History Trivia / TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas

* ChannelHop: Creator/{{CBS}} held the broadcast rights to the special for two decades before it moved to [[Creator/{{Freeform}} Family Channel]] and then Creator/{{AMC}}.

** The final line is "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!", not "Merry Christmas..."

* AnonymousAuthor: The poem was originally published anonymously in 1823. After several years Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863) identified himself as the author, and this is still widely accepted. However, a longstanding claim by the descendants of Major Henry Livingston Jr. (1748–1828) suggests that he actually wrote it years earlier. Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} devotes an entire section to the controversy. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas#Authorship_controversy Draw your own conclusions]].

** "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Only it isn't -- the original poem retained the ''Dutch'' names ''Dunder'' and ''Blixem'', as was suitable to the old Dutch settlers of New York who introduced Santa Claus to America. Later re-printings {{Retcon}}ned the names into their more familiar German forms. However, while this was most likely unintentional, the name "Donner" could hold some additional significance, depending on how you look at it; in French, the verb "donner" means "to give," which is quite faithful to the spirit of Christmas, indeed.

** "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Only it isn't -- the original poem retained the ''Dutch'' names ''Dunder'' and ''Blixem'', as was suitable to the old Dutch settlers of New York who introduced Santa Claus to America. Later re-printings {{Retcon}}ned the names into their more familiar German forms. However, while this was most likely unintentional, the name "Donner" still could retain some significance depending on how you look at it; in French, the verb "donner" means "to give," which is quite faithful to the spirit of Christmas, indeed.

!!The Rankin-Bass special:

* WordOfDante: Quite a bit of the contemporary Santa Claus mythos comes from this poem, particularly the number and names of his reindeer.

* WordOfDante: Quite a bit of the contemporary Santa mythos comes from this poem, particularly the number and names of his reindeer.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Clement Moore was a seminary professor of ancient literature, who dashed off the poem to amuse his children. It was first published anonymously so as not to damage his reputation as an author of serious academic works and erudite verse. Yep, guess what's Moore's only literary work that anybody remembers today.

* AnonymousAuthor: The poem was originally published anonymously in 1823. After several years Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) identified himself as the author, and this is still widely accepted. However, a longstanding claim by the descendants of Major Henry Livingston, Jr. (1748-1828) suggests that he actually wrote it years earlier. Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} devotes an entire section to the controversy. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas#Authorship_controversy Draw your own conclusions]].

** "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Only it isn't -- the original poem retained the ''Dutch'' names ''Dunder'' and ''Blixen'', as was suitable to the old Dutch settlers of New York who introduced Santa Claus to America. Later re-printings {{Retcon}}ned the names into their more familiar German forms. However, while this was most likely unintentional, the name "Donner" still could retain some significance depending on how you look at it; in French, the verb "donner" means "to give," which is quite faithful to the spirit of Christmas, indeed.

** "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Only it isn't -- the original poem retained the ''Dutch'' names ''Donder'' and ''Blixen'', as was suitable to the old Dutch settlers of New York who introduced Santa Claus to America. Later re-printings {{Retcon}}ned the names into their more familiar German forms. However, while this was most likely unintentional, the name "Donner" still could retain some significance depending on how you look at it; in French, the verb "donner" means "to give," which is quite faithful to the spirit of Christmas, indeed.

* AnonymousAuthor: While it's generally agreed to have been written by Clement Clarke Moore, the poem was originally published anonymously. This has led some to suggest that it may in fact have been first written by one Major Henry Livingston, Jr., instead. Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} devotes an entire section to the controversy; [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas#Authorship_controversy draw your own conclusions]].

** "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Only it isn't--the original poem retained the ''Dutch'' names ''Donder'' and ''Blixen'', as was suitable to the old Dutch settlers of New York who introduced Santa Claus to America. Later re-printings {{Retcon}}ned the names into their more familiar German forms. However, while this was most likely unintentional, the name "Donner" still could retain some significance depending on how you look at it; in French, the verb "donner" means "to give," which is quite faithful to the spirit of Christmas, indeed.

** "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Only it isn't--the original poem retained the ''Dutch'' names ''Donder'' and ''Blixen'', as was suitable to the old Dutch settlers of New York who introduced Santa Claus to America. Later re-printings {{Retcon}}ned the names into their more familiar German forms. However, albeit this was most likely unintentional, the name "Donner" still could retain some significance depending on how you look at it; in French, the verb "donner" means "to give," which is quite faithful to the spirit of Christmas, indeed.

** The phrase "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

* 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''.
** Does Albert sound at all familiar? That's probably because Tammy Grimes voiced Molly Grue in ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn''.
** Father Mouse was [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares a real square]].

** Father Mouse was [[HollywoodSquares a real square]].