Happy New Year! - Sesame Street Stays Up Late

PBS, 1993

Voices of Carol Spinney, Kevin Clash, Martin P. Robinson, and Fran Brill

Directed by Chuck Vinson

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's kick off 2026 with a look at one of Sesame Street's lesser-known specials. Though Big Bird was still the focus of most stories at this point, with the death of Jim Henson and the need to recast many of his characters (like Ernie), other Muppets and puppeteers stepped up to the spotlight. Elmo was just being built up as a major character when this special debuted. Sesame Street had been evolving at this point as well, with new adult human characters, a new set, and new Muppets like the just-debuted Rosita and Zoe. How is all this reflected in this look at how countries around the world celebrate the New Year? Let's get to Sesame Street, where Big Bird is announcing that it's time to party, and find out...

The Story: As most of the adults go out for the New Year, the kids and Muppets of Sesame Street remain behind for a party of their own. Gina (Alison Bartlett) and tap-dancing wunderkind Savion (Savion Glover) keep an eye on them and help them with preparations. Oscar the Grouch (Spinney) is trying to get through to his family long-distance and isn't too happy with Ernestine the Telephone Operator's (Lily Tomlin) constant chatter. He tells a nervous Telly the Monster (Robinson) that if the year ends, so will everything else. Telly does everything he can to keep the New Year party from happening. 

Meanwhile, Elmo (Clash), Prairie Dawn (Brill), and the Muppet News Network do reports on New Year's Eve celebrations around the world. The reports from Norway, Germany, Israel, and Portugal come direct from those countries' versions of Sesame Street and their own Muppet characters. Elmo's "cousin" Pepe (Clash) helps Rosita (Carmen Osbahr) with the reports on the New Year's fiesta in Mexico, while Elmo's cousin Elmo-noske (Clash) reports from Japan. 

The Song and Dance: This is so sweet. For one thing, the only countries whose New Year's customs I knew anything about before I saw this were Mexico and Israel. It really is fascinating to learn about New Year's celebrations in other parts of the world. I liked seeing the Muppets from other versions of Sesame Street, too. From the Oscar-like Moiske Oofnik and huge, sweet Kippi in Israel to pretty kitty Tita in Portugal, I love seeing how different cultures represent puppetry and kid-friendly characters. Elmo makes for an adorable and hilarious host (and generally doesn't hog the spotlight as much as he would later in the 90's and 2000's), and Prairie Dawn's on-the-spot reporting on Sesame Street is funny, too. Telly's story, on the other hand, is handled with marvelous sensitivity for younger kids who may not understand what New Year's is really about and might be nervous about the noise and the idea of the year ending. There's also the cute side plot with Big Bird spending the special trying to wake up Snuffy before midnight.

The Numbers: We open with Big Bird's announcement to the kids on the Street that "We're Going to Stay Up Late and Party." Rosita and Pepito join the children of Mexico to perform a "Mexican Folk Song" as they make their pinata. "Oshagatu" is the song for the children of Japan as they fly kites and enjoy their day of freedom. "Bashanah Habaah" is the joyous number celebrating the Jewish New Year and its unique customs. The children and Muppets of Germany go from house to house asking for treats in the "Rummel Pot Song." Max Mekker, Alfa, and Bjarne Betjent from the Norwegian Sesame Street join the children of Lillehammer, Norway in the kid amusement park Lilleputhammer for the lovely "It's New Year's Eve." Oscar finally connects with his family in a brief "New Year's Chorale for Six Grouches." Big Bird gently reminds everyone that it's the "Faces That I Love" that make New Year's special.

Trivia: Known on VHS and some older streaming copies as Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World. 

There's a couple of references to the Olympics in the Norway segment. Lillehammer, Norway would host the Winter Olympics in 1994.

