Since I can remember, it’s always been a favorite of mine around this time of year. Even today at the age of 36, my wife and I still enjoy watching it (we even own it on DVD!).
As we were tuning in this year, I began wondering why they’d even play this anymore? I mean in this age of technology where cartoons are created with a computer, would the children of today (and the adults for that matter) really find any entertainment in this archaic art form? Well, I guess I was wrong.
According to the ratings, 12.7 million viewers tuned in to the reindeer classic – seen by more eyes than the scantily clad models from “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.” It also won the hour among the demographic advertisers crave most, the 18-49 crowd. In fact, it beat the popular teen favorite “Glee” in both total viewers and the demographic. In short, it was the second most watched program of the night, right behind an NCIS rerun. Not bad for a 47 year old program.
In a world spiraling out of control, I think there’s something comforting about holiday classics from the past. They serve as a reminder of times long ago when things were a little easier, people were a lot nicer and problems didn’t seem to lurk around every corner.
The narrator, Sam the Snowman (AKA: Burl Ives) says at the start, “Nice around here, isn’t it? I call it Christmas Town, better known as the North Pole. A Christmas tree forest. Yep, here’s where we grow ’em. Nice place to live, you know.”
And it’s a nice place to visit year after year as well.
