lets face it. there are tons of classic stories, specials and movies that come out on repeat this time of year every year. 

 

well we're gonna talk about them! 

 

so let's start out with, which ones are your favorites?

A Christmas Story knocks every other one out of the park.  It's just soo funny. I could totally relate as a kid.

Edited December 3, 20187 yr by haycraftd

1 hour ago, haycraftd said:

A Christmas Story knocks every other one out of the park.  It's just soo funny. I could totally relate as a kid.

 

Agreed. 

 

My family and I see the Nutcracker every year. 

I never saw A Christmas Story until just a few years ago, and it left me a bit flat. I wonder if I had seen it as a child if I would have felt differently.

 

As for me, It's a Wonderful Life holds a special place in my heart.

cant say i've ever seen a Christmas carol. 

 

what makes them special to you?

My reasons are that they're so sentimental and are always in the spirit of giving.  A Christmas Story" is my favorite, although some come close--(my family was surfing for what to do the other night, started streaming "White Christmas," and had a very difficult time stopping it, even though the DVD is in the mail).

 

They always remind me of being a child watching it.  Even more, in some cases, say, "A Christmas Story," I find I was the narrator. 

 

 And they're excellent stories anyway, without holidays.           

Edited December 6, 20187 yr by haycraftd

i think you hit the heart of the matter there, they remind us of being kids again. there was a magic to be had when we were younger. a wonder and the sense that magic existed, the possibility was there for something extraordinary. 

 

is that what makes one of these 'classic?' is classic just code for magic?

Wasn't there so much more wonder to the world when we were children?  And those stories invoked that wonder.

 

I'd agree with you %100 except I don't like the word "magical."  I'm still somewhat convinced that magic does exist.  It's just more subtle than we think of it as. 

Christmas classics to me are the cartoon movies I grew up with - Rudolph, Santa Claus is coming to town, A Charlie Brown christmas, etc. I own them and more that I didn't watch as a kid. They are an important part of the season for me, even now. 

My wife observed something last night.

 

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" has been remade twice (that I know of)--the Jim Carey version a few years ago (I gave it a pass) and a new animated version just released (which I've heard some good things about.)

 

But other Holiday classics don't seem to get the remake treatment every decade or two--like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman. I wonder why that is? It could come down to rights and contract deals, but I'm not sure.

thats true i've never even thought about that. i'd suspect it has to do with the way they were  made. the stop motion-ness is what really makes them special. and all others would be compared to that. given that its a rare artform now, i think those specials are fairly safe. 

 

so that does beg the question, how important is the the these stories are presented to us? their artform. would it matter to you if they did a live action rudolph? would that still hold the specialness?

Movie wise, I have to admit I enjoy White Christmas. It was on today, and I watched parts of it with my mom. 

 

Rudolph the Red-Nose Reinder is a classic, and holds up great. Not everything needs to be redone. While it can be fun to see a different take on an idea, there is an innocence to some of the earlier shows. If redone with modern takes on things, it would likely loose the timelessness that it has managed to maintain.