Growing up, my grandparents had satellite which meant that they had access to Boomerang. Now, after pestering my parents, my family has the Boomerang streaming service with a variety of different content that I would have seen either growing up or on Netflix DVDs they used to rent for long car rides. So needing to catch up on Christmas specials, I decided to watch Yogi Bear’s First Christmas, a 1980 film I saw from time to time on the network around the season.
As stated, the film follows noted forgotten cartoon icon Yogi Bear as he celebrates Christmas for the first time. Normally, he and Boo Boo are asleep this time of year due to hibernation, but since the rest of his usual friends were hosting an extremely loud Christmas party, he was woken up and decides to stay up long enough to enjoy the holiday. Thus, the special follows his antics of experiencing Christmas traditions like skiing, ice skating, Santa Claus, and others while trying to save the Jellystone Lodge by pleasing the owner, her spoiled brat nephew, and stopping an anti-Christmas hermit from ruining the holiday.
Rewatching this so many years later, there’s something nice about watching an innocent character get to experience the season of joy for the first time. Everything is new to him so he gets to experience everything in the same way a child would. Though hardly original, it is a well suited plot for a character that emulates that kind of childlike innocence while being completely devoid of cynicism.
From watching him save the lodge owner multiple times to stopping either her nephew or the hermit from ruining everyone else’s joy to just trying to enjoying Christmas traditions like avoiding mistletoe all the while trying to save a lodge. Really, it does capture the feeling of the holiday while still making you actually care about the place he’s saving. It’s still cheesy and simple, but there’s a lot to appreciate if you’re in the mood for simple holiday cheer.
I guess this still resonates because the special celebrates life during Christmas. There’s still basic celebrations, still people understanding the “real meaning” of giving, and more importantly it’s not the 3000th ripoff of A Christmas Carol. If you don’t immediately hate Yogi Bear like the rest of my family, it’s probably worth a laid back watch.
So, as I get ready for Christmas, I look back fondly on my own childhood and the optimism of what is yet to come. For that reason, I’ll probably keep watching older cartoons that can promote that. So Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy the time you have with your loved ones.
As stated, the film follows noted forgotten cartoon icon Yogi Bear as he celebrates Christmas for the first time. Normally, he and Boo Boo are asleep this time of year due to hibernation, but since the rest of his usual friends were hosting an extremely loud Christmas party, he was woken up and decides to stay up long enough to enjoy the holiday. Thus, the special follows his antics of experiencing Christmas traditions like skiing, ice skating, Santa Claus, and others while trying to save the Jellystone Lodge by pleasing the owner, her spoiled brat nephew, and stopping an anti-Christmas hermit from ruining the holiday.
Rewatching this so many years later, there’s something nice about watching an innocent character get to experience the season of joy for the first time. Everything is new to him so he gets to experience everything in the same way a child would. Though hardly original, it is a well suited plot for a character that emulates that kind of childlike innocence while being completely devoid of cynicism.
From watching him save the lodge owner multiple times to stopping either her nephew or the hermit from ruining everyone else’s joy to just trying to enjoying Christmas traditions like avoiding mistletoe all the while trying to save a lodge. Really, it does capture the feeling of the holiday while still making you actually care about the place he’s saving. It’s still cheesy and simple, but there’s a lot to appreciate if you’re in the mood for simple holiday cheer.
I guess this still resonates because the special celebrates life during Christmas. There’s still basic celebrations, still people understanding the “real meaning” of giving, and more importantly it’s not the 3000th ripoff of A Christmas Carol. If you don’t immediately hate Yogi Bear like the rest of my family, it’s probably worth a laid back watch.
So, as I get ready for Christmas, I look back fondly on my own childhood and the optimism of what is yet to come. For that reason, I’ll probably keep watching older cartoons that can promote that. So Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy the time you have with your loved ones.
