A Claymation Christmas Celebration is a 1987 CBS Christmas television special that features, as the title suggests, stop-motion clay animation, in this case under the Will Vinton trademark Claymation. It won the 1988 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, beating out the other two nominees, A Garfield Christmas Special (which ironically premiered on the same night) and The Brave Little Toaster.
Synopsis
Situated in London's Christmas Square, the special is co-hosted by Rex (Johnny Counterfit), an erudite Tyrannosaurus rex, and Herb (Tim Conner), a dimwitted and bespectacled Styracosaurus with a gluttonous appetite. The two introduce several stand-alone videos of Christmas carols and holiday standards and discuss the origins of each song relating to different holiday traditions around the world.
Among the musical performances:
- The Biblical magi sing the verses of "We Three Kings" traditionally, while their camels sing the chorus in the style of doo-wop.
- At Notre Dame Cathedral, The Paris Bell-Harmonic, a group of anthropomorphic church bells who strike their own heads with chime hammers to achieve their respective notes, performs "Carol of the Bells". The low C bell (the tonic) constantly dawdles and chimes off key, enraging the maestro, Quasimodo, who uses a slingshot on the bell to get the correct note at the end.
- A children's choir sings "O Christmas Tree", with the video depicting various scenes taking place inside of Christmas ornaments
- "Angels We Have Heard On High" is set to a walrus couple (named Dame Margot Pontoon and Rudolph Nervesonedge) clumsily performing an interpretive ice ballet while several luckless penguins watch.
- At a black church in the countryside, a soul/jazz hybrid rendition of "Joy to the World" plays out in colorful scenes. This segment, using stylized flat animation resembling stained glass windows and the art of sand painting, is the only segment not rendered in Vinton's trademark Claymation.
- The California Raisins perform a cover of the Temptations' version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
"Here We Come a-Wassailing"
Throughout the program, Rex futilely attempts to clarify the true pronunciation and meaning of the term "wassail', featured in the Christmas carol "Here We Come A-Wassailing". As the show progresses, Rex is accosted by different groups, all singing lyrically incorrect versions of the song:
- "Here We Come A-Waffling", by a kennel of dogs selling waffles from a vendor's wagon.
- "Here We Come A-Waddling", by a gaggle of straggling geese carrying baskets of goodies.
- "Here We Come A-Wallowing", by a herd of slovenly pigs on a John Deere-type field wagon gorging themselves on an abundance of assorted fruits.
Rex is convinced that his own pronunciation is correct, but consulting the dictionary provides no meaningful help, and he is continually second-guessed by Herb when he is not otherwise busy partaking excessively of the abundance of treats offered by each group. Finally, near the program's end, a large truck loaded with cider-swilling Irish elves arrives in Christmas Square singing the correct version of the carol, validating Rex's theory much to his delight. When asked, one of the townies explains the actual meaning of wassailing: going around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols, and getting treats and cordials.
At the end, the entire cast, including most of the characters featured in the videos, sing "Here We Come A-Wassailing", and then "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as the end credits roll.
Production notes
Rex and Herb both originally appeared in previous Vinton specials, including Dinosaurs! - A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time!, but it was not until this Christmas special that the two characters were given dialogue and contemporary personalities, vaguely parodying movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.
Soundtrack
A year after the special's premiere, Atlantic Records released the soundtrack on LP, cassette, and CD. It contained six songs not featured on the special, including an alternate version of "Angels We Have Heard On High", but excluded "O Christmas Tree". The track listing was as follows:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Good King Swing
- We Three Kings Bop
- God Rest Ye
- Carol of the Bells
- Silent Night, Jazzy Night
- Noel
- Hark!
- Up on the Housetop
- Joy!
- Waffle, Waddle, Wallow, Wassail
- Angels We Have Heard On High
Availability
The special was made available on VHS by Family Home Entertainment on September 21, 1994.
The special was later featured on the Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Plus Halloween & Easter Celebrations DVD, released by Hen's Tooth Video on September 16, 2003. As suggested by the title, the DVD also included two other Vinton holiday specials, A Claymation Easter and Claymation Comedy of Horrors.