Not so special feelings

Last night I watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on ABC at 8:00. I stumbled on it while flipping the channels on the Comcast digital service with 490 channels. By chance. I would say that it brought back a bit of nostalgia for sure. Seeing it ON network television. Knowing that kids everywhere would be watching it in unison... enjoying the "I got a rock" line. Repeating it to their friends the next day... as I did when I was a kid. The more I watched though, the more things have changed. Most glaringly, the "CBS Special Presentation" jungle jingle was absent. This would alert the entire household that something special was coming on. I remember scrambling around trying to get my teeth brushed before I could sit and watch it... I had to do it before that final drum beat. And that was quick. The jingle was less than 10 seconds long. The sponsors have changed as well. It used to be that "Dolly Madison" fruitcakes and treats were the main sponsor and you would see that additional peanuts animation made exclusively for the commercial. Although... there was a Peanuts commercial but now Snoopy hawks "Metlife". Insurance. Good Greif!

Know that I am glad that ABC picked up the dropped ball. That METLIFE saw the good in sponsoring a tradition. Its just the idea that something is missing. The message was still the same. The music of Vince Guaraldi was jazz induced and sounding perfect.... digitally perfect. It was then followed by another lesser known special ~ the timely "You're not elected, Charlie Brown". This really had little to do with Halloween and was kind of boring.

The idea that we actually own all of our favourite movies and television seasons is at once unfathomably wonderful and somewhat a travesty. The instant access and captivity of something that we looked so forward to all year long... waited for... Planned our evening around it.. is gone. Having 12 channels total and the big 3 networks to choose from is gone. Even the TV guide is now a magazine so conveluted that I cant find my programs to save my life. I gave up and cancelled my subscription years ago.

But at least we can still see that"CBS Special Presentation" opening thanks to our friends at youtube. Hearing it and seeing it spin makes me smile. Too bad there is not a special to follow it.

I know this is premature, but so is the whole Christmas season. UNDERSTAND... I was in Target today (09.25.07) and saw Christmas videos and some of the employees building a tree in the back room. Cripes. Still, this rant was featured on my other blog and it was so timely (and unread) that I wanted to feature it here...

Tis the season for Rankin/BassAnd so much more classic animation IF YOU CAN FIND IT ON TELEVISION. As child, it was easy to plan our special event watching as there was no videos/dvds in sight. You had to plan. You had to watch. Purusing the TV guide a week before was necessary to make certain you got the rigth date and time. There was the CBS special presentation symbol that sounded the alarm that something awesome was about to happen in every living room tuned in across the land. During the Peanuts specials, there were the Dolly Madison ringers commercials with a little bit more snoopy animation included. (Now you only see our favorite beagle in commercials for the insurance company "METLIFE".) Good Greif! Not that I am saying I dont own all these cartoons and special memories on dvd ~ or that I am not grateful for it. I guess just having it readily available takes away some of the specialness of it. Instant gratification can be a bad thing too. And there is something about seeing it on tv still, that warms the heart. It means everyone has a chance to share as not all have the luxuries we take for granted.Off the soapbox, it's time to peruse and find that "Animagic". Rankin/Bass put out some of the greatest holiday specials.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, A Year without a Santa Claus (with the fabulous Miser Brothers) and my favorite - Santa Claus is Coming to Town with Fred Astaire and the Burger Meister Meister Burger. ALL CLASSICS. ALL MUST HAVES. Let's not forget Nestor the Long eared donkey and the Little Drummer Boy. Narrated by Roger Miller and Greer Garson respectively. Then... one of the last great stories that came out and probably still fairly unknown was "Twas the Night Before Christmas." About a family of mice that somehow break the town clock and have to fix it so Santa can come. Paul Coker dazzled with his animation direction through all these specials. I wish they had a tribute site to him as to me he is Holiday Specials. Then... something happened. The stories...Got Worse! Oh boy... Rudolph's Shiny New Year... teeters at best. The villanous vulture named "Eon" is aptly named as the story seems to go on forever. Then, they went back to the Frosty well. And havent stopped since. Frosty's Winter Wonderland was the best of the worst. This is where he married "Crystal". Andy Griffith narrated and the annoying character of Jack Frost was introduced. Ugh. Then, the horrid Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. Yikes! Don't you know that Frosty HATES thermometers? - the only saving grace is the voice work still retaining the wonderful Jackie Vernon as Frosty's voice. In the past 10 years a slew of Frosty stories have come about... with John Goodman taking over for Vernon. And the animation factor taking a huge dump. Then last year... they made "The Legend of Frosty the Snowman"... narrated by Burt Reynolds and animation that looks like it came from Nicktoons. (I thought the original Frosty had pretty much sewed up the legend of Frosty with Karen and the kids rolling up a snowman and placing Professor Hinkles hat on his head.) Or was that just me?One more thing...in 2001, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & The Island of Misfit Toys came to dvd. The cover art looked promising...though computer animated. I guess it was the best they could do. Without going back to the animagic. The story was palpable, but not deserving of a second look. All my kids said was "That's not Rudolph". Which to me signified the end of the era that was Rankin/Bass. The Good News is you can relive the good old days at http://www.rankinbass.com/ and check out the amazing Rick Goldschmidts blog right here www.enchantedworldofrankinbass.blogspot.com/ I am unworthy to even touch on the Rankin/Bass legacy. So please accept these offered opinions and read up with Rick who is the premier Historian. Congratulations go out to him and his exasperatingly vast love of all things Animagic. After all, It is a Difficult Responsibility...

Checking In

There is a need it seems, to have a place on the internet where people can come and view your thoughts, work, aspirations, inspirations and voyeur a wee bit into your life to see what the chemical makeup of a graphic designer may be. This need will be fulfilled from time to time, here.

This may be the start of something huge, or just another possession of mine to say to others "yeah, I have my place on the web". I would like to think I am not that shallow.

Though I do promise, that if you check back here from time to time I will allow some jump starts and thoughts that may make an impression on you, or at least make you wonder "What the hell is he talking about"? Either way, it will be easy to digest and a light read. Ok, maybe not. I can get deep sometimes too.