I checked my phone as the cartoon wound down and I got dressed. The weather app said it was 9 degrees at 8:30 AM, with a wind chill factor dipping into negatives. No doubt about it. I couldn't ride anywhere in that. I ended up calling Uber. Once again, I had an easy time getting a driver, and it went surprisingly well for the day before the biggest holiday of the year. It took me 7 minutes to get one in the morning, 14 in the evening. not bad for early in the day and at rush-hour during an Eagles game. In both cases, I got where I was going in five minutes or less.
The Acme wasn't bad, either. We were busy in the morning, but it died off early in the afternoon and remained off-and-on steady thereafter. I suspect the combination of early football and the biting chill kept a lot of people away. I got frustrated with mistakes a few times, but other than that, there were no problems. It died down enough by 5:30 for me to shut down with enough time to return some cold items before heading out.
(Wish the game went as well. The Eagles were winning at half-time, but the Cowboys made a comeback and won 40-34.)
After I got home, I had leftovers for dinner while watching the half-hour Disney special The Small One. I go further into this lovely story of a little boy and his beloved donkey friend at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Took a shower, then put on A Disney Channel Christmas. Mom recorded this blending of the older Disney specials Jiminy Cricket's Christmas and A Disney Christmas Gift in 1988, and I've watched it almost every year since. The first half does have the fall and winter fairy section of "The Nutcracker Suite" from Fantasia, but it mostly focuses on classic holiday and snow-themed shorts like "Pluto's Christmas Tree" and "The Art of Skiing."
The second half switches gears to showcase scenes from Disney animated films involving snow, parties, or gift-giving. Peter Pan and the Darling kids soar above London, Thumper tries to teach Bambi how to ice skate, Pinocchio dances with puppets while singing "I've Got No Strings," the mice make Cinderella a ball gown, and Snow White joins the dwarfs for "The Silly Song." We get two more shorts next, Donald fighting with gifts and wrapping paper in "The Clock Watcher," and my favorite black and white short, the touching "Mickey's Good Deed." We even get the Christmas Past segment from Mickey's Christmas Carol. (Which was so new when this special came out, Jiminy says it's "now in theaters.") The finale, with Jiminy singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" sitting on a candle against a red background while surrounded by Disney characters, always leaves a lump in my throat.
Moved on to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation next. All Clark Grizwauld (Chevy Chase) wants is a "good old fashioned family Christmas" like the ones he had when he was a kid. As frequently happens in the Vacation series, what Clark imagines and what actually happens are two entirely different matters. The two sets of grandparents he invites over don't get along. His yuppie neighbors (one of which is Julia Louis-Dreyfus) are about ready to throttle him for the mess he's made in their house. His own house is so covered in lights, it shorts out the neighborhood power grid. Even when Clark does get the lights working, his cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) turns up in his rattletrap RV with his family and causes even more chaos. In the end, as the SWAT team comes through the windows and his miserly boss (Brian Doyle-Murphy) threatens to fire him, Clark finally figures out that we can't make Christmas perfect...but we can make it memorable.
My personal favorite of the Vacation movies by a county mile, even over the original. There's a warm and fuzzy feeling here that actually works pretty well with the slapstick, and Clark's family is a riot. Some mild scatological and sexual humor makes this for pre-teens and teens who just started their own Christmas vacations and adults who have probably been through everything Clark's dealt with here.
Finished the night on YouTube with more vintage holiday fare. Lawrence Welk and his Musical Family brought their own families in for their Christmas shows. Every episode started with the cast singing "Jingle Bells" while trimming the tree and ended with Santa Claus giving all the children of the performers presents. Bobby Burgess gets a number with his partner. He and Cissy King did a lively dance to "December the 25th" from Scrooge in 1973. Elaine Niverson joined him in 1979 for a rather stiff waltz to "White Christmas." They had far more fun with "Jing a Ling, Jing a Ling" in 1981. Arthur Duncan's only number was as a toy soldier dancing to "March of the Wooden Soldiers" in '73.
The kids had some pretty impressive numbers, too. Bobby Burgess' cutest partner was his own precious daughter Becky. They danced to "It's a Small World" in 1979 and "Up On the Housetop" in 1981, the latter with help from grandpa Myron Floren. Mini-violinist Cheryl Staples and her pianist sister Debbie were fabulous on "Jesu Bambino" in '81. Anacani helped Tanya Welk keep her toddlers around long enough to sing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" in 1973. Drummer Paul Humphery's son Damian-Paul was adorable on his own mini drum set. His sister Pier did a ballet routine to "March of the Wooden Soldiers" in 1979 and an amazing acrobatic routine with some incredible back bends in '81.
Let Lawrence Welk and his family liven up the background of your family's Christmas Eve gathering!
And here's even more vintage Christmas specials to enjoy this holiday season!
And Jiminy Cricket said it best earlier tonight. From all of us to all of you, we hope you have the very merriest of holiday seasons!
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