Top 12 Christmas Specials (6-4)

Number 6-Frosty the Snow Man

Yes, this is a classic. Yes, it has a great song that inspired it. Yes, I know you probably won't agree with me on this one, but it's my list. Frosty is a fun little story, but it isn't all that Christmasy to me. Sure Santa comes in and saves the day, but that doesn't really change the fact that it is really a winter-play-time story. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does hurt poor Frosty in my standings.

Number 5- Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

The myopic, Mr. Magoo, takes on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken's immortal Christmas Carol. It's a musical and Magoo does a great job of playing the character of Scrooge. It's pretty close to the original story with the subtraction of Scrooge's nephew. It moves quite quickly, and the musical numbers are cute for the most part. It's a good storyline even though Mr. Magoo isn't a very well known character these days.

Number 4- Disney Christmas Carol

Who better to play Ebenezer Scrooge than Disney's own Scrooge McDuck? The people at Disney did a great job of casting the various characters. It's almost like Scrooge was created to play this part at some point. He's got the nephew and the money grubbing ways. It gets everything from the story and does it in a way that is fresh because it is done with Disney characters in ways that make sense.

The 60th Anniversary edition of Alice in Wonderland?

I know that poor Alice and the strange folk of Wonderland and the Looking Glass have been done over and reimagined so many times that it makes your head ache just to think about it. (As a avid fan of Lewis Carroll, I am very aware of this situation.) But what this shows is that this story has a broad appeal and it is the kind of story that people wish that they could tell for themselves. That is the beauty of the world that Lewis Carroll created.

What got me going on this little ramble about the works of Lewis Carroll? Well, it turns out that this is the 60th anniversary of the release of the Disney animated movie Alice in Wonderland. I don't know about you, but I love this version of the story. It's not perfect, but there are many versions that do it worse. This movie does a great job of conveying the story and capturing some of the more significant moments. How can you not enjoy the Mad Hatter and March Hare singing "a very merry Unbirthday to you?" or the way the Disney artist work with the Cheshire Cat? These are just a few of the wonderful moments in this movie.

Now that it's the 60th anniversary, Disney has released a special anniversary DVD with all sorts of great features. The movie is now in high definition so it will look wonderful on your HDTVs out there. You can also watch lots of special features including video shots of the girl who did the voice acting for Alice as she does walk throughs for the artists to get a feel for how Alice should look and move. There are also interviews with Kathryn Beaumont (aka Alice) reflecting on her role in the movie.

This is just getting out there so I haven't seen it and can only go based on what I'm seeing online, but this looks like a great movie to either rent or buy, but I'm a little obsessed with Wonderland, so I may not be your best option for an impartial opinion.