99 Fun Facts About Christmas Cartoon

In the 1964 stop-motion special, what does Hermey the elf dream of becoming instead of a toymaker?

Hermey wants to be a dentist rather than make toys. He gets his wish at the end, pulling every one of the Abominable Snow Monster's teeth so the beast is harmless.

Who voiced Sam the Snowman, the narrator of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)?

Burl Ives voiced Sam the Snowman, and the special's song 'We're a Couple of Misfits' was replaced by 'Fame and Fortune' in broadcasts from 1965 until 1998.

In Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, what has prospector Yukon Cornelius spent his life seeking?

Silver and gold drive Yukon Cornelius, who seems lost when he tumbles off a cliff with the Abominable Snow Monster, then returns with the beast tamed.

Who rules the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

King Moonracer, a winged lion, shelters unloved toys on his island and asks Rudolph's group to win Santa's help in finding them homes.

What does Yukon Cornelius nickname the Abominable Snow Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

Bumble is Yukon Cornelius's name for the Abominable Snow Monster, which, once tamed, helps trim the Christmas tree.

The jazz score for A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) was written and performed by which pianist's trio?

Vince Guaraldi first worked with the Peanuts team after producer Lee Mendelson heard his hit 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind' on the radio.

Whom did the producers of A Charlie Brown Christmas hire to voice the Peanuts gang?

Actual child actors voiced the gang, and Kathy Steinberg, who played Sally, was too young to read, so her lines had to be fed to her.

When Linus explains what Christmas is all about, which book of the Bible does he recite from?

Luke 2:8-14 is Linus's reading, kept despite director Bill Melendez's concerns after Schulz reportedly asked, 'If we don't do it, who will?'

In A Charlie Brown Christmas, what does Lucy tell Charlie Brown to buy for the play?

A pink aluminum tree is Lucy's order, but Charlie Brown brings back a small sapling, the only real tree on the lot.

Which horror-film legend narrated and voiced the Grinch in the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

Boris Karloff never returned as the Grinch: he died in 1969, so Hans Conried voiced the character in the later special Halloween Is Grinch Night.

The uncredited bass singer of 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' was better known as which cereal mascot's voice?

Tony the Tiger's booming voice, Thurl Ravenscroft, went uncredited for the song, so Dr. Seuss wrote to columnists nationwide to say who had sung it.

Which Looney Tunes director co-produced and directed the 1966 Grinch special?

Chuck Jones directed and co-produced the special after working with Dr. Seuss on the Private Snafu Army training cartoons during World War II.

Which voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel played Cindy Lou Who in the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

June Foray also voiced Karen in the first broadcast of Frosty the Snowman, but her dialogue was later re-dubbed by another actress.

By how many sizes does the Grinch's heart grow at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

The Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day; with his new strength he saves the sleigh from tumbling off Mount Crumpit and returns everything to Whoville.

Who narrates the 1969 Rankin/Bass special Frosty the Snowman?

Jimmy Durante narrates, and at the end Santa sends the scheming magician home to write apologies in hope of a new hat.

What is the name of the magician's rabbit who befriends Frosty in the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman?

Hocus Pocus belongs to Professor Hinkle, whose discarded hat brings Frosty to life, and he rides the train north with Frosty and Karen.

Which Japanese studio, founded by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, animated the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman?

Mushi Production, which Tezuka founded as a rival to Toei Animation, went bankrupt in 1973, and its staff went on to found studios such as Madhouse.

Which dancing legend narrates Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) as the mailman S.D. Kluger?

Fred Astaire's mailman S.D. Kluger tells the story when his mail truck breaks down, reading children's letters to Santa; Mickey Rooney voices Kris Kringle.

Which grouchy mayor outlaws all toys in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?

Burgermeister Meisterburger bans every toy in Sombertown after tripping over one, and Kris Kringle hands out toys to the children anyway.

What does young Kris name the lost penguin he befriends in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?

Topper is the lost penguin Kris befriends on the road to Sombertown, and he flees into the forest with Kris, straight into the Winter Warlock.

Which Disney regular voiced the Winter Warlock in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?

Keenan Wynn, a fixture of 1960s Disney comedies, voiced the Winter Warlock, whose icy heart melts when Kris gives him a toy train and who sings 'Put One Foot in Front of the Other'.