This was one of the first appearances of Ernie since Jim Henson's death in 1989. He was voiced in his brief appearance here by Steve Whitmire. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, while Elmo doesn't take over this special to the degree that he would dominate the show later in the 90's, there's still a lot of him here. If you're not a fan of him, you may not be into this.  Second, this is an older Muppet special. Some younger kids may wonder where more recent characters like Julia or Abby Cadabba are. The "around the corner" set where most of this takes place was retired in 1998, along with the characters who inhabited it. Most kids watching Sesame Street nowadays may not even know they existed. 

The Big Finale: If your kids are fans of Elmo or Big Bird, or you remember this from when you were a kid, this remains a charming look at holiday customs in other parts of the world and here in the US.

Home Media: Streaming is your best bet for this one, usually under the "Celebrates Around the World" title. The DVD is currently hard to find and pricey.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy New Year's Eve! - It Happened On 5th Avenue

Monogram/Allied Artists Productions, 1947

Starring Gale Storm, Victor Moore, Don DeFore, and Charlie Ruggles

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

Music by Harry Revel; Lyrics by Harry Revel and Paul Francis Webster

Our last review of 2024 takes us to New York for a lesser-known holiday classic. Monogram had specialized in B movies and cheap programmers for over a decade by then. Hoping to improve their image, they created Allied Artists as their A-picture unit. This romantic comedy would be their first production. It cost over a million, made almost two million at the box office, and scored an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Is it worthy of that praise and popularity, or should it be thrown out in the cold? Let's begin as Mr. Aloysius T. McKeever (Moore) explain his living situation and find out...

The Story: McKeever spends his winters living in the boarded-up 5th Avenue mansion of Michael O'Connor (Ruggles), the second-wealthiest man in the world. He takes in former soldier Jim Bullock (DeFore) when the building he's living in is demolished. Jim invites his old war buddies and their families who are living out of cars to stay, too. Trudy (Storm), an 18-year-old girl who claims she's a runway, turns up there and ends up staying as well. 

Turns out Trudy is the daughter of O'Connor, who comes to the house looking for her. She tells him she's in love with Jim and hasn't revealed her real identity because he wants him to love her for more than her money.  Mike ends up posing as a homeless man and joining the household, but gets fed up when McKeever treats him like a servant and threatens to call the police. Trudy calls her mother and his ex-wife Mary (Ann Harding) to convince him otherwise. She becomes the household's cook, and to the delight of her daughter and McKeever, falls for Mike all over again.

Mike, however, still objects to his daughter marrying a penniless man. He outbids Mike on buying army barracks that would have been turned into housing for homeless soldiers and offers him a job in Bolivia for a single man. It isn't until he almost loses his family - and sees how his selfishness is effecting everyone's morale - that he begins to understand that love...and Christmastime...are more than a business transaction.

The Song and Dance: No wonder this was such a hit. I'm impressed with how charming and well-written this was. Veteran character actors Moore, Harding, and Ruggles clearly enjoy their roles as the homeless man who has no trouble living in other people's splendor and the unhappy rich couple who learn that money can't buy happiness or real connection with one another. Storm doesn't do badly as their feisty teen daughter, either, coming off far better here than she ever did in her many musicals with Monogram and RKO, with DeFore matching her well as the strong-willed soldier with a dream. The witty script keeps things believable, even when the plot is at its silliest.

The Numbers: We open over the credits with "That Wonderful, Wonderful Feeling," which Trudy, McKeever, and Jim also sing in the park right before they find Mike. Everyone sings "That's What Christmas Means" on Christmas Eve as Trudy plays the piano and McKeever dresses as Santa Claus. The chorus gives us "Speak My Heart" as Jim comes looking for Trudy at the music store. Trudy sings "You're Everywhere" as part of her interview for the music store job; we also hear it as Jim talks to her afterwards. Three Italian men sing "Santa Lucia" in the restaurant where Trudy and Jim have their quarrel over him taking the Bolivian job.

Trivia: Frank Capra was originally going to direct this, but opted for It's a Wonderful Life instead. 

