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Christmas in Tattertown

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Christmas in Tattertown
Created byRalph Bakshi
Written byTom Minton
Jim Reardon
Directed byRalph Bakshi
Voices ofCharlie Adler
Adrian Arnold
Arthur Burghardt
Jennifer Darling
Keith David
Sherry Lynn
Patrick Pinney
ComposerGary Anderson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes1
Production
Executive producerTom Klein
ProducerRalph Bakshi
AnimatorsEd Bell
Kent Butterworth
Charlie Downs
Tony Fucile
Steve Gordon
Mike Kazaleh
Steve Markowski
Tom Minton
Virgil Ross
Irven Spence
Phil Young
EditorBrad Gunther
Running time30 minutes
Production companyBakshi Animation
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseDecember 21, 1988 (1988-12-21)

Christmas in Tattertown is a 1988 animated television Christmas special created and directed by Ralph Bakshi.[1] The special was an unsold pilot episode for a series, Tattertown, about a place where everything discarded in the world came alive.[2] It aired on the cable television network Nickelodeon.

Synopsis

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A high-strung, self-absorbed young girl named Debbie opens a magic book, sucking her, a stuffed dog, and her doll Miss Muffet into the realm of Tattertown, a Fleischeresque world where discarded items come to life. Miss Muffet rejoices at her newfound sentience and freedom until Debbie attempts to reassert her dominance. Muffet runs off and transforms herself into Muffet the Merciless, set on conquering Tattertown. Sidney the Spider, a villain who had previously made failed attempts at conquering Tattertown, takes Muffet to the "Deadster Zone", the home of "unsavory characters" such as war toys and weapons, to recruit the denizens into her army.

A homesick Debbie decides to introduce the concept of Christmas to Tattertown, where no one has ever heard of the holiday. She recruits Mr. Tannenbaum, a stereotypically Jewish evergreen merchant, to serve as the Christmas tree. When Muffet learns of Debbie's plans, she flashes back to past trauma of rough handling during the Christmas season and vows to stop Debbie's efforts. She decides to launch an airstrike on Tattertown disguised as Santa Claus, with Sidney as all eight reindeer, but when the real Santa flies over Tattertown, the air fleet crashes into itself, creating a fireworks display that impresses Santa and the town. Frustrated that the Tattertown residents' idea of Christmas doesn't match her view of it, Debbie plays the original recording of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" as a last resort. Tattertown is overcome by love and compassion, all except an enraged Muffet, who lands in jail.

While the residents did consider "White Christmas" to be a beautiful song, it is never resolved whether anyone ever grasped the true meaning of Christmas.

History

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Bakshi originated the idea for Tattertown in high school, where it was originally a comic strip called Junk Town. The strip made light of the human condition by showing the value of things we throw away.[3][4]

Bakshi worked with Nickelodeon to bring his strip to life as a regular television series, which would have served as Nickelodeon's first original animated series. In 1988, they commissioned him to create a pilot for the series.[5][6][4] The pilot was animated by Ed Bell, Kent Butterworth, Charlie Downs, Tony Fucile, Steve Gordon, Mike Kazaleh, Steve Markowski, Tom Minton, Virgil Ross, Irven Spence, and Phil Young, with overseas animation done by Wang Film Productions and supervised by David Marshall.[7] The music was composed by Gary M. Anderson.[8] The pilot aired on December 21, 1988, during the network's Nick at Nite block of programming.[8][9][4][7][10]

Originally the series was to be picked up in 1989 for 39 episodes, but after a controversy involving an episode from Bakshi's other series Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, the project was abandoned.[11][5][6] Nickelodeon renamed the pilot Christmas in Tattertown and aired it annually as a special until 1992. Bakshi has retained rights to the pilot and the characters. In an interview on his official website conducted on August 2, 2007, he confirmed a DVD release; however, no such release has happened.[12]

In 1995, the special aired in syndication under the title A Tattertown Christmas alongside the Rocko's Modern Life Christmas special "Rocko's Modern Christmas!".[13]

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 333. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9781476672939.
  3. ^ "Ralph Bakshi".
  4. ^ a b c d Amidi, Amid (December 10, 2013). "Ralph Bakshi's "Christmas in Tattertown": 25 Years Later". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Christmasy Cartoonz, Part 2: TV Cartoon Specials (to 1979)". Cartoon Research. December 1, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Animation Anecdotes: Christmas Day Special Edition". Cartoon Research. December 25, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Christmas Animation Anecdotes 2017". Cartoon Research. December 22, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Wharton, David (July 27, 1988). "Television Reviews: 'Tattertown' Showcases Bakshi's Cartoon Energy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  9. ^ Solomon, Charles (December 21, 1988). "Television Reviews: 'Tattertown' Showcases Bakshi's Cartoon Energy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  10. ^ "An Eclectic Christmas". Cartoon Research. December 25, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  11. ^ Gibson, Jon M.; McDonnell, Chris (2008). "Ups & Downs". Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-0-7893-1684-4.
  12. ^ Cryptfan2 (December 22, 2010). "Ralph Bakshi - Christmas in Tattertown". Film|Boards. Retrieved April 20, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Rocko's Modern Christmas & Christmas in Tattertown promos 1994". YouTube. July 4, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Rowan, Terry (April 27, 2014). Having a Wonderful Christmas Time Film Guide. Lulu Press. ISBN 9781312140455. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  15. ^ "Keith David | Voice over actor". Voice123. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
  16. ^ "RESUME". Sherry Lynn: Veteran Voice-Over Artist. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
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