I'm trying
something different to get in the holiday spirit this year. Every
day, from now through Christmas, I will be watching a different
Christmas movie or television special. I have compiled the list of
features ahead of time and am drawing one, at random, from my
Christmas stocking everyday to determine what gets watched. Thank
you for joining me in this endeavor. Let's find out what we are watching for day 8.
Christmas Comes
to Pac-Land (1982)
Eight days in and we are finally at a title that makes the
name of this blog make a lick of sense. Rest assured that
post-Christmas we'll have more things here that fit that theme, but
that is not what we are here to discuss right now. Right now we are
discussing Christmas Comes to Pac-Land. Released in 1982 this
special is from an era when Pac-Man was an unstoppable marketing
machine. Plushies, pasta, board games, lunch boxes, cereal, you name
it, there was likely a version of it with Pac-Man's pizza shaped face
slapped on it. Part of this marketing blitz included a Saturday
morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera. In an age when the FCC
still wasn't allowing cartoons based on toys, video game cartoons
were rather common. What was uncommon was one of them getting a prime
time network Christmas special.
This special aired originally on ABC and has, in recent years, aired
on both Cartoon Network and Boomerang as part of their holiday
programing. Despite multiple opportunities, I am fairly certain that
I have never actually watched this special from start to finish. I
obviously knew of its existence, otherwise it wouldn't be on this
list. And, I know that I have at least started watching it before
but something else must have come up before I have ever reached its
end. Anyway, now is the time to finally give this special a proper
viewing. Here we go.
Synopsis
Christmas Comes to Pac-Land opens
on what later is revealed to be Christmas Eve. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man,
and Pac-Baby are playing in the snow when they are set upon by the
ghost monsters. After a brief altercation, our heroes come out on
top with the aid of some power-pellets and the ghost monsters are
headed back to their place as nothing more than floating eyes.
However, on their way back to regenerate, the ghost monsters float
past Santa's sleigh spooking the reindeer and causing the whole thing
to come crashing down in Pac-Land.
After brief moments of hesitation,
the assembled Pac-people learn about Christmas and decide to help
Santa get back on track with his deliveries. They set about fixing
Santa's sleigh and getting Santa and his reindeer back in shape to
travel. The only other problem is that Santa's bag of toys fell out
in the crash. So, Pac-Man and his dog, Chomp-Chomp, head out in
search of it. They eventually discover it but, unfortunately, the
ghost monsters have found it first. Pac-Man and Chomp-Chomp are able
to get the bag back but Pac-Man gets chomped by the ghost monsters in
the process, greatly weakening him. He and Chomp-Chomp do eventually
make it back home but it takes them longer due to his weakened state.
 |
| I really hope that Santa is wearing underwear under there. |
Everything is finally ready to go
but Santa is afraid it is already too late. There is no way for them
to make all their deliveries on time. His reindeer would have to be
super energized to be able to catch back up. This gives Pac-Man an
idea and soon they are headed to the Power Pellet Forest. The ghost
monsters set up a road block and for a moment it seems as though
Pac-Man, Santa, and company won't reach the forest. However, Pac-Man
gets out of his car and explains Christmas to the ghost monsters and
they relent and let our heroes through. Pac-Man has the reindeer eat
some power-pellets and soon Santa is off like a rocket. Pac-Man and
the others are wondering whether or not their help was enough to get
Santa back on schedule when they return home to find Christmas gifts
and decorations arrayed in their living room. Christmas is saved.
 |
| Like Skeletor, the ghost monsters are swayed by the spirit of Christmas. |
Final Thoughts
I didn't think that it was possible but this special may be
even more cheesy that He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special.
Further, Christmas Comes to Pac-Land doesn't really feel much like a
special. It feels more like just a Christmas episode of the regular
Pac-Man series. I don't know if this is due to the fact that the run
time is the same ~24 minutes that a regular episode would be or if it is
because the plot seems slapped together and rushed. Either way this
special does little to make itself remarkable. The story is almost
non-existent and the animation is the typically weak Hanna-Barbara
effort.
In spite of all of this I did find some fun in watching it. I am a
retro gamer through and through and I collect lots of vintage Pac-Man
merchandise. This is something that makes me weird in many circles
so it was odd to consider a time when Pac-Man was popular enough that
one of the big three networks would gamble a half-hour of holiday
prime time on an animated Pac-Man special. Of further consideration
is the fact that I legitimately enjoy watching bad movies. The sum
of all this is to say that your mileage with Christmas Comes to
Pac-Land may vary. If you are still interested in it, there is a
good possibility it will air on Boomerang at some point this season.
As for owning it, Christmas Comes to Pac-Land is available as a
special feature on the season two Pac-Man DVD available through
Amazon. Not something that I can really recommend but not the worst
thing either.
 |
| "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good chomp!" - An actual line of dialog in this special. Ugh... |
No comments:
Post a Comment