What I Don't Like: Cute though this is, I wonder what would have happened if Capra or another prestigious director had taken a crack at it. Del Ruth spent most of his career jumping back and forth between action films and musicals, and his work on this comes off as a bit bland. It would be nice if he'd let even one of the few musical numbers finish. In fact, I wish there were more of them. This might have made a very sweet full musical. DeFore, Storm, Ruggles, and Moore had all done musicals and were good singers, and Harding could have at least gotten by. There's also times when it's clear that Monogram hadn't quite tossed off that cheap image, notably when projected backdrops stand in for New York.

The Big Finale: It's not really a musical, but it is a lovely snuggly comedy with a cute cast and nice performances that deserves to be better-known.

Home Media: Apparently, this vanished for 20 years before it started turning up again on TCM around 2010. Nowadays, it's easy to find on disc and streaming. The former is from the Warner Archives; the latter is on Tubi for free with commercials.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

Animation Celebration Saturday - Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

CBS, 1986

Voices of Chad Allen, Jeremy Miller, Kristie Baker, and Melissa Guzzi

Directed by Bill Melendez and Sam James

Music by Desiree Goyette; Lyrics by Ed Bogas

Let's join the Peanuts in one of their few full musical specials to celebrate the end of 2023. Though The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show only lasted about a year on Saturday morning, the holiday shows continued to be institutions in prime-time. This would be their last holiday special until 1992, and the second to last one on CBS. How does Charlie Brown's difficult New Year look nowadays? Let's begin at school the day before Christmas vacation begins and find out...

The Story: Charlie Brown (Allen) is horrified when he's given the massive War and Peace to read over Christmas break for a book report. He's constantly distracted by the preparations for Peppermint Patty's (Baker) New Year's Eve party,  including a dance lesson. He does somehow manage to invite the Little Red Haired Girl, but Peppermint Patty thinks he's her date. Meanwhile, Sally (Elizabeth Lyn Fraser) wishes her "sweet baboo" Linus (Miller) would ask her, and Lucy (Guzzi) tries to get Schroder's (Aron Mandelbaum) attention away from him playing the music at the party.

The Animation: Pretty similar to all of the Peanuts specials, and most Saturday morning cartoons from this time. Admittedly, some of the backgrounds look nifty, especially when they get to the party and the kids are decorating. The characters move relatively well and look like their comic strip counterparts at the time, which is really all this franchise needs.

The Song and Dance: One of the better Peanuts specials of the 1980's. There's some great gags with Charlie's attempts to read War and Peace, and especially how he tries getting around it early on. Peppermint Patty also has some funny moments when she gets Charlie to the dance studio, and there's his attempt to ask the Little Red Haired Girl out. 

Favorite Number: "Slow, Slow, Quick Quick" is most of the lyrics for the song heard when the kids take their dance lesson at the studio. The melody still manages to be catchy as Peppermint Patty whirls Charlie around the floor. Patty also sings "Musical Chairs" when the kids play that game during the party. The song is so catchy that the kids are often still dancing along when the music stops. The traditional "Auld Lang Syne" comes in at midnight, as the kids all sing along...except for Charlie, who is sleeping outside.

What I Don't Like: The whole thing with the book report annoys me. Who the heck gives kids who aren't more than 11 a book that many adults can't get through to do a report on? The slightly episodic structure lacks some of the heart of earlier, more story-oriented entries like A Charlie Brown Christmas. 

The Big Finale: One of the more underrated Peanuts specials is worth checking out with the kids before the ball drops on New Year's Eve. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD with I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, and on Apple TV with a subscription. 

DVD - I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown

Apple TV 

And here's hoping all of my readers have a happy and healthy 2024!

Happy New Year's Eve! - A Very Merry Pooh Year

Disney, 2002

Voices of Jim Cummings, Peter Cullen, John Fielder, and Ken Sansom

Directed by Jamie Mitchell, Gary Katona, and others

Music and Lyrics by various

We end 2022 with our final visit to the Hundred Acre Woods. This is the last Pooh holiday direct-to-home-video "movie" I hadn't gotten to yet. We've seen how Pooh and his friends celebrate Easter, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. This gives us a two-for-one holiday, as we not only get to see the gang enjoy Christmas, but New Year's as well. It also continues the theme of Rabbit or someone else canceling a holiday when it doesn't go the way they planned. How does that work with the winter holidays? Let's begin at Pooh's house as he hides his present for Piglet and find out...

