Yogi's First Christmas

I (Drew) also had the opportunity to write a second blog for the Christmas TV History website during their animation celebration in the month of July. For this blog I selected Yogi's First Christmas. I chose to focus on what a timeless classic this special is and how it has been a holiday favorite for me and my family each year. Enjoy!!!


Yogi’s First Christmas is a 1980 holiday themed television feature- length film that first aired on November 21, 1980. In this Hanna-Barbera Christmas special, the picnic-basket stealing Yogi Bear and his little friend Boo-Boo are supposed to be getting ready to hibernate for the winter but instead decide to experience their first Christmas season.


Yogi’s Christmas special never received a lot of air time on any major networks except on USA, however it is a charming holiday tale for any Christmas lover or Hanna-Barbera fan. Yogi spends his winter working different jobs at the Jellystone Park lodge ranging from a bellboy, a ski instructor and head of security--all of which provide enjoyable moments with Yogi and several classic Hanna-Barbera characters such as Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddie, Cindy Bear, and Herman the Hermit.


When a bratty kid visiting the lodge with his aunt teams up with Herman the Hermit to ruin the holiday fun for Yogi & crew, they realize that having Christmas spirit is not such a bad thing and are forgiven and invited to the Christmas celebration at the lodge. At the story’s end, a visit from Santa occurs at the Christmas party in which Santa brings Yogi a picnic basket full of food. Yogi, however, falls asleep, due to his natural instincts of hibernation. With that, the holiday revelers return Yogi & Boo Boo to their caves for the rest of their hibernation.


When watching Yogi’s First Christmas, it really brings back memories of what cartoons were like back in the 1980’s. The graphics are nothing like today’s cartoons, but every time I watch it, it’s like being 6 years old and eagerly awaiting Santa all over again. There is something unique about how simple this animated special is but yet provides a touching feel with some great songs and unique story to really make you feel the Christmas spirit the way it should be felt. This past Christmas my oldest son ( 5 years old) watched this more than any other holiday special. He also enjoyed the unique humor and ageless child-like feel this special provides. Yogi’s First Christmas has been on the Boomerang channel recently and even had a Christmas morning airing as well.


Purchase on DVD

Santa & The Three Bears

Here is another guest blog that I (Jakki) contributed to Christmas TV History's website for their Christmas In July Animation Celebration. This time for a childhood favorite, Santa & The Three Bears. Here I share my memory of the first time I ever saw the special and how I came to find it again after a long search! Feel free to read and comment over there if you have any memories of this under-rated classic.


Santa and the 3 Bears is a heartwarming animated tale about 2 precocious bear cubs experiencing Christmas for the very first time, with the help of a jolly park ranger. Mama Bear would rather be hibernating, but can't resist the cub's enthusiasm to know more about this exciting time of year and decides to make an exception if they agree to sleep the rest of the winter after Santa's visit. The film was released in 1970 and originally ran 76-minutes in theaters, but was eventually cut down to 45-minutes for TV airing. Though it has been mistakenly credited as a Hanna-Barbera production, there is in fact no official connection.




This simple little story has been a favorite of mine for years. I still recall the first time I ever saw it and how it stuck with me years before I knew it by name. It was a weekday afternoon during Christmas break in the late '80s and I came across it while flipping channels on television. I was excited to see something Christmas related airing at a time of day when all you would usually find is talk shows, soap operas and toddler programming. This was well before 24 hour cartoon networks and easy accessibility to movies through DVD and Netflix, so it had my full attention!


Santa & The Three Bears is not a frenzied, hysterical Christmas special, as commonly seen today, but instead has a understated, classic charm. It also lacks a villainous plot, choosing instead to focus on the discovery of Christmas and all it entails. As the ranger explains our human traditions to the cubs, even a child familiar with Christmas can't help but be drawn in. Christmas just has a profound effect on all who celebrate it, in a way that can't really be explained. This special captured the mystery of that miracle, but is also a snap shot of youthful innocence, where the magic of Santa's visit is all too real.


I often thought back to this special and wondered if I would ever know what it was, though I knew I would recognize it in an instant if fate was ever kind enough to cause me to stumble upon it once again. Then one extraordinary summer day, many years later, I was browsing used VHS tapes at a local thrift store. I suddenly came across the title, Santa and the Three Bears. While the cover art did not look quite like the animation in my memory, the title and description sounded exactly right. I took a chance, popped it in my VCR when I got home, and in an instant, was transported back to that winter afternoon in the late '80s with all the hope and wonder of a child.