In The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Snow Miser and Heat Miser are the feuding sons of whom?

Mother Nature is the brothers' mother; she makes Snow Miser and Heat Miser compromise so that it can snow in Southtown, the Southern town where the story is set.

Which Oscar-winning actress narrated The Year Without a Santa Claus as Mrs. Claus?

Shirley Booth narrates as Mrs. Claus, and when children around the world send a sick Santa presents for his day off, their generosity changes his mind.

Which two elves does Mrs. Claus send south for Christmas spirit in The Year Without a Santa Claus?

Jingle and Jangle fly south on the young reindeer Vixen, but a dog catcher hauls her off to the pound.

The 1982 film The Snowman is based on a wordless picture book by which British author?

Raymond Briggs's book is wordless, and the 1982 film keeps it that way apart from its one song, while sending the boy off to meet Santa Claus.

Which song is the only one sung in the otherwise wordless 1982 film The Snowman?

Walking in the Air, written by composer Howard Blake, plays as the snowman flies the boy to the North Pole.

In the first Simpsons episode broadcast, a 1989 Christmas special, what job does Homer take?

Homer becomes a shopping mall Santa to pay for Christmas after Marge's savings go on removing Bart's tattoo; his tiny paycheck goes on a 99-to-1 greyhound, Santa's Little Helper.

Why did The Simpsons premiere with its Christmas special instead of the planned opener?

Botched animation sank the planned premiere, 'Some Enchanted Evening', which was pushed back to close the season so the Christmas special aired first.

Tim Burton produced The Nightmare Before Christmas, but who directed the 1993 stop-motion film?

Henry Selick directed it from a three-page poem Burton wrote as a Disney animator, and Selick later directed the stop-motion film Coraline.

Who provided Jack Skellington's singing voice in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Danny Elfman recorded Jack's songs first, and Chris Sarandon was cast afterward because his speaking voice matched Elfman's singing.

Under which Disney-owned label was The Nightmare Before Christmas originally released?

Disney released it under its Touchstone Pictures banner, judging the film too dark and scary for the Walt Disney Pictures name; later re-releases carried the Disney label.

Who directed the 2004 motion-capture film The Polar Express?

Robert Zemeckis directed the motion-capture film, in which Tom Hanks plays several roles and the Hero Boy pulls the emergency brake so lonely Billy can board.

Which streaming service released the hand-drawn 2019 film Klaus?

Netflix released Klaus, in which a spoiled postman is banished to a far-north island town and must post 6,000 letters within a year.

Which Oscar-winning actor voices the reclusive toymaker Klaus in the 2019 film Klaus?

J.K. Simmons voices Klaus, a widower who had made his toys for the children he and his late wife Lydia hoped to have.

Which animated franchise began as an original pitch by Klaus director Sergio Pablos?

Despicable Me grew from Sergio Pablos's pitch, and its supervillain Gru plots to shrink and steal the Moon until three orphan girls soften him.

Which British studio made Arthur Christmas (2011) with Sony Pictures Animation?

Aardman made Arthur Christmas in computer animation, and in it Grandsanta takes Arthur out in his old wooden sleigh, Evie, to deliver a forgotten present.

What kind of animal is Olive, the title character of Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999)?

Olive is a Jack Russell terrier (voiced by Drew Barrymore) who mishears 'all of the other reindeer' as 'Olive, the other reindeer' and sets off to join Santa's team.

In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode 'Christmas Who?', who first explains Christmas to SpongeBob?

Sandy is stringing up Christmas lights, which SpongeBob mistakes for a fire, before she explains the holiday he has never heard of.

Who dresses up as Santa Claus to make it up to SpongeBob in the episode Christmas Who?

Squidward, shamed by SpongeBob's homemade gift, plays Santa to cheer him up and ends up handing out his own belongings to the town.

In 'Arnold's Christmas', Arnold tries to reunite Mr. Hyunh with a daughter he lost during which conflict?

The Vietnam War parted them when Mr. Hyunh gave baby Mai to US soldiers as Saigon fell, and twenty years later Helga's snow boots help get Mai found.

