Today's Monster Memories are of:
"The Abominable Snowman" From "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."
If you saw this coming up over the mountains you'd crap your pants
even if you weren't five years old.
Called "The Abominable Snow Monster of the North" on the show, but nicknamed "Bumble" by the crusty prospector Yukon Cornelius, this monster memory goes wa-a-a-y back... it's about the first monster I recall seeing, vividly and clearly remembering the scare it invoked. I was only 5 when the Rankin-Bass special played for the very first time, and I had seen the promos all week, so I was anxious to watch it. I even remember the Norelco electric shaver commercial that played during the breaks, that was animated in the same style and had Santa riding an electric razor over the snowy hills. Like the intended audience would need to shave!
Bumble did a little dance of joy at having spotted a fresh hot supper below.
I had seen other monsters before that, I know; in cartoons, and comics, and tv shows, but this was the one that made the biggest impression on my young mind. Perhaps it's because it was such a threat to the characters, and I felt their fear. I mean, look at that thing!
"Hey, kids! See you in your nightmares!"
Now just
look at that creature... to a five-year old, that can be pretty darn scary, and it was to me. The TEETH, the roaring, the threating to EAT helpless little Clarrise, who was the first feminine love interest on a TV show that had made me feel warm and mushy inside! "Fluffy," the voracious man-eating creature in "The Crate" segment of Creepshow, seems to echo old Bumble... I wonder if the designer was influenced by his childhood memories?
Somehow I don't think this one's going to end up decorating the Christmas tree.
I know, a Christmas special such as this one is supposed to generate warmth and special memories. But I'm sure I'm not the only kid to be freaked out over this monstrosity who wants to
devour alive his cuddly victims?
The voracious nature of the beast was intimated by his lair, a gaping maw waiting to swallow you up. Yes, Merry Christmas, kids! Try not to think about the horror that lurks within with huge teeth!
Of course, it ended up happily, with the defanged monster unable to eat solid food, (in a bloodless operation by amateur dentist Hermie) and I suppose he existed on mashed fruit and soggy cereal for the rest of his domesticated life, called upon to change lightbulbs and dust the places that the elves couldn't reach in the castle of Christmastown. Although, I can't help but muse that his meat-eating nature might reassert itself later, as the elves were small enough to swallow whole.
Watch this gem again this holiday season, if you haven't already! And don't think about the gruesome gore and unspeakable horror that would have happened had Yukon Cornelius not arrived in time...
*shudder*
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