By Zuzu’s petals, this turned out to be a close-run poll — at least in the movie category.  Thanks to a larger-than-expected turnout from the Bedford Falls region, the Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life edged Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun in A Christmas Story to win the Hot Air poll for best Christmas movie of all time.  George Bailey ended up winning by just 45 angels’ wings over Ralphie.  As promised, here’s a Christmas Day clip from one of Hollywood’s best:

Honestly, though, the vote was so close that I feel like I should offer a clip from the oh-so-close silver medalist — and besides, someone would probablytriple-dog-dare me to do so at some point anyway:

The vote for best Christmas TV special wasn’t even close. A Charlie Brown Christmas won nearly half of all the votes in the poll.  I already included a clip of the show in today’s Christmas post, but here’s a longer clip of the same portion:

A few years ago, a documentarian produced a short making-of film of Charles Schulz’ groundbreaking TV special that’s worth a look.  It explains the resistance of CBS execs to the explicit Biblical references, as well as the lack of a laugh track and the use of actual child actors rather than adults mimicking childrens’ voices.  Schulz insisted: “If we don’t tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWgmod5ml3A

Merry Christmas to all!