The Insects' Christmas (1913) movie

Fun Discovery: The Voice Actors Behind Your Favorite Holiday Shows

During our family's Christmas 2020 Film Festival (made possible by social distance due to COVID), we watched some of the animated Christmas specials from my childhood: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and  Charlie Brown Christmas.

Thanks to the internet, we interspersed our watching with looking up trivia on the people behind the voices (links at the bottom of his blog).

One man had quite the prolific career: Paul Frees. If Wikipedia is correct, he also had five wives and died by suicide.

Still, the amount of projects to which he contributed is astounding, to say the least.

https://www.otrcat.com/p/paul-frees

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/actors/paul-frees

And now, check out the faces behind the voices of your childhood favorites:

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed-Reindeer/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Santa-Claus-is-Comin-to-Town/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Frosty-the-Snowman/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Little-Drummer-Boy/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/How-the-Grinch-Stole-Christmas/

Christmas 2020 Film Festival: Did We Watch all the Movies?

Since my extended family couldn't get together over the holidays, I decided to sit down and watch a long list of movies I have either never seen or have not seen in many, many years.

Rebekah and Timothy joined me for all of them. Daniel joined us for most of them.

You can find the list on this post: http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2020/12/christmas-2020-film-festival.html

Now, did we get through all of them? Well, not quite.

But really only because we forgot one (White Christmas, which I've never seen), we ran out of time for a second A Christmas Carol (Reginald Owen), and we added three more films. 

One of those additional films was The House Without A Christmas Tree, which (thanks to the internet) I learned was based on a true story.

We actually own the DVD, worth buying because we couldn't find a decent copy to stream. And worth watching because, even though it was a low budget film, the results were outstanding and the film and concept holds up well to time.

We also added "Hi-Tops," a rare 1985 Christian musical about three angels sent on a special mission to a high school on earth to study peer pressure.

Before you laugh, this movie was a hit among teens when we ran The Higher Ark youth group for our church, and I don't know why. The kids came from some tough homes, but the high amount of enjoyment (and buzz) for this film really surprised us.

Yes, it's deliberately cheesy, but if you can accept that, you can actually enjoy a movie concept that was groundbreaking for its time (MTV was only a couple years old when it was made).

The musical launched Christian artist Crystal Lewis, but some of the other actors are genuinely talented (I'm looking at you Jeff Carter, i.e. Norman J. Pitts - and "Louie" was pretty good, too).

The full move is actually on YouTube.

Finally, the last movie we added to our list is worth a post of its own. You probably haven't heard of it, much less seen it, and it will be hard to get your hands on it, too.

It was on my wish list for "film day" when I home-schooled, but it was so obscure that even when it became available on DVD, the copies cost hundreds of dollars.

The book is short, only 98 pages, but these, too, cost a couple hundred dollars (if you can find one).

I'd only seen it twice on TV, the last time being more than forty years ago. I was surprised at how much dialogue I'd known by heart.

Stay tuned.

Christmas 2020 Film Festival

For some people, a cherished part of Christmas/holiday season is watching and rewatching the old holiday favorites.

For me, these TV specials and movies were part of my childhood - and there's still a few classics I've yet to see. But none of them were part of my adulthood.

How can that be, you may wonder.

Well, when I was a stay-at-home mom when my oldest children were young and before the advent of home VHS, you could only catch them on TV. And my children's father wouldn't give up his shows for children's Christmas specials. 

But by the time we had home VHS, I had three children under five. So I could pop in a VHS for them to watch while I caught up on housework.

As they grew, God blessed us with three more children. By the time number four arrived, I was already a homeschooling mom. Now anyone who's had a house filled with children and has home-schooled knows there's always one child (not always the same child) who doesn't get his or or her work done, with reasons ranging from overall slothfulness to not grasping the concepts.

So I would spend extra time to make sure the work was grasped and completed. And then I caught up on housework while the kids watched holiday specials. Next year, I would tell myself.

Then I became a single mom and worked two jobs (and for a short time, three jobs). Then I became a married mom who worked two jobs, as did my husband Rob. Then we became a home-schooling family again. You can do the math: two parents plus four jobs taking care of six kids equals little free time.

Those were glorious years, by the way. And they passed very quickly. Watching holiday films was not on my top any number of list things to do.

We were talking about this the other day. Somehow, my kids have memories of me watching with them, most likely because I popped in and out of the room on the way to another room and sat for a few minutes.

But to sit down and watch an entire Christmas show or movie? Nope!

This year I have the time and no family get-togethers, which sounds dismal, right? 

Quick rabbit trail.

Remember back in the 1970s (well, maybe not, if you're a young person reading this blog), when people proclaimed that women could have it all? Well, I believe anyone can "have it all," although the right time for "all" is often not in the same time frame.

Scripture says "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." And that is true with our lives.

I've had big traditional Christmases, new calendar Christmases, old calendar Christmases, Christmases full of cooking, and baking, and gift buy, and gift wrapping, and running around town to visit family and friends.

I've had two-parents Christmases and single parent Christmases, and house filled with people Christmases. I've had Christmases where work usurped our traditions. And last Christmas morning, I walked a hot chocolate and my little Christmas tree to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet where a friend from high school with lung cancer was spending Christmas. This year, that same friend is spending Christmas in heaven.

This year, we'll be "zooming" part of our Christmas. 

Also this year, I'm catching up on Christmas movies.

Here's my roster:

Wednesday night: It's a Wonderful Night.

Thursday night: Alastair Sims' A Christmas Carol (my favorite version).

Friday throughout the day: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and (if I can find it) Charlie Brown Christmas. (all favorites from my childhood).

Saturday: Reginald Owens' "Scrooge."

Sunday night: Not sure. I do have a virtual Christmas party with the 5 a.m. writers group that sounds waaaay more put together than anything I did for WriteOn Joliet. Time for me to get my act together.

The rest of the time between then and January 2: I have seen none of these (although I've seen part of the second and clips of the third).

White Christmas

Christmas in Connecticut

Miracle on 34th Street

And everything I didn't watch on the original list before I ran out of time (see above).

By the way, I'm running a special promotion on BryonySeries books in order to help out The Book Market in Crest Hill. 

I've already sent the first batches of coupons (THANK YOU to all who supported this special sale). Find details here: bryonyseries.com/promotions.

You thought I'd forgotten to spam you today, didn't you?

Photo by Timothy Baran