B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping Rankin/Bass Christmas specials into the ol’ VCR. 

Note: Okay, friends, I somehow took a piece about the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials and made it about my dead mom, so, uh, that’s where we are. 

Friends, I feel like you’re a part of my family now. You know my annual watches. You’ll soon learn some of my holiday traditions. We endured the FFS together. The works. 

That’s why I feel like you’ll understand the love my actual family has of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. 

If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials include: 

• Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town 
• The Year Without a Santa Claus 
• Frosty the Snowman 
• The Little Drummer Boy 

KP put these in my stocking one Christmas, and I’ve been chasing that high ever since. 

You get the gist. 

They always play on Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas (aka the artist formerly known as ABC Family). You basically can’t avoid them. 

However, they were staples in my house. We watched ALL of them throughout the entire holiday season, with our favorite being The Year Without A Santa Claus. 

I can quote these bad boys off the dome, and “It’s Gonna Snow Right Here In Dixie” lives rent free in my head. 

The Rankin/Bass Christmas specials hold such a special place in my heart. They remind me of KP making hot chocolate and canned french vanilla cappuccinos (IYKYK) while we all snuggled up on the couch with blankets. We’d turn on all of the Christmas lights, including the tree, so that the TV would cast a warm glow amongst all of the twinkling globes. 

Video source: HolidayFavorites

BRB, grabbing a tissue because I just made myself cry writing this. 

I was fortunate to have such a wonderful mother, so, as I get older, I find myself returning to many of the traditions of childhood. 

My childhood was, in no way, perfect, but KP made everything feel so magical and always made me feel so loved, even when other members of my family (daddy issues, party of one) didn’t. 

That included annual rewatches of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. We’d sing the songs and laugh and make fun of my sister for being Snow Miser (which, as we’ve gotten older, the roles have swapped, and she’s DEFINITELY Heat Miser). Watching these specials without her somehow feels wrong but also makes me feel closer to her. 

Video source: K A C E Y M U S G R A V E S 

Kacey gets it. 

Leave it to me to make a piece about Rankin/Bass Christmas specials somehow an anecdote for how it feels to lose a loved one. But damn it, we’re here now, so I’m going to ride this out. 

Whether you’ve recently lost a loved one, or it’s been years, this is your sign to do something to celebrate them this year. Watch a Christmas special that you watched together, get one of their favorite holiday treats, or just put an ornament on the tree for them. 

I’m going to watch The Year Without a Santa Claus, surrounded by my dogs and blankets, with a giant cup of hot chocolate, just like KP would want me to. 

Merry Christmas, Ma 🖤