why can't they get this thru their heads??

San Jose Mercury News - 'Shrek' special too 'hip' to join holiday classics

there will NEVER be another "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" or "Frosty the Snowman" or "Here Comes Santa Claus".....those days are gone....because that collective innocense is gone.

What makes these movies classics isn't the "cuteness" factor....its the recreation they produce of a more peaceful, innocent, child-like state of mind....

when you watch Rudolph....it could be in the middle of August and 100*F outside....it makes you want to curl up under a blanket with a cup of cocoa which is using a candy cane as a swizzle stick. And yes I do really do this.

The classic films will instantly bring back memories of childhood....the incredible amount of presents under the tree--which seemed to take forever to open {of course now as a parent, you can't believe how quickly all those gifts get torn open}....it brings back the smells of mom's cooking still lingering in the air....the crisp bite of winter air on your nose as you helped to hang the Christmas lights and decorate the yard....making a snowman with your brothers--well okay, my brother's wouldn't share their snowmen with me, I had to make my own little ones.....

its that sense of nostagia that has made them "Classics". Why won't the Shrek special become a "Classic"? Because families don't have big meals anymore on a regular basis.....people pay some company to come decorate their house....snowmen are considered "inappropriate"....snowball fights are considered assaults....and kids aren't allowed to play outside if the temp gets below freezing.

Does this mean that there will never be a classic again? Of course not---look how quickly movies like "A Christmas Story" and "The Santa Clause" have become standards....even the poor but funny "Home Alone " 1 & 2 are Neo-Classical. All have to deal with two things--the innocense of youth and the rediscovery of the Holiday Spirit in the innocent kids parent/s.

I love A Christmas Story--even though it is set before my time--I can relate to much of what Ralphy goes thru....I remember walking 7 blocks to school in the dead of winter and trying to find short cuts....having the same friends from birth to about 4th grade {that's when things changed here}...do most kids have this anymore?

All you have to do is listen to the radio, watch the ads on television or go into a grocery store these days and see the crumbling of the American household---we live in a world of catered holiday dinners, quick fix one dish meals, and Christmas-in-a-truck {okay I am guilty of a lot of this too, and I'm a SAHM}

It has nothing to do with how hip a movie is, how cool the effects are, or how much money is spent making it....it has to do with capturing the feeling of youth at the time-=-or catching the feeling of being a parent at the time-=-or reminding parents about what it was like to be a kid if even for just a single day a year.

THAT is what makes a Christmas Classic!