Okay Rankin, okay Bass, you gotta explain this to me. Is Jack Frost a good guy or a bad guy? In one special he’s trying to melt Frosty and his snow-wife, but in another he’s saving the village from the evil Cossack Kubla Kraus.

Drat, that’s the one who I should have drawn! The bad guy with the little robot/puppet sidekick. Oh well, missed the mark on that one.

I feel like there needs to be an award higher than Caldecott for Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express. The book is a Classic with a captial C; probably the only Christmas tale made within the last 20 years that can make such a claim.

Yes, this sketch is from the movie version. I’m on the fence with it, honestly. Some people really, really detest the movie for the uncanny valley children or for stretching the simple story into a 90 minute thrill ride. I thought it was just okay. The impact of the ending still holds up, and there’s some really beautiful scenes that feel like they’re right outta the book.

Although Mandark’s voice does get on the nerves after a while.

Yup, they had a Christmas special, too. And it was so crazy I swore I imagined the whole thing. Everyone from Oprah to Annette Funicello to Charo was on the show, making for one surreal piece of holiday nostalgia. Definitely worth seeking out on YouTube.

Pee Wee was a great show to grow up with on Saturday Mornings. A kid simply could not be bored with the show. If the action ever started to drag on in the foreground, there was so much going on in the background of every shot that the whole show was like a big “hidden pictures” game. Hey look back there, the floor has eyes and a mouth!

For my generation, Home Alone was our It’s a Wonderful Life.

You could not escape this movie when it came out. Macaulay Culkin’s face was plastered everywhere, from lunch boxes to Nintendo games to Pogs, you name it. Every kids movie from that point forward was a desperate attempt to ape Home Alone’s formula, mostly with disastrous results.

I watched it again for the first time in years, half expecting it to be America’s Funniest Home Videos: The Movie. But there’s some solid comedy in there: Kevin’s checkout aisle banter, the yuppie McCallisters’ antics, and John Candy’s cameo still crack me up.

Then again, I laugh every time that tarantula gets placed on Marv’s face. Keep da change, ya filthy animal.

Oh Kevin. Why must you live on the same block as the South Bend Shovel Slayer?

Say what you will about Home Alone, but it sure nails the childhood fears head-on. I don’t think any kid likes being in the same basement as a monster furnace rumbling to life. Same goes with the spooky old neighbor on the block. Sure he turns out to be a good guy, but that creepy dead-eye stare would give Joe Pesci nightmares.

Apologies to J Otto for aping his style. Actually, it was fun to do something totally different. I did an homage to Olive last year in the snow globe, and was waiting for an excuse to try the cutout style again. Turned out pretty close to the real deal.

Olive the Other Reindeer was great. One of the few specials in the last decade worth seeing more than once. The animated version was created by Simpsons and Futurama alums, so while there’s no drunken robots or Kwik-E-Mart shopkeepers, you do get a kleptomaniac penguin and an irate postal worker. Think you can still catch this on Cartoon Network every now and then, so if you’re a fan of Groening, it’s worth hunting down.

See, everyone forgets the Christmas part of The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s an equally Halloweeny, Christmassy film. But do they ever show this between Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life? Nooooo.

Actually, I’ve only recently seen the film. It’s good! So the legend goes, Tim Burton was inspired by the sight of a department store, midway between taking Halloween decorations down and putting Christmas decorations up. See, there’s a good side to commercialism to the holiday.

Remember when I said the Rankin-Bass specials went off the deep end in their later years? This is what I’m talking about.

It’s a crime that the original Rudolph only comes on TV only once a year; it’s a felony that the sequel gets all the replay instead. Instead of Santa and the north pole, you get told the tale of Father Time, Baby New Year, a caveman, a knight, Ben Franklin’s doppelganger, a cranky vulture, and the three little bears. Oh yeah, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Man, what didn’t they throw at this sequel to make it work?

I don’t outright hate Rudolph 2, we just have a bad history.  Can’t tell you how many times our family was conned into taping this instead of the original… when the TV listings just say “Rudolph,” don’t make assumptions.