Yay! A late term Hanna- Barbera Christmas special with the voice of the great Dick Van Dyke. That's right, so get comfy and turn of a light. This time it's the 1993 special "The Town Santa Forgot" that originally aired on December 3, 1993 on NBC. I remember seeing it on Cartoon Network (because of course) and Boomerang had it for sometime as well, but apparently, it's airings as of recent have seem to have fell. (Unless you are reading this in the future and the special now gets a 24 hour marathon on Pluto TV, (I'm making dated jokes some how for the future readers))
The special starts with a boy and girl, who we'll call Boy and Girl, they aren't that important, just plot devices for the story. There's also an old man we'll call him Grandpa, he's their grandfather, he's there to tell them, and by them, we mean us, the story, in all its glory. Boy and Girl wonder where Santa Claus is, in the hopes that Santa will deliver the stuff they want. Grandpa decides that is a good reason to tell his grand kids a story with moral, before they get toys that they can flaunt.
When's Santa Coming here? / Copyright Turner
It's about a boy named Jeremy Creek who had many toys, as Grandpa puts it, a enough for 442 boys. (Oddly specific) Many times he gets toys by throwing temper tantrums (his parents are bad at laying the down the law or something) eventually, the parents decide they've had enough and say no more toys. (they had a change of pace very quickly) It goes through a montage of how much toys the boy has , it's kind of a lot. I think the got the point, but I guess they needed fill in space for that 22 minutes to pass.
Don't try this at home/ Copyright Turner
Jeremy gets an idea, a wonderful idea, an awful idea, a wonderfully awful idea, he's gonna ask Santa, that's right, Santa! The big man! The head honcho! The connection! That way he could bypass his parents and increase his toy collection. Jeremy writes are really long list, the longest list ever. (He killed a whole forest for this) The list makes it Santa, because of course it does; they see it says send it to Jeremy Creek and they think the long list is from a place, a place they apparently sent stuff to never. (You could say it was the town Santa Forgot)
There's a New Mexico?/ Copyright Turner
There's a town called Jeremy Creek with 2000 girls and 2000 boys, (how did they happen?) and yes the forgot about this town for years. So Santa and his elves collect all the stuff to make it right, they must fix the past tears. (In his haste, Santa forgot the city of Atlanta that year, though)
Introducing the Tonight Show with Santa! / Copyright Turner
Elves have a song montage and this is why the forget whole towns, fooling around. Jeremy counts down to Christmas like a British store merchant counting every Pound. It was the night before Christmas, all through the house, and Jeremey was stirring on the roof. He wasn't looking for proof. His plan was to Kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him up real tight, throw away the key, and then turn off all the lights, To take all the toys, because Jeremy doesn't care about other people's rights.
How's Santa gonna fit in that net?/ Copyright Turner
He waits all night for Santa and eventually see the jolly man, but Santa by passes his house. Jeremy is as mad as a grouse. He wakes up the next morning, and thinks maybe Santa came, so he goes downstairs and sees under the tree is bare. Meanwhile, on TV a reporter is talking about a town in the swamp, where Santa came, while Jeremy is mad like it ruffled his hair. He hears the town is named Jeremey Creek, we already knew this, but he didn't so, he to had to find out.(The town has 8800 people, so 4000 kids and 4800 adults?)
I count like 5 kids / Copyright Turner
The realization of this gets his attention, and he figured out that they go the stuff he asked for on his list, after they say it wasn't on Santa's route. He was about to get mad, when a little girl (with a cough because of course) says nobody in this town wrote a letter. They say thank you to whomever did, and Jeremy feels strange, he wants to do better.
Thankyou!/ Copyright Turner
He goes under the tree and sees Santa who's the size of a mouse. (I guess Santa can do that) Santa knew about it , and he says he came to give Jeremy a wish from the kids, that's why he's at the house. Jeremy has a change of heart and gives instead of asking for stuff, and he gets to ride with Santa each year. Sadly, Jeremy got too big, (reasons) and he had to stop riding with Santa. (Oh dear)
I really should get a bigger sleigh, oh well/ Copyright Turner
Grandpa tells his grand kids that every few year Santa picks a new kid to ride with him, the kids hope maybe they picked. We also find out that Grandpa was Jeremy Creek, which is why he knew so much.
It's an interesting special, it's done in rhyme, I found it enjoyable. The animation isn't much to write about, it's good, and shows the quality of later Hanna and Barbera when they didn't have to be as cheap. It's a sweet special, they do make our protagonist kind of unlikable, but it works to make it to the end where he sees the light. It uses a classic story plot for Christmas, the idea of Christmas is about giving and not getting. That's a classic message, and fits well , what I assume is the target audience of younger kids.
There is an aesthetic to the special, it kind of takes place in the 50's with a retro feel to it, but it also tries to look timeless so it doesn't seem to out of place, minus the fact some of stuff Jeremey asks for isn't stuff you'd see some modern kids ask to have. I do like how the managed to keep it looking such a way.
This special is based off a poem by Charmaine Severson, called "Jeremy Creek". The rhyming comes from the poem itself. It feels like a "Grinch" or Scrooge story, where the character makes a turn after the power of Christmas!
Dick Van Dyke's voice is great for the special, he otherwise doesn't have much a role in the story, except for narrating. This special is very much in the "Grinch" tone where it's mostly narrated It's like a visual poem, that's not bad, that's just how the special feels. I do like it, it's more fun for younger kids, but I think all ages could enjoy it.
That's it for now, tune in next time, when we tell Santa 493 more towns he forgot about.
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