Tooned In – MeTV’s Holiday Preview: Tis The Season For Knocking Down Forbidden Doors

I was putting together Scott’s complete-ish Raccoons DVD set, complete with other various tidbits from my obsessive recording days, including but not limited to: the Superstars where Undertaker turns face, and a WCW Saturday Night with the “dream” tag team of JYD and P.N. News. When I got a bulletin coming out of my favorite channel, MeTV Toons. Their upcoming holiday season begins this Saturday, so after you watched Mariah Carey thaw out (I watch her all year long, TYVM), you can start enjoying seasonal cartoon favorites every weekend till Christmas. I clicked on the link, and I had to set a personal record for gasping while running down the schedule. Some old standbys, yes, then there’s some things I was clamoring for with others, and then some things I DID NOT see coming at all.

Yeah it isn’t even Halloween yet — one more day — but I HAD to talk about this. So I’m going to take a detour away from reviewing cartoon episodes, and instead will review cartoon schedules. Here now is,

METV TOONS’ ‘TIS THE SEASON FOR TOONS 2025

(My comments are not in italics)

Saturday, November 1

6P | 5C The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t – A talking squirrel must save the first Thanksgiving by finding two missing boys.

6:30P | 5:30C A Flintstone Christmas Carol – The Bedrock Community Players put on a production of A Christmas Carol, and Fred lets his lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge go to his head and becomes a bit of a Scrooge himself!

Glad that MeTV Toons has no STDs (erm, Skipping Thanksgiving Disorder…). It does make me rack my brains to think of other Thanksgiving cartoons they could have used. Charlie Brown is a no-no. Assuming they only have Beetlejuice because it’s a Warner IP and not because of Nelvana, Intergalactic Thanksgiving is out of the question too. Pac-Man, which they air, had a Thanksgiving episode, and you’ll see later that this is totally reasonable. Can they use CBS Looney Tunes compilations with holiday wraparounds, like Bugs Bunny Thanksgiving Diet? Q*Bert had a Thanksgiving episode on Saturday Supercade, and Weigel does deal with Sony to get UPA cartoons, and Ruby-Spears is in the Warner family, so…??? Speaking of UPA, there’s Uncle Sam Magoo, which had a Thanksgiving segment…but MeTV seems to only have the theatrical Mr. Magoos and nothing else.

And don’t get me started again on the Flintstones and Christmas. To paraphrase Paul Lynde/Claude Pertwee, timelords, that’s what they are!

Sunday, November 2

5P | 4C Horton Hears a Who – The classic Dr. Seuss story adapted into a cartoon special by Chuck Jones, Horton hears a Who on a dust speck, and must protect that dust speck from the other animals in the jungle.

5:30P | 4:30C Dr. Seuss on the Loose – This Dr. Seuss cartoon is a mash-up of Green Eggs and Ham and The Sneetches.

6P | 5C Dr. Seuss: The Lorax – The story of the Lorax, who speaks for the trees, and the Once-ler, who regrets chopping them down.

6:30P | 5:30C Daisy Head Mayzie – A daisy grows out of Mayzie’s head, and the Cat in the Hat helps her find her way back home.

7P | 6C Dr. Seuss: The Hoober-Bloob Highway – A cartoon that explains where babies come from – they’re sent from space down the Hoober-Bloob Highway to their families.

7:30P | 6:30C Dr. Seuss: The Cat in the Hat – Voice acting legend Daws Butler brings the Cat in the Hat to life; the Cat in the Hat helps Sally and Conrad have fun while their mother is out.

This is a pretty big get, and the same day that the Terrytoons re-emerge after 30 years or so. Fun fact: the “premiere” shorts of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle DON’T star either character technically! The Mouse of Tomorrow is about Supermouse, who was overhauled to become Mighty Mouse due to legal complaints, and The Talking Magpies is about a married couple of birds, and their friends. Anyway, I somehow felt the Seuss specials might be out of reach for Me, especially the Cat, so it’s cool to see them here. Obviously no Grinch, and it might take some getting used to to see Seuss stories without backstory padding and pop culture references and smartass humor. I can still sing the Thing 1 and 2 song by heart.

