Most children today have grown up watching the classic Christmas special 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' that was filmed using stop-motion animation. As the winter holiday season fast approaches and you settle down to watch 'Rudolph' on television, check out these ten cool facts that you didn't know about one of themost famous Christmas specials of all time.
Just try to imagine what the modern movie would be like if the world had never seen the work of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. Murders would take place off-camera to spare audiences who have yet to be desensitized by the sight of blood puddles. Seemingly tranquil animals would always live together with humans in peace and harmony. Shower scenes would be tacked on and gratuitous.
The universe is a pretty amazing place, from the unimaginably large, right down to the incredibly small. There’s an awful lot going on in this field we call "existence."
If someone asked you to name the first film director that jumped into your mind, Steven Spielberg would likely be the one. Movies like ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Jaws’ have become required viewing for every self-respecting film buff.
It’s hard to imagine what the movies would be like without James Bond. Ian Fleming’s debonaire and daring secret agent has become the modern definition of a man's man, despite the fact that he’s not a real person.
Shakespeare described the "witching hour" as a time "when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out." Spooky! Equally esteemed author Washington Irving described Halloween night in his classic 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' as a setting full of "fearful shapes and shadows...amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night." Kids all across the country describe it as the night when the entire world gives them all the candy they can eat until they either pass out or develop early on-set diabetes.
Few cult films have been able to define the term as clearly as 1975's Halloween classic ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’ Decades after its release, toilet-paper toting fans still show up week after week at midnight screenings across the globe dressed in fishnet stockings and full makeup. They not only watch the same movie they’ve seen hundreds of times, they also act it out and throw props at the screen. The only way it could be more of a cult is if some kind of live goat sacrifice was involved.
Everyone knows that vampires suck … your blood!!!! Seriously though, do you know the history behind modern vampire lore? These creatures of the night have been lurking around for a very long time, although the princes and princesses of darkness have taken on different guises and mythologies throughout the ages.
‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ might be the best-known Peanuts television special, but the gang’s Halloween special also cemented its place in television history. Sure there wouldn’t be a Halloween cartoon without the holiday one, but there wouldn’t be a Peanuts gang on television for more than 40 years without ‘The Great Pumpkin.’
Mermaids have long captured the imagination of the public. They’ve thrilled us in "documentaries", paintings fairytales and in the cinema. Sometimes these seafaring fish-ladies come to the aid of men (helpful!), and sometimes they just want to hug you to death and drown you (less helpful). Here are a few "facts" about these mythical creatures you might want to know before your next boat trip.