ekleigh-364-983739 I was stunned that this aired at 7:30 on Christmas Eve. (!?!?!?!)I was too disgusted to watch the whole thing, so this won't be a complete review---but I saw enough to know that children shouldn't be exposed to this crude piece of trash.

Christmas-Reviewer BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.A quaint little town called Stinky Cigars – a secret location hidden only by a name that was chosen to repel tourists – is populated by iconic holiday characters from every culture around the world. It is home to Santa Claus and his workshop full of hard-working elves, and to other holiday figures from the best-known (Cupid, the Easter Bunny, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln) to the most minor and obscure (Arbor Day Aardvark, Labor Day Amos).The story, which is narrated in verse and "cheekily punctuated" by original songs,[1] centers on Edison Elf (Sean Hayes), an optimistic inventor with an unexpectedly hazardous new toy, and Murray Weiner (Jerry Stiller), the cranky owner of the town's diner. Murray's talent for delivering orders makes the unwilling curmudgeon the only person in town who can fill in for an injured Santa (Kevin Michael Richardson) on Christmas Eve.Fun special. There is plenty of holiday material that this cleverly spoofs. What is nice is that the makers of this film do not "Dumb it Down" when I am sure they were tempted.

dhu-84918 This short Christmas movie wasn't too bad (though not entirely the best Christmas film I've ever seen either). I liked the fact that traditional animation was employed (as not many cartoons, let alone holiday ones, use that these days). I also liked how Murray decided to give the bad kids presents as well. Scenes such as where the dragon burned the king guy's piano--and when Santa was saying "Got to deliver this garbage to the brats"--made me laugh. But other humor that this special employed was quite offensive.Most notable in the offensive category is when Murray singing "I'm so gay" was taken out of context by the other characters; then he went on to apologize for singing it (but at least added "But that way is okay"). I also noticed how many colored characters (such as the doctor, police officer, and Santa) were painted as antagonists; yet other characters like Edison Elf and Murray (white characters) were painted as protagonists. While this may seem like a subtle point to make, I would have preferred to see some more "white" villains to not make the antagonists seem so segregated.Offensive jokes aside, there was one other problem with this special: a bad Santa Claus. I personally liked the twist, but I doubt that kids would enjoy seeing Santa in such a bad light--especially around Christmas time. The Santa in this special was cheap, cruel, a scrooge, and didn't even transform into a better person in the end; the only thing that made him humble was receiving a concussion--twice. But suffering a concussion isn't the same as changing your heart (and that was what this Santa really needed). I understand that cartoons need their antagonists; but making Santa the antagonist in a Christmas special just gives children a sour taste for the holidays.Finally (and this is my main concern), some jokes employed in this special were quite outdated. For instance, not many kids today would know that Doc Holiday's song about Santa's concussion was a parody of that song from Mary Poppins that starts with an "S" (the title is far too long to write), nor would they know much about the "Mighty Ducks" (which the Hindu salesman mentioned when he was checking-out Santa's merchandise). When Murray was trying to recall the names of his reindeer for the little boy, he said names such as "Bambi, Rambo, Dopey", etc. I'm not saying that all kids wouldn't catch-on; but the producers would have a better chance of it by referencing current people such as Donald Trump, the Kardashians, (Star Wars as they've been popular since the 80s), etc. That said, this special would have been better understood had it aired in the 90s. But the offensive material would still have had to been dealt with.Even with its shortcomings, "How Murray Saved Christmas" was still a pretty nice watch. It wasn't the best Holiday Special, but there were still redeeming qualities that made up for the bad--such as the traditional animation, an original and interesting setting (i.e. Stinky Cigars), and the fact that other Holiday mascots were present besides the Christmas ones (it made the special more interesting and entertaining that way). Additionally (even though he wasn't the best example for Christmas' jolly man), Santa was still an intriguing character to me. Again, I personally liked the twist; but I also have to consider his influence on children who still have to learn that Kris Kringle is a good man--not a bad one.

brelanda Just watched this travesty of a Christmas Special. A pointless but clever string of rhyming, singing, and punning. The constant striving to be clever with the rhyming left me crying(and not with laughter).The writers were, I guess, trying to make a sort of a Dr. Seuss story, but alas they have neither the wit nor the wisdom to pull this story off. The town name "Stinky Cigars" lets the viewer know from the start that this is going to be a bad trip. This is the town where all the mythical and real characters of all the holidays live and none of them are to a one a character that you would like to run into, even on their holidays. Worst of all Santa is portrayed as a mean, greedy and ignorant boss. The elves, that make the toys, are worked day and night, no breaks and no pay, that they gleefully sing about. One of the worst things about this travesty was that during the half hour break a commercial ran to tell one and all that in ten days you can own your own copy of this trash and "Make How Murray Saved Christmas a holiday tradition" The show was not even finished being shown and they already expect you to go out and buy a copy. As far as I can remember there was only one well executed pun in this travesty, when Santa was looking to get some toys, after waking up from his concussion, one of the closed stores is called "Salvador's Dollies" complete with a melting clock on the marque and lamp post. Unless you revel in the vile, skip this.