The Story: Pooh heads over to Rabbit's to decorate their shared tree. Roo's worried about Santa not being able to come. The others tell him the story of the Christmas before, when Pooh forgot to add what he wanted on their list to Santa. He retrieved it, only to be unable to send it back. Pooh and Piglet first try to play Santa themselves, but when the gifts they make their friends are less-than-perfect, Pooh vows to deliver the letter himself. The others are thrilled at first, but Piglet, and later, Christopher Robin, finally reminds them that their dear friend is more important than any gifts. 

Though this Christmas largely goes well, Pooh can't find Piglet's gift, and Tigger gets on Rabbit's nerves with his jingling bells. Pooh keeps looking for his buddy's present right up until New Year's Eve. Christopher Robin explains about New Year's and resolutions, inspiring Pooh to ask Rabbit if they can have a party at his place. Unfortunately, Pooh's distracted by honey, Piglet hides, and Tigger bouncing too much to actually ask. Fed up with them being inconsiderate and nearly breaking the carrot he's trying to grow to restart his garden, Rabbit claims he's leaving the Hundred Acre Woods. The others try to change their personalities to please him...but after they rescue him, Rabbit finally admits he likes his friends the way they are.

The Animation: As with most entries in this series, it's nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. Everything moves pretty well, and they even recolored Rabbit and redubbed Christopher Robin in the Christmas Too segment to make the special blend in better. I love how the animators made each character switch personalities, with Piglet getting giggly and bouncy, Tigger stiff and freaked out, Eeyore attempting to walk on two legs, and Pooh slumped over and gloomy.

The Song and Dance: If the flashback sequence is familiar, it's the 1991 Pooh Christmas special Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too. Yep, this is another Pooh "movie" that's really a special with new material written around it. At the very least, it manages to use of more characters than the Halloween and Easter films, with Gopher and Christopher Robin appearing in Christmas Too and the New Year's party, and Christopher being the one who tells Pooh about the New Year. 

The New Year's segment is pretty funny, too. It's hilarious, seeing Pooh become gloomy and Piglet bouncing and Tigger being scared and Eeyore trying to walk on too legs and eat honey. 

Favorite Number: We open with a version of "Jingle Bells," as Tigger bounces with his new bells and the others decorate the tree. Pooh happily sings about "Snow Snows" as the others make snowmen and snowboard and Tigger continues to annoy Rabbit with his jingling. Pooh sings about a "Happy Pooh Year" after Christopher tells him about the holiday, and that there's "No, No Honey for Me" when he's trying to be Eeyore. The movie ends with Tigger and Rabbit making up and everyone singing "Auld Lang Syne" at Rabbit's house.

What I Don't Like: I wish Disney could just release these specials on their own, without the added filler. Not only was the Christmas special edited, but it and the New Year's segment have nothing in common with each other, other than revolving around winter holidays. The story for the New Year's segment even first appeared on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. At least they gave Rabbit more of a reason for acting like a jerk this time. They shouldn't have invaded his house without his permission. And how does Owl keep getting left out? He's the only one who isn't seen, even in the Christmas segment, or even mentioned. 

The Big Finale: Cute enough way to pass an hour before midnight on New Year's if you're a big fan of Pooh and his friends. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming. Disney Plus has it for free with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Disney Plus

And...happy New Year! Here's hoping all of you have a safe, happy, and musical 2023!

Happy New Year! - Get Crazy

Embassy Pictures, 1983

Starring Daniel Stern, Malcom McDowell, Gail Edwards, and Allen Garfield

Directed by Allen Arkush

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's begin 2022 with a bang...and one of the oddest movies I've ever seen. In the last year, I've watched a lot of truly weird musicals - guy uses a genie's magic to become a soldier during World War II, a sunny 50's movie about three former friends who find they hate each other, a rock opera about repossessing human organs - but this one takes the nutty fruitcake. How weird does the story of a huge rock concert put on by a promoter trying to save his theater look today? Let's start at the Saturn Theater, as owner and promoter Max Wolfe (Garfield) is about to take off on a plastic rocket, and find out...

