"O Pruney Night, the stars are slightly wrinkled"
December 16, 2013 9:45 AM   Subscribe

Presenting Will Vinton's Emmy-award winning A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987)

Featuring the worldest most musical dried fruits - The California Raisins (Warning: Silly autoplaying Heard It Trough the Grapevine)
posted by IvoShandor (18 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
that should be world's, not worldest.
posted by IvoShandor at 9:48 AM on December 16, 2013


This is a cherished childhood memory of mine. The stodgy academic dinosaur, the "Here We Come Awaffling," the California Raisins, everything.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:56 AM on December 16, 2013 [6 favorites]


We had this on tape when I was a kid, and watched it every year. I love it so hard. I still can't hear "We Three Kings" without singing along groovy camel-style in my head.
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:00 AM on December 16, 2013 [10 favorites]


I had this on a ripped-from-the-TV VHS, along with Muppet Family Christmas and the Garfield Christmas special (warning: unexpected garfield feelings). I hadn't been able to find it again until literally this week, because it's surprisingly ineffective to ask your husband if he remembers "that christmas thing with the dinosaurs, you know, they eat candy canes and the camels dance".
posted by specialagentwebb at 10:00 AM on December 16, 2013 [7 favorites]


I am so happy to have a good quality copy of this! I only ever saw it on tape because it came on after my bedtime when I was 7.
posted by mkb at 10:08 AM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


Oh for goodness' sake, thank you. I've gone years thinking I was the only person in the world that remembered this; anyone I've mentioned it to would just look at me like I was crazy.
posted by alynnk at 10:09 AM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


wassail!
posted by infinitewindow at 10:10 AM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


I had this on a ripped-from-the-TV VHS, along with Muppet Family Christmas and the Garfield Christmas special...

They must have all have been aired on the same night, because damned if our household didn't have a very similar tape.
posted by Iridic at 10:18 AM on December 16, 2013 [4 favorites]


I've always loved the psychedelic glowing baby in the sun.
posted by fishmasta at 10:24 AM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


Yes, yes, Here We Come A-Waffling!
posted by Chrysostom at 10:39 AM on December 16, 2013 [4 favorites]


Hah! I just finished making plans for my annual viewing of this. I will never hear the Carol of the Bells without picturing this guy.
posted by AmandaA at 11:50 AM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


When I was a kid, I used to watch this special one frame at a time to fully appreciate the work of the sculptors.
posted by matt_arnold at 12:33 PM on December 16, 2013 [3 favorites]


"O Pruney Night, the stars are slightly wrinkled"

Just vaguely on-topic but I actually own the California Prune (self-link) that doubled as baby Jesus in that Simpsons parody.

(Yes, I am that obsessed with the California Raisins.)
posted by dhammond at 3:30 PM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


Just in case anyone missed it, Herb & Rex, the two bickering dinosaurs, were meant to be parodies of Siskel & Ebert.
posted by gmh at 5:26 PM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


Some friends of mine were two of the sculptors who worked on this! Thanks for posting and reminding me :)
posted by PlantGoddess at 7:20 AM on December 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


My family sits down to watch a VHS copy of this (and Muppet's Christmas Carol) every Christmas Eve... and I'm almost thirty. In fact, I think it is the sole reaon why my parent bought a new VCR in, like, 2011.

Everyone is talking about the camels and the california raisins, but my favorite part is the carol of the bells. Gets me every time.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 9:00 AM on December 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


In fact, I think it is the sole reaon why my parent bought a new VCR in, like, 2011.

Oh man, my family taped this and all the other Christmas specials (Garfield, Pooh, etc.) from TV in...1991? 92? And the DVD rip my mother made for me of a low-fi twenty-year-old VHS tape a couple of years ago is easily my most cherished Christmas possession. It's not Christmas without the California Raisins, punctuated by ancient Blockbuster commercials.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 12:06 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


This is a cherished childhood memory of mine. The stodgy academic dinosaur, the "Here We Come Awaffling," the California Raisins, everything.

This is absolutely why I posted it. My Christmases suck. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes it better.
posted by IvoShandor at 10:27 PM on January 4, 2014


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