Saturday, November 8

6P | 5C Yogi’s First Christmas – Yogi, Boo Boo, and Cindy wake up early from hibernation and experience Christmas for the first time.

Speaking of pairs of funny animals who turned into a married pair, this is “important” because Chip and Dale try to defect to Hanna-Barbera in the opening credits. Just watch:

And either of them could pose as a female to help their escape plan, remember the Rescue Rangers episode when they dressed as showgirls in Fat Cat’s casino? Unless Chip ran off with Clarice from Two Chips and a Miss.

So, it’s an expected part of the lineup, typical Hanna-Barbera team up show and all.

Sunday, November 9

5P | 4C The Little Troll Prince – In a world where trolls live high in the mountains because they’re scared of Christmas, a troll named Bu leaves his castle and comes down the mountain to learn about the holiday.

6P | 5C The Smurfs: “It’s A Smurfy Life/The Abominable Snow Beast/Journey To The Center of the Smurf”- A series of festive, winter-wonderful episodes of The Smurfs. We will follow these episodes with ‘Tis the Season to be Smurfy and The Smurfs Christmas Special.

Yeah, yeah, “goodness makes the badness go away.” And I guess if the Smurfs were enough to teach Bart Simpson lessons during their first Christmas, it’s good enough for this. But once again, I’m about the obscure, and Troll is just that. An ’80s Hanna-Barbera special, it is a curious choice for its religious tone, being sponsored by the Lutheran church…yep, not unlike Davey and Goliath. I don’t think there’s been much on the channel that leans towards a certain set of beliefs. Not only that, but it boasts a varied all-star cast with Cloris Leachman, Don Knotts, Father Mulcahy, and…Vincent Price. The latter of which piques my interest as it may shoot my 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo Embargo theory down the toilet. Because I previously believed MeTV always skips it to avoid paying royalties to Price’s estate.

Saturday, November 15

6P | 5C A Flintstone Christmas – Fred is chosen to play Santa for the Bedrock Children’s orphanage, and he does such a good job that he is asked to step in for the real Santa, who is sick and can’t deliver Christmas presents.

7P | 6C A Flintstone Family Christmas – Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, and their kids are delayed in coming home for Christmas, when Fred and Wilma meet an abandoned child, Stoney, and decide to take him in for the holidays.

7:30P | 6:30C Yogi’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper – Yogi Bear and Boo Boo escape Jellystone and hide out in a department store disguised as Santa. While playing Santa, Yogi meets a little girl named Judy who needs his help believing in Christmas again.

More Yogi, more Flintstones. And I think “Character fills in for sick/injured Santa” is to Hanna-Barbera Christmas as “Wacky teenagers with weird talking animal or object solve mysteries” is to Hanna-Barbera’s ’70s output in general. As “Tiny races of creatures have adventures” is to ’80s Hanna-Barbera. However, this is the Yogi special that Fred and Barney appear in! I need Doctor Emmet Brown to explain this business with the Flintstones some day.

But Flintstones Family Christmas! This is the one that references “Charles Mansonrock,” drive-by stonings, and maybe even adult cable channels. Price of admission!

Sunday, November 16

5P | 4C The Flintstones, “Christmas Flintstone” – Fred works at Macyrock’s as a mall Santa and is recruited to fill in for the real Santa.

5:30P | 4:30C Cave Kids, “Cave Kids Christmas” – Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm visit the North Pole to learn the true meaning of Christmas.

6P | 5C Yo Yogi! “There’s No Business Like Snow Business” – Yogi and friends have to stop the Abominable Snowdude from scaring skiers.

6:30P | 5:30C Christmas Comes to Pac-land – Pac-man and his friends save Christmas from the ghosts, who have crashed Santa’s sleigh.

7P | 6C Sonic Christmas Blast – Sonic and his friends must save Christmas after Dr. Robotnik has kidnapped Santa Claus.

