People have asked about it… I’ve looked forward to it… but now the time has come.

It’s a classic from my childhood, and–

–had some immense talent behind it, for sure.

Looney Tunes, anyone?

Those of you who saw it every year since you were 2 are prolly already shouting it at your screens… it’s the one, the only…

…1966′s How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

(alternate gif upload, if Tumblr decides to break it on your end)

So, get your heads screwed on just right – things are about to get festive up in here.

–Colin (photo blog | instagram)

While playing this game, the Whos have 6 points, and successfully make another score…

…cut to the rollerskaters, ready to make another attempt…

…cut back?

Still only 6. The little bugger didn’t even bother to write down their last point! 

Unless these cheerful Whos have games which only track failed attempts, I’m guessing the real reason the Grinch hated Christmas was sloppy scorekeeping.

(if Tumblr breaks any gifs for you, go see ‘em here)

…antlers that teleport around…

…beards that change from “bright pink” to “transparent and with a background plant inside it”…

…eyes getting smudged out…

…indecisive ham rind colors…

…repeatedly fleshtone-flashing hats…

…shirt sections that cease to exist…

…and eyes that are eerily-comitted to staying stationary…

…but y’know what bugged me the most as a little kid?

How even after the sleigh has slid well beyond the point of no return, and is accelerating ever-faster…

…four and a half seconds later, it hasn’t even moved when the Grinch reaches it.

Even Babby Colin knew that was not how continuity works.

And right after, as it slides (and a part of the sleigh teleports away for a frame)…

…he’s pulled down, and has about 2-seconds-worth of space to slide before falling…

…but goes through his whole huge revelation…

…and I didn’t care about how much of a change of heart he had, dang it, 6-Year-Old Colin wasn’t buyin’ that his internal transformation–

–magically made 21-freakin’-seconds-worth of cliff appear, all so he wouldn’t slide off when he should have ages ago.

Yeah. I was that sort of kid.

But, as Max’s expression so perfectly sums up…

…so what? 

It’s a silly and fun ‘60s Christmas special, and none of the goofs do a thing to hinder all the creative, whimsical ideas it brought to life so well.

So, that’s the message for the end of the year, folks – it doesn’t matter how many little errors a good thing may have…

…as long as it successfully has a green Santa imposter slithering around the world’s most-1960s houses.

When everything has to be done by hand, weird stuff is gonna slip by.

Sometimes, your crowd of revelers will have a few people’s feet detach…

…and heads… and maybe have one single kid standing eerily-still the entire duration of the scene.

What do they know? What do they know?!

Sometimes, your instruments jitter around like crazy, ‘cause it’s hard to keep those cels locked down… 

…although those bells seem to be hangin’ in there ok.

Sometimes, your tiny chef creatures are gonna have hats that flash blue like the rest of their bodies…

…which raises some weird questions about what on them is clothes and what’s skin, and y’know what, I’m gonna stop thinking about that now.

15 years ago: “Whoaaaaa, look at their crazy dinner!”

5 years ago: “That’s a crazy, gorgeous amount of detail to animate at once, but… 

…why does that guy sorta look like a bug?”

5 days ago: “I… um…

…ok, that kid’s just bashing spoons on the table and disappearing into the ether every 15 frames.”

Ahh, memories.

And just in time, too! What with current state of Tumblr, we certainly need a positive distraction.

To start it off, I’d like to dedicate this post to all of you who – while growing up – always wondered…

…why a certain little tree started with 3 branches…

…gained 3 more while being carried inside…

…then teleported one to the opposite side…

…before growing a 7th, and getting extra bushy…

…but then – feeling the need to return to its roots…

…temporarily returns to only 3 branches…

…and – growing sick of it later – goes back to 7…

…before realizing its excess, and dropping down to 5…

…despite later embracing it, and going up to a new record of 8…

…though self-consciousness strikes again, reducing it to a more-modest 6…

…and even lower, hitting 5 while on the ground…

…until a ravenous pack of ornament-wielding children attacks it…

…giving it dozens more branches, because… uh… ornaments?

That bit especially confused me as a kid.

Well, hey, I guess when you’re mugged by teleporting and transmogrifying kids…

…nothing’s outside the realm of possibility.

Ah, that feels good. My 7-year-old self would be very glad to know I finally got to rant about the tree continuity.

…noting how Snoopy was so dedicated to booing Charlie Brown…

…he teleported into place between frames.

Now, that is a dog dedicated to his critiques.

Buuuuut then, I looked a little closer…

…and saw that Lucy’s mouth likes to disappear…

…and now the materializing canine is no longer the star of the show, I guess.

It takes impressive defiance of the laws of nature to usurp that, but that’s the power of rushed animators on tight budgets, folks.

…I can’t believe I never noticed this particular frame…

…and felt Snoopy’s alien countenance melt my soul.

“Disgusted mid-blink alien Snoopy” is the new spinoff character the world needs.

I can only apologize for being a fool for so very, very long.

For all these years, I joked about such classic moments. Thought they were funny.

And then we adopted a Great Dane.

Ha, what a hilarious tweening frame, look at Scooby’s face w–

…ah. No.

They just do that.

As you can see in this extremely-technical simulated composite image…

…identical. A perfect match.

Clearly, the blog cannot go on with errors of this magnitude.

Goofy in-motion runs?

…

…nuh-uh. Got nothin’ on a reality.

Technical errors?

Video at an incorrect aspect ratio?

Nope.

I’ve experienced 11 different levels of face smoosh, and this is only #3.

Wacky camera takes, classic cartoon hi-jinx, complete with–

No. Art imitates life.

…and leg imitates tail, just doin’ whatever it wants.

So in light of our grievous misrepresentation of dog reality, SDM has no choice but to shut down.

…at least until the end of April Fool’s day.

…which is in two hours and fourteen minutes. But still.

–Colin