In Rugrats' 'The Santa Experience' (1992), where do the parents take the babies for Christmas?

A cabin in the mountains is the families' getaway, where Chuckie dreads Santa and Chas wants to play Santa himself while Drew insists on hiring an actor.

Which Oscar-winning actress narrated the 1968 stop-motion special The Little Drummer Boy?

Greer Garson narrates the story of orphaned Aaron, whose drum song for the newborn Jesus is followed by his injured lamb Baba recovering.

What homemade gift does Odie make for Garfield in A Garfield Christmas Special (1987)?

Odie secretly builds Garfield a back scratcher, the gift that finally moves the cat; Garfield in turn gives Grandma a bundle of love letters from her late husband that he found in the barn.

Who is the villainous Cossack king in the 1979 Rankin/Bass special Jack Frost?

Kubla Kraus hoards January Junction's gold until Jack Frost gives up being human to whip up a blizzard that freezes the king and his iron knights in their castle.

Which chipmunk pair are hiding in the tree Mickey and Pluto cut down in Pluto's Christmas Tree?

Chip 'n' Dale are living in the tree Mickey fells, and they spend the short tormenting Pluto from inside the decorated branches; Jack Hannah directed the 1952 cartoon.

Who narrates the 1999 direct-to-video anthology Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas?

Kelsey Grammer narrates, and in the first story Donald's nephews wish for Christmas every day, only to find every day turning out the same.

Which animator directed the 1982 Christmas special Ziggy's Gift?

Richard Williams, later animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed Ziggy's Gift, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program; Ziggy spends it as a street-corner Santa collecting for the poor.

Rankin/Bass's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) adapts a novel by which author?

L. Frank Baum wrote the novel, in which the wood nymph Necile raises the foundling Claus in the Forest of Burzee, and he is later granted immortality.

Which animator made the first Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer cartoon, a 1948 short?

Max Fleischer made the short before the famous song was written, so a 1951 reissue swapped the song in for its opening and closing music.

Which soft drink company commissioned and sponsored A Charlie Brown Christmas for its 1965 debut?

Coca-Cola wanted a holiday special to sponsor, so the producers sketched an outline for its executives in under a day. The finished cartoon was made in just six months.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer debuted in a 1939 booklet published by which department store chain?

Montgomery Ward gave away 2.4 million copies of Robert L. May's Rudolph booklet in its first year, a quarter of a century before the stop-motion TV special.

Which actor plays six roles in the film The Polar Express, including the train's conductor?

Tom Hanks optioned the book after reading it to his children. The filmmakers even tried having him play every part, until the workload wore him out.

Which comedian played Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past in Disney's 2009 A Christmas Carol?

Jim Carrey gave the Ghost of Christmas Past an Irish accent and the Ghost of Christmas Present a Yorkshire one, with every performance recorded by motion capture.

Which Disney animated classic opens with a puppy unwrapped from a hat box on Christmas morning?

Lady and the Tramp borrowed the scene from Walt Disney's own life: he once gave his wife Lillian a puppy hidden in a hat box as a peace offering.

Which long-running animated series grew out of two cutout shorts titled The Spirit of Christmas?

South Park took shape in the second short, which a Fox executive commissioned in 1995 as a video Christmas card to send to his friends.

What breed is Santa's Little Helper, the dog the Simpsons adopt in their 1989 Christmas special?

Greyhound Santa's Little Helper ran as a 99-to-1 long shot and finished last. His owner abandoned him at the track, and Bart begged to keep him.

Which Disney character plays the shackled ghost of Jacob Marley in Mickey's Christmas Carol?

Goofy took the Marley role in Disney's 1983 retelling, with Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Scrooge McDuck as his namesake miser.

Which ghost dog with a jack-o'-lantern nose follows Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Zero floats about after Jack as a ghost, and one critic likened the pair to the Grinch and his dog Max.

In The Polar Express, what does the boy ask Santa for when he is chosen to receive the first gift?

A sleigh bell is all he wants. He loses it through a hole in his pocket, then finds it again in a present on Christmas morning.

What does the reformed Grinch carve at the Whos' feast in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

The roast beast is his to carve once he returns every stolen present, and his long-suffering dog Max is served the first slice.

