Best as I can figure it...
Santa Claus is Coming To Town
Night Before Christmas
Leprachaun's Christmas Gold
Jack Frost
Year without a Santa Claus
Frosty
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
Rudolph (problems arise here as this Santa is different and so is Mrs Claus, lets assume that this is merely because of the point of view of a Snowman who may have little regard for the pesky warm bloods, think about it, Sam does not interact with any characters in the story he tells)
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (Rudolph's real origin is told and seems more in line with other Rankin Bass Specials and includes appearances by Big Ben from Shiny New Year and Jack Frost)
Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys
Miser Brother Christmas
I *just* tweeted about this...sorta
ReplyDeleteWell timed post! A friend and I were just talking about this.
ReplyDeleteI actually made a post about Rankin/Bass! This timeline lays out all the shows better.
ReplyDeleteJust beware that some new edition does not come out and retcon the whole bloody thing and say that only Rudolph is correct and all the others have been removed from the continuity/were a dream sequence.
ReplyDeleteAlso I didn't see Reign of the Santa Clauses, where Santa had died and there was a Cyborg Santa, a Kwanzaa Claus, a whiny clone Santa and a secretly evil Santa that was actually Heat Mizer in disguise.
Or maybe I dreamed that.
"Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys" is all messed up.
ReplyDelete1. It's the young Rudolph, and not the adult Rudolph from the end of "Rudolph."
2. It doesn't take place within the timeline of Rudolph itself because the Bumble is missing his teeth and friendly.
3. At the end of Rudolph, the deer seems to finally come to terms with his glowing nose, but in this movie he is all about getting rid of it.
Personally, when coupled with the painful songs and otherwise horrible plot, I think that is one show that can be gratefully ignored when creating your Rankin/Bass holiday viewing schedule.
Great list! Much credit for trying to include the later non Rankin-Bass produced specials. I'm curious as to why you'd put Jack Frost so early in the time line. I was always confused by the fact that he was introduced as a villain in Frosty's Winter Wonderland, but is semi-reformed at the end...and is a good guy in the other specials. So maybe Jack Frost special happens later...but then again the time period of the people is more old-timey. Ack!
ReplyDeleteSteven: Rudolph is actually younger again (sans antlers) in ALL the specials after his originally debut.
My friend Jerzy Drozd and I recorded a podcast treading similar territory, focusing on Christmas in July as a jumping off point for all the continuity issues:
http://sugaryserials.com/ssc27
"think about it, Sam does not interact with any characters in the story he tells)"
ReplyDeleteThis line cracked me up. But actually, there is a scene where Sam the Snowman claims to be the one who sends Yukon Cornelius and Hermy after Rudolph when he's captured by the Bumble. It's about 39 minutes into the special. :)