The one that started it all: Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol. © 2002 Classic Media.

Sometime between 4 and 7 BCE, likely during the month of October, a baby by the name of Jesus Christ was born in ancient Palestine. During the time of his ministry Jesus surely noticed that every year between the 17th and 24th of December the local populace gave it up for the harvest god Saturnus and partied down in a ritual celebration known as the Saturnalia, a holiday marked by the giving of small gifts and the license to play harmless practical jokes on friends (or so we are told; this is the same culture, after all, that had gladiators hacking each other to fettucine). One hundred and thirty years later, after the humble carpenter had gained quite a following, a Bishop of Rome named Telemachus co-opted the Saturnalia, declaring that the Nativity would now be celebrated in December. However, old habits die hard and in 274 AD the Emperor Aurelian declared December 25 to be “Natalis Solis Invicti,” or, “the birth of the invincible sun.” The whole megillah was settled for good by Pope Julius I who made December 25 the “official” birth date of Christ.

The Evolution of Christmas
In Europe (and later in America), Christmas was dutifully observed, but the real blowout was reserved for New Years. For centuries, this day was the capstone of the Holiday season, replete with feasting, rowdiness, riotous consumption of alcohol, and the giving of gifts. New Years held sway in America until around 1820, when the two holidays finally merged into one big Season; Christmas became a domesticated family holiday while New Years retained more of the profligate aspects of the celebrations. In 1823, a Christmas poem entitled The Children’s Friend first introduced “Santa Claus” to American children in protean form; it is here that Santa first acquires a reindeer-powered sleigh. In 1834, Clement Moore shaped the modern Santa Claus mythos with his landmark poem, Night Before Christmas.

Somewhere around 1850, German influences brought the Christmas tree into American homes, and St. Nicholas — Santa Claus — became the “patron saint” of the holiday. Although merchandisers had considerable difficulties settling on a depiction of Saint Nick, they were greatly helped by cartoonist Thomas Nast, who depicted the character annually from 1863-86 for Harpers Weekly, and by the various artists (such as Louis Prang) who drew the character on merchants' “trade cards.” By 1890 the Santa we know today was more or less finalized. So was the holiday known as Christmas, by now America’s penultimate shopping and gift-giving holiday, responsible today for almost one-quarter of America’s annual retail profits (and forty percent of its yearly credit card debt). Still, there was one more Christmas milestone to be reached: 1962 saw the premier of the first animated Christmas special made exclusively for TV.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer graced the cover of a Boston newspaper's television guide in 1964. Courtesy of RankinBass.com. © 2002 Rankin/Bass Productions.

A Tradition Begins
As United Productions of America slowly fell from the premier position it held as animation’s artistic vanguard during the 1950s, studio president Abe Saperstein found that he had few commodities that were suitable for the television market. The sole profitable property remaining was Mr. Magoo, and the myopic codger was pretty much down to his last cane. Still, Quincy Magoo had one great inspired turn left in him, and the UPA staff under director Abe Levitow coaxed Magoo to his greatest performance ever. The role was Ebenezer Scrooge, and the special was Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. Sold to NBC and sponsored by Timex, the hour-long special premiered on December 18, 1962. That evening, as Dickens' beloved tale unfolded with surprising impact and style, something more magical than flying reindeer happened; Christmas and animation came together in an unbreakable cultural fusion that exists to this day.

This fusion was greatly helped by the fact that four of the first Christmas TV specials were, in many ways, the best and most beloved of the one hundred and thirty that exist today. Mr. Magoo was joined in 1964 by Rankin/Bass studio’s most memorable special. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the creation of one Robert L. Mays, was originally introduced to the public in a Montgomery Ward souvenir booklet in 1939 as part of an ad campaign. The winning story made its way into popular culture; ten years later songwriter Johnny Marks penned a saucy little tune about the misfit ruminant and Gene Autry made it a high-flying hit. It remained, however, for Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass to provide the most enduring visuals ever to accompany the music. Through the use of stop-motion puppets that were cuter than a bushel of sugar plums, the studio interpreted the Rudolph myth as an adventure complete with romance, danger, heroism, and some of the best male bonding since Spartacus. Some sparkling additional tunes by Marks himself surely helped, and so did the addition of Burl Ives, whose warm, grandfatherly interpretation of Sam the Snowman had the North Pole (and viewers) melting with delight.