Which gambling-mad villain plots to play a game with Santa's life in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Oogie Boogie is Jack's long-time rival, so Jack orders Lock, Shock and Barrel to keep him out of the plan to abduct Santa. They hand Santa over anyway.

In the 1964 special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which doe makes Rudolph fly by calling him cute?

Clarice later joins Rudolph's parents in searching for him after he runs away, and ends up needing rescue from the Abominable Snow Monster's cave.

Which actor voices the title character in Illumination's 2018 animated film The Grinch?

Benedict Cumberbatch leads a voice cast that includes Kenan Thompson and Angela Lansbury, with Pharrell Williams as the film's narrator.

Which Pixar franchise's 2014 Christmas TV special sends Trixie the triceratops to meet the Battlesaurs?

Toy Story That Time Forgot is set two days after Christmas, when Bonnie's toys visit a playroom ruled by the Battlesaurs set a boy named Mason was given.

Which name did ABC Family take in 2016, keeping its 25 Days of Christmas marathon of holiday specials?

Freeform is the fourth name the channel has carried since the marathon began in 1996, after The Family Channel, Fox Family and ABC Family.

Which of Santa's reindeer is the father of Rudolph in the 1964 stop-motion television special?

Donner first hides his fawn's glowing nose under mud and then a false nose, hoping Rudolph will fit in with the other reindeer.

Which cartoon star played Scrooge in 1962 in the first animated Christmas special made for TV?

Mr. Magoo plays an actor starring as Scrooge in a Broadway musical, and his poor eyesight makes him half an hour late for the curtain.

Which drink are the children served aboard the train bound for the North Pole in The Polar Express?

Hot chocolate is handed round early in the journey, and the girl then leaves with the conductor to take a cup to Billy.

What title does Jack Skellington hold in Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Pumpkin King Jack leads the town's annual Halloween celebrations, but he has grown weary of the routine and longs for something new.

Which US network premiered both A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

CBS debuted the Peanuts special in December 1965 and the Grinch a year later, handing the Grinch's makers more than four times the Peanuts budget.

On which peak overlooking Whoville does the Grinch live in a cave in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?

Mount Crumpit is where he hauls the stolen presents to dump them, only to hear the Whos singing in the town below as Christmas Day dawns.

Which DreamWorks hero studies a how-to guide to celebrating Christmas in a 2007 ABC television special?

Shrek the ogre has never celebrated the holiday, so a bookseller hands him a guide titled Christmas for Village Idiots, and he follows it to the letter.

What kind of animal is Nestor, the long-eared hero of a 1977 Rankin/Bass Christmas special?

A donkey dismissed as a misfit for his ears, Nestor wraps them around Mary to keep her warm as he leads the couple through a sandstorm.

Which song, sung by a children's church choir, was written to open the first Peanuts TV special in 1965?

Christmas Time Is Here began as an instrumental. With the broadcast only weeks away, producer Lee Mendelson wrote its lyrics himself in a matter of minutes on the back of an envelope.

Which song from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer did the special's narrator re-record as a 1964 single?

A Holly Jolly Christmas was written two years before the special, and the single finally reached the Billboard Hot 100 more than half a century later, in 2017.

In the film Klaus, what job is the spoiled Jesper sent to do in the island town of Smeerensburg?

Postman Jesper is given a year to post 6,000 letters from a town split by a feud between two clans, the Ellingboes and the Krums.

Which girl stows away with Frosty on a refrigerated freight car heading north in Frosty the Snowman?

Karen grows so cold on the trip that Frosty carries her into a greenhouse to warm up, and he melts there before Santa arrives.

Which forgotten present does Santa's son race to deliver before dawn in the 2011 film Arthur Christmas?

A bicycle wrapped for Gwen, a girl in Cornwall, slips off a conveyor belt aboard Santa's high-tech craft and is left behind in the shadows.

Which inept magician chases Frosty the Snowman to reclaim the discarded hat that brought him to life?

Professor Hinkle throws the hat away after a failed trick at a school party, then wants it back once he sees it is magic and could make him rich.

The animated film The Polar Express adapts a Caldecott Medal-winning picture book by which author-illustrator?

