History WesternAnimation / TheChristmasTree

* DullSurprise: Barring the above [[ChewingTheScenery scenery-chewage]], the voice deliveries qualify as this across the board. Also near the end when Pappy tells his parents that he lost Lily, and their only reaction is their eyes going wide for a second.

* ShockAndAwe: Weirdly, [[spoiler: Santa]]. He decorates the tree and gives the children new clothes with a noticeable electrical crackle. In a more traditionally elemental and slightly more sinister vein, [[spoiler:Mrs. Mavilda is conveniently struck by lightning just before he makes his appearance. You really don't want to get on this guy's naughty list.]]

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:Lily ''falls off a cliff.'' But she survives, thanks to Santa conveniently being in the area.]] In a slightly less blatant example, the children never seem to get sick or injured despite wearing threadbare clothing to play in the snow.

* {{Expy}}: Mrs. Mavilda is Miss Hannigan.

* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:Not only is Mrs. Mavilda not sentenced for child abuse in the end, she retains a job at the orphanage (albeit as Judy's assistant)! All because of her lightning-induced HeelFaceTurn]].

* BearsAreBadNews: One that looks like Baloo from ''The Jungle Book'' chases after the kids at one point.

* VocalEvolution: The Mayor starts out with a very similar voice to Ray and the narrator, but then suddenly changes to having a much higher-pitched and more nasal voice for the film's climax.

* DullSurprise: Barring the above [[ChewingTheScenery scenery-chewage]], the voice deliveries qualify as this across the board. Also near the end when Pappy tells his parents that he lost Lily, they don't look shocked or sad.

* {{Beat}}: The Mayor does one mid-sentence when saying, "I've got enough money here to get the children new clothes. ''[beat]'' And still some left for their Christmas presents." Strongly implied to be the result of a Vietnam flashback.

* AmateurCast: The majority of the credited cast and crew has no known film or television career outside of this special. This goes a long way towards explaining the sheer ineptitude of the acting and animation.

''The Christmas Tree'' is a 1991 animated {{Christmas special}} that takes place in an orphanage run by the evil Mrs. Mavilda. She steals the orphanage's funds and tricks the mayor into thinking she's a good manager. The kids are so miserable they latch onto a pine tree as a mother figure. Things begin to change when a new family moves to town, and the mayor assigns the mother, Judy, to a position as Mrs. Mavilda's assistant. She and her two children live at the orphanage while their husband/father must live elsewhere for his new job. Judy takes the orphans under her wing and tries to make life better for them. When Mrs. Mavilda decides to frame Judy for a crime in order to have her removed, the children make a desperate bid to appeal to {{Santa Claus}} for help.

-->"[[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic I'm gonna check with the doctor, and see if I'm clinically still alive.]]"

* SensoryAbuse: The scene in which Mrs. Mavilda fires Judy. Mavilda's screaming so loud she breaks the volume levels of her microphone.

* CoversAlwaysLie: On the DVD cover, the tree is indoors.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Mrs. Mavilda, after being struck down by the BoltOfDivineRetribution.]]

* ThiefBag: The mayor pays Mrs. Mavilda in bags of money.

At first, this Christmas special was obscure. It was ranked as #12 in "WebVideo/FamiliarFaces #72: The Next 12 Forgotten Christmas Specials," which is on the website Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses (now Channel Awesome). The special [[ColbertBump gained attention]] later when, on the same website, it was reviewed in an episode of WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic on December 24, 2013. He called it the absolute worst Christmas special he has ever seen.

* StorybookOpening: A textbook (storybook?) example. The storybook doesn't have words or even word-shaped scribbles, just colored {{Tetris}} blocks.

* DullSurprise: Barring the above [[ChewingTheScenery scenery-chewage]], the voice deliveries qualify as this across the board.
** Also near the end when Pappy tells his parents that he lost Lily, they don't look shocked or sad.
*** "[[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic I'm gonna check with the doctor, and see if I'm clinically still alive.]]"

* [[spoiler: HappilyAdopted: All of the orphans, at the end. When the mayor tries to make Judy the new director of the orphanage, her husband interjects that they will adopt all of the children instead.]]

At first, this Christmas special was obscure. It was ranked as #12 in "WebVideo/FamiliarFaces #72: The Next 12 Forgotten Christmas Specials," which is on the website Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses. The special [[ColbertBump gained attention]] later when, on the same website, it was reviewed in an episode of WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic on December 24, 2013. He called it the absolute worst Christmas special he has ever seen.

* BoltOfDivineRetribution [[spoiler:One which Ms. Mavilda miraculously survives.]]

At first, this Christmas special was obscure. It was ranked as #12 in "WebVideo/FamiliarFaces #72: The Next 12 Forgotten Christmas Specials," which is on the website Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses. The special [[ColbertBump gained attention]] later when, on the same website, it was reviewed in an episode of WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic on December 24, 2013. [[spoiler:He called it the absolute worst Christmas special he has ever seen.]]

* ChewingTheScenery: When Mrs. Mavilda is firing Judy, she chews it so hard that the voice actress's mic almost blows out. Helped by the fact her mic is abusing the "insane bitch" setting.

* BearsAreBadNews: One that looks like Baloo chases after the kids at one point.

* BearsAreBadNews: One that looks like Baloo chases after the kids at one point, and presumably is thinking, "Bare necessities! Your asses are my recipes! The simple bare necessities of death!"