It’s too bad Burgermeister Meisterburger is the main villain in Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, because this guy is the one you really gotta watch out for. Sure, he’s a push over if you give him a choo-choo. But consider that he was about to kill an infant Santa Claus simply for trespassing on his mountain. Imagine your stereotypical “you kids get off my lawn” senior citizen times a billion and you’d still not reach that level of meanness. Icy heart indeed.

Good to see they’re rerunning the other Rankin-Bass specials on national TV. Think they’re all prime targets for this holiday sketchblog. Hmmm….

Public service announcement: How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on ABC tonight at 8:30 ET. You know, the good one. Chuck Jones, animation, Boris Karloff, Zoo-Zitter Car-Zay. That one.

Meanwhile, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the live-action movie from 2000 with Jim Carey, is on ABC Family at 8PM. You know, the one where the Grinch impersonates Ron Howard.

Call me biased. One of my coworkers mentioned that their kids, having grown up with the Jim Carey version, actually prefer it to the cartoon. I guess I can understand that, but c’mon. To me there’s no contest comparing it with the original. Tells it’s story perfectly in thirty minutes, no need for childhood flashbacks or car chases to pad out the running time. Some things are meant to stay 2D.

Tell me, dear readers… how do you prefer your Grinch?

Also, I’m going to try this sketchblog thing, with a holiday twist. 25 days, 25 drawings featuring something Christmas-related. Let’s see how this goes…

You remember getting Halloween candy, and some of the wrappers had these god-awful jokes? I’m looking for the most miserable, groan-worthy Halloween pun in existence. A joke that would force the makers of Laffy Taffy to place labels on their candy: “Warning, puns may be letal.”

Prefer if they’re short (it’s gotta fit onto a candy wrapper,) and they’re kept to question-and-answer puns. No “Three vampires walked into a bar…” stuff. See here for some stupid examples.

Can’t guarantee I’ll use every joke I get, but if I do use yours I’ll be happy to credit you. Send me an email, post on the message board, or comment here if you DARE.

Ah, Clamburg. Come for the overcast skies, stay because the giant cat is blocking the only road out.

Meet Vendetta. She’s a grade-school mad scientist of sorts who has the town of Clamburg in her clutches. Classmates flee in terror from Vendetta’s creations (“Fiends,” she calls them) which cause nothing but trouble. Whether it’s a sentient pair of scissors or an over sized hamster with a short temper, these fiends give Vendetta the leverage to get away with whatever she wants. Even the teachers are helpless; for weeks it’s been nothing but recess on the syllabus.

Meet Charlotte. Charlotte is the new girl in town, and is all butterflies and rainbows even in monotone Clamburg. She frequently breaks out into song, which Vendetta dislikes. She keeps befriending the most lethal of Vendetta’s fiends, which Ventdetta really dislikes. And Charlotte is absolutely convinced Vendetta’s her new bestest friend in the world, which Vendetta really really REALLY dislikes. Vendetta would like nothing more than to wipe the smile off of Charlotte’s perpetually cheerful face, but her plans to crush her spirits (or just crush Charlotte) keep backfiring.

So goes the plot of the popular Flash cartoon by Amy Winfrey. Amy’s work is equal parts charming and twisted— see MuffinFilms and Big Bunny. After a three year hiatus, the cartoon is set for revival on Nickelodeon. The show airs weekends at 11 on the Nicktoons channel (but not regular Nick? Come on!!) Of course, you can still catch the old Flash episodes on the official site.

It’s definitely a rarity to see a web cartoon make the jump to TV, and having seen the first few episodes, even more rare for the end product to be so close to the original. So be sure to tune in and support the show!