Monday, December 05, 2005

Never under estimate the power of Rankin & Bass


Every year someone complains about Christmas not being the same. How it was better when they were children, about the commercialization of the holiday blah, blah, blah…. To those people I say Oye stop the grinch fest! I find that those who gripe the most have in essence forgotten what Christmas is all about, no I don’t mean the “Christ was born” aspect about it. I mean the spirit of giving, of showing your love for your fellow man, especially the ones less fortunate than you. The ones people pretend not to notice on the street. You want to recapture your Christmas spirit? Volunteer your services to a charity,donate food to the local food bank. Contact your local homeless charities this time of they year they hold coat drives, donate a coat,purchase a dozen scarves, hats, and gloves, blankets and donate them as well…give the needy the gift of warmth and food. See first hand what a difference you can make, what a difference caring can make. That’s what Christmas is all about…

I know i'm gonna sound all Disneyish and Pollyanna like when I say this but what the heck here I go anyway :The spirit of Christmas lives in your heart, it’s right there with your inner child. Need some more help getting in touch with that kid that loved Christmas? Nothing says “Waddup inner kid!” better than a Rankin & Bass Christmas special. As a child I looked forward to all of them; Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town etc… and I’m not ashamed to say I often had more than one teary eye moment while watching them.

I didn’t realize it then but those suckers were teaching us lessons about love, tolerance, and acceptance. There were elves who came out of the closet revealing secrets, reindeers with facial deformities ,snow monsters with anger issues, capitalist prospectors and handicapped toys. The Winter Warlock's conversion from evil to good showed us we were all capable of change. Those Christmas characters were a big part of my childhood. I looked forward to their annual visit.

This past Friday night ABC presented Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and even though we have it on DVD and can watch it whenever we want the whole family was drawn to the living room like moths to a flame. My uncle Chino from Brooklyn called all excited, “Tell Ma to turn on the TV they are giving Santa Claus on channel 7!”, His wife was amazed about how excited he was front of the otherwhen the special came on. When The Winter Warlock and Kris Kringle sang “Put one foot in front of the other ” we all joined in. My uncle Abbie who was just walking in started singing as well. During the commercial breaks we’d talk about our favorite Rankin & Bass specials like The Year Without a Santa Claus and launch into our favorite tune from that particular special, the misers songs . When the special ended I looked around the room as everyone slowly began rising up going back about their usual business. They all had smiles on their faces for the rest of the night every now and then someone would walk by humming a tune from the special. Yup yup people never under estimate the power of Rankin & Bass.


Put One Foot In Front Of The Other: Santa Claus is Coming To Town
Powered by Castpost



Snow Miser/Heat Miser Song: Year Without a Santa Claus
Powered by Castpost



Posted by @ 9:45 AM
0 comment from: