Selected holiday season songs, index

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My first feature page on songs of the holiday season was the following, published in December 2009:

Selected Christmas and holiday season songs, which includes the songs ○White Christmas ○Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ○Sleigh Ride ○The Christmas Song ○Let It Snow!, Let It Snow!, Let It Snow! ○Winter Wonderland ○Silver Bells ○Santa Claus Is Coming to Town ○Frosty the Snowman

Other feature pages on Christmas, holiday season, and winter songs, created Dec 2009 – Dec 2011:

• White Christmas
• White Christmas: selected vocal harmony group recordings, 1948-1965
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
• The Christmas Song
• Johnny Marks: Master of the Christmas song
• Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas
  
• Happy Holiday / Holiday Inn (mini-feature)
• My Favorite Things
• Some other popular holiday season songs
  

• • Jingle Bells
  • It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
  • Carol of the Drum (Little Drummer Boy)
  • Feliz Navidad (José Feliciano)
  • Happy Holiday / Holiday Inn
  • Jingle Bell Rock

See also:

• other standards and popular songs of winter

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Top 25 most performed ASCAP holiday songs of the decade 2000-2009 (external link)

1. Winter Wonderland Written by: Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith Performed by: Eurythmics 2. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) Written by: Mel Tormé, Robert Wells Performed by: Nat “King” Cole 3. Sleigh Ride Written by: Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish Performed by: The Ronettes 4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Written by: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin Performed by: The Pretenders 5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Written by: Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie Performed by: Bruce Springsteen 6. White Christmas Written by: Irving Berlin Performed by: Bing Crosby 7. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Written by: Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne Performed by: Michael Bublé 8. Jingle Bell Rock Written by: Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe Performed by: Daryl Hall & John Oates 9. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Written by: Johnny Marks Performed by: Gene Autry 10. Little Drummer Boy Written by: Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone Performed by: The Harry Simeone Chorale & Orchestra 11. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Written by: Edward Pola, George Wyle Performed by: Andy Williams 12. I’ll Be Home For Christmas Written by: Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram Performed by: Josh Groban 13. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree Written by: Johnny Marks Performed by: Brenda Lee

14. Silver Bells Written by: Jay Livingston, Ray Evans Performed by: Anne Murray 15. Feliz Navidad Written by: José Feliciano Performed by: José Feliciano 16. Frosty The Snowman Written by: Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins Performed by: The Beach Boys 17. A Holly Jolly Christmas Written by: Johnny Marks Performed by: Burl Ives 18. Blue Christmas Written by: Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson Performed by: Elvis Presley 19. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Written by: Meredith Willson Performed by: Johnny Mathis 20. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Written by: Tommie Connor (PRS) Performed by: John Mellencamp 21. Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) Written by: Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman Performed by: Gene Autry 22. (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays Written by: Bob Allen, Al Stillman Performed by: Perry Como 23. Carol Of The Bells Written by: Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovich Performed by: David Foster (instrumental version) 24. Wonderful Christmastime Written by: Paul McCartney (PRS) Performed by: Paul McCartney 25. Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World) Written by: Midge Ure (PRS), Bob Geldof (PRS) Performed by: Band Aid

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“Man of the worldly mind!” replied the Ghost, “do you believe in me or not?” “I do,” said Scrooge. “I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?” “It is required of every man,” the Ghost returned, “that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world — oh, woe is me! — and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!” — from  A Christmas Carol, Stave 1, by Charles Dickens, 1843

A Christmas Carol, 1971 (Animated film)

Excerpts from the Wikipedia article:

A Christmas Carol (1971) is an Academy Award-winning animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ venerable 1843 novella. It was a made-for-television production originally broadcast on ABC in the United States. It is often considered one of the most faithful adaptations of the Charles Dickens classic.

Production
A Christmas Carol was directed by Richard Williams and its visual style is also largely due to Ken Harris, credited as “Master Animator”. It starred Alastair Sim as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge — a role Sim had previously performed in the 1951 live-action film Scrooge. Michael Hordern likewise reprised his 1951 performance as Marley’s Ghost in the same film. Michael Redgrave narrated the story and veteran animator Chuck Jones served as executive producer. Williams’ son Alexander Williams, then aged four, provided the voice for Tiny Tim.^[1]

Visual style
This adaptation of A Christmas Carol has a distinctive look, created by multiple pans and zooms and by innovative, unexpected scene transitions. The visual style, which is unusually powerful, is inspired by 19th century engraved illustrations of the original story by John Leech and the pen and ink renderings by illustrator Milo Winter that graced 1930s editions of the book.^[2]

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From A Charlie Brown Christmas (TV, 1965)

Opening, featuring “Christmas Time is Here” (Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson), performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and members of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, San Rafael, California

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From the Christmas play rehearsal scene, including the kids dancing to a bit of “Linus and Lucy” (Vince Guaraldi), performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

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