Chris Van Allsburg had already won the medal once for Jumanji, and he later said he set out to write about a train trip and ended up writing about faith.

In Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, what does Mickey trade away to buy a chain for Minnie's watch?

His harmonica goes to a shopkeeper who relents only after hearing him play, while Minnie sells that very watch to buy a case for the instrument.

Which Pixar film was preceded in cinemas by the 21-minute featurette Olaf's Frozen Adventure in 2017?

Coco's makers called the pairing a bit of an experiment: the Frozen short ran far longer than usual and had first been planned as a television special.

Which 2009 Disney TV special follows veteran Christmas elf Wayne and his rookie partner Lanny?

Prep & Landing is the name of the elite elf unit itself, where Wayne has served for 227 years and is handed a rookie to train instead of a promotion.

Which rock star filmed an introduction in an attic for the wordless 1982 animated film The Snowman?

David Bowie finds a scarf like the boy's in a drawer and narrates the opening. Laurence Olivier and Julie Andrews had also been suggested for the job.

Which actor voices North, a Santa Claus with a Russian accent, in DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians?

Alec Baldwin's North leads the Guardians from an ice castle staffed by yetis, alongside Hugh Jackman's Easter Bunny and Isla Fisher's Tooth Fairy.

Which actress voiced the title character and served as executive producer of Olive, the Other Reindeer?

Drew Barrymore also sings in the special, which first aired on Fox in December 1999 on a night it shared with Futurama.

Which actress voices both rag doll Sally and trick-or-treater Shock in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Catherine O'Hara had co-starred in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice five years earlier, and here plays both Jack's love interest and a mischievous kidnapper.

Which actor voices Santa's clumsy younger son, the title character of the 2011 film Arthur Christmas?

James McAvoy's Arthur works in the mailroom, while Hugh Laurie voices his efficient older brother Steve and Bill Nighy the 136-year-old Grandsanta.

Which actor guest-starred as the murderous Robot Santa in the first Xmas episode of Futurama?

John Goodman's Robot Santa was built to sort the naughty from the nice, but a programming error sets his standards so high that nearly everyone fails.

In A Garfield Christmas, what does Garfield find in the barn and give to Jon's grandmother as a gift?

Old love letters from Grandma's husband, written when the couple first met, turn up in the barn, and Garfield saves them for Christmas morning.

Which animator directed A Charlie Brown Christmas and also supplied the voice of Snoopy?

Bill Melendez voiced the beagle himself and talked the network down from an hour to a half-hour, arguing that an hour of TV animation was too much.

Which company sponsored the 1964 debut of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer under its Fantasy Hour banner?

General Electric had a say in the content too: a year later one of its executives had a duet between two misfits swapped for a new song, Fame and Fortune.

What trademark name did Rankin/Bass give the stop-motion process behind its 1964 Rudolph special?

Animagic puppets were filmed in Japan, and each figure, Rudolph and Santa included, cost about $5,000 to make.

Which actor voices Forte, the villainous pipe organ, in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas?

Tim Curry's Forte was the castle's music conductor before the spell, and he wants it left unbroken because the Beast finally appreciates his ominous music.

Which Satoshi Kon anime film follows a homeless trio who find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve?

Tokyo Godfathers was inspired by the 1948 American film 3 Godfathers, and the baby comes with a note and a locker key that hold clues to her parents.

Which actor took over as narrator for the sequel Frosty's Winter Wonderland after the original retired?

Andy Griffith stepped in because the first special's narrator had retired after a stroke, and he ends the sequel promising that the first snowflake will fall again.

Which cartoon heroes shared a 1985 Christmas special after Orko brought two lost Earth children to Eternia?

He-Man and She-Ra face Skeletor and Hordak, whose master Horde Prime fears that the Christmas spirit is the one thing able to stop his rise to power.

In Frosty's Winter Wonderland, what name do the children give the snow wife they build for Frosty?

Crystal stays lifeless until Frosty hands her a bouquet of frost flowers, and she later revives him with a kiss after an icy gust blows his hat off.

Which comedian voiced the title character in the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman and its 1976 sequel?

Jackie Vernon played the snowman opposite fellow comedian Billy De Wolfe, who voiced the hat-chasing magician.