From The View Of The Onlooker- Christmas Specials

(Original Date Posted- 9th December 2009)

Helloness my hyped-up, seizure having (again, blog problem) fans, lets get with the eighth entry. And again, lets open up the comment box.

Abby Lever- That was a little short, don’t you think. But then again, maybe Im being a little too demanding. Either way, you’re comment is perfectly appropriate.

Louisa Hillman- Firstly, you really must hate the wind to have those suggestions. But that’s okay.

And secondly, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to say ‘you have my respect’. True, maybe the moment wasn’t exactly right for me to say such a thing, but it still means something. If it the comment actually means something to you, then it actually means something. And in this case, it sorta did. So…yeah.

And the reason the entries are getting longer is because I feel that if they are longer, they may be slightly more entertaining. Though I’ll readily admit that longer doesn’t equal funnier, the case is that with everyones suggestions, these entries will become steadily funnier, and that combined with longer entries, equals a better fan reception.

That was boring to you, wasn’t it?

Todd Webb- I can see where you’re coming from with this, and rest assured, I’ll take your comment in mind, starting with…well this entry. Lets just hope that these opinions I have on people don’t get me in trouble :p

Anyway, lets jump right into the main topic.

Continuing with this month’s theme on December, I thought it’d be a little interesting to talk about Christmas specials. You know, those little cartoons/films/real-life things that you only ever see broadcast at Christmas, that you watch as little kids, then, when you’re doing something… random, they pop back in your head, and then you’re like ‘oh yeah, I remember that’. And then, finally, you recognize how weird they are.

Well, maybe not weird, but lets be honest, these things are definitely unique. Like, in the case of the cartoons, they’ll use, say, clay animation. It’s getting a little more common, but not entirely, so lets focus on a great example/user of it, Wallace an-

*Talking to advisors*

Um…like I was saying, a great example of it, Robbie the reindeer!

Now most of you may or may not remember, but for those of you who don’t know, I’ll give you the back-story.

Robbie the reindeer was made around about 1999 or so, during the era of what I consider to be the BBC’s greatest comedies, like The Vicar of Dibley, and…well, I cant remember. Then again, at least its funnier then the crap they’ve got now, like Gavin and Stacey. But I digress.

Robbie the reindeer was about the son of Rudolph (whose name was never fully uttered. Maybe the BBC didn’t want to p*ss off Rob Reiner (Who I believe is Santa, I mean, there both fat and suffer from baldness) I don’t know), who goes to the North Pole to join the pack of reindeer who fly Santa’s sleigh. This was a quaint little special, and featured some notable voice actors, like Harry Enfield and David Attenborough… as himself…yeah, cant we already laugh at him, hes done enough perverted documenteries. Really, it was all right, though Im not going to bore you by going in depth (as if I haven’t done that already), so, you know, check it out online, and see what you think. There’s Hooves of fire, Legend of the lost tribe and close encounters of the herd kind, and I personally I’d recommend them as a something to get you hyped (I also recommend that you try to find them on Youtube and Megavideo, both work quite well.)

But just discussing one special isn’t nearly respectable enough for this entry, so lets look at one we all know-

Now let me just say that the 2000 film version character, scares the living Sh*t out of me. I mean seriously, he looks like an alien paedophile (along with Ron Howard, cos’ while he doesn’t look like one, it takes one alien paedophile to make another.) But, thankfully, were focusing on the half hour cartoon of the same name…Thank you God…really

Now we all know how the story goes (Its one of those stories that gets hammered into your brain at an early age), so Im not going to go into it. But I will say, despite the creepy feeling that Dr Seuss stories emanate, that it’s humble. It’s not over-the-top, it’s just simple. Simple animation, simple-ish story, and simple moral, but Im not saying that’s bad, because compared to newer Christmas specials, its bearable, and gives the audience some time to breath. Good special, just layers of creepiness above it…oh so many layers…you know every night I wake up screaming from seeing Jim Carrey as the Grinch in my dreams…I need therapy.

But both these specials are considered old by today’s standards, and we need a modern day comparison, so, while I may be cheating here, lets look at Doctor Who’s specials

Okay, I may be cheating a little here, but come on, can you think of any kind of modern Christmas specials…probably not, THAT’S WHY IM THE ONLOOKER, AND YOU’RE THE FANS. REMEMBER THAT! ):<

But yeah, theirs been quite a few Christmas-sy Doctor who episodes since 2005, and seeing as I was brought up to be a doctor who fan, I cant quite demoralize them. Russell T. Davies is undoubtedly a great writer, making all kinds of intricate twists that somehow look simple and impressive, with just purely powerful stories. However, there is something I do want to bring up. In Voyage of the damned (That one with Kylie Minogue and the Space Titanic (Seriously, is that a cursed name)), we see different species, robots and…well a space ship, but near the end of it, we see the Queen escape from Buckingham palace…how’s that work. By the time we discover other species and make crappy C-3PO ripoffs with an angel motif, I bet Queen Elizabeth will be dead…or at least turned into…the below!

Either way, the timeline for that episode is up the ass, and for some reason, it just keeps irritating me. Sigh, I guess that’s another reason for therapy.

But to the main point, while they don’t really have a lot of Christmas content in it, there still pretty good to watch, and you know, we’re getting one this Christmas, so yeah, go ahead and watch it, it’ll probably be good (And the 10^th Doctor regenerates in it too)

So, just as a couple of examples, you can see that Christmas specials are always good to watch, either getting you hyped, or cementing the feeling of Christmas afterwards. Theres obviously more Christmas specials then the ones I’ve looked at, and some are better, but my entries can only get so long before they get boring, so we’ll close here. Maybe it’ll be a two parter by next year, who knows

As I have said before, leave some comments on what you’ve thought of this entry, and some helpful criticism if need be. Only that will make me a better blogger. And also, just for this entry, please prey to god that the queen doesn’t find that picture. I think an old woman who never smiles and has the power of England on her side, probably wont give me a knighthood for that, huh.

I’d also like to mention that one of my dear friends, Todd, lost his Grandfather last week, and while we may not have known him, the passing of anyone is always sad. I believe he must have been a great man, and to you Todd, I extend my condolences, and I believe you all must do so as well, if you haven’t already.