21 July 2008

Christmas in July

Some Christmas specials online:

This is an odd one: 1970s effort about aliens coming to earth and finding out what Christmas is all about. The animation makes the aliens look like ethereal wise men.

A Cosmic Christmas

Another animated curiosity from the early days of video games:

Christmas Comes to Pac-Land

Produced by the Mormon church:

Mr. Krueger's Christmas

The Emmy award-winning animated special done in the style of Victorian illustrations:

A Christmas Carol

Some network standards, available for purchase on DVD:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Garfield Christmas

Christmas crackers from the British:

Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean

Vicar of Dibley: "The Christmas Lunch Incident"

A blast from the past:

Bob Hope Christmas Pacific Tour 1958

The Origins of Christmas

So today I was searching for the "Children in Need" Doctor Who specials, made a turn at Christmas, and discovered that last year the BBC made a special about the Dickensian origins of Christmas. Here's the article from the "Radio Times":

Griff Rhys Jones on the Dickensian Christmas

And here's the special, in two parts...not sure why it's on a Japanese site:

Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, part 1

Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, part 2

And here are several other documentaries on the origins of Christmas that I'd never seen:

The Origins of Christmas

The Unwrapping of Christmas: Its History, Myths, & Traditions (The hostess says this is one hour, but only 31 minutes of video are posted)

Beyond Today: "Christmas, Mirth or Myth?"

06 July 2008

Download a Song or Two

You can buy and download Christmas albums in .mp3 format at Amazon.com.