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Elf esteem
The 1960s and ’70s were a golden age for holiday TV specials: Who could forget the stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas? While these classics have long been available on DVD, collecting them just got easier thanks to a pair of box sets that together include most of the holiday canon. Genius Products’ Christmas Classics Gift Set ($40) features seven vintage programs, including Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, while Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Christmas Television Favorites (also $40) collects The Grinch and The Year Without a Santa Claus, plus some holiday sequels (Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas in July) and flat-out obscurities (Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey). The bonus features, like Horton Hears a Who! and a behind-the-scenes of The Grinch featurette, make Television Favorites the better buy, even though some of the specials are filler. Those who want The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold will have to hold their breath until a truly definitive collection arrives one of these years.
—Andrew Johnston
