Dec 10, 2013

Ralph Bakshi's "Christmas in Tuttertown": 25 Years Later

Earlier this year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This month we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ralph Bakshi's holiday special Christmas in Tattertown, which aired on Nickelodeon on December 21, 1988. The two projects are not entirely unrelated. Bakshi credits the success of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" as the reason he was able to get permission to produce "Tattertown."

Loosely based on an idea Bakshi developed in the 1960s for a comic called "Junktown," "Christmas in Tattertown" is rooted in Bakshi's nostalgia for early 20th century comics. Tuttertown is a strange world," he told Animart! magazine in 1988. "What I wanted to do was to create something where old animation and new animation could go head-to-head, visually, stylistically, and attitudinally. Tuttertown is where the old and new animated characters live together, and they have a hell of a time. The old characters date back to Paul Terry's Alfalfa Farmer. There's Oswald the rabbit, and there's Bosco. And they are confronted with characters who are modern, can't move well, and are over the top.

Conceptually, the idea sounds like a lot of fun. In terms of execution, it is a disaster. Aiming for classic animated energy, "Tattertown" ends up monotonously loud and mind-numbing, with only the barest hint of story structure, narrative pacing, or characterization. Grating voice acting, clunky dialogue, and unclear character motivations do not advance the cause. It would not spoil the film if Bing Crosby revealed that singing "Dreaming of a White Christmas" saves the day, but it is a ticklish ending, given that the residents of Tuttertown have just learned about Christmas and have no connection to the sentimental core of the song.

The saving grace of the show is the art and animation, which looks above average compared to the low standards of the 1980s. In addition to Bakshi, an impressive lineup of veterans and future stars worked on "Tattertown": Rich Moore, director of "Wreck-It Ralph," designed the characters' colors, Pixar story artist Jeff Pidgeon character design, "Incredibles" animator Tony Fucile handled layout, "Shrek" co-director Vicki Jenson handled background design, and golden era animating legends Irv Spence and Charlie Downs, Virgil Ross handled animation, and Jim Reardon, director of "Simspons" and screenwriter of "WALL-E," wrote the script along with Tom Minton of "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs."

As an entertainment film it is questionable, but as a historical work it is worth seeing. Produced during an important transitional period in animated television, it occupies an important place as the first (if not the first) original animated film commissioned by Nickelodeon.