7:30P | 6:30C Taz-Mania, “No Time for Christmas” – Taz puts on a Santa suit and spreads Christmas cheer all over Tasmania!

Now we’re getting some more points of interest. The Flintstones episode is obviously a classic and “Dino the Dinosaur” is an earworm. You all know what I think of Yo, Yogi! and Cave Kids probably isn’t much better. But Pacland is a personal markout, R.D. Reynolds’ opinion be damned, and he can take his sense of history with him, including the “anonymous” Dragon, Ludvig Borga the evil Captain Planet, and the Western States belt being used at Bash ’91. And hey, Pac-Man gets to share an hour with fellow gaming character Sonic the Hedgehog, coming back from last year’s schedule. SatAM Sonic please, MeTV???? And we close with a biggie: Taz-Mania premieres on the channel.

Saturday, November 22

7P | 6C Casper’s First Christmas – Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Huckleberry Hound, and more Hanna-Barbera characters get lost and decide to spend Christmas by visiting Casper, the friendly ghost. But soon they encounter a not-so-friendly ghost.

7:30P | 6:30C A Christmas Story (1972) – Little Timmy’s letter to Santa never got mailed, so his dog Goober and the friendly mouse Gumdrop go on a journey to the North Pole to deliver Timmy’s letter.

In hell, you can only watch Hanna-Barbera Casper, along with Hanna-Barbera Popeye, Baby Huey, Bat-Mite from the 1977 Batman show, and the Brothers Grunt. That is all.

No, it’s not THAT Christmas Story. Just a different family holiday story with a bunch of songs the other H-B specials will use. Come to think of it, Casper has what will be the opening theme to Yogi’s First Christmas . And it’s still more legit than A Christmas Story 2, am I right??

Skipping some repeats, and on the 29th, we got something REALLY interesting…

6P | 5C A Christmas Carol (1971) – This Academy Award-winning cartoon retells the classic Dickens story. Produced by Chuck Jones.

6:30P | 5:30C The Little Rascals Christmas Special – This animated Christmas special of The Little Rascals featured two of the original Little Rascals playing the grown-ups – Darla Hood and Stymie Beard!

7P | 6C The Town That Santa Forgot – Narrated by Dick van Dyke, this Christmas cartoon shows Santa deciding to teach a boy the true meaning of Christmas is bringing joy to others by giving the boy’s Christmas gifts to children in need.

7:30P | 6:30C The Jetsons, “A Jetson Christmas Carol” – Mr. Spacely plays the role of Mr. Scrooge and the Jetsons are the Crachits. Astro swallows one of Mr. Spacely’s Sprockets and becomes very sick. When Mr. Spacely shows no sympathy for the Jetsons or Astro, he is visited by three futuristic ghosts.

Pretty solid day. Bookended by more Christmas Carol adaptions, there’s a ’90s special you probably forgot, but then! THE LITTLE RASCALS ARE HERE. I did NOT even think about this happening. But it shows that whatever deal there is with Weigel and CBS (or is it Paramount? I get confused with those, Viacom, Skydance, etc. etc.) is paying off. First we got TMNT and Star Trek, then the Terrytoons, now this. Previously, I assume there was some rights issues that kept animated Our Gang off of TV. I know it kept the ’80s Hanna-Barbera version off of reruns for a LONG while. This of course will not be H-B, but MWS Studios. This version of the Little Rascals was also seen in PSAs that used to air between cartoons on our local station. Watch as Alfalfa pretty much portrays the internet as we know it:

More repeats, then…

Saturday, December 6

6P | 5C A Miser Brothers’ Christmas – The feuding Heat Miser and Snow Miser must work together to rescue Santa from the North Wind.

7P | 6C The Story of Santa Claus – Nicholas Claus and his wife are shipwrecked in the North Pole and are given one wish by the elves – they decide to build a toy shop and give every child in the world a toy.

