By next Monday (or Sunday for countries without boxing day) no one will care for Christmas cartoons anymore. Until then, however, they are the non plus ultra when it comes to clicks and likes. This is good enough a reason for me to delve into the vast pool of holiday-themed toons and present some examples – thematically arranged for your convenience:
Roots
The oft-forgotten Christian roots of Christmas are being kept alive by a small number of cartoonists. More often than not these cartoons are centered around the three wise men from Matthew 2 , Scripture’s version of the Three Stooges.
"Gender Issues" by Mark Lynch
"Christmas" by David Parkins
"Allergic to Myrrh" by Ian Marsden
Trees
According to Wikipedia, Christmas trees originated in 16th century Germany and Livonia. And, no, I had never heard of Livonia before.
"Christmas Tree" by Fredrich
"Xmas" by Alexei Talimonov
"PF 2010" by R. and S. Svitalsky
Presents
Presents are what Christmas really is about. They are the true reason for the holiday’s global success and have been the driving force behind Christianization for millennia.
"Christmas Card 2010" by Ian Baker
"Batteries" by Til Mette
"Christmas Time" by Tchavdar
The Fat Man
St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Santa , or Kris Kringle (sic) – you know that sturdy man in red. He is present in an estimated 70 per cent of all Christmas cartoons. A couple of them thematize his uneasy relationship with some of the more canonical aspects of Christianity.
"Santa Claus Church" by Rex May
"Encounter" by Hayati Boyacıoğlu
"Merry Christmas" by Žarko Luetić
That Other Holiday
Christmas always brings to mind the other Christian holiday and its fertile, buck-toothed mascot.
"Recycling" by Matthias Schwoerer
"Merry Christmas" by Sylvio Droigk
"Substitutes" by Bettina Bexte
Rule 34
Rule 34 says that if something exists, porn involving that thing also exists. This is definitely true for Christmas. There must be something about the man in red that makes sexist female versions of his especially attractive. Is it his paternal charms? The uniform? The presents? Of course sexist female versions of most things draw clicks.
"Santa Claus" by Martin Guhl
"Christmas Morning" by Dirk Berrens
"Santa Sauna" by Freimut Woessner
Death
One last thing I noticed is a morbid fascination with Santa Claus’ death. There is something inside us that wonders about what would happen if the old man died. I can’t tell if it’s just fear that we might not get our presents, a kind of Oedipus complex or our secret hatred for all things Christmas-sy – but something there is that doesn’t love the man.
"Christmas Bonk" by Gnurf
"Christmas" by Tchavdar Nikolov
"Hanged Santa Claus" by Ludus
.. Anyway: I would like to wish all of you a happy Christmas on behalf of the toonpool.com staff. We hope that you will have a few nice and quiet days – whether you celebrate or not.
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