The holiday season tends to bring out a nostalgic feeling in me. You can tell who grew up in the Chicagoland area if they know who Suzy Snowflake or Hardrock, Coco and Joe are. Right now the YouTube videos of these two cartoons are making the rounds on Facebook among all my childhood companions.
“Suzy Snowflake” was a cartoon-short based on the song written in 1951 by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, and sung by Rosemary Clooney. The cartoon, made in 1953, was aired annually during the Christmas season on WGN-TV in Chicago.
“Hardrock, Coco and Joe” was another cartoon, often paired up with Suzy. This short cartoon was based on a song written by Stuart Hamblen. It tells the story of three of Santa’s helpers who ride on his sleigh. While Hardrock and Coco have duties, the littlest- Joe does not but he’s brought along because Santa loves him. He is the cutest and his very deep voice only adds to his charm.
Before the day and age of videos and cable, my siblings and I would wait in anticipation for these to air on tv because that meant it was most definitely the holiday season. We never tired of them. By the time we saw them, they were already 15+ years old but I don’t remember thinking anything about the choppiness or black and white film. If anything, it made me love them even more. I’m not even sure when I realized that they weren’t seen across the US. I was probably an adult at that point and I felt bad that everyone had missed out on these gems. 😉 These two short videos were an important part of my childhood. They bring back memories of happy times with my sisters and brother. We spent so much of our time either watching tv or re-enacting what we had seen. It was a simpler time. (I sound like I’m 90, don’t I?)
Are there any shows that remind you of your childhood Christmases?
The wizard of oz was always a film we looked forward to as it was on tv either Christmas Day or Boxing Day
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That was another one we looked for and it remains one of my all time favorite movies of all time. 🙂
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I grew up in Chicago and remember loving both of these as well. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
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When I first saw the name Hardrock above I thought it was a Rock n Roll group. Cute. I think it is great you have these memories. I remember the Mickey Mouse Club and Spin and Marty. I think the Wizard of Oz was a yearly television event in San Francisco.
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I know that the Wizard of Oz was aired yearly when I was growing up but I don’t know what time of year it was- that and Sound of Music. We always loved watching both of them.
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It made it more special to me because we only got to see it once a year just like your Snowflake. It was a real treat.
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I have to agree. Although my children do have some movies that they have watched to death and love like I do the Wizard of Oz, there was something about the experience that they will never understand. I think we “had” to savor it more because we knew that this was it- watch it now or wait a year.
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I have been thinking the same thing. That it made it special because we could only watch it once a year. Nowadays, we can watch a DVD over and over.
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There is this awesome Cinderella story airing every Christmas Eve here in Norway, Christmas Eve is never perfect until I have watched it and all the Disney cartoons too 👍
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I love traditions like that. 🙂
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I’m jus hoping my kids will love this movie too, so far they have found it boring 😝
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Mine were not impressed with my two short films. And I showed them to my 5 year old grandson last night. He was singing along to Suzy Snowflake but he didn’t seem to like Hardrock, Coco and Joe as much.
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