illustrate the true meaning of Christmas.

• When they first saw the show, CBS executives were horrified at the idea of an animated Christmas special with such a blatant message. They also strongly objected to the fact that the show had no canned laughter. In addition, they greeted Vince Guaraldi's jazz score as an intrusion in the special that audiences would never accept. However, when CBS learned to their astonishment of the special's spectacular ratings earned on its initial broadcast and the glowing reviews for it, the network promptly contracted the producers for more specials.

• When "A Charlie Brown Christmas" won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program in 1966, only Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez were called up to accept the award, but they made sure that Charles Schulz was with them to give the acceptance speech. Schulz's speech simply went, "Charlie Brown's not used to winning, so we thank you."

• Producer Lee Mendelson wrote the lyrics for Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here" music, and his son Glenn, along with his then sixth-grade class, sang the vocals.

• When the completed special was first presented to the CBS executives, they promptly hated it. Their major complaints were that the pace was too slow, the jazz music didn't work with the special's tone, and that the animation was too simple, among other things. However, the special had to air, as CBS had already scheduled and promoted it. As Lee Mendelson later said, "I really believe that if it wasn't already scheduled to air the following week, there was no way they were ever going to broadcast that special."

• Apple TV+ bought the rights to the Peanuts specials in 2020, and therefore 2020 was supposed to be the first year since A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered that it would not air on free television. However, after an outcry from the public for removing the programs from free television, the specials (beginning with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and later this special) were offered to public television stations in November and December 2020, sponsored by Apple.