Last night, I went out and bought the classic Bass-Rankin "Frosty" and "Rudolph" on DVD, and my girlfriend and I spent the evening making home-made Bailey's-style Irish cream liqueur, then watching those Christmas classics. I hadn't seen either of them in years, so I was looking forward to seeing them as an adult.
Rudolph, from the classic Rankin-Bass classic holiday TV show.The one thing which struck both of us was the fact that, in Rudolph, Santa really comes across as being a total dick. As soon as Rudolph's fake nose pops off, during the Reindeer games, Santa disses him. After listening to the elves do their special song for him, he slams the performance saying it needs work.
Admittedly, he's supposed to be worried sick over the fact that the huge snowstorm is threatening to force him to cancel Christmas, but still. They portray him not as an otherwise-Jolly, but troubled Santa, but more of a crotchety, autocratic cobag. I wonder how many kids were subliminally conditioned towards anxiety about not pissing Santa off by the endless repetitions of "Rudolph" throughout the years.
At least in Frosty, Santa was mainly portrayed in a more standard Jolly Old Elf character. Although, at the end, they did leave Karen on the roof of her house with no apparent way down....
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