Rudolph in HD

[Daniel]

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman (the abomination Returns, too) and other holiday favorites will remain on CBS. After the Peanuts fiasco it's nice to get confirmation! Can't wait.

[EricJ]

But will Rudolph's Shiny New Year come back for networks' new hair-of-the-dog after-Christmas week of New Year's specials (including the New Year's Charlie Brown special)?

[gaastra]

But will cbs be jerks and block them again this year on digital cables like hulu live like they did last year over wanting more money?

What kind of evil jerks block frosty? Shame on you cbs.

[Daniel]

Rudolph flies tonight on CBS! Expect an encore and repeats on Freeform. Other holiday favorites that usually air on broadcast will be coming soon.

[Daniel]

Saw the news on the front page about Jules Bass passing. A true Christmas legend. Leaves behind quite a legacy. Even their logo jingle was just as memorable. I love practically all their specials and have been watching them as long as I can remember. That is my childhood.

[Ben]

Yes, the Rankin/Bass name was as big for us as Walt Disney and Hanna-Barbera growing up. Obviously with hindsight these were different things for different purposes, but as kids it was all animation and all enjoyable. I still think Mad Monster Party is minor genius for many different reasons.

[Randall]

R-B is legendary. Much respect.

[Daniel]

Mad Monster Party is a yearly staple! Witty and charming. Groovy soundtrack, too.

[gaastra]

What did you think of the second mad monster party? Unlike the first released in theatres this was a prime time special follow up!

See shrek and trolls wasn't the first to do that!

This time it was 2d animation over stop motion.

[Randall]

I still need to watch that. I've had the DVD for a while!

[EricJ]

What did you think of the second mad monster party? Unlike the first released in theatres this was a prime time special follow up

No, it was on the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (at least in the US)--
And therefore, by the series, was probably a Sat. morning series pilot. I certainly wouldn't put it past 2D Rankin-Bass.

[Ben]

Not a sequel though, just another take on a similar concept by the same creators. We had this on VHS back in the day, along with the same-year Groovie Ghoolies show that had bizarro versions of Daffy and co popping up with Drac. That one was funnier, though they were both just a little bit too strange to really be that enjoyable. Maybe if Mad Mad Monsters had been another stop-motion fest it might have felt more in keeping, but as a "feature" (I think it was a 50 minute special?) it doesn’t touch MMP.

[EricJ]

That Ghoolies show was also a Saturday Superstar, though not a pilot--

I caught the MMM special (again) on the PD backwaters of Amazon Prime, where it was paired with another early-RB Halloween holiday special. Your VHS was probably the same, since a lot of unclaimed Filmation is floating around the $5 tapes.
Much of unclaimed Rankin-Bass (ie., that isn't owned by Warner, or whoever's got Classic Media after DreamWorks) seems to have fallen OOC after the company went under--Like, of all the non-classics, why does only the stop-motion Jack Frost Christmas special keep turning up in the cheap streaming ether?

[gaastra]

So, it's a remake? Have not seen it in 20 years. Crazy how you guys got daffy meets goollies on vhs as we never got it in america on vhs or dvd. Guess you got the cut edited version without the live action segment and scenes removed right?

[Ben]

I suspect so…I donut remember any live-action on the Daffy special. Actually, I mainly just remember his weird "fat feet" in that show!