Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass' classic holiday special — based on a Gene Autry tune and a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward — first aired in 1964, and will be shown for its 50th network broadcast tonight on CBS at 8 p.m.
Its stop-motion style with heart-rending misfit toys, a scary but lovable Abominable Snowman and awkwardly cute bobble-headed characters all were born from a technique Rankin and Bass called "animagic."
The show was one among a handful of Rankin & Bass specials that had a strangely otherworldly beauty.
Those of us who grew up in the 1960s to '80s looked forward to the Rankin-Bass shows like Rudolph, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman. The holiday classics, like the Peanuts specials, aired with that percussive "CBS Special" intro (pictured, right) that made our little hearts thump with anticipation. That kind of excitement over something so low-tech is quite rare today.
Click here for Mashable's 12 fun facts about the holiday special.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2014.