History WesternAnimation / TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas

** Another case is Trundle's daughter whose outfit and pink switches between pink and yellow a few times before settling on yellow.

* VagueAge: Albert is young but he could be anywhere from a [[ChildProdigy young child]] to a [[TeensAreShort teenager]].

* InsufferableTeenGenius: Albert, prior to his CharacterDevelopment.

* FromBadToWorse: After the clock malfunctions, no one wants to give Trundle any work. Not only is Santa not bringing gifts for his family, but he can't pay his bills or put food on the table.

* HypocriticalHumor: Somewhat similar to the famous "[[DrStrangelove War Room]]" example.

* StepfordSmiler: Joshua Trundle becomes this on Christmas Eve, leading his children in a happy song about keeping faith and doing what you can when he ''knows'' there's nothing he can do and probably nothing to believe in.
* SublimeRhyme: Trundle recites the Clement Clark Moore poem, thus also resulting in a TitleDrop.

* ToMakeALongStoryShort: The mayor frequently makes long speeches on the subject at hand before giving up and making his actual point in two or three words. It's suggested that he can start well but never knows how to ''end'' his florid sentences and ham-handedly resorts to LaymansTerms.

*** And yet only Albert is ever called to account. His friends are only mentioned as having written and posted the letter with him. They never come up again. It's all dumped on Albert and Albert alone and only he ever is shown to have to atone while his mentioned but unseen buddies are pretty much allowed to go unpunished.

** Albert also claims that "grown-ups never believe in Santa". Hard to see where he got that idea, since literally ''every'' grown-up in the special professes belief - even the mayor who authorizes a massive public works project just to please the jolly old elf.

* HeelFaceTurn: Albert
* HeelRealization: Albert doesn't seem to regret his actions until he sees the family he wronged singing a song about the need to keep faith, do what they can, and trust Santa to do the rest.

* ToMakeALongStoryShort: The mayor frequently begins to extol long speeches on the subject at hand before giving and summing it up in two or three words.
-->You may build your clock, Mr. Trundle, and [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness may the enchanting tones of its melody soar to the pinnacle of the celestial heights where]] - ooh, aw, heck, get started!

* TheMerch: A record album featuring all the music and some dialogue was released at the time of the special's original airing.

A 1974 animated ChristmasSpecial from RankinBassProductions starts when the town of Junctionville has all of its letters returned from Santa Claus -- because a letter proclaiming Santa and his reindeer are fakes has appeared in the local paper and offended the jolly old elf. Father Mouse (George Gobel) investigates, and realizes his know-it-all son Albert (Tammy Grimes) has written the letter. Meanwhile, clockmaker Joshua Trundle (Joel Gray) tries to makes a singing clock in hopes of bringing Santa back. Things go from bad to worse when the clock publicly malfunctions -- but in the end, with the help of a HeelFaceTurn on Albert's part, a happy Christmas ensues. Unlike most R/B productions, this featured 2D animation, rather than the usual StopMotion puppet animation (called "Animagic").

* CrossDressingVoices: Tammy Grimes as Albert.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Character example -- Father Mouse's name seems to be...Father Mouse. Even Trundle calls him that. He's a mouse who fathered children.

** Albert also claims that "grown-ups never believe in Santa". Hard to see where he got that idea, ''every'' grown-up in the special professes belief, even the mayor who authorizes a massive public works project just to please the jolly old elf.

* HeyItsThatVoice: The mayor was voiced by John [=McGiver=], a character actor who specialized in playing "stuffed shirt" roles, perhaps most familiar as the Tiffany's salesman in ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys''.
* HowWeGotHere: The bulk of the story is told in flashback by Father Mouse in the three minutes before Midnight.

* HaveAGayOldTime: ABCFamily removed the "Give Your Heart a Try" number for having the word "gay" in it when it re-aired the special.

*** Since the special looks as if it were set some time in the past, [[FridgeBrilliance maybe]] this incident is what led him to start making his "naughty or nice" lists to prevent this in the future...

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: The mayor was voiced by John [=McGiver=], a character actor who specialized in playing "stuffed shirt" roles, perhaps most familiar as the Tiffany's salesman in ''[[BreakfastAtTiffanys Breakfast at Tiffany's]]''.

* ItGotWorse: After the clock malfunctions, no one wants to give Trundle any work. Not only is Santa not bringing gifts for his family, but he can't pay his bills or put food on the table.

2) A 1974 animated ChristmasSpecial from RankinBassProductions starts when the town of Junctionville has all of its letters returned from Santa Claus -- because a letter proclaiming Santa and his reindeer are fakes has appeared in the local paper and offended the jolly old elf. Father Mouse (George Gobel) investigates, and realizes his know-it-all son Albert (Tammy Grimes) has written the letter. Meanwhile, clockmaker Joshua Trundle (Joel Gray) tries to makes a singing clock in hopes of bringing Santa back. Things go from bad to worse when the clock publicly malfunctions -- but in the end, with the help of a HeelFaceTurn on Albert's part, a happy Christmas ensues. Unlike most R/B productions, this featured 2D animation, rather than the usual StopMotion puppet animation (called "Animagic").