Have a stop-motion Christmas

Thirty-nine year old men shouldn't be chomping at the bit to watch "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," not even if it involves a drinking game.

Yet here I am, in the final lap of my thirties, and that familiar sensation is coming over me as the holidays approach. I must watch Rudolph, the Burgermeister and every other stop-motion character in the Christmas canon. Again. That's roughly 34 years viewing the same sappy specials, and I'm not tired of any of them. Not "Rudolph," not "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and certainly not "The Year Without a Santa Claus." Try telling a stranger in a nasally whine, "I wanna be a dentist" a la Hermey the Elf and expect a slow but sure grin. At least I know I'm not alone. Warner Home Video re-released a gaggle of these specials last month in time for the holiday season. "The Christmas Television Favorites" collection is a grab-bag featuring the aforementioned "Year," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas Deluxe Edition," "Horton Hears a Who!," "Rudolph's Shiny New Year," "Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey," "Frosty's Winter Wonderland," "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July." The best of the bunch is "The Year without a Santa Claus." The special finds Kris Kringle (voiced by Mickey Rooney at his crusty best) taking December 24th off, an announcement which forces two trouble-making elves to take action.

The specials all don't rise to the level of "Year," and some offer crude, conventional animation. Still, the four-disc set is a holiday treat for young and old alike. The wizards at Rankin/Bass brought these specials to life primarily during the 1960s and '70s, and they hold up remarkably well despite the subsequent leaps in computer wizardry. While Paramount is busy retooling "Star Trek's" musty effects for a new generation, these Christmas nuggets need no facelifts. Best of all, the DVD set offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the stories' creation. We hear the voice behind Jangle the Elf speak his mind, as well as the illustrators who sketched the Heat Miser and co. And then there's Arthur Rankin, Jr. himself, now an elderly man but one who seems eternally pleased his company's handiwork lives on. A second featurette, detailing just how these marvels move, is less illuminating. It's still must-see TV for anyone unfamiliar with the process. Stop-motion animation, which gave life to Gumby, King Kong and the California Raisins, involves moving figurines ever so slightly, then photographing them again and again until they mimic movement when seen in rapid fashion. Twenty-four frames make up a single second of film. Think of that the next time you watch Santa Claus sneezing his way through a thick winter cold. Networks still broadcast "Rudolph," "Santa" and the rest, often sandwiched between newer specials hoping to clone their essential sweetness. To these eyes, they never come close. (Photo: Rudolph and Hermey the Elf find a common cause.)