To celebrate Leon Day and Christmas in July, we’ll be posting each day from June 25-July 4. Be sure to check out our Leon Day podcast episode if you haven’t listened yet!
Rankin Bass has been a big part of our podcast in our first two years, and Rusty and I both consider many of these Christmas specials as essential annual viewing. On our St. Patrick’s Day episode this year, I noted that the music in The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold was surprisingly solid, and I wondered where it might fit if I’d decided to rank all of the Christmas specials based only on music. So of course, I had to do that.
To compile these rankings, I first gave each song a score from 1 to 5, with a 5 being a perfect song. (I’ve mentioned on the podcast that, in my 5-point scale, a 3 is average, while a 4 is something that is good, and I would purposely choose to listen to it.) I then ranked the specials, considering not only my average score per song, but also the amount of songs, along with the number of 4s and 5s each show might have.
Finally, I did not take into account any songs that were already known Christmas tunes before the special aired.
Here are my rankings, where I’ll also note which songs are 5s (perfect) and which are 1s (awful).
NR. Frosty the Snowman (1969)/Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (1976)
Neither of these shows contain new music (which is kind of weird), so they couldn’t really be ranked here. The original Frosty is in my top 3 Rankin Bass shows.
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
“Nestor” is a song written by Gene Autry, which was then adapted into this special two years later. There are only two other songs, and neither is very good.
- The Little Drummer Boy, Book II (1976)
This one is barely better than Nestor, featuring only one original composition, “Money, Money, Money.” But at least it’s a decent song.
- Pinocchio’s Christmas (1980)
There are eight songs here, and only the opener, “I Never Know What Gifts To Buy,” reached a 3 on my scale. In fact, “Dancin'” and “Wicked Glee” are my first 1s.
- Cricket on the Hearth (1967)
The rest of the music in the shows from the ’60s is so good, so I was very disappointed when I finally watched this one for the first time. Out of nine songs, only the title track is average, while “Fish and Chips” gets a 1 from me.
- Santa, Baby! (2001)
This one was tricky. Honestly, I did not even know about this special until I started these rankings. Airing 16 years after the previous special (The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus), it’s kind of easy to see why nothing else has happened since this one. It features Eartha Kitt (of course) and Gregory Hines, while podcast favorite Patti LaBelle contributes a bunch to the soundtrack. But look… it really isn’t watchable, at least not in 2021. Basically, 2001 was a strange time across the board, and that holds true for both animation and music. This was tough for me to rank, as the music attempts to be more contemporary, and I’m just typically not a fan of this style. That being said, the music (at least) is mostly not terrible. I mean, aside from the techno version of the title song, which was already a holiday standard and didn’t factor into my rankings, of course.
- Jack Frost (1979)
This one is disappointing, partially because it was a great chance to get some decent Groundhog Day music. There are only a couple of decent songs here (out of seven), but “She Is Beautiful” is a 1.
- Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979)
We reviewed this one on our summer episode in 2020 and were both disappointed with the music. There are seven new songs, along with a handful of standards, and “Everything I Always Wanted” is not bad. Although a couple of others are decent as well, “Chicken Today and Feathers Tomorrow” is rough and gets a 1, the last clunker on this list.
- Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976)
This one is barely any better than Christmas in July. It has a few average songs, including the opener, “Have a Happy New Year,” and I didn’t have any 1s.
- The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)
There are only a handful of songs here, and honestly, none are spectacular, although “Big Surprise” is pretty good. Mainly, this special gets a huge boost due to the amazing background score. I need to find just the score, and I think someone needs to release it on vinyl.
- The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold (1981)
Again, we covered this special in our spring episode earlier this year. There are only three songs, and they’re all pretty good. “The Rainbow’s End” is my favorite song on this list so far, a 4 on my scale.
- The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975)
Like the Christmas Gold, this special only has a few songs, but they’re all good. “Save a Little Christmas” and “The First White Christmas” are both 4s.
- The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
Overall, I don’t think I liked the music here as much as I enjoyed the songs in The First Christmas. However, it has the first 5 on my scale with “One Star in the Night,” so it gets the higher spot on my list. The other songs are all OK.
- The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)
I could probably go even higher with this special because there is so much great music here. “Sing a Christmas Carol” and “Humbug” are both 5s, and there are several 3s and 4s throughout. On the other hand, the songs were all written for the musical before Rankin Bass animated the story. Ultimately it gets a top 5 ranking due to the fact that I personally had not heard any of the songs until I first saw the Rankin Bass version a few years ago.
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970)
Every song is good here, and “Put One Foot in Front of the Other” is a 5. My average score for the six songs was nearly a 4.
- ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974)
This was another tough one to rank because there are only three songs, but all three are among my favorites. “Christmas Chimes are Calling” and “Even a Miracle Needs a Hand” are both 5s, while “Give Your Heart a Try” is super close to being a 5 as well. Based on the music, it’s a top 3 special.
- The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
Unlike 1979, Rankin Bass was knocking the music out of the park in 1974. Every song in this show is great. “Snow Miser” and “Heat Miser” are 5s, and these are two of the first songs that I turned into mp3s back when that became possible. “I Believe in Santa Claus” is also a 5.
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Nothing compares to this one. I’d rate every song as a 5, except for maybe “Fame and Fortune,” which probably shouldn’t even count. It’s just hit after hit. I think the radio stations should just dedicate 15-minute blocks to these tracks during the Christmas season. The songs are that good. Focusing on the music while doing these rankings, I quickly realized that the songs in this special definitely contribute to the fact that it’s the most famous Rankin Bass special of all.
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(Rankings by Mike. Don’t blame Rusty.)
Snow in Southtown Christmas Podcast 