When we were kids, the very idea of a cartoon airing on television at night was insane! That's probably when my love of holiday specials started and now many, many years later I still love watching those cartoons year after year that have become one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. Most of these are older affairs that I've seen dozens of times, some are newer specials that I've grown to love through watching with my children. Get ready for some doozies here in my list of 25 personal favorites of holiday animations.
1) A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) This is the gold standard by which all other Christmas specials are judged. Every single second of this cartoon is perfect.
2) Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) This 26 minute short film is technically not a TV special but after appearing in theaters alongside The Rescuers it aired on network television and The Disney Channel for many, many years. A new Mickey Mouse cartoon for the first time in almost 30 years blew my little 10 year old mind at the time. Mickey's Christmas Carol is both a celebration of Christmas and Disney not to mention it has some pretty solid gags that still make me laugh. Mickey and Charlie Brown have always been required Christmas Eve viewing for as long as I've had a VCR and the tradition continues to this day with my family, although we often have to move it a few days earlier due to family visitations.
3) Christmas Flintstone/How The Flintstones Saved Christmas (1964) This is a superb season 5 episode of the classic Flintstones prime time series although for years it has also aired as a stand alone special. The VHS release of this episode was the first video cassette I ever bought. Hanna-Barbera remade this episode in the 70's with an expanded hour long special, and there was another Flintstones Christmas special in '93 and a tv-movie in '94 which are all fun but this original episode is extra magical.
4) A Pink Christmas (1978) I was a huge Pink Panther fanatic when I was a kid. This dialogue free half hour is a retelling of the classic O. Henry story The Cop and the Anthem", which I never realized until I was in a high school play of that story and said, "Hey, this is just like the Pink Panther Christmas special.
5) A Chipmunk Christmas (1981) I used to think this was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. Alvin's attitude was a bit more irreverent than more cartoon characters back then. Also, it wouldn't be the holiday season without me telling one of my kids they're getting a Golden Echo harmonica for Christmas.
6) He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (1985) Let's face it, the old He-Man cartoons weren't exactly overflowing with creativity but when they made this stand-alone special featuring characters from both the He-Man show and She-Ra's show, Filmation might have created their most wonderful product. When Skelator learns all about Christmas and has flashes of cheer and holiday spirit come over him, it is hilarious and heartwarming.
7) Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (1989) Before the entire universe of Springfield was built out over the next 30+ years, you have this very first outing where Homer gets a job as a mall Santa and then blows his earnings at the dog track. Everything we've come to expect from The Simpsons is on display in this holiday special/series pilot. Probably the first animated Christmas TV special to have "cursing" in it.
8) How Murray Saved Christmas (2014) It's hard to expect my kids to be as passionate about the old specials as I am since they are used to more modern animation and pacing but this fairly recent NBC special is one of their top favorites and we've all come to adore it after multiple screenings. There's some catchy songs as well as some off-color humor just inappropriate enough to make the kids giggle but you don't have to reach for the remote. (Streaming on Peacock in 2021)
9) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) It took me a long time to come around to the Grinch special. I never really cared for it as a kid but after watching it with my kids I've come to respect his game. The Chuck Jones animation is amazing for a television special and of course almost every aspect of this story has become an official part of our holiday pop culture landscape. I've even added Whoo-Hash to our Christmas morning breakfast tradition.
10) For Better or for Worse: The Bestest Present (1985) One of a number of specials that aired on HBO in the pre-VCR mid-80's, These holiday specials were the first that I was able to watch multiple times in one season. Some of the HBO specials were so forgotten about over time that I wondered if my memories of them were even real. The day I discovered that this cartoon was available on DVD, directly from the original comic strip's creator Lynn Johnston...I've never ordered something online so fast before in my life. It was wonderful to be reunited with this lovely piece of animation about the youngest member of the Patterson family losing her stuffed bunny at the department store and the kind old janitor who finds the toy and reunites it with it's owner. I probably watched this dozens of times on HBO back in the day, and have watched it every year since I got my hands on the DVD a decade ago.
11) Ziggy's Gift (1982) As far as I know, the only animated outing for Tom Wilson's comic strip character. Gorgeously animated by the acclaimed Richard Williams, he won an Oscar in 1973 for an animated Christmas Carol short and then was awarded an Emmy for Best Primetime Animated Program for this special.
