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50 free Christmas cartoon trivia questions with answers. This Christmas cartoon trivia quiz is all about the animated specials and films, not the live-action movies. It starts with the classics that still air every December - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and The Year Without a Santa Claus - and asks about the narrators, villains, sidekicks and sponsors behind them. From there it moves through Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Snowman, the very first Simpsons episode, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Polar Express, Klaus, Arthur Christmas, Olive the Other Reindeer, Prep & Landing and the Christmas episodes of SpongeBob, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats and Futurama, plus deep cuts like Nestor the donkey, Jack Frost and the 1948 Rudolph short made for a department store. Roughly a third of the questions are easy enough for kids who know the specials by heart; the rest climb toward the trivia only a Rankin/Bass devotee would get. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and the primary sources it cites, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
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Q 01In the 1964 stop-motion special, what does Hermey the elf dream of becoming instead of a toymaker?
A dentist
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.
Q 02Who voiced Sam the Snowman, the narrator of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)?
Burl Ives
Burl Ives voiced Sam the Snowman and sang 'A Holly Jolly Christmas' in the 1964 Rankin/Bass special; the song went on to become a Christmas standard.
Q 03In Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, what has prospector Yukon Cornelius spent his life seeking?
Silver and gold
Yukon Cornelius is prospecting for silver and gold, chanting 'Silver and gold!' as he hurls his pickaxe and then licks it to test every strike.
Q 04Who rules the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
King Moonracer
King Moonracer, a winged lion, rules the Island of Misfit Toys; he flies around the world each night gathering unwanted toys until homes can be found for them.
Q 05What does Yukon Cornelius nickname the Abominable Snow Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
Bumble
Yukon Cornelius calls the Abominable Snow Monster 'Bumble'; after the beast is tamed he announces that Bumbles bounce, and it places the star on the tree at the end.
Q 06The jazz score for A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) was written and performed by which pianist's trio?
Vince Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi composed and performed the score with his trio, including 'Linus and Lucy', 'Christmas Time Is Here' and 'Skating'; 'Linus and Lucy' became the signature Peanuts theme.
Q 07Whom did the producers of A Charlie Brown Christmas hire to voice the Peanuts gang, an unusual choice then?
Actual child actors
Actual child actors voiced the Peanuts gang, some so young their lines were fed to them a phrase at a time, because Charles Schulz wanted genuine children's voices instead of adults imitating kids.
Q 08When Linus explains what Christmas is all about, which book of the Bible does he recite from?
Luke
Linus recites the nativity passage from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:8-14), dropping his security blanket at the words 'fear not'.
Q 09What does Lucy tell Charlie Brown to go and buy for the play?
A pink aluminum tree
Lucy tells him to get 'the biggest aluminum tree you can find, maybe painted pink'; Charlie Brown instead brings back the lot's lone real tree, a scrawny sapling.
Q 10Which horror-film legend narrated and voiced the Grinch in the 1966 TV special?
Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff, best known as Frankenstein's monster, narrated the 1966 special and provided the Grinch's speaking voice, winning a Grammy in 1968 for the album version.
Q 11The uncredited bass singer of 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' was better known as which cereal mascot's voice?
Tony the Tiger
Thurl Ravenscroft, the uncredited singer, was the booming voice of Tony the Tiger, the Frosted Flakes mascot famous for 'They're gr-r-reat!'; the Grinch song was long misattributed to the narrator.
Q 12Which Looney Tunes director co-produced and directed the 1966 Grinch special?
Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones directed and co-produced the 1966 special; he and Dr. Seuss had first collaborated on the Private Snafu training cartoons for the US Army during World War II.
Q 13Who provided the voice of Cindy Lou Who in the 1966 Grinch special?
June Foray
Q 21Which Disney regular voiced the Winter Warlock in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?
Keenan Wynn
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'.
Q 22In The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Snow Miser and Heat Miser are the feuding sons of whom?
Mother Nature
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.
Q 23Which Oscar-winning actress narrated The Year Without a Santa Claus as Mrs. Claus?
Shirley Booth
June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, played Cindy Lou Who uncredited; she later voiced the little girl Karen in the original 1969 broadcast of Frosty the Snowman.
Q 14By how many sizes does the Grinch's heart grow at the end of the story?
Three
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.
Q 15Who narrates the 1969 Rankin/Bass special Frosty the Snowman?
Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante narrates Frosty the Snowman and sings the title song; the 1969 special was hand-drawn, with character designs by Mad magazine artist Paul Coker Jr.
Q 16What is the name of the magician's rabbit who steals the hat and befriends Frosty?
Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus is Professor Hinkle's rabbit; the failed magician's discarded hat brings Frosty to life, and Hocus sticks with Frosty and Karen on the trip to the North Pole.
Q 17Which Japanese studio animated the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman?
Mushi Production
Mushi Production, the Tokyo studio Osamu Tezuka founded, drew the hand-drawn animation for Frosty the Snowman; Rankin/Bass outsourced nearly all of its specials to Japanese studios.
Q 18Which dancing legend narrates Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) as the mailman S.D. Kluger?
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire narrates as mailman S.D. Kluger, answering children's letters about why Santa wears red, comes down chimneys and fills stockings; Mickey Rooney voiced Kris Kringle.
Q 19Which grouchy mayor outlaws all toys in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?
Burgermeister Meisterburger
Burgermeister Meisterburger, the mayor of gloomy Sombertown, outlaws all toys after tripping over a toy duck on his front steps; Kris Kringle defies him by smuggling toys to the children.
Q 20What does young Kris name the lost penguin he befriends in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?
Topper
Kris names the lost penguin Topper; the bird, who was trying to reach the South Pole, becomes his companion and helps him deliver toys to Sombertown's children.
Shirley Booth, Best Actress Oscar winner for the 1952 film Come Back, Little Sheba, narrated the special as Mrs. Claus; it was her final acting role.
Q 24Which two elves does Mrs. Claus send south for Christmas spirit in The Year Without a Santa Claus?
Jingle and Jangle
Mrs. Claus sends the elves Jingle and Jangle, riding the young reindeer Vixen, south to find proof that Christmas spirit survives; they end up in Southtown.
Q 25Mickey's Christmas Carol was released to theaters in 1983 in front of a re-issue of which Disney feature?
The Rescuers
In the US, Mickey's Christmas Carol opened in December 1983 in front of a re-issue of The Rescuers; it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short but lost to Sundae in New York.
Q 26The 1982 film The Snowman is based on a wordless picture book by which author-illustrator?
Raymond Briggs
Raymond Briggs published The Snowman as a wordless picture book in 1978; the film keeps that silence, with no dialogue apart from its one song.
Q 27Who sang 'Walking in the Air' in the original 1982 film The Snowman?
Peter Auty, a St Paul's Cathedral choirboy
Peter Auty, then a St Paul's Cathedral choirboy, sang it for the 1982 film but was left off the credits; Aled Jones's 1985 cover reached number five in the UK and is often wrongly credited.
Q 28In the first Simpsons episode broadcast, a 1989 Christmas special, what job does Homer take?
Shopping mall Santa
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.
Q 29'Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire' aired first, but where did it fall in production order?
Eighth
It was the eighth episode produced (production code 7G08) but aired first, because the intended opener, 'Some Enchanted Evening', came back from the animators with serious problems and was pushed to the end of the season.
Q 30Who directed the 1993 stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas?
Henry Selick
Tim Burton wrote the original poem and produced, but Selick ran the shoot; he later directed Coraline.