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Scarecrow’s decidedly different holiday themed gifts

By Mark ⋅ December 16, 2009 ⋅

Stumped for that Secret Santa present? Want to bring something weird to your in-laws? Tired of the same old ChristmasStoryGrinchPeanutRudolph offerings? While Scarecrow does carry all of the classics for sale, here are some options for a different kind of Holiday DVD gift. This season we have gone to the outer regions of the Christmas Zone to bring you the following:

YULE LOGS & VIDEO FIREPLACES – A popular item/gag gift this time of year is The Happy Holiday Hearth, which features a nice warm image of a fireplace with many seasonal music choices playing in the background. This year at Scarecrow we have expanded our offerings in the genre to include the Christmas with Johnny Cash Yule Log Edition as well as the Christmas with Jose Feliciano Yule Log Edition. Note that these are not live performances, but jammin’ Christmas tunes to listen to while viewing three different holiday scenes: The Classic Yule Log, The Cozy Cottage, and everybody’s favorite, The Snowy Cabin. If Johnny or Jose’s not your thing, we’ve also got Yule A Go-Go. I’ll just quote directly from the box since I couldn’t possibly improve on it. “The yule log is back and hotter than ever!!! 12 beautiful ladies dance burlesque to groovy go-go-tastic versions of your favorite classic holiday tunes!!!”

There are Hanukkah songs, too!

OTHER UNIQUE HOLIDAY THEMED ITEMS– Cinematic Titanic Presents Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, which has the MST3K guys riffing on this bizarre no-budget ‘60’s oddity starring Pia Zadora. We got this straight from the CT guys, so chances are your friends haven’t already gotten it.

For the music lover on your list, you could do a lot worse than A Not So Silent Night, a Christmas concert at the Knitting Factory held by Kate & Anna McGarrigle and their prodigiously talented musical family (which included Rufus and Martha.) Bonus special guests who show up on the crowded stage to nearly steal the show are Emmylou Harris, Lou Reed (who, donned in red sweater, sings “Blue Christmas”) and Laurie Anderson. Ok, Laurie pretty much does steal the show, with a piece entitled “Beginning.” A quote from the piece that I love — “Christmas, it comes just once a year. And some things, on the other hand, only happen once in all of history.” I can’t forget to mention Rufus Wainwright & Justin Bond’s wonderful drag duet of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Normally Rufus’ voice sets my teeth on edge, but here it works beautifully.

Such a stylish cover!

You want cartoons? Two of Raymond Briggs’ seminal books have been perfectly translated to screen by British animators Diane Jackson & company. Father Christmas is a delightful take on what Santa does in the off-season, and The Snowman (which was nominated for a Best Short film Oscar in 1983) is a near-wordless, somewhat melancholy tale of a boy’s adventure with a snowman one winter’s night.

A couple other animated treasures available at Scarecrow now are Ziggy’s Gift, one of the few things available from legendary animator Richard (The Thief And The Cobbler) Williams, and The Cameraman’s Revenge and Other Fantastic Tales, which collects Ladislaw Starewicz’ puppet animation and includes the dazzlingly beautiful Insect’s Christmas from 1913 as well as the snowland fantasy Winter Carousel.

Also a fine gift for those who liked FANTASTIC MR. FOX

There are many other Holiday treats available for purchase, and all are neatly organized for you in our “Buy Something Festive” sales section. So drop in, be merry, and get that Yule-A-Go-Go going!