Top 10 Retro Christmas Specials You Can Watch on YouTube!

And before we knew it, the stores were filled with Christmas decorations! Well, if we’re going to get into the holiday spirit, we may as well start with the Top 10 Retro Christmas Specials You Can Watch on YouTube!

#10 – A Christmas Carol (Richard Williams Production)

Richard Williams is making the list twice this year, just to let you know. His production of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol aired in 1971, and it is a feast for the eyes.

Alastair Sim returned to the role of Scrooge, and Chuck Jones served as the executive producer.

#9 – The Berenstain Bears Christmas Tree

Want music that’s nearly as good as a Rankin/Bass special? Then check out The Berenstain Bears Christmas Tree! Papa Bear goes insane and endangers his children during the quest for the perfect Christmas tree.

#8 – The Fat Albert Christmas Special

This year, two Filmation Christmas cartoons are on the list! The first we’ll cover is Fat Albert’s Christmas adventure, which first aired in 1977. I found a version that includes period-specific commercials for that little extra bit of nostalgia!

https://youtu.be/m1PBOzouEyw?si=qhJmZkpj3gAGczPp

#7 – The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas

Sadly, one of the best Christmas specials on this list will require you to give some money to Google/Alphabet. Ted E. Bear’s adventure to find Christmas is a great story, but it’s paywalled by YouTube.

#6 – Buttons and Rusty in the Christmas Tree Train

Buttons and Rusty faded from existence after the mid-1990s. It wasn’t a particularly memorable show, but parts of the Christmas episode stuck in my mind for decades. It’s a low-stakes affair that is about as innocuous as it gets.

#5 – The He-Man & She-Ra Christmas Special

Someone at Filmation spent some extra money on the animation budget, and we got Christmas in Eternia!

Yes, it’s as awkward as it sounds. There are terrible songs, clumsy retellings of the Nativity, and Skeletor being a good guy, if only briefly.

#4 – Ziggy’s Gift

Ah, remember Ziggy? His bald likeness was all over the place in the 1980s. Although nowhere near as popular as other comic strip characters, the little guy did get an excellent Christmas special directed by the legendary animator Richard Williams.

Ziggy’s Gift is a heartwarming story of a good-natured guy whose Christmas spirit manifests itself in some magical ways. It’s also cynical in some entertaining ways.

#3 – Merry Christmas Mr. Bean

Mr. Bean’s Christmas episode is my favorite part of the holidays. Broken up into several smaller segments, we get to watch Bean buy presents, unsuccessfully cook a turkey, conduct a small charity band, stop a pickpocket, and create the most exciting retelling of the Nativity ever to be put on film!

#2 – A Garfield Christmas Special

Garfield. That’s it—just the Garfield Christmas Special. There’s no Nermal, so that’s a plus.

#1 – The Star Wars Holiday Special

Yes, that Holiday Special. The one that lived on via bootleg VHS tapes for decades. In 1978, CBS took advantage of the commercial success of Star Wars by creating a made-for-TV event that brought back the core cast of A New Hope to disastrous effect.

It was a variety show with a cheesy science fiction overlay. The wrap-around story involved Chewbacca’s family preparing for the Life Day celebration. The “wholesome” family gathering is interrupted by the Empire while Han and Chewy are delayed on the way to Kashyyyk.

Not even the talents of Beatrice Arthur, Art Carney, and Harvey Korman were enough to save this special from being universally panned. The only minor saving grace came in the form of an animated segment from Nelvana, which gave us our first look at Boba Fett.