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By Jonathan Klotz
| Revealed
Ask individuals of a sure era to call iconic Christmas motion pictures. Most of them will point out the basic 1964 stop-motion Rudolph the Pink-Nosed Reindeer or Santa Claus is Coming to City. Nonetheless, whereas these grew to become well-known with annual airings (and sure, earlier than streaming, we’d wait to see a present the one time a yr it was broadcast), there’s one other stop-motion Christmas particular that isn’t as well-known, but it surely’s nonetheless a basic. A Claymation Christmas Celebration, one other stop-motion TV particular full of musical numbers, and most notably, The California Raisins, first aired in 1987 and have become the favourite of a youthful era.
A Claymation Musical
Created by the proficient animator Will Vinton, A Claymation Christmas Celebration begins with its dinosaur hosts, Rex and Herb, and the introduction of the working joke of the 2 arguing over methods to pronounce “wassailing.” They then introduce completely different musical numbers, together with anthropomorphic bells performing “Carol of the Bells,” a walrus couple ice skating to “Angels We Have Heard On Excessive,” after which the 2 crowd-pleasers, “We Three Kings” mixing the basic track with R&B camels, then “Rudolph the Pink-Nosed Reindeer” as carried out by the California Raisins.
The off-kilter stop-motion performances are evened out by “O Christmas Tree,” with the digicam flowing into completely different ornaments to point out celebrations around the globe, and “Pleasure to the World,” which isn’t stop-motion and as an alternative is a collection of attractive, shifting work. Each sequence is somebody’s favourite, and the banter between Rex and Herb that bookends every section in the end pays off ultimately. Nevertheless, it’s clear that A Claymation Christmas Celebration is larger than the sum of its components.
From Advertising and marketing Marketing campaign To Christmas Traditional
The California Raisins have been a advertising and marketing gimmick for Solar-Maid, exploding into popular culture with a canopy of “I Heard it By the Grape-Vine,” however there was one thing about them that resonated with individuals, resulting in Raisins merchandise, albums, and a number of tv specials. Will Vinton, the creator of the Raisins, would go on to additionally create the M&Ms mascots, The Noid, and The PJs, amongst dozens of others. Arriving one yr after the debut of the Raisins, A Claymation Christmas Celebration earned Vinton considered one of his a number of Primetime Emmy awards for animation, a class he dominated for the next decade.
The large draw to A Claymation Christmas Celebration was the California Raisins, and whereas they have been created by an advert company for mass enchantment, they match proper in alongside the remainder of the stop-motion creatures. Their section was at all times my favourite as a child, however now, I can’t decide one favourite, as they every have nice issues about them, even “Pleasure to the World,” which was my least favourite rising up as a result of it didn’t have any claymation.
A Claymation Christmas Celebration was launched on DVD again in 2003, and to this point, that’s the newest launch of the TV particular in a bodily format. As for streaming, the particular has ceased to exist, with even YouTube uploads getting ripped down frequently. It’s a disgrace that the particular, among the best examples of 80s stop-motion, has grow to be, like so a lot of The Muppets initiatives, misplaced media as a result of it deserves to be watched each Christmas.
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