They're too much? Nope... they're not enough.
So I wrote a couple weeks ago about how I was cautiously optimistic regarding the A Miser Brothers' Christmas special airing this year on ABC Family. This special was, supposedly, a sequel to the Rankin/Bass classic The Year Without a Santa Claus.
It... well... fell short. I'm not completely surprised. So far, there hasn't been a single truly worthy sequel to a classic Rankin/Bass holiday special. I had a glimmer of hope because this one had so, so much more going for it than the others, including the return of original voice actors Mickey Rooney as Santa and George S. Irving as Heat Miser. It was also the only sequel done in stop motion animation (as opposed to CG,) which was a hallmark of most of Rankin/Bass' specials.
So what, exactly, didn't I like? Well, the two biggest turnoffs for me were the writing and the music. Rankin/Bass was a well oiled holiday machine, and they usually employed the services of Romeo Muller as screenwriter and Maury Laws as composer. Muller's screenplays had a certain "it" factor... it's really hard to pin down exactly was "it" was... he had a real knack for pacing and characterization.
On the few rare occasions when they did sequels, Mr. Muller often took things in a totally different direction. This show, on the other hand, simply rehashed bits of the original (Santa is out of commission... again) and what was new, was just... not all that interesting, really. The pacing was slow, and none of the new characters were all that memorable.
Besides, as great as the Misers were in the original special, they were a plot device. That's it. They existed as an obstacle for Mrs. Claus and the elves to overcome. The story wasn't about them, and they got very little screen time aside from a snappy musical number. They were never meant to carry an entire show themselves, and they just... can't. The fighting gets real old, real quick. Then they kiss and make up, so the one thing they did have going for them was gone.
So that brings me to the music. The Rankin/Bass classics had classic music. The Misers are as popular as they are because of a catchy song. No memorable showstoppers are to be found here. Even the classic Miser Brothers musical number was watered down compared to the original. In fact, I have to say that all of the original tunes were downright painful to listen to. From the opening number to Mrs. Claus' awful warbling, the music was really, really subpar. Even the background music sounded like something from your average Saturday morning cartoon show.
I understand that Maury Laws probably wanted nothing to do with this thing, but surely there are some talented folks on Broadway that could write some catchy tunes...?
The music is absolutely, absolutely a key ingredient of most successful holiday specials. Aside from the Rankin/Bass specials, where would the Grinch be without "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" or what would Charlie Brown be without "Christmastime is Here" or "Linus and Lucy" ...?
Yeah, it's that important. And one of the things I've seen mucked up the most in these Rankin/Bass "sequels."
So what was done right?
Using stop motion animation. Soooo close, yet so far to go, guys. Cuppa Coffee is the studio behind this special. They're the folks who did Jojo's Circus on Playhouse Disney. And I cannot deny that they're talented.
The animation quality is excellent. This thing looked expensive. The art direction, well, would be very nice if this weren't billed as a sequel to a show with such a classic, classic look. Rankin/Bass shows had a distinct style thanks to the uber talented Paul Coker Jr.
This show was very bright, very pastel and very stylized. That's not a bad thing... it's just hard to reconcile it with the original when many of the characters look so different (such as a skinny Mrs. Claus and an unrecognizable Mother Nature.) Oddly enough, some of the new characters (like North Wind) looked more like a Coker design than the returning cast. The elves seemed to be a throwback to the elves from Rudolf instead of the elves from The Year Without a Santa Claus. Jingle and Jangle are nowhere to be found. Rankin/Bass characters were cartoony, but the sets and costuming were usually grounded in reality. Again, not understanding the logic here.
So yeah... if it weren't a sequel to a show with an established look, I'd have nothing but praise.
Voice casting. Bringing back Mickey Rooney and George S. Irving was inspired. They both did an excellent job with the material they were given, and Mr. Rooney slipped back into the Santa role effortlessly.
And, well, that's about it. Worth checking out for the curiosity of it, but don't expect the second coming of Rankin/Bass. It is what it is. And, believe it or not, it's the best of the bunch so far.
Now, if Warner/Cuppa Coffee would've worked on a new special that wasn't a sequel to such a classic, I think I would've been much, much more receptive. I see potential to do Rankin/Bass style shows... but the classics really should be left alone. (Yeaaaaah... I'm lookin' at you, Classic Media!)
But, man... if Cuppa Coffee teamed up with Rankin, Bass, Laws and Coker on something new... that might actually work out quite well indeed. There's definitely a demand, or these "sequels" wouldn't be churned out at such an alarming rate. Who better to give the public what they want than the guys behind the originals? One can dream...