The Story: Max holds a legendarily insane rock concert every New Year's Eve. He and his crew, including stage manager Neil Allen (Stern), Joey the young stagehand (Dan Frischman), former stage manager Willie Loman (Edwards), and Violetta the lighting director (Mary Woronov), are preparing for their big show...but first the fire marshal says no fireworks, then wealthy promoter and stadium owner Colin Beverly (Ed Begley Jr.) wants to buy his theater. He says no, then seemingly collapses from an apparent heart attack. His slimy nephew Sammy (Miles Chapin) wants the theater and is more open to the deal.

Even when it turns out Max isn't quite dying, he uses his near-death experience to round up a truly insane amount of talent. There's Captain Cloud (Howard Kaylan) and the Rainbow Telegraph, a psychedelic hippie group that arrives complete with painted bus and magical drugs in the water cooler. King Blues (Bill Henderson), the King of the Blues, is somehow paired with a Jewish backing group. Nada (Lori Eastside) and her 15-piece pop-punk group are the only ones who can control insane punk rocker Piggy (Lee Ving). Elusive folk rocker Auden (Lou Reed) takes his sweet time coming, while bored long-time star Reggie Wanker (McDowell) wonders what's the point of it all. Before the end of the night, much LSD will be consumed, and a grand and noisy time will be had by all...except the bad guys, of course. 

The Song and Dance: If you've been looking for that musical cross between This Is Spinal Tap and Animal House, have I got a piece of lunacy for you. There's more wacky stuff happening in this film then in 10 comedies from the same year. Each act is supposed to represent one from real-life, and they hit the mark more often than not. McDowell actually puts in one of his best performances as the bored rock star who finds the kind of advice he's always wanted from an, er, part of himself, Begley revels in his rare villain role, and Stern has a great time as the harried manager. The costumes in particular beautifully represent the outfits worn by real-life rock stars between 1968 and 1983, from the snappy suits on the blues men to Eastside's brief cheerleading uniform to the rainbow tie-dye on the hippie group. 

Favorite Number: Each group does a version of the blues standard "Hoochie Coochie Man" in their own style. McDowell gets the most into it, while Henderson's is probably closest to what it's supposed to sound like. Lee Ving's punk-rock rendition obscures the lyrics but pumps up the crowds. It gets so crazy, people start jumping off the balcony...and others judge them! McDowell has a great time tearing into his other big number, "Hot Shot," as well, electrifying the crowd with his showmanship and moves before he finds his wife with Joey and has his breakdown. Henderson also has a great time with what we see of "The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll." Even the Jewish band really gets into it, swaying happily with the music. 

My favorite number at the concert was by far Eastside's "I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore," a feminist anthem that gives Eastside and her women a chance to show off their splits and vocal dexterity. Check out her cartwheels and flips spoofing Toni Basil's hit video for "Hey Mickey!" Oh, and don't cut out before the credits! Lou Reed finally gets his number, "My Little Sister," sung to appropriately Stacey Nelkin as Neil's sister Susie, and it's almost kind of charming. 

Trivia: The Saturn Theater actually exists in LA. It's real name is the Wiltern, and it was used for location shooting because the owners were about to remodel it anyway and Arkush and his crew could trash it to their heart's content. The Wiltern is currently a mixed-use venue that does feature, among other acts, rock concerts. 

What I Don't Like: Obviously not for you if you aren't a fan of the genres involved or are looking for a more subdued or traditional show. A lot of the humor is often juvenile, frequently stupid, and very often too weird for it's own good. (A man has a long conversation with a certain body part, for crying out loud. Even Malcom McDowell was shocked at that one.) Heed the R rating, too. There's plenty of sex and many drug references along with all of that rock and roll, including a drug salesman as a major character and a huge walking marijuana cigarette randomly wandering around. 

