SW: Christmas Special

[pasithea]

valarltd linked to the animated segment of the Star Wars Christmas Special on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0QqVCAlT5s if you want to see it)

Haven't seen it since it originally aired on TV. I remember the live action parts being rather dumb but the cartoon is actually kind of cool and it gives Boba Fett his only decent role in the entire franchise.

I thought at first that the animation might have been some early Peter Chung work. The characters are kind of stylized with interestingly rubbery faces. Turns out that it was Nelvana, makers of Rock and Rule, Rome-0 and Julie-8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu01t-g6Egk) and some other fun stuff. It's kind of sad that Nelvana mostly did horrible Saturday Morning cartoons like 'The Raccoons' (complete with disgustingly uncircumcised penis-noses) they had the potential to do so much more.

Comments

[circuit-four.livejournal.com]

Naah, Chung would've been 17 when it aired! Not that I would've been totally astonished he was doing that kind of work by seventeen...

And piffle, I liked The Raccoons.

OK, I had good nostalgia about The Raccoons.

From when I was four.

And then I saw the series and it was totally lacking any qualities or features whatsoever. It's the mildest piece of entertainment I've ever seen come out of Canada, and that's saying something.

And then I saw Raccoons and the Lost Star, and it was totally incoherent, just zero-star material. That broke my freaking heart, because I remember it being absolutely alien, surreal and beautiful... when I was four. Of course, I felt much the same way about vending machines and grocery pushcarts at the time. :p I've heard rumors that the syndicated version of Lost Star was a hacked-up edit job and the original 60 minute special was quite good, but I've never been able to turn up a copy and I dunno if I'm willing to take the risk again. *wince*

Rome-0 and Julie-8 was a bit light, but it was fun and cutely designed, probably early xenofetish fuel for me. I watched it just a few weeks ago. I also saw Take Me Up To The Ballgame, and came real close to writing a little rant about the tacked-on moral at the end.

(What They Thought They Were Saying: "Cheaters never prosper!")
(What They Were Really Saying: "Stick to your own cultural norms at ALL COSTS! They are objective and universal!")

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Brad Bird and Chuck Jones began his career at close to that age too IIRC so it wouldn't have been impossible but it is pretty unlikely, I agree. I forget he's so young. :)

My first exposure to the Raccoons was an environmental awareness piece (which I sort of liked but not as well as many of the other environmental pieces of the era) But I confess that from the beginning I thought the character designs were really really ugly. I never understood why they did those noses.

I probably only saw the syndicated version of Lost Star but I recall it being inferior to the cartoon, "A Cosmic Christmas" (Which had some pretty cool aliens even if it was very Jesusy)

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

The animated segment, although it made no sense in the context of the rest of the special (like anything else did), was indeed the best part of the show.

I never saw it when it first aired. I heard about it and hearing about it and saying to myself, "It can't be THAT bad -- can it?". Well, I finally got to see the whole thing one day and yes -- it was that bad.

One interesting thing to note -- the cartoon with Boba Fett was his first appearance ever. The special came out BEFORE 'Empire Strikes Back' (the first time we see Boba in the movies).

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who never saw or even heard of The Raccoons when young? Instead, I watched Turbo Teen, Galaxy High, Kidd Video, Garfield and Friends, and Muppet Babies.

Also, re "disgustingly uncircumcised penis-noses", would they be better if they were circumcised? I, er, I'm not going to follow that train of thought, tho.

[circuit-four.livejournal.com]

Yeah, The Raccoons is... hmm... it reminds me a lot of Wes Anderson's films. (Got 'em on the brain thanks to Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I did really like.) They're slow, they're thin, they're "quirky," and there's little to no action. There was some charm in the setting and premise -- IIRC, the whole series was a laid-back ecological fable. The problem is, it was so laid-back it was asleep. *sigh* And yeah, the character designs are... not appealing, though I did have a very brief crush on... Melissa, was that her name? But that was mostly 'cause I liked her voice actress.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Paul Rudish began working at 15 on the Rainbow Bright Movie. 17 isn't too young, and it was the 70s.

And I loved Rock and Rule.

We have a VCR tape of the special. It was my 11th Birthday Present and the best I got that year. (I remember that as the year of Sweet Honesty, meaning I got about 8 different variations of it from well-meaning relatives on all sides as a hint to take a bath and be a girl)

it's obscure!

[circuit-four.livejournal.com]

Not by a long shot! I think it mostly aired on CBC affiliates, and on a couple random cable channels here and there at odd hours. I want to say one of the big pay services like HBO or Showtime ran it for a while, too. But yeah, it seems to be largely a Canadian thing or, in my case, a "Daddy pirated cable" thing. :D

Incidentally, YMMV, but I recommend you do yourself a favor and not return to any of those shows except Garfield and Friends. They have NOT aged well!

(Hmm, although, Kidd Video and Galaxy High would be very dangerous with the Raggedy Ann and Andy Drinking Game... *winks at DV* We need to compile a list of kids' toons that works, ahem, "well" with sometime, especially now that Youtube's made damn near everything ever available...)

Re: it's obscure!

[circuit-four.livejournal.com]

(I have a note from my doctor saying I never have to play that drinking game with Rock and Rule. I would not survive the scene where Angel is drugged up/mesmerized and wired to a synth keyboard...)

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

"Sweet Honesty" smells like teen spirit? :)


And yeah. Rock and Rule is pretty good except for the end (I have to admit that I was really rooting for Mok. :)

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Pre-teen spirit at least.

I couldn't be a girl. I was too busy being Han Solo.

Re: it's obscure!

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've watched Kidd Video on youtube and.... I'd have had to take many chugs.
I know that Galaxy High would be the same and probably give me a serious desire to crack open my TfOS books.

Re: it's obscure!

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Or Mok when he's wearing the goggles and working with his computer... I just... *chug*

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

All in all probably a better thing to be so long as you shot first. :)

Re: it's obscure!

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

Aha. That explains it. Back then, my house had a huge antenna on the top. Broadcast TV == no cable.

Hrm. Drinking games with them. Mind you, memories of Kidd Video was mostly the damn theme song stuck in my head, so there's nothing to ruin when watching it for just how 80s-tastic it is.

[paradox-puree.livejournal.com]

That animation was the only tolerable portion of that movie. Everything else about it felt like I was being visually molested by a dirty uncle.

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

That describes Lucas pretty well, doesn't it?

Meesa Georgie Bombad Lucas! Meesa love yousa long tyiime!

[paradox-puree.livejournal.com]

You have problems.

;)

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

There is nothing wrong with me that a few million dollars wouldn't fix. If you'd give me a few million dollars, I could prove this for you.

Re: it's obscure!

[zeeth_kyrah]

Kidd Video may not have aged well, but I definitely liked the style and premise. Especially with the end-show music videos that implied the band got home regularly (even though the plotline never did).