Beyond Charlie Brown and the Grinch: Classic Christmas Cartoons You May Have Missed

Yeah, How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas is great. And A Charlie Brown Christmas is heartwarming as heck. And though you can skip the rest, what would Christmas television be without the showtunes of Snow Miser and his brother Heat Miser? There are other interesting Christmas cartoons worth catching, however.

Robbie the Reindeer
If you Netflix this one, you get the fascinating opportunity of listening to both the American and the original British voices. Being a big Ben Stiller fan, the American version has a lot to offer, but then again Steve Coogan (the funniest man alive) plays Blitzen in the British version. Robbie is Rudolph's son, but he's not quite the man, er reindeer, his father was. The big deer on campus now that Rudy and his red nose have retired to go on the lecture circuit is Blitzen. (Is it just me or does Blitzen sound like a Jewish name?) There are actually two different episodes, Hooves of Fire and Legend of the Lost Tribe. I find the sequel to be funnier, but if you can only catch one it really doesn't matter, you should be entertained. These cartoons are definitely aimed more toward adults than kids, but my kids were under ten the first time they watched it and they thought it was funny.

Favorite line: "You're so wise...and old."

Olive the Other Reindeer
There are three keys to enjoying this one. The first is that you enjoy puns like that expressed in the title. For instance, there is a character named Round John Virgin and another named Richard Stands. (As in the pledge of allegiance's republic.) The second key to enjoyment is that Matt Groening is involved and Dan Castelleneta plays a major role. And finally, and perhaps the level on which Olive the Other Reindeer can be best enjoyed, is the delightfully excruciating singing voice of Drew Barrymore. Drew, bless her, is so tone-deaf that she makes Olive's atonal delivery endearing. This cartoon is both very sweet like the Peanuts, and very hip and ironic like the Grinch. It should not be missed.

Favorite line: Olive: Martini, are you okay? Martini: Shaken, but not stirred.