Memories of Charlie Brown, Grinch Come Alive on Net

Yule log, pshaw! It’s the season to gather round the warm glow of the telly and delight in the annual company of our animated friends: the greenly adorable-in-spite-of-himself Grinch and his floppy, misused mutt Max; that deformed reindeer Rudolph and his melancholy elf pal, Herbie, the dentist-wannabe; the chronically depressed 6-year-old Charlie Brown and his forlorn little fir tree.

While some of the specials appear like clockwork on television, a few are mere memories of Christmas past. But you can still catch glimpses of the swell stop-motion and Claymation classics on the Internet.

At A Charlie Brown Christmas (https://wilstar.net/xmas/cbxmas.htm), you can get a rush of aural memories, like the sweet, rueful piano theme song, “Christmas Time Is Here,” or Shroeder’s jazz composition, to which the whole gang cavorts. They’re all here as well as some sound files of dialogue, such as Linus ordaining, “Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest.”

At Robin’s Holiday Homepage (https://members.tripod.com/ ~scorpiolady_2/index-53.html), Robin tells the story of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” transcribing the dialogue to a T. “Think about this, Charlie Brown,” Linus says. “It isn’t the size or the beauty of a tree that makes it a Christmas tree. It is the love that is in your heart when you bought this poor little tree that no one else would buy.”

For a host of fun factoids, the Internet Movie Data Base (https://www.imdb.com/) is a bastion of information, offering credits, synopses and more for this and other TV specials. Here, through the magic of hypertext, you’ll learn that the 1965 “Charlie Brown Christmas” was co-produced by Bill Melendez, who played the voice of Snoopy (does Snoopy have a voice?). Melendez was also an animator who made tons of classics, from 1945’s “Wagon Heels,” featuring Porky Pig, to Bugs Bunny shows in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Elsewhere, the Web is full of content pertaining to that hard-to-classify species with “termites in his smile” and “garlic in his soul,” known as the Grinch. “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” first appeared in 1966, narrated by Boris Karloff. At https://www.daveonline.com/cool/grinch/, you can read the whole Dr. Seuss story online, replete with images and a host of sound files of original dialogue and songs.

To turn your desktop into an electronic Whoville, download the Grinch Desktop theme at https://concepts.freethemes.com/screens/movies/grinch.htm.

Another classic tale of a critter who saved Christmas is “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and at TV Party, you can learn loads about the history of this seminal snow-time favorite. According to an illuminating essay at https://www.tvparty.com/xmasrudolph.html, the special was first broadcast in 1964 as part of NBC’s “General Electric Fantasy Hour.” Lyricist Johnny Marks, who wrote the song “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” was initially wary of developing a TV special. According to Arthur Rankin (who produced the show with Jules Bass), Marks “was very protective of the song. The song provided a very large income to Marks and he was afraid that overexposure of the hit song might interfere with its success as a popular song.”

Rankin and Bass also produced a slew of other magical children’s shows, including “The Little Drummer Boy,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” For news, art and more information about this dynamic producing duo, check out https://www.rankinbass.com.

If you’re familiar with these shows, then no doubt you’ve wondered who would win in a fight between the Bumble from “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the Winter Warlock from “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” Check out https://pages.map.com/starwars/rumble/, where the wintry villains’ strengths and weakness are contemplated. For instance, the Winter Warlock has magic powers, a menacing reputation and some limited control over nature, while the Abominable Snowbeast boasts physical size, sharp teeth and the ability to bounce an undetermined height.

Trot to the site to find out who the winner is. And have yourself a classically animated Christmas.

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Erika Milvy writes about arts and entertainment from Whoville (well, San Francisco, actually). She can be reached at erika@well.com.