Today I am watching an Emmy-winning special that premiered in 1982, the same year I was born. I remember watching it when I was little, but all I remember are images. Want to watch too? Here you go:
I'm immediately struck by the animation. Yeah, it's simple line-drawn 2D animation, but it has a very serene stillness and the motions are very fluid-- it's perfect for a Christmas special.
Ziggy, that long-enduring bald everyman that everyone knows from the comics but no one seems to have particularly strong feelings about, does not talk at all during the special. He is wearing a short robe and slippers as he brushes his teeth, collects his newspaper, and watches the news on TV, where he learns that a bunch of charity collectors have been pocketing the money. At the same time, Ziggy sees an ad in the newspaper asking for honest charity collectors. Spurred to action, Ziggy runs to his dresser and gets dressed, breaking his mirror in the process. Oh, Ziggy, will you ever win?
Ziggy's dog Fuzz ties Ziggy's scarf around Ziggy's neck (without using his paws like hands, just by taking the scarf in his teeth and running around Ziggy). Ziggy smiles and ties the other end of the scarf around Fuzz's neck so that it doubles as a leash. Cute.
They walk down the street, pulling a sled for some reason, and something random happens leading them to have to rescue a tree from the middle of the road. Then a police officer lectures Ziggy for leaving his sled in the middle of the sidewalk. Whatever. The cop hits himself in the head with his own billy club as he's waving it about, and then doesn't notice as a creepy hand reaches out of a nearby trash can and swipes his wallet. Yikes! After Ziggy and Fuzz walk away, we see the yellow-eyed stringy-haired owner of that hand, and it's not a pretty sight. Oscar the Grouch would be ashamed that the reputation of trash can dwellers has been sullied.
The guy at the "Santas Wanted" place is overly enthusiastic about an applicant showing up. As the door closes, the "Santas Wanted" sign falls off the door to reveal its label: "Fly by Nite Loan Co." The cop sees this and says "hmm." Something is not on the up and up here. Ziggy misses several indicators of this: 1) the guy doesn't even read his application 2) there are no other applicants and 3) the sofa in the guy's office is in very poor condition. On TV, particularly cartoons, beat up sofas are always a sign of trouble. Even Fuzz is growling at the guy. Come on, Ziggy, open your eyes.
Ziggy gives some money to street musicians, and the yellow-eyed creep watches from inside a fire hydrant. Then-- oh, I remember this part!-- Ziggy walks by a display window with angel mannequins whose necks go up and down. They sing "Joy to the World", but skip like a bad recording. A spring pops out of one of them. The next display window advertises plastic poinsettias, aluminum trees, vinyl holly wreaths, and polyester pine cones, all surrounding a ginormous wind-up Santa that sputters and dies right in front of Ziggy. Nightmare fuel! Of course, this is the part my pre-school-aged brain retained. The music changes as Ziggy stops beside a mailbox. I bet we're about to see the yellow-eyed-creep again! Yup, there he is, just as Ziggy pulls out his bell. He steals a wrapped gift, seemingly out of nowhere, then a passerby puts another wrapped gift into the mailbox (with no address?), which causes a scuffle that knocks the mailbox over. While Ziggy is distracted by that, a drunk-looking Santa steals his spot. Ziggy shrugs and walks away, and the yellow-eyed creep steals the drunk Santa's outfit right off of his back. WTF?
Yellow-eyed creep now has everything he needs to set up his own bell-ringing station right beside Ziggy. Ziggy is a kind and gentle soul, so he's just like "whatever" and keeps ringing his bell. Fuzz, on the other hand, digs his teeth into yellow-eyed creep's leg and does not let go until yellow-eyed creep vacates the corner. Wow. Fuzz presents a scrap of yellow-eyed creep's pants to Ziggy as a trophy. Ziggy puts in his pocket, for some reason.
Presumably sometime later, they are walking down the street again, still pulling the sled with the tree on it. They pass a stray cat, and Ziggy ties the scrap of pants around its head like a kerchief and pats it on the head. Aww. The cat, of course, hops atop the sled. Ziggy then goes by the meat market for some reason, where a bunch of "live Xmas turkeys" are on display and looking very distressed. I don't remember this part, but it might have contributed to my vegetarianism. Somehow, without speaking, Ziggy indicates that he would like to buy ALL the turkeys.
I thought we had lost yellow-eyed creep, but he's still trailing Ziggy. he makes a grab for the kettle of money, but it appears empty. However, when Ziggy reaches into it for $175 to pay for all the turkeys, the money is there. Ziggy sets the turkeys free and shakes the butcher's hand. I've always been indifferent to Ziggy as a comic strip, but this special is kind of making me love him.
The cop from earlier shows up to question the butcher about the turkeys on the loose, and is interested to hear about the short Santa who paid with cash out of an iron kettle. Yeah, that doesn't look good. Technically, that's still embezzling the charity money, Zig.
Ziggy's next act of kindness is to give his Santa suit to a homeless man who is freezing on the sidewalk. I might have something in my eye.
The cop has filled his paddywagon with "every single crooked Santa in town," including the suited guy who gave Ziggy the job. The chief of police reminds him to get "the little guy." Commotion with the yellow-eyed creep leads the cop right to Ziggy. But when they notice some children watching from a window, they cover by singing "Silent Night." Angle shift reveals that they are standing in front of a foster home (a group home, I guess), and the house mother invites them in. So, Ziggy, the cop, the yellow-eyed creep, Fuzz, and the cat all join the foster kids for some cocoa. Ziggy brings in the tree that he rescued earlier. They decorate it with yarn, and the cop puts his star badge on top. It mysteriously lights up. The mysterious gold light has showed up a few times, maybe suggesting angelic presence. I'm not sure.
Since the yellow-eyed creep is in the Santa suit, the kids assume he's Santa. Cornered by their innocence, he begins giving the kids the things he's been pilfering. The gold light flashes just as he pulls out some toys, suggesting that maybe he didn't know they were in there. At Ziggy's prompting, he also returns the cop's wallet. The cop apologizes for all that "confusion" earlier. So I guess even yellow-eyed creep has been redeemed. Guess that was the point.
We fade out with a Harry Nilsson song about giving, as Ziggy waves good-bye and leaves the foster home with Fuzz and his now-empty sled. Looks like they left the cat with the foster kids.
That? Was pretty awesome.
Visuals: 5 out of 5
Spirit: 5 out of 5
Nostalgia: 3 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 3 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
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