Santa, Baby!
????It’s 2001, and a magical partridge is sending me on a coat drive for some kind of Karate Kid-style Santa training.
Hop in our light blue ’54 convertible and buckle up as we take you on a joyride through the very last and most forgotten Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring a mostly black cast starring Patti LaBelle, Gregory Hines, and a criminally underused Eartha Kitt as a talking cat.
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???? Guests:
Andre Bennett (Cult Cinema Cloister, Philadelphia Championship Rock Paper Scissors).
Tim Babb (Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast).
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???? Topics & Tangents:
1. This special was co-written by Suzanne Collins, who went on to write “The Hunger Games.”
2. The other co-writer, Peter Bakalian, also has a book series. It’s called “The F.A.R.T. Diaries.”
3. Patti LaBelle in Philadelphia’s “Get to Know Us” tourism campaign, 1985.
4. Patti LaBelle on “Sesame Street” singing “How I Miss My X.”
5. IMDb’s photo gallery for “Santa, Baby!” is full of high-quality promotional images.
6. RankinBass.com’s first look at “Santa, Baby!” from December 2001.
7. Gregory Hines in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” and “Running Scared.”
8. Rankin/Bass finally includes “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” in a Christmas special.
8. Natalie Toro (Samson) lists “Santa Baby!” on her bio page.
10. Andre’s uncle co-wrote K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life.”
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???? Commercial Break:
McDonald’s “Wake Up” Breakfast Commercial featuring Patti LaBelle, 1990.
Can’t Wait for Christmas, the podcast dedicated to keeping the spirit of Christmas alive all year round.
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“Santa, Baby” © 2001 Perisphere Pictures, Inc.
Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.
Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.