The Smurfs A Christmas Carol

 

TITLE-The Smurfs A Christmas Carol

SOURCE-Sony DVD

I've seen the classic Hanna Barbara Smurfs Xmas special many times. Which means when I found the above pictured dvd for a quarter I took a chance.

Running barely 22 minutes with no extras this DVD starts off with the new 3d animated style of the Smurfs. Before not long after that going to a recreation of the old 2d style. A few scenes try to combined the 2d characters with 3d backgrounds and it looks cheap.

Story is of course Dicken's A Christmas Carol. With Grouchy Smurf in the place of Scrooge. Smurfette is the Ghost of Xmas past. Showing us why Grouchy hates Xmas. Seems Grouchy wants a hang glider for Xmas but gets what every Smurf gets. A new hat...

Brainy is Ghost of Xmas present,in the most borning section of this already short cartoon.

Then we get Hefty Smurf as the Ghost of Xmas Future. Seems in the future to cheer up Grouchy the entire village goes off into the woods get something,sorry that part slipped my mind this isnt a grreat cartoon. They get captured by Gargamel.

We learn that all year Papa Smurf works on the hats. Making each one have a unique thing that connects it to the Smurf it is made for.

After his trips to the  past,present and future of course Grouchy now wants his hat. And guess what it doubles as a hang glider. Smurfs sing and this crapfest is over.

I know most specials like this are cheaply made cash grabs. This one is very much that. Looked and when this came out it was 10 bucks. 10 bucks for less than 30 minutes of cartoon. Hell why not put some of the old classic episodes on there. It's a freaking dvd you can fit up to 4 hours of video on it easy. Nope put one cheap looking new cartoon on it. Kids won't notice.

the Smurfs A Christmas Carol gets a D+ 

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas

 

TITLE-Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas

SOURCE-DVD

As a kid where I grew up there was no cable. So all those HBO classic most kids of my generation grew up seeing often I either never saw or rarely saw. Emmett Otter is one of those specials that I got lucky and saw often.

The tiny rural school I went to for my first 5 years of schooling would do a big Xmas party the last day before Xmas break started. While the teachers and parents were getting the rooms ready all us kids would be hauled into the school library and shown Emmett Otter, taped off HBO by the school librarian. I looked forward to seeing it each year. Then I went on to Jr High and forgot about it.

So finding the dvd cheap earlier this year I was excited. Put it on one morning while eating breakfast and I can see why this is a beloved Xmas special for Generation X kids.

Emmett Otter and his mother are poor. But happy. She does laundry to make money. Emmett uses his dead father's toolbox to do small repairs and jobs.

Emmett and his friends form a jug band. Emmett needs a washtub to make a washtub bass out of . But the only one he has access too is his mothers and he doesn't want to put a hole in it. But Emmett knows his band could win the big contest and winning it will get him the money his mom and him so badly need.

Emmett's mother on the other hand needs money to make a new dress, she also is entering the contest. Hoping to win enough money to buy Emmett a guitar. To get the money to buy dress making materials she has to sell the tools.

And our big bads are the River Bottom band. A group of ruffians that are also in the contest. 

Loaded with songs this is one of my favorite Henson Workshop product. The work that went into making Emmett Otter and his world seem real is mind blowing. Besides the part where Emmett and his Mother are dancing on ice ,the rest of the puppet work looks so good you forget they are puppets.

Now Emmett and his band lose the contest, his mother loses and River Bottom Band wins. Still someone sees Emmett's band and his mother and they get offered a job playing at a local joint on the weekends.

I haven't seen this aired on TV in decades. Looking around it is currently on Amazon Prime video. And you can rent it off Youtube. But dig further and you can find a VHS rip on Youtube for free. If you haven't seen this go watch it. Yea the plot is one we have seen 100 times. It is the work that went into this special and the music that makes it stand out.

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas gets a B+

The Best of Benny Hill DVD

 

TITLE-The Best of Benny Hill

SOURCE-Anchor Bay  DVD

Yep that is my amazing dog Maggot Ass the Wonder Mutt in the above picture. Lots of the time in  the early morning or late night she will chill and watch dvds with me.

First off I totally forgot that Anchor Bay released stuff like this. For most they are known for their many Horror DVD releases. Lots of classics got amazing releases from  Anchor Bay.

Now Benny Hill,seems for us in the USA it was very much a late 70s thru early 80s thing. Airing in syndication,usually Fri/Sat/Sunday nights after the 10pm news.

I can't remember what channel I saw it on as a kid. Just know I got to stay up late Sundays. At 1030pm was Benny Hill for 30 minutes then 11pm was Battlestar Galactica reruns. Being a kid when Star Wars started BSG was the show I had to see. Even when it was just reruns I had seen before.

Also being a kid under 10 most of the humor in Benny Hill flew over my head. I had no clue the various UK cultural references he was making were. And all the sex humor I didn't get. To me it was a color verison of 3 Stooges. So I loved it. Looked forward to it and Battlestar. Getting to stay up see them made up for having to be up at 6am to get ready for 7am mass.

No clue if this DVD is 3 full episodes,it runs 1 hour and 26 minutes. Or if it is just almost 90 minutes worth of skits. 

When I found this DVD it took me months to get it watched. Then early one morning I got a drink,grabbed Maggot Ass and watched it while the house was quiet. For that almost 90 minutes I was a kid again. But this time getting more of the jokes than I did 40 years ago.

Sure lots of the humor wouldn't fly in today's culture. But it is like that with so much stuff. LOok at early X-men comics,you got Prof X lusting after 16 year old Jean Grey. 

If you remember this show I would say track down one of the dvds cheap and give it a rewatch. It made me laugh more than expected.

The Best of Benny Hill gets a C+