Christmas is my favorite time of the year; I love everything about it. Decorating the tree, spending time with family, watching snow fall, presents, and all the traditions each family has. Christmas has inspired countless filmmakers to create movies about the holiday season, and some of my favorite films are Christmas movies. To celebrate the season, I've compiled a list of my favorite 12 Christmas movies or specials, and there will be a review of one of them every day, a countdown from 12 to 1. Check back every day until Christmas for a new Christmas review!

The 12 Films of Christmas

12: Elf (2003)
11. A Christmas Story (1983)
10. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
8. Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

The lip-movements don't match, the motion is anything but fluid, and now after fifty years since its first broadcast, the screen is covered with dirt and scratches and the soundtrack is distorted and hissy; but I can't deny that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the highlights of the holiday season.

Yes, today marks the first Rankin/Bass production on the list. This company made so many good television specials that it's hard to list them all. There's the classic stop-motion fare like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Year Without a Santa Claus, The Little Drummer Boy and more obscure classicslike Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey,Here Comes Peter Cotton-Tail, etc. They even did some traditional animation, like in Frosty the Snowman, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Twas' The Night Before Christmas, and even some films like The Hobbit. This is only a small fraction of the work Rankin/Bass did on television. They left their mark on TV and pop culture in a profound way, because without Rankin/Bass, I think Holiday television would be unrecognizably different.

It all started with the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which is one of the most iconic TV specials of all time. Some of the most famous elements commonly associated with Rudolph come not from the original poem by Robert May or the classic song, but from the TV special. There's the abominable snowman, the island of misfit toys, and so many other classic scenes and characters.

Obviously, the story of Rudolph is pretty simple (the song is only four verses). Thus, the filmmakers had to expand the story quite a bit to make it an hour long, and the new story material is all gold. The main expansion is that, after all the torment the other Reindeer inflict on Rudolph, the reindeer with the red-nose runs away and has a series of memorable adventures. His sidekick is Hermey the elf, another misfit who doesn't want to make toys, and instead strives to be a dentist.

The characters are probably my favorite element in this TV special. Rudolph himself is a good protagonist, but it's the supporting cast that really makes the film shine. Hermey the misfit elf is hilarious; the idea of a dentist elf is wildly creative and opens the character up to lots of good jokes. Rudolph's other companion is prospector Yukon Cornelius, and he's easily my favorite character. Yukon is not only the fearless, heroic member of the trio, but also the funniest. The scene where he tries to get his dogs to 'mush' but ends up pulling the sled himself is a classic moment. And then, of course, there's Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman, who is possibly the most iconic character from any Rankin/Bass production. He narrates the story and occasionally chimes in with a song. The voice of Burl Ives is the voice that everyone associates with this TV special, and for good reason.

Speaking of songs, Rudolph features some classic holiday tunes. Johnny Marks, who wrote the original Rudolph song, wrote all the music for the TV special, and there are some true classic in the bunch. Santa sings Jingle, Jingle, Jingle, the elves sing We Are Santa's Elves, and Burl Ives sings Silver and Gold. There are other songs like The Most Wonderful Day of the Year, and the duet Fame and Fortune, but the song that has become a Christmas classic is Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. Burl Ives' performance of the song is possibly the highlight of the special.

The film was animated using stop-motion animation, which is one of my favorite kinds of animation. I've actually made a few short films myself using the technique, and let me tell you, it's not easy. The stop-motion work in Rudolph is primitive, but that adds a lot to the charm of the special, and for the time, it was groundbreaking. Some of the best sequences, visually, would be song numbers with all the elves. Simultaneously moving so many characters in one scene, going 24 frames per second, is a huge amount of work, and that work is apparent on screen.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer isn't my favorite Rankin/Bass special, and that speaks volumes about the quality of other Rankin/Bass production because Rudolph is an excellent Christmas film that is as traditional as a tree. It's not Christmas without Rudolph, and remember....bumbles bounce!