Every year around Christmas, I always ended up playing with my toys in or around the Family Fake Christmass Tree.  One year I even made a horrible movie about my toys saving Christmas.  Now that I’m all grown up and married and stuff, I have my own Christmas tree for the first time ever.  What better way to decorate it than with awesome, random parts of your childhood?

Sure, Hallmark usually has a few “nostalgic” ornaments every year, but why pay $20-30 when you can make your own?This article will show you how to decorate your tree Saturday Morning Central style. Don’t worry, it’s easy.  Here’s what you need:

Read More

Looking for Charlie Brown Christmas Wallpapers? Check out this post!

Rob Richards over at Animation Backgrounds has just posted some backgrounds from A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love the simple, graphic style of the Charlie Brown cartoons.

See the rest at Animation Backgrounds

Let’s talk Muppets.  The Muppets have always gone hand-and-hand with Christmas to me over the years, and thats about 33% because of  A Christmas Together.  I’ll explain the other percentages in upcoming posts. Consider it a trilogy.

This album originally came out in 1979, as a soundtrack to a TV special of the same name, which supposedly really exists. It’s never been released on home video, and probably never will now that Disney owns the Muppets.

I remember picking up this album at Sam’s Club as a child and listening to it every year. Looking back on it now, there are a few songs I always skipped, but its a good listen during the holiday season.

Highlights

• 12 Days of Christmas – Pretty much what you’d expect a Muppet version of this song to sound like. Miss Piggy yelling “Five Gold Rings, buh-dum-dum-dum” is classic.
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – (Rowlf the Dog/John Denver) This is my favorite Christmas tune, and possibly my favorite version of the song. Rowlf’s scratchy voice plus the musicians’ piano playing are a perfect match.
• Christmas is Coming – (Piggy, Scooter, Gonzo, and Robin)  Only a highlight because it’s not a long, drawn out, sappy song.
• Little Saint Nick – (Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem) I actually prefer this version to the original Beach Boys song. You’ve got to love the Electric Mayhem. I wish they had recorded tons of cheesy cover albums that I could use writing articles as an excuse to buy.

There are other good tracks, but there are also a few worth skipping, depending on your tastes. The Peace Carol is cool, Little Alphie, not so much. Regardless, it’s a part of my nostalgia, which means it will mean something to me the rest of my life, whether I want it to or now. Thats the crazy thing about memories.

What are some Christmas albums you grew up with? Chipmunks? Boyz II Men? Don’t be ashamed, let me know in the comments!

Movies have always been a staple for me during the holidays, from VHS to DVD, and now Blu-ray. Below are some of the best (and in some cases, crazy expensive) home video gift ideas for the year.

Batman – The Complete Animated Series

Even if you didn’t grow up in the 90s like I did, you have to admit this show was awesome. Better than the first four Batman films combined, this show was stylized, dark, and action-packed. This is at the top of my wish list this year. It’s a cool $85 in stores, but of course Amazon has it cheaper. PS – I think The Dark Knight is a given if someone you know doesn’t have it.

Batman – The Complete Animated Series on Amazon

Fraggle Rock – The Complete Series

If you’re a die hard Muppets/Fraggle Rock fan, chances are you’re kinda pissed off about this. Luckily, I’m not. Long story short, the only way to get the 4th season is to buy this set, which sucks if you already own the first three. A lot of people are mad about this, but I only have the first season, so its not that big of a deal for me.

$90 $80 on Amazon

The Flintstones – The Complete Series

The last of the crazy expensive sets, I promise. I miss the Flintstones. I don’t see TV at all anymore, and I doubt if I did I would even get to see this show anyway. Get this for yourself or even a kid. I promise they’ll like it. From my experience (lots of nieces and nephews) kids today love old animation just as much as the stuff they’re exposed to daily.

$90 on Amazon

Wall-E/Nightmare Before Christmas/Sleeping Beauty

Three awesome films. I’m a certifiable Pixar nut, stop motion freak, and classic Disney animation fanboy. Wall-E is Andrew Stanton’s second turn at director, and he did a great job. This would make an awesome gift for just about anyone. The Nightmare Before Christmas is Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s masterpiece, and it’s never looked better than it does on Blu-ray. Sleeping Beauty is a gorgeous film, worth the price even if you don’t care for the story. It’s a moving illustration from the Gothic period and it’s great to finally see it in it’s full aspect ratio.

• Wall-E is $22.99 on Amazon
• Nightmare is $20.99 on Amazon
  for the DVD
• Sleeping Beauty is $23.99 on Amazon
  for Blu-ray (with standard DVD)

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!

A feature-length Yogi Bear animated movie? I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever seen this, but I’m going to order it as soon as possible. A little googling reveals that it’s the first feature length cartoon Hanna-Barbera produced. Cool! I always loved Yogi, and I’m on a quest to own every feature-length animated movie I’m interested in (ie, not most Dreamworks movies). Oddly enough, the complete series of The Yogi Bear Show is cheaper.

$16.49 on Amazon

Popeye Shorts

Now in its third volume, the classic Popeye animated shorts are a must-have too. I picked up the first volume last Christmas and I hope to get the second two soon. My wife and I love these. They’re so violent and silly, but hilarious. We even entertained a group of nieces and nephews between the ages of 6 and 13 with these DVDs, and they loved them too.

Volume 3 is $24.99 on Amazon

Welcome to Saturday Morning Central’s 12 Days of Christmas. Is there a better time of the year to launch a blog dedicated to all the warm, fuzzy memories we have of our childhood than Christmas? Of course not, so today I give you the first really-for-real post of the site, the Holiday Gift Guide: Volume 1 – Stocking Stuffers.

Stocking Stuffers

Justice League Batman with Pig

I saw this in Target yesterday, and instantly thought how cool of a stocking stuffer this would be. As weird as Batman toys usually are, this was still surprising. Why would Batman come with a pig? Apparently its from an episode of Justice League, but I’d rather just think it was completely random.

$9.99 or so at Target | More expensive on Amazon

Super Mario Brothers PVC Figurines

Who doesn’t love Mario Brothers? With the Wii rocking out nursing homes these days, it’s safe to say that everyone from 1 to 92 at least recognizes these characters. These small PVC figures are cute, cheap, and the whole package should fit in your stocking.

$4.99 at Toys R Us | $5.99 on Amazon

Galactic Heroes/Superhero Squad/Combat Heroes/Cute Things

The trend of turning regular action figures in to tiny cute versions is still going strong, and I love it. I’m sure you’ve seen them in some form, whether it was Indiana Jones, Star Wars, or the new GI Joe “Combat Heroes”. They’re tiny, inexpensive (around $6-10), and they’re perfect for decorating your desk. Cross pollination between titles could lead to some interesting results. I wouldn’t mind seeing Cute Darth Vader vs. Cute Hulk. Bonus points for Star Wars for actually packaging a special ‘Stocking Stuffers’ edition of Galactic Heroes.

Misc. Stocking Standards

I imagine each of you have different stocking traditions. I usually end up giving/receiving some sort of candy, socks, and knick-knackery, and for years I’ve always put Necco Wafers in my mom’s stocking.

What are some common things you usually give and get in your stocking?

Coming up next – DVDs!