Purchase on DVD or get the soundtrack on MP3

Feel free to also check out my previous post for Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town!

A Garfield Christmas

I (Drew) also had the honor of writing a guest blog for Christmas TV History's for their Christmas in July Animation Celebration. I chose to write about A Garfield Christmas. I shared in this blog about why i feel this special is an under-appreciated classic and why it should be ranked up there with the classic's aired each year. Please take a look and tell me what you think....


The orange cat Garfield, his owner Jon and the slobbering dog Odie head out to the country to spend Christmas with Jon’s family on the farm. Garfield is a Scrooge about the whole Christmas season until he bonds with Jon’s grandmother while coming across a heartfelt gift for her, a forgotten but special item from her past. This holiday season, the fat cat learns the true meaning of Christmas.


It may be the '80’s child in me but I am not sure how A Garfield Christmas has been overlooked as a holiday classic among the likes of A Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. A Garfield Christmas Special was aired on CBS right after A Charlie Brown Christmas all through the late '80’s and early 1990’s and was just as highly anticipated as any holiday classic being aired. My holiday season is not complete without a viewing of A Garfield Christmas Special. It has become part of my holiday tradition just as much as hanging the stockings or decorating the tree.


Garfield’s Christmas special has such a wonderful message about learning the true spirit of Christmas. Garfield’s sly humor and bond with Jon’s grandmother add great moments to this cartoon. The heartwarming story also includes a terrific carol “Christmas is here,” a song Jon’s mother plays on the piano Christmas Eve night. This holiday special’s message is not about the giving or receiving of gifts but it’s about the love one person or cat can give to another.


A holiday special with a meaningful message such as this, A Garfield Christmas Special not only is a classic to share with family and children but deserves the right to stand with the classic holiday animated specials that are aired year after year. I loved this cartoon as a child and my two young boys look forward to watching this classic each holiday as well. Don’t ignore the opportunity to enjoy this holiday special with your family.


Purchase on DVD

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

Hi all, come check out my guest blog post on Christmas TV History, for their Christmas In July Animation Celebration! See why I chose Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town as my favorite Rankin & Bass special of all-time. While you're over there, feel free to leave a comment or check out some of the other submissions!

There is no other name more synonymous with Christmas specials than Rankin & Bass. They are responsible for producing some of the most beloved animated and stop motion featurettes of all-time. Even in an age of computer animation, the wonder of their 'Animagic', as they call it, is not lost on the imagination of children. I was such a child once myself and still remember, as if it were yesterday, the excitement of waiting for their specials to air each year, back when it was still considered a television event.


One of these beloved classics was Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, released in 1970 and featuring the voice-acting talents of Fred Astaire (as Narrator) and Mickey Rooney (as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus). Though not quite as popular as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty The Snowman, it was perhaps my favorite of them all. It told the story of the origins of Santa Claus and the development of many familiar traditions. How he was cared for by the elves as a baby, how he began making toys, why he wears a red suit, how he met and fell in love with Mrs. Claus, how the reindeer learned to fly and why he delivers toys on Christmas Eve. Along with these whimsical aspects, it also includes 2 villains who do all they can to stop the determined young Kris Kringle; the terrifying Winter Warlock, who eventually experiences a surprising transformation, and the mayor of Somber Town, the Burgermeister Meisterburger, a mere human of Grinchly proportions.


One thing that this special has in common with the tales of Rudolph and Frosty is that it is completely conceivable. As a child who whole-heartedly believed in Santa Claus, I fully accepted this as the actual story of Santa. It was unmatched by any other version, including The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus. Along with great storytelling, it also features a top-notch soundtrack with memorable songs such as the popular title track, 'Put One Foot In Front of the Other', 'If You Sit on my Lap Today' and 'The First Toymaker to the King'.


While the featurette is mostly blanketed in folklore, it does not step on the toes of those who consider Christmas a sacred religious holiday. In fact, it pays homage more than once to the significance of Christ's birth and how it correlates to Santa's story. Santa is ultimately a kind-hearted man who simply wants to spread joy to children through the act of generosity. And spread joy he has, for hundreds of years, as children continue to await that fateful visit each Christmas Eve. There are still so many lessons we can learn from this wonderful tale, as it continues to touch the hearts of all who watch it year after year. The saddest part of all is after the final refrain, as Fred Astaire's mail truck rides off to the North Pole to deliver letters to Santa, when that familiar Rankin & Bass logo and jingle pop up, letting us know the show is over until next year!

Purchase on DVD or Blu-Ray