12) A Walt Disney Christmas (1982) Not so much a special, as a VHS collection of various holiday themed vintage shorts from the Walt Disney studios. Chip n Dale in the Christmas tree, Donald and his nephews have a snowball fight, the whole gang ice skating...these are the Christmastime cartoons that Disney has repurposed in various television airings, specials and home video compilations. I got this tape from Santa the same year I got a VCR for my bedroom when I was younger.
13) The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree (1979) There's no reason I should love this special so much except that it was on HBO a bunch and I watched it every chance I got. The bear family goes into the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree. Papa Bear thinks bigger is better but the cubs teach him the true meaning of Christmas. I paid top dollar for a beat-up old VHS of this show many years ago and then it was released on DVD. I refused to upgrade my copy but eventually found the DVD for a dollar at a thrift store. I can't get rid of the VHS though.
14) Prep & Landing (2009) An absolute modern classic from Walt Disney animation about the elves who prep your house for Santa's arrival. The take on the North Pole adopting modern technology is both clever and hilarious. My kids adore this special and we've watched it every year since it first aired. The first few years, my kids would watch this everyday after school for the entire Christmas season.
15) 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) If memory serves me, this traditionally animated Rankin Bass special aired long into the 80's and I remember watching it numerous times. Since it wasn't based on a popular character I was never really into it much but then years ago I started thinking about "that mice in the clock" cartoon and found a DVD of the special. It's still not terribly fantastic but it's the perfect amount of nostalgia I need each Christmas season.
16) Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper (1978) I don't remember every seeing this on network, I would always have to seek this Chuck Jones helmed gem out on a local independent channel. The siblings Raggedy save Christmas from the modernization of Gloop-Stick, a plastic varnish that protects toys from being broken...or played with.
17) Shrek the Halls (2007) I'm definitely not a Shrek fan (don't get me started on how Shrek ruined kids movies for the next 20 years) but this brief 22 minute cartoons hits just right for me. Each of the little supporting characters from the world of Shrek get a moment to shine and that's just about the perfect amount for me in regards to German accented pigs, high-pitched gingerbread men and farting baby ogres.
18) The Smurfs Christmas Special (1982) The Smurfs were such a huge, important part of my childhood that even though I can hardly sit through an episode of their 80's cartoon show today, I still love the little fellows. Their Christmas special is pretty decent with the Smurfs helping some lost children find their way home. This entry could be included on this list just for the earworm song "Goodness Makes the Badness Go Away."
19) Frosty The Snowman (1969) I've always been a Frosty over Rudolph kinda guy. Classic line in our house, "No Money! No ticket!"
20) The Little Rascals' Christmas Special (1979) Animated revival of the classic live-action shorts served as a pilot to an unproduced Saturday morning series is a sentimental and sweet story of Spanky and his brother Porky trying to raise money to buy back the coat their mother sold in order to buy them gifts. As kids, my brother would repeat the line, "Ho, Ho, Ho. Keep moving. Merry Christmas! Keep Moving! Ho, Ho, Ho!" over and over again. He would now either have no memory of or deny ever seeing any of these specials.
21) B.C.: A Special Christmas (1981) Another one of the HBO specials that I watched an endless amount of times, also based on a comic strip and also lost to the march of time - although it did pop up on Amazon Prime not too long ago. The comic cavemen make the first attempt at commercializing Christmas. There are some out-of-date attitudes towards women in this cartoon, but considering when this takes place - that's to be expected, I guess. Another beloved special that I reconnected with years ago after paying way too much money for an old VHS copy from eBay.
22) A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987) The original airing of this special was when I recorded it, it was one of the first Christmas specials I taped and watched a million times. To this day, It's just not Christmas until I hear The California Raisins singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
23) Have Yourself A Goofy Little Christmas (1992) A Christmas themed episode of the Goof Troop TV series, which aired in a separate package in syndication. Goofy's son Max is embarrassed by his dad, as always but the family's holiday traditions are too important even for a moody teenager. The pacing in this episode is a little different than the weekday afternoon TV show which gives it a nice cozy feel. You can hunt this one down on Disney+.
24) It's a Spongebob Christmas! (2012) I'm not much of a Spongebob fan, but when you make a stop-motion special and then air it on actual network television (CBS) in prime time - I'm there! And it's really good.
25) Christmas Comes to Pac-Land (1982) The night this came on ABC, we had a Christmas pageant at school and I missed it! I had to anxiously wait a whole year to see it and it was so worth the wait! Actually, this Hanna-Barbera cartoon is pretty bad but the fact that it exists is enough for me to have seen it a dozen or so times!
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