Danny Kaye and Nat King Cole.

Well, you may be wondering where the above picture of Nat King Cole and Danny Kaye came from. It is an actual picture, not shopped or anything like that. More on that in a moment. First, let's show Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song.



All right, and the answer to the above question is: The Danny Kaye Show. Yes, Danny had a long-forgotten show in the early 1960s. The episode (actually, it technically was a special) that aired on December 25, 1963, featured Nat King Cole, and that is where the performance is from. The people of the day probably didn't realize how lucky they were to get this kind of first-class entertainment on Christmas.

And it's a brilliant performance, with Nat appearing as comfortable singing the song as if he were in his own living room, entertaining his family. A true professional. The later duet with Danny of a hip version of 'Jingle Bells' also is phenomenal and probably the highlight of the show.

In case you're really interested, below is a brief clip of the Danny Kaye Christmas Show from 1966. It was a terrific show, classy old showbiz stuff, of a kind that went completely out of style about fifteen minutes after it finished.


Let's get one thing out of the way, because I'm a mind reader and I know what you're thinking. These were the days when everybody simply celebrated the season and did not make a big fuss about their own religion and how it might not exactly quite fit into the whole Christmas thing and so on and so forth. Just going along with the holiday was their choice, it stemmed from an old showbiz tradition that went back at least as far as Irving Berlin, and everybody got along and respected each other with a knowing wink and entertained people. If that offends people these days - too bad. It was Danny's show, that is how he wanted it, and that is how it went down. And it was a great show.

Here's another copy in case the one above disappears.



As a bonus, and for no particular reason beyond the title of the movie it is from, below is a classic clip of Danny and a good friend singing 'Sisters' from 'White Christmas.'



The bottom line? Danny Kaye was a ferociously dedicated worker, he was in constant motion during his tv show - all right, some of it obviously was taped - and turned mediocre sketches into personal tour de forces. And all that when he was one of the top movie stars in the world. Phenomenal talent all around.

And he and we wish you a Merry Christmas!

2018

This page is devoted to Christmas Elf coloring pages. Everybody loves elves. An elf, or elves if there is a group of them, is a supernatural creature who can do uncanny things. He arose from Germanic mythology and folklore, which stretches far back into the mists of time. Since pretty much all western historical folk tales arose from Germanic mythology, elves sit squarely in the center of Western culture and have been around as long as just about any other western folk tales.
There are all sorts of ancient references to elves, and from a wide variety of sources. These references are predominantly in Old English and Norse mythology, so they are difficult for anybody but scholars to understand. There is a lot of evidence for elves in the old literature, with references to elves sprinkled throughout old medical books, prayers, ballads, and folktales. Typically, elves are whimsical creatures, who are capable of good... and bad.
Elves have always been understood to be not just Christmas elves, but instead around to cause mischief year-round. Basically, elves could and did live anywhere, appearing and disappearing seemingly by magic, and it is only a modern interpretation that confines them to the North Pole with Santa Claus and his workshop. In fact, it was Americans who really defined elves as being little more than Santa's little helpers, but that did enable them to remain at the forefront of people's attention.
The elves became famous from the 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' (widely known as '’Twas the Night before Christmas') by Samuel Clement Moore. He described St Nicholas (Santa Claus) himself as "a right jolly old elf'" (line 45). However, everybody afterward defined the word 'elf' to refer just to the little guys, and not including Santa Claus. Hopefully, Santa did not feel slighted.

In the English-speaking countries that enjoyed the poem, therefore, meaning the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, 'elves' became synonymous with making gifts for children up at Santa's place. A more modern interpretation is that the little guys include green-clad elves with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats, with goofy grins and sly expressions part of the package.



Naturally, the elves make the toys in a workshop located up at the North Pole. These elves actually are very similar to the folklore elves, being nimble and delicate. These are very much like the versions of the elves in English folktakes in the Victorian period from which the Christmas elves derived. Elves are one of the favorite parts of Christmas for children, and the role of elves as Santa's helpers remains popular. The Christmas movie 'Elf ' proved that the allure of the elf remains indelibly impressed on the holiday.



2014

This is a page of 'Frozen' clip art. "Frozen" is the highest grossing animated feature film of all time.



It was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures in November 2013. It featured the song 'Let It Go.'


'Frozen' is very loosely based upon Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. However, significant changes were made to the original tale.


'Frozen' tells the tale of two princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa is a troubled girl because she has a mysterious power to freeze things with just a look. Anna loves her sister, but Elsa becomes dangerous and their parents lock Elsa away.


Elsa eventually becomes Queen after their parents die at sea. After her coronation, though, she and Anna have a dispute about whether Anna may get married to Prince Hans.


During their dispute, Elsa unleashes her powers in public, and she then runs away and builds her own ice palace far away.


Anna decides to go looking for Elsa. She enlists the assistance of a mountain man, Kristoff, and his reindeer Sven. They track down Elsa and convince her to return to their home. Along the way, they meet Olaf, a snowman who Elsa accidentally created.



They all return to their home, Arendelle, but it turns out that Elsa was right about Hans, and that he is no good. Elsa finally realizes that love is the key to controlling her ice powers.



The stars of 'Frozen' are Kristin Bell as Anna, Idina Menzel as Elsa, Jonathan Goff as Kristoff, Josh Gad as Olaf and Santino Fontana as Prince Hans.



'Frozen' has earned over $400 million in North America and over $1 billion worldwide. It set many major records, including earning more on its initial run than any other non-sequel animated feature film in history.



We have assembled here a nice sampling of clip art, including animated GIFs, so that you may decorate your emails, Facebook pages, or websites with something that will always remind you and all your visitors of the wonder of 'Frozen.'




2014