User Reviews

Since I've been a movie buff forever, I always bought VHS movies whenever I could. I picked this one up for $2.98 in a bin with other Xmas movies (all in EP mode no less). That was when I was about 10, and I've still got it now. I watch it with my other 2.98 movies every Christmas Eve Morning. It's simple, but still means a lot to me. It wouldn't be Christmas without this $2.98 gem.

Question--->Was this from a series? It has the opening and everything, maybe it was a plot that was never picked up?

This 1991 Christmas cartoon (apparently a follow-up to "Aliens Next Door", which I haven't seen) clearly hasn't gotten too much recognition. I'm not sure how many people saw it upon its original release, but today, it definitely is obscure. I think I first saw it on VHS maybe a couple years after it first aired, and from what I remember, it wasn't one of my favourites, but I guess I still liked it. I've seen it again twice in recent years, first in 2005, and then again just last night (both during the Christmas season). I wasn't blown away during either viewing, but it wasn't bad.

Set in the year 2027, the Peoples family are the first Earthlings to ever take residence on the planet of Zolonia. On this planet, Christmas is unheard of, but the Earthling family does get Christmas decorations delivered from their planet. Unfortunately, Roger Peoples, the father of the family, accidentally blows up all the decorations with one of his failed inventions! After this, it doesn't look like the holiday is working out for the family, and they attempt to find other ways to have a have a Merry Christmas, but don't have much luck. Meanwhile, their neighbours, Mavo and Charlick Zox, make an effort to recreate Christmas traditions for them, but may have their facts about the Earth holiday wrong!

This cartoon short definitely has humour, and the last time I watched it, I laughed pretty hard at the part with Roger and his failed invention (which his wife makes clear is not his first). Other humorous parts include Roger buying two Christmas presents, ones which he doesn't know are alive and are enemies with each other, and I guess some of the things Mavo Zox says about Christmas, which aren't quite right. The cartoon also has a message about Christmas, so it isn't ALL about the laughs. With its merits, "Aliens First Christmas" is a decent holiday cartoon, not up there with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" and probably a number of other classic Christmas cartoons, but if it wasn't so obscure, I'm sure it could reach a much wider audience.