The Big Finale: 2022 is off to a terrific start. I'm glad I discovered this one. If you're a fan of hard rock, blues, or other wacky "frat" comedies from the late 70's and early 80's like Animal House or Caddyshack, you'll have just as much fun ringing in the New Year with the wildest concert ever. 

Home Media: It finally came out on DVD and Blu-Ray early last month from Kino International, which is currently the only way to see it. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Happy New Year's Eve! - Bundle of Joy

RKO, 1956

Starring Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Adolphe Menjou, and Tommy Noonan

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music by Josef Myrow; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Reynolds was a bona-fide star by the time she appeared in Bundle of Joy in 1956. This would be one of the last movies made by perpetually unstable RKO Pictures, who was under new management and were trying to restructure. It was also intended to capitalize on Reynolds' much-publicized marriage to singing idol Fisher and their real-life impending "bundle of joy." How does the story of a shop girl who finds a baby and ends up raising it with her boss' son look now? Let's begin with that shop girl, Polly Parrish (Reynolds), as she's heading to her job at J.B Merlin's and Son's, and find out...

The Story: Polly was just fired from her job for overselling hats and creating too many returns when she finds a baby on the sidewalk. Turns out it's in front of an orphanage. Everyone there is convinced that the child is hers, no matter how much she protests that it isn't. Even after she tells them she lost her job and has to leave the baby there, they call store owner J.B Merlin (Menjou) and his son Dan (Fisher) and tell them. They rehire her at a greatly increased salary and bring the baby back to her.

Polly's not happy with the arrangement, but she eventually becomes fond of the baby, whom she names John. She grows pretty fond of John, too. He even takes her out on New Year's Eve when his original date stands him up. Her co-worker Freddie Miller (Tommy Noonan) who has a crush on her is jealous and tells J.B he's the grandfather. Now Polly finds herself saddled with too many guys thrown at her to be John's father...and she may end up losing John when J.B decides that Dan is the father and he should have his child.

The Song and Dance: Adorable remake of the 1939 RKO screwball comedy Bachelor Mother. Reynolds makes a perky and funny shop girl mom and manages an awesome dance routine at a contest with Noonan. There's a nice cast, too, including Menjou as the senior Merlin who wants his son to settle down, Una Merkel as Polly's understanding land lady, Nita Talbot as Reynolds' delightfully sarcastic best friend, and Melville Cooper as the Merlins' snooty butler. Gorgeous color costumes and sets bring to life a busy department store in New York and New Year's Eve in Times Square. 

Favorite Number: Reynolds begins things as she admonishes Talbot to "Worry About Tomorrow" and sell more hats today on her arrival at the store. Fisher joins a group of musically-inclined employees for a swinging "employee emergency," "All About Love." Reynolds and Fisher perform a "Lullaby In Blue" to lull little John to sleep. Reynolds also gets an incredible swing routine at the dance contest with Noonan as they leap and twirl and he tosses her under him. 

Trivia: Reynolds was pregnant with what would become her daughter Carrie Fisher during the filming of this and Tammy and the Bachelor. 

Despite Reynolds and Fisher's popularity, this wound up being a fair-sized flop at the box office.

What I Don't Like: First of all, it's pretty obvious this was a comedy with added songs. Once again, most of the numbers are there more as padding or to let Fisher sing than to move the plot along. Second, there's Fisher. Even he admitted he didn't do that well. He sings wonderfully, but is otherwise a bit stiff, and doesn't have as much chemistry with Reynolds as you might think. It also sometimes comes off as a bit cutesy, even for something involving a baby. The music isn't terribly good, either. As Fisher pointed out, neither he nor Reynolds could get a single out of it, and it's just not that memorable.

The Big Finale: While no blockbuster, it is a cute way to pass an hour and a half during your own New Year's Eve party if you're a fan of Reynolds, Fisher, or the musicals of the 1950's.

