The Massive Attack Podcast

After hoping for a big finish for the 12 days we gave up on our original choice and went back to animations with the 1959 Russian short "A Christmas Visit", which is sometimes also known as "A Christmas Tree" just to be confusing.

It's the story of a young Russian boy who is sad that his weatherman father in Antarctica will miss out on having a tree for Christmas, so with the help of Santa and his magical plane, and some friendly animals, tries to get one there.

There a few versions of this online, unfortunately they all seem a little washed-out as far as colour goes, but you can watch it here on Youtube.

 

And just for a special Christmas treat, make sure you stick around for the song!

Today we go all educational again with this strange little doco featuring a school teacher, aptly named Mrs. White, taking her class through some Christmas traditions from around the world.

Other than a Riftrax version we couldn't find much online about this, no links on Youtube or other streaming sights, and couldn't even find out what year it actually was made, but we're assuming it was somewhere in the late fifties.

 

 

We're getting closer to Christmas and it into the final three days of our countdown, so today for Day 10 we watched the 1936 short, "Christmas Comes But Once A Year". Produced by the Fleischer Studios, this beautifully animated short tells the story of Professor Grampy visiting some sad orphans to brighten up their Christmas day by creating some nifty toys out of household bits and pieces.

 

There is a very nicely restored version available to watch on YouTube as well.

Christmas is a time for celebrations and having fun, yet today for Day 9 we picked something a little bit more depressing in the 1954 adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" from Castle Films. Freaky Icemen, interpretive dance, a reggae loving Santa and heartless street kids stealing shoes. It's all here in this crazy short film.

And if you don't have Amazon Prime, don't fret, it's all here on Daily Motion.

 

 

While some of the picks for this year's 12 days have been entertaining, today for Day 8 it's time to get educated too as we bring you this informative short from 1953 called "Silent Night: A Story Of A Christmas Carol". The title kinda gives it away, as we go back to Austria in 1818 when the song was first composed.

 

If you are watching along at home, its not just on Amazon Prime, but can also be found here on YouTube.

For Day 7 we head back to the 1940's with this charming little short called "A Christmas Dream", which we think is either from 1946 or 1949 depending on who you believe.

Originally made by Czech brothers Karel and Borivoj Zeman, but then dubbed into English by Castle Films, it features a nice mix of stop motion, 2D animation and live action, and was a pleasure to watch after some of the crap we've seen over the last few days.

This one is all over the internet, but you can find a pretty clear copy over on YouTube.

Today we dive into another of the Amazon Prime Omnibus collections, Classic Christmas Favourites, and watch not one, but two shorts.

First it's a happy tale of a family singing carols and opening their gifts on Christmas morning in the 1950 Caste Film short "Merry Christmas", but then things take a turn for the bizarre with the truly amazing bad puppetry and even worse story telling in 1948's "Santa in Animal Land".

We couldn't find "Merry Christmas" online, but really it's not worth the effort, but here is Santa In Animal Land on Youtube in all it's glory!

 

 

Hopefully you have taken the right drugs to enjoy today’s pick, as we go back to 1957 for “Gumby’s Christmas Capers”. It’s a collection of vaguely Christmas themed episodes clumped together, featuring some stories that go nowhere staring everybody’s favourtie clay boy and his pet pony.

 

We weren't able to find the full show on Youtube, but you can watch one story, Santa-Witch here.

Sherman is an elf that can’t seem to do anything right, and the star of today’s TV special, “Santa’s Magic Toy Bag” from 1984. Created by Paul Fusco, who went on to make the puppet ALF, this poor man’s Muppet Show really made us earn our explicit tag!

We couldn't find it on youtube, but there is a pretty good rip you can watch here on Vimeo - Santa's Magic Toy Bag.

It’s a crazy one today, as we look at a short from 1964 called “Santa’s Enchanted Village”. Filmed around the Santa’s Village theme parks in Detroit and California, and featuring some of the worst animal costumes we’ve seen in a long time, this is a sight to behold. On top of that there is a strange intro section that feels very tacked on hosted by a familiar face.

If you are playing along at home and don't have Prime, or if you do but can't face the search function, here it is on YouTube - Santa's Enchanted Village.  Although it is missing the added intro sequence.

We skip forward a decade from yesterday for Day 2, and another animated cartoon today called “Santa’s Surprise” from 1947, which just so happens was the first appearance of Lil Audrey, as her group of other children for around the world sneak into Santa’s house to tidy up and say thanks for all  the presents.

Can you say casual racism anyone?

 

Also, for those non-Prime listeners, you can find it here on Youtube.

This year for the 12 day countdown we thought we’d try something different and pick all of our TV shows we watch from Amazon Prime. And, once we navigated the shitful search function, we did find quite a lot of Christmas content.

So, for Day 1 we go way back to 1937 for “Gifts From The Air”, a very nicely animated short featuring a poor young boy who dreams of magical wind-up toys and has some ingenious ways of making a tree on the cheap.

And for those of you playing along at home that don't have Amazon Prime, you can find it on Youtube here - Gifts From The Air