Christmas Chestnuts Thaw the Heart

Though cynics sneer at how commercial Christmas has become, the holiday spirit of our childhood magically reappears each year in the form of the animated yuletide classics: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Watching these specials is a three-decade tradition for Saugus High School teacher Kathy Stroh, who is married and has two sons, ages 10 and 6.

“When I was growing up, we watched them as a family,” Stroh says. “As my kids grew, it was something I wanted to be able to share with them like my parents did. We have gone as far as actually buying [the videos]; I have ‘Rudolph’ and ‘Frosty.’ We’ll watch them [when they are broadcast] and then watch the videos three or four more times during the holidays.”

These programs have endured because, for many people, they capture the sentiment of the holiday and have become part of the Christmas ritual.

“Never mind it’s a commercial holiday now,” says Arthur Rankin Jr., the producer/director of “Rudolph” and “Frosty.” “I think the true spirit kind of wafts back and comes under the door and there’s ‘Rudolph’ and ‘Frosty” again. I think the audience at that time of year is ready for that kind of material.”

“Rudolph,” which airs Monday on CBS, is television’s longest-running annual special, having premiered 33 years ago on NBC. Narrated by Burl Ives, the stop-motion animated musical recounts the beloved tale of the self-conscious reindeer who saves Christmas.

Five years after Rudolph first pulled the sled, Rankin and his partner, Jules Bass, followed up with “Frosty the Snowman,” which features the voices of Jimmy Durante and Jackie Vernon. “Frosty’ airs on CBS Dec. 12.

Rankin says these specials have withstood the test of time simply because they’re good and “obviously nostalgic for many people. They sort of have the same cache as ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ The stories are good and true, and the music was always so popular. They just don’t write music like that anymore.” (Johnny Marks, who wrote the “Rudolph” singsong theme, also contributed “Holly Jolly Christmas” for the special.)

“Rudolph,” Rankin says, was commissioned by General Electric. “At that time, General Electric had the ‘College Bowl’ on and preempted it to see if this type of programming would work. Much to everyone’s surprise, not only did it work, it got ratings that were almost unheard of in those days. I think it was the first of its kind. No one had seen anything like that before.”

Though viewers still clamor for the programs, Terry Botwick, vice president of specials at CBS, acknowledges that advertiser demand is another big reason why the network annually airs them.

“It just so happens that they are good and they serve both masters,” he says. “People want to watch them, and the advertisers really look for this kind of holiday programming at this time of year. I think our culture has grown to the point that once you hit Thanksgiving, you are in the holiday spirit. So any time after that you begin to program these holidays specials. I’m not sure what it says about all of us as people, but it seems that the season keeps getting longer and longer. We love to celebrate the season.”

“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” which premiered on CBS in 1966, will be airing a staggering nine times during the holiday season on TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network.

Produced by Chuck Jones and Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and narrated to perfection by Boris Karloff, “Grinch” tells the tale of the mean-spirited, green-skinned, Christmas-hating Grinch who tries to “steal” Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.

The “Grinch” just happens to be TBS programming executive Sophia Karteris’ favorite Christmas special. “I grew up watching all of these shows, especially the ‘Grinch.’ I looked for it every year and now, luckily, I get to schedule the ‘Grinch’ on the Superstation every year.”

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” has aired every year on CBS since its premiere in December, 1965. Winner of an Emmy and a Peabody Award, the cartoon, in which Charlie Brown and his friends discover the true meaning of Christmas, launched the successful series of 50 “Peanuts” animated specials.

Penned by “Peanuts” comic strip creator Charles M. Schultz, “Charlie Brown” broke many animated traditions.

“It was the first time real children’s voices were used,” says executive producer Lee Mendelson. “Up until that time it was almost always adult voices. It was [about] real children instead of animals. We used a jazz score [by Vince Guaraldi], and no one had done that before, and certainly reading from the Bible had never been done before. I think all of those things came together at the right time.

“Schultz once said that he felt there would always be a huge market for innocence in this country. There’s always a family market for innocence.”

“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” airs Sunday at noon and Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on TNT; Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. on the Cartoon Network, and Friday at 2:05 p.m. on TBS. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” airs Monday at 8 p.m. on CBS. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBS. “Frosty the Snowman” airs Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. on CBS.