Snoopy is a pet dog owned by Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The original drawings of Snoopy were inspired by Spike, one of Schulz’s childhood dogs. Snoopy is a perpetually innocent and mindlessly happy dog who either fantasizes or dances around in joy. Snoopy cannot talk, so his thoughts are shown in thought balloons. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy’s thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances and pantomime. Snoopy has imagined himself as different things such as a pelican, a vulture, an author and a World War I Flying Ace (in which he battles the Red Baron).
Namahage in traditional Japanese folklore is a demon-like being, portrayed by men wearing hefty ogre masks and traditional straw capes (mino) during a New Year’s ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture in northern Honshū, Japan. The frightfully dressed men march through neighborhoods, admonishing children who may be guilty of laziness or bad behavior.
Ded Moroz (translated as “Old Man Frost” or “Grandfather Frost”) is a fictional character who plays a role similar to that of Santa Claus in some Slavic cultures. Ded Moroz is said to bring presents to children; however, unlike the secretive Santa Claus, the gifts are often delivered “in person” at New Year celebrations. Depictions of Ded Moroz commonly show him with a heel-length fur coat and a semi-round fur hat. He is accompanied by Snegurochka (“Snow Maiden”), his granddaughter and helper. She is a unique attribute of Ded Moroz; no traditional gift-givers from other cultures are portrayed with a female companion, though the German analog Saint Nicholas comes with Krampus. There are equivalents of Ded Moroz and Snegurochka all over the former Soviet Union, as well as the countries once in the so-called Soviet bloc and in the former Yugoslavia. The official residence of Ded Moroz in Russia is the town of Veliky Ustyug.
The Spotted Elephant is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. The Spotted Elephant resides with other unwanted toys on the Island of Misfit Toys, a land ruled by King Moonracer. (Moonracer is possibly a manipulative cult leader with megalomaniac tendencies who hoards rare, emotionally damaged toys.)
P.S. Merry Christmas! I enjoyed this forum thread, which addresses King Moonracer’s possible villain status: “Was King Moonracer a fraud?” Indeed. Why was King Moonracer holding the misfit toys hostage for so long? Since he regularly flies around the world collecting unwanted toys, why wasn’t he already collaborating with Santa to find new homes for those toys? Moonracer only thought to contact Santa afterRudolph, Hermey, and Yukon showed up? Really? King Moonracer is very possibly a manipulative cult leader with megalomaniac tendencies who hoards rare, emotionally damaged toys. It seems like the unexpected arrival of visitors to his remote island shamed him into doing the right thing with his sad toy collection.
Quincy Magoo (or simply Mr. Magoo) is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. However, through uncanny streaks of luck, the situation always seems to work itself out for him, leaving him no worse than before. Mr. Magoo was born on February 25, 1858.
Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century saint and Greek bishop in Myra (modern-day Turkey). Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus (whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas).
Krampus is a demonic beast-like creature from the folklore of Alpine countries thought to punish bad children during the Yule season, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards nice ones with gifts. Described as half-goat, half-demon, Krampus is said to capture particularly naughty children in his sack and carry them away to his underworld lair. He beats people into behaving with a bundle of birch sticks. According to folklore, Krampus shows up in towns on the night before December 6, known as Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night. The history of the Krampus figure stretches back to pre-Christian Germanic folklore.
Note: Happy Christmas Eve! Hopefully Krampus the holiday devil doesn’t show up on your street dragging rusty chains and bells.
Astronaut Jesus was conceived in 2004 by Argentine design collective Doma. A limited edition, five-color silkscreen poster exclusive to Andr8id was printed in 2004 and a matching vinyl toy was manufactured by adFunture in 2005. The visually striking toy is a 9.5″ (24 cm) figure with a removable helmet and a swiveling right arm. Doma is best known for their visual designs and installation arts. According to the Astronaut Jesus collectible packaging, “[AstroChrist] is an elite member of the astronaut gods that have come to our planet since the beginning of time to shape our civilization and the world as we know it.”
I am amused by the concept that Jesus has been in outer space overseeing the world and will one day return to fix our problems. It would be fun to have my own Astronaut Jesus figure, but only a few hundred exist in the world, so I’m not holding my breath. After the original run of 500 Astronaut Jesus figures, six small limited edition runs were manufactured in different colors during 2005 and 2006, including a hot-pink flocked Wooster Collective Edition.
Father Time is an elderly bearded man who carries an hourglass or other timekeeping device (not unlike the Grim Reaper or Chronos). On New Year’s Eve, this personification of time passes his duties to an allegorical Baby New Year. The annual ritual is depicted in the stop-motion children’s special Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1976.
Note: After the passing of a few more grains of sand we shall have a Happy New Year!
The wife of Santa Claus, the North American Christmas gift-bringer. Santa Claus emerged in the 1820s from a number of European folklore traditions, but Mrs. Claus had no such precedent. She is a literary creation of James Rees (1849) and was popularized in a poem by Katharine Lee Bates (1889). Also see The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974).
A fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. Known as Santa’s ninth reindeer, he is depicted as the lead of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward. He stars in the stop-motion Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964.
Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve! I will be spending mine in a dirty Amazon jungle town in Peru.
A fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He appeared as the main protagonist in the 1957 children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and the 1966 TV special. The devious, anti-holiday spirit of the character led to the usage of term “Grinch” to describe a person opposed to Christmastime celebrations. He is an icon of the winter holidays.
A sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, autumn colors and fern-like patterns on cold windows. Though unconnected to Christianity, he is sometimes hijacked for modern secular Christmas entertainment, such as Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, a 1976 Rankin/Bass production.
Welcome to the winter solstice (the original reason for this holiday season). Today is the shortest day of year.
The nine-year-old protagonist of the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story. The film was based on the stories of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd. Ralphie wants only one thing for Christmas: a Red Ryder BB Gun, with a compass in the stock and “this thing which tells time” (a sundial). Every adult tells him the same thing: “You’ll shoot your eye out.”
I was tempted to create an 8-bit Adam Sandler for today, since we all know Sandler is the modern spiritual figurehead of Hanukkah, but I could not resist Ralphie in his pink bunny suit.
Yukon Cornelius is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. He is an eccentric arctic prospector who leads the audience to believe that he’s searching for either gold or silver, but is actually seeking peppermint.
Hermey is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. Hermey the Misfit Elf prefers studying dentistry to making toys, making him a social outcast among the other elves.
This character is based on “Frosty the Snowman” – a popular song first recorded by Gene Autry in 1950. The most famous version of Frosty is the animated children’s Christmas special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1969. Frosty comes to life and says “Happy Birthday!” when a magical top hat is placed on his head.
Astronaut Jesus – No. 397
Astronaut Jesus was conceived in 2004 by Argentine design collective Doma. A limited edition, five-color silkscreen poster exclusive to Andr8id was printed in 2004 and a matching vinyl toy was manufactured by adFunture in 2005. The visually striking toy is a 9.5″ (24 cm) figure with a removable helmet and a swiveling right arm. Doma is best known for their visual designs and installation arts. According to the Astronaut Jesus collectible packaging, “[AstroChrist] is an elite member of the astronaut gods that have come to our planet since the beginning of time to shape our civilization and the world as we know it.”
I am amused by the concept that Jesus has been in outer space overseeing the world and will one day return to fix our problems. It would be fun to have my own Astronaut Jesus figure, but only a few hundred exist in the world, so I’m not holding my breath. After the original run of 500 Astronaut Jesus figures, six small limited edition runs were manufactured in different colors during 2005 and 2006, including a hot-pink flocked Wooster Collective Edition.