Advent Calendar House - TV Holiday & Christmas Specials
TV & Film:TV Reviews
Rankin/Bass’s Avengers assemble in 1979’s “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July.” The studio’s longest holiday special ever opens with the shine on Rudolph’s nose blipping out of existence, and what happens to Frosty and his whole family is worse.
On This EpisodeMike Westfall (@fallwestmike), formerly reduced to a puddle and then brought back to life but only up to my chest.Brandon Medley (@brandmed), the human embodiment of the Aurora Borealis, at this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely on my podcast, from Star Weirdos.Topics and TangentsFrosty’s a dad! And Rudolph’s a fake uncle!King Winterbolt’s genie of the ice scepter, allegedly Thurl Ravenscroft, is the stuff of nightmares.“The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” may be the most metal Christmas special, but this is a contender.Rudolph’s entire story gets retconned into a long play to stop Winterbolt’s foggy Christmas Eve from grounding Santa.Ethel Merman on “The Muppet Show.”Scratcher is a great evil reindeer, but we’d like it better if he was Fireball.A couple of songs were cut for time from TV, including:Chicken Today, Feathers TomorrowI See Rainbows When I Look at YouWalt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional, in example.A depressed Rudolph sticks his nose in glitter at one point, and we have questions.This special robbed us of seeing an army of evil Frosty clones.Previous Podcast Episodes MentionedFrosty the Snowman (Season 1, Episode 1)The First Easter Rabbit (Season 1, Bonus)’Twas the Night Before Christmas (Season 2, Episode 3)The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (Season 2, Episode 5)Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Season 3, Episode 12)Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (Season 3, Bonus)Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (Season 4, Episode 1)“Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July” © 1979 Rankin/Bass Productions.
Commercial Break: Atari Christmas Commercial, aired during a 1981 ABC Movie Special airing of “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July,” preserved by the Museum of Classic Chicago Television.
The Advent Calendar House is on the web at adventcalendar.house, on Twitter @adventcalhouse, and part of the Christmas Podcast Network.
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