Home Media: Easily found on streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warners Archive.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy New Year's Eve! - Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Rankin-Bass, 1976
Voices of Billie Mae Richards, Red Skelton, Harold Peary, and Morey Amsterdam
Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
Music by Johnny Marks; Lyrics by Maury Laws

Our final review of 2019 returns us to the Rankin-Bass well one more time for the second special revolving around Rudolph's adventures. How does Rudolph's busy New Year's look nowadays? Let's return to the North Pole just as Santa receives an all-important letter to find out...

The Story: A week before New Year's Eve, Santa (Paul Frees) gets a message from Father Time (Skelton) requesting that Rudolph come to his castle, just beyond the Sands of Time. He wants him to find the Baby New Year, Happy, who ran away after the castle staff laughed at his big ears. If he can't find Happy, the diamond won't drop to signify the end of the year, and time will stand still. The massive monster bird Eon the Terrible (Frees) also wants Happy to keep from dying at the end of the year. With the help of Big Ben the clock-toting whale (Peary), Rudolph travels to the Archipelago of Last Years, a series of islands where each of the old years lives, to find the baby and make sure that he's back in time for the diamond to drop and the year to begin.

The Animation: Somewhat similar to Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas In July, only here, Rudolph is depicted as a younger reindeer with smaller antlers and looks closer to the original design. There's some awfully cute designs here, too, especially Happy and the Three Little Pigs and Baby Bear at the fairy tale island. Some of the backgrounds are nice as well, especially in the fairy tale land and 4th of July segment. We also get a glimpse of Rankin-Bass' 2D animation style in the brief "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" number.

The Song and Dance: This used to run fairly frequently on cable during the Christmas season when I was a child, and I have some very fond memories of it. My favorite character by far here is Big Ben, voiced by a warm and witty Harold Peary. He has some of the best lines, including when Rudolph is first riding in his mouth after they meet. I'm also very fond of bubbly OM, aka One Million, the oldest Father Time, voiced by Morey Amsterdam. (And Baby Bear is sooo cuddly and cute! I want a stuffed Baby Bear!)

Favorite Number: "Turn Back the Years" takes Rudolph and Big Ben to the Archipelago as Rudy reminisces about the past and keeps a red glowing vigilance through the fog. OM gets a big number amid the (anachronistic) dinosaurs and colorful plant life on his island, "It's Raining Sunshine." "What a Wonderful World We Live In" introduces the fairy tale island home of Father Time 1023 with a series of famous nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters...and everyone, from the Three Little Pigs to Miss Muffet and her tuffet to Cinderella and her prince, haven't seen Happy.

My favorite song from this one is the touching "The Moving Finger Writes." Father Time explains the passing of time...and the importance of memories and remembering...in this simple and moving song. Not only is the song the best in the special, but the number just has the Baby New Year going from month to month, growing older and wiser with each change of season. It's a sweet and lovely sentiment, especially for New Year.

What I Don't Like: While not as strange as Christmas In July, this is definitely one of the weirder Rankin-Bass specials. The sequences with the fairy tale and colonial islands are pretty much filler and exist to give Skelton more to do and for Rankin-Bass to squeak in another holiday, respectively.

The Big Finale: I'll admit, this is a guilty pleasure of mine. Even if you didn't grow up with it, it's worth running as background at your New Year's Eve party due to the cast and some good songs.

Home Media: It was originally released on DVD as a triple-feature with The Year Without a Santa Claus and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, which is what I have. Alas, that DVD is now out of print. Your best bet would be streaming.

DVD
Amazon Prime

Happy New Year! - Holiday Inn

Paramount, 1942
Starring Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Marjorie Reynolds, and Virginia Dale
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

I thought this was appropriate for my first review of 2019, as it covers most major holidays, including New Year's. This is the movie that introduced the evergreen "White Christmas," one of the most beloved holiday songs of all time. Does the movie live up to that legacy? Let's head to a nightclub in New York on Christmas Eve to find out...

