Happy Winter Solstice! The shortest day of the year. Zoroastrians lit fires on their roofs to Ahura Mazda and Vikings brewed an extra strong beer and brought evergreen garlands indoors to decorate their homes.

In animationland studios are having their last day before the holiday break. Nothing too much gets done today- the execs and producers have already flown off to Squaw Valley to ski or Maui; the foreign artists have all gone home to see their families for a Joyeux Noel, Weinacht or Navidad. By about lunchtime the studios become ghost towns, except for an occasional office party. Those studios too small to afford a big catered event at the Odyssey or Sportsman's Lodge today will break out the booze and set out home made cupcakes and chips. At Filmation and Hanna & Barbera in the 1970s we'd all start drinking by 10 AM.

Lots of funny memories of people letting their hair loose for the holidays. One writer got so drunk Lou Scheimer caught him urinating on the central stairwell and chased him down the hall. My friend Sharon the storyboard artist remembered standing in the crush of the partycrowd, when she felt something wet at her feet. She looked down and saw another writer sprawled full out on the floor licking her ankles...
Who says writers and storyboard artists don't get along?

One year an overzealous department head had us all laboring until the last minute. Then at noon the Filmation production chief Joe Mazzucca, a drink in each hand and Three-Sheets-To-The-Wind, burst in our wing and bellowed "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ALL STILL WORKING? MERRY CHRISTMAS, GO HOME!!"

So to all my comrades in Animationland, if you're still grinding away today, relax, it's only a cartoon. Merry Christmas, Happy Chaunnakah, go home and have a safe and Happy Holiday.
Santa by cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902) still the best. Just LOOK at the articulation of those hands! Thats a really hard pose to execute.

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Birthdays: Josef Stalin- real name Jozef Djugashvili, James Oglethorpe the founder of the State of Georgia, Jean Racine, Giacomo Puccini, Connie Mack, J. Arthur Rank, Ladybird Johnson is 93, Deems Taylor, Jean Michel Basquiat, Barbara Billingsley, Peggy Ashcroft, Emil Sitka, Gene Rayburn, Hector Elizondo, Diane Sawyer, Steve Carlton, Steve Garvey, Diane Sawyer, Robin Gibb & Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, Ralph Fiennes is 43

1742-HALELIEUYAH! HALELIEUYAH!- George Fredrich Handel's oratorio "the Messiah" debuted in Dublin. Legend says he completed the work in only three weeks. When Messiah was played in London King George II was so moved by the "Halelieuyah Chorus" that he rose to his feet. Of course then everyone else immediately had to also and to this day the tradition is to stand during it's singing. Critics of the king said the only reason he stood up was the silly old duffer thought they were playing the national anthem. Handel was beloved of the British despite curious behavior like ordering three dinners and eating them himself. He had a bad temper that made him throw a bass drum at his musicians when they played off key and he once threatened to throw a soprano out of a window. Handel at first had a bad grasp of English. After hearing the Messiah when someone asked him how could he write so sublimely in a language he had so little of, he replied :"It ist because I haff a little Religion in me alzo !" Truth be told he had an English collaborator named Whitney who picked appropriate passages from the Bible.

1808-DA-DA-DA- DUMMMMM…..Beethoven first performed his 5th Symphony.

1882- Thomas Edison introduced the string of electric Christmas Tree lights replacing candles.

1964- In Chicago Comedian Lenny Bruce was sentenced to four months in prison on obscenity charges. When the arresting officer read aloud his jokes the jury laughed but convicted him anyway. Bruce complained about the policeman’s delivery. One fan arrested that night as well was future comic George Carlin.

2001- Would-be terrorist Richard Reid tried to blow up an American Airlines flight from Rome to Orlando by trying to ignite a substance concealed in his sneakers. He was stopped and beaten silly by his fellow travelers, including a 6’8 pro basketball player returning home from the Italian leagues.