Meh, cash grab WB Rankin-Bass character sequel from the 2000s. But then, the latter show is a bit more interesting, another obscure ’90s special, but one I think I will fan canon into the Elf universe, since this is actually Ed Asner’s first go at playing Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick. (he was a cool guy, by the way, met him many years back and he made all the time for the fans and didn’t rush you). And you also get Betty White AND Tim Curry! Of note, this was actually produced by Nelvana…but it was also a CBS production so again, the CBS/MeTV connection benefits their Christmas schedule.

Sunday, December 7

5P | 4C Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas – Dr. Claw has hypnotized Santa’s elves to work for M.A.D. and imprisoned Santa. Gadget’s mission is to save Santa and Christmas itself.

5:30P | 4:30C Inspector Gadget, “Gadget in Wonderland” – Gadget attends the Winter Olympics, where Dr. Claw attempts to sabotage the games by replacing the torchbearer.

6P | 5C Cabbage Patch Kids’ Christmas Special – The Cabbage Patch Kids go to the big city so that they can find the Christmas Spirit.

6:30P | 5:30C The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy – A heartwarming classic from Ruby-Spears where Petey the puppy wishes to be adopted by a boy for Christmas.

7P | 6C Christmas Cartoon All-Stars – A special Christmas edition of Cartoon All-Stars.

A lot of things we already saw, and with Inspector Gadget you get to see his beginnings (the first show is actually the PILOT to the series, or one of them, with Mustached Gadget and all) and way into the twilight of his career. P.S. the title should be “WINTERLAND,” not “Wonderland.” But the big story is we finally see the return of Petey the Puppy, as MeTV Toons digs again into the Ruby-Spears ABC Weekend Special cartoon library after using Bunnicula for Halloween. (can we please have Miss Switch next year then?) Could this mean we also will finally see The Puppy’s Greatest/New/Further Adventures on the regular schedule some day? Maybe it wasn’t the best, but I’ve driven myself crazy only having the theme song left, when it plays after 1982 Scooby-Doo reruns. So it’s a combo of nostalgia and curiosity.

Saturday, December 13

6P | 5C On this day we will be airing holiday-themed episodes of Scooby-Doo, including: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? “That’s Snow Ghost!”, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries “The Nutcracker Scoob” and “The Night of the Living Toys/South Pole Vault”, and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo “Snow Place Like Home”.

Pretty decent Scooby block. The New Mysteries era has a banger theme song, and I think one of the episodes is when Fred comes back to visit. No Velma, though, if I remember it right. As you know, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is always fun in its own wacky way too.

Sunday, December 14

5P | 4C The Stingiest Man in Town – A classic Rankin/Bass musical version of A Christmas Carol.

6P | 5C Oliver and the Artful Dodger – A Hanna-Barbera sequel to Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

7:30P | 6:30C A Christmas Carol (1971)

Ah, now we’re digging into the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, with the Oliver Twist cartoon. The same program where we got oddities such as cartoons based on sitcoms like Gidget, the Munsters, and That Girl; and the nightmare that is Popeye and the Man who Hated Laughter. From the descriptions I read, doesn’t really mention Christmas, but it’s a rare show, so yay? Roughly on topic, I see clamoring for a Hocus Pocus 3, but if Bette Midler must do a nostalgia reboot or sequel, I WANT A GEORGETTE (from Oliver and Company) ORIGIN STORY AND I WANT IT NOW!!! Sarah Jessica Parker can join a Square Pegs class reunion.

I guess most of the other B-C Team Rankin-Bass shows are going to be on AMC again, but we get one trickling through here with Stingiest Man. I’ve gotta get a scorecard to remind myself which R-B shows are in the Warner library.

The 20th is a block of Looney Tunes holiday shorts, and the same for the Cartoon All-Stars block. We end on December 21st with more repeats.

So that’s MeTV Toons’ 2025 holiday. Good variety, many rarities, and maybe some promise for the future schedule in general (maybe Taz, Puppy, even the Little Rascals?) I’ll definitely check out the choice parts here.