The Story: Ted Hanover (Astaire), Jim Hardy (Crosby), and Lilah Dixon (Dale) are a popular act on the nightclub circuit in the early 1940's. Jim's tired of the grind of show business and wants to retire with Lilah to a farm in Connecticut. Lilah ends up insisting that she wants to stay with Ted and continue dancing. Broken-hearted, Jim moves to the farm of his dreams...only to discover that running a farm takes a lot more work than he thought. He ultimately turns the farm into an inn that's only open on public holidays. Linda Mason (Reynolds) is a flower-shop girl who wants to be a singer and comes to the farm to audition after encountering Jim in New York.

Ted ends up at Holiday Inn on New Year's Eve, drunk as a skunk after Lilah ran off with a Texas millionaire. He's so gone, he doesn't remember dancing a great duet with Linda. He and his manager Danny (Walter Abel) spend Lincoln's Birthday looking for her. When Ted does manage to find her, Jim finds himself competing with Ted for a girl's affections all over again.

The Song and Dance: For all the fluff, there's some real bite to this story. This is one of the few major movies I've seen deal with the grind of show business and what performers, even in the 21st century, often have to sacrifice to be able to do what they do. The romantic comedy devices here don't feel as forced as they would later in White Christmas. Crosby and Astaire work well together, and while we don't really see much of Dale, I rather like Reynolds as down-home Linda. Louise Beavers is also excellent as Jim's tough-minded housekeeper Mamie, and her kids are adorable.

I like that this is pretty scaled-down for a major musical. There's some medium-sized numbers at Holiday Inn, but most of the focus is where it should be, on the four leads.

Favorite Number: Astaire has two jaw-dropping dance routines that may be among his most underrated. His drunk duet with Reynolds is hilarious (rumor has it he really got drunk to prepare for that scene). The "Say With Firecrackers" solo may have taken 38 takes to get right, but it's a marvel, with Fred casually twirling around those dropping noisemakers, cigarette in his mouth. Crosby tries get to Astaire's goat in the Washington's Birthday number, "I Cannot Tell a Lie." It's supposed to be romantic Colonial, but Crosby keeps playing hot jazz instead of minuets, and the other two have to try to keep up with him.

"White Christmas" is introduced in a charming, quiet scene early in the film that has Linda and Jim talking about the inn, their families, and what they hope for the future. It's lovely and sweet. Other standards introduced here include "Happy Holidays" and "You're Easy to Dance With."

Trivia: The calendar page that introduces the November sequence has a turkey running back and forth between the last two weeks, before finally shrugging in confusion. This is a reference to President Franklin D. Roosevelt changing the Thanksgiving holiday to a week earlier from 1939 to 1941. After that, Congress officially made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November, no matter where it falls on the calendar.

Apparently, everyone involved thought the Valentine's Day song "Be Careful, It's My Heart" would be the big hit. While that one did do well and is relatively well-known, it's "White Christmas" that was the smash hit, became one of the biggest holiday standards ever, and took home the Oscar for best song for Berlin.

The name of the Holiday Inn hotel chain was inspired by this movie.

What I Don't Like: Let's talk about "Abraham." This is the big number for Lincoln's Birthday that has Jim getting Linda into blackface to avoid being found by Ted and Danny. Not only is the song the worst in the film, but while the lyrics mean well (especially the section performed by Beavers and the kids), they do come off as condescending and a bit racist today. The blackface doesn't help at all. The whole thing can be anywhere from awkward to downright offensive for many audiences today. (There's a reason this song was done as a random instrumental jazz duet for Vera-Ellen and one of the male dancers in White Christmas.)

The Big Finale: While White Christmas is fun, I really prefer this one. It has a note of intimacy that the shinier movie from a decade later lacks. Crosby's better here, too, and he pairs well with Astaire. Honestly, if you're a big fan of Crosby or "White Christmas," I recommend grabbing both movies and seeing which one you like better.

Home Media: As the movie that introduced one of the most beloved holiday standards of all time, this one is quite easy to find on most platforms, often for under ten dollars.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime