With Christmastime comes the seasonal reruns of classic film and television classics to cable and streaming. Some of the most famous television specials are from the Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment company which made the stop-motion and 2D animated classics that starred figures like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus. These short films helped develop many young children’s sense of the holiday season and are remembered fondly.
Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass were a talented directorial pair who created most of the lengthy filmography and had a hand in nearly all the specials and feature-length films. Their Christmas films were renowned for the strong and unique stories that managed to inject old stories with new ideas and twists. Heroes and villains square off in their films that often see the fate of winter or Christmas at stake. Some characters are cowards while others are heroes and the journeys they go on are exciting, and dangerous, and result in those heroes growing in one way or another.
10 Frosty The Snowman
Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (1976)
Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is the sequel to the better-known Frosty the Snowman and again stars the snowman. This time Frosty is joined by a female snow woman who he brings to life by the power of love. His plans to marry her are thwarted by an evil Jack Frost figure.
But the love of the two snow-people overpowers Jack Frost’s plans and Frosty asks the villain to be his best man. Frosty’s willingness to see the real reason for someone’s villainy is the real heroism of the story. He sees that Jack feels underappreciated and forgives his actions to make him feel better.
9 Big Ben
Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976)
The sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is an action-packed adventure that sees the Reindeer crossing the globe to save Happy the Baby New Year. On his way across the ocean to the land of former New Year’s babies, he is attacked by the film’s villain, a vulture named Eon.
Just when things look grim for Rudolph, a giant sperm whale with a clock on its tail rises out of the sea to chase off Eon. Big Ben offers to guide Rudolph to his destination protecting him on the way and his size and strength is enough to keep even the vulture away.
8 Mrs. Claus
The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974)
The Year Without a Santa Claus is best known for its two antagonists, the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser as well as their incredibly catchy theme songs. The two brothers fight with each other so much they ignore the pleas of Santa Claus to change the weather to bring Christmas to a small town.
Instead of Santa Claus, this special has one of the best movie versions of Mrs. Claus saving the day. She goes to see Mother Nature, the mom of the two brothers to ask her to make them see wisdom. Her clever idea works and the brothers agree to work with Santa and the holiday is saved thanks to the heroism of Mrs. Claus.
7 Nestor
Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is one of the more religious-themed Christmas specials by Rankin/Bass. In this television film, Santa’s donkey, Spieltoe, narrates the story of Nestor the Donkey. He is a donkey with embarrassingly long ears during the Roman Empire.
Nestor is mocked by his barn mates, is thrown out into a blizzard, and has to watch his mother die to the cold, but still struggles onward. He soon learns he can use his ears to hear what others can’t, and he finds Mary and Joseph from the Bible in a sandstorm. He heroically covers them with his ears to withstand the sand and is hailed a hero by the other donkeys.
6 Lilly Loraine
Rudolph And Frosty’s Christmas In July (1979)
Much like a team-up in other franchise universes, Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July sees the two famous characters working together to save their magic from an evil wizard known as the Winterbolt. His desire to steal Rudolph’s magic in his nose and Frosty’s hat puts him in contention with Lilly Loraine.
Lilly is a tough owner of a circus who is trying her best to save it and keep all her workers employed. When the machinations of Winterbolt are discovered, he attacks the circus head on but Lilly bravely and deftly throws her iron guns at the wizard’s staff, shattering it and turning him into a tree.
5 The Great Ak
The Life And Adventures Of Santa Claus (1985)
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a great film version of the Santa Claus story that starts with a wizard, the Great Ak, speaking on behalf of Santa to a group of immortal beings so that they may grant Santa immortality as well.
The Great Ak found Santa as a baby and passed him to others to look after. And though the Great Ak does not need to care about the events of Santa’s life, he helps him with his dream to deliver toys. When an army of evil creatures tries to stop Santa, the Great Ak challenges them all to a fight and drives them away.
4 Santa Claus
The Life And Adventures Of Santa Claus (1985)
In The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a boy named Claus is an orphan raised in a magical forest. This version of the jolly old elf begins giving gifts to the children of a nearby village to raise their spirits, but he’s stopped by an army of evil forest beings, the Awgwas.
Even though the Awgwas stop him again and again from going to the town and stealing the toys he builds, Claus persists. Eventually, his persistence pays off when the Immortals, impressed by his spirit, drive away the Awgwas. The film shows Kris becoming Santa Claus as he creates the classic tropes of the character.
3 Rudolph
Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stars in a few of the Rankin/Bass animated productions, and he is generally the hero of all of them. Even in his song, he ends up lighting the way for Santa. His most heroic outing comes in Rudolph’s Shiny New Year and often forgotten sequel of the Christmas classic.
In that film, Rudolph is sent on a journey to find Happy the Baby of the New Year. His journey across the entire globe takes him to strange lands, and he meets odd characters and defeats an evil vulture, almost all on his own. Rudolph had been heroic before, but he nearly becomes a superhero when he saves the New Year.
2 Jack Frost
Jack Frost (1979)
In some Rankin/Bass productions, Jack Frost is a more sinister figure but in the 1979 Jack Frost Jack is the hero of the story. Jack Frost falls in love with a human girl and wishes to become human so that he can marry her. He has to complete several tasks to prove his humanity.
However, his bid to woo the girl of his dreams is opposed by an evil king and a gallant knight, both of who also wish to have her hand. Jack and the knight work together to free the king and Jack heroically gives up his humanity to defeat him. In an even more selfless act, he gives up his dream of marrying the girl because she is in love with the knight, and he chivalrously bows out.
1 Kris Kringle
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (1970)
In another variation of the Santa Claus origin story, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, the character of Claus is introduced as an orphaned baby dubbed, Kris Kringle. Kris is brought up by a banished family of toymakers from a perpetually sad kingdom, so Kris decides to make toys to brighten the moods of the townspeople.
Kris is treated as an almost Robin Hood-like figure for most of the special as he is chased around the world by the Winter Warlock and the Burgermeister. These are two of the most threatening and realistic villains in the Rank/Bass canon. Eventually, Kris defeats both his foes through love and persistence and gets to spend every year delivering toys, becoming the legendary Santa Claus.