The special was produced by Kadabrascope, an animation company founded by Nolan Bushnell, who previously founded Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre and Atari. It was set to air on NBC in 1983, but was scrapped due to The Great Video Game Crash of 1983. It ended up only seeing a release on VHS at Pizza Time Theatre ticket stands, as a slideshow.
You can watch the full special here
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The Christmas That Almost Wasn't provides examples of:
- Characterization Click Moment: This is one of the earliest pieces of media to show Chuck E. as a genuinely friendly character, which he certainly wasn't in prior showtapes.
- Limited Animation: Due to the special being unfinished, the whole thing feels closer to a slideshow than an animated film.
- Pep-Talk Song: Chuck E. sings "Teamwork" to rally the elves into working together so they can finish making the toys in time.
