I am not even slightly embarrassed to tell you that when it comes to the holidays, I go BIG. I start my Christmas shopping well before Thanksgiving, I can't wait to give my recipients their gifts, and I go so over-the-top buying gift wrap that my sister is still using the supply I left when I moved away from Toronto...in the summer of 2007. So for people like me, the days after Christmas can be a crushing letdown, as even a glimpse at the tree just reminds us that it's almost time to take it down for another year. Fortunately, we just got the cure: the full-length Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, which was always a family tradition at my house, because it came on right around when we were finishing opening our presents. Sure, Regis Philbin isn't co-hosting this year (get well soon, Reege!), but how bad could Nick Cannon be? Actually, don't answer that. Just enjoy the wholesome Disney entertainers, and the way they incorporate the company's newest characters into the festivities; Part 1 is above, and Part 2 is after the jump. And remember, there are only 361 shopping days until next Christmas!

3:22:45 PM Will Edmondson: "WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE"!! MY CHILDHOOD ON THE BIG SCREEN! But I don't remember my childhood being so sad.
3:23:20 PM Tara Ariano: Boy, I hope your childhood wasn't that sad. I feel like my problems aren't as bad as the ones we watched, and I'm a grown-up!
3:24:54 PM Will Edmondson: This isn't the place to talk about your problems, Tara.
3:25:18 PM Tara Ariano: Well, my biggest problem that night was blubbering and getting mocked for it.
3:25:48 PM Will Edmondson: Yeah, the movie turned you into a crying whiner. You cried more than the 10-year-olds three rows back, for the record.
3:26:59 PM Tara Ariano: They were probably too terrified to cry.

Nickelodeon's "splat" logo will mature into a more dignified (and business card-appropriate) "stamp" this fall. Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami says that the "change in identity" will reflect the strong bond the channel has with its sister networks (Nick at Nite, Nicktoons, Noggin, and The N), but I must object. The splat represents adults getting slimed by their kids and the pineapple-dwelling sponge in the clip above, not a carton of 2% milk, as the new, more grown-up logo suggests. To see the drastic change we will soon need to accept, click "continue reading," below.

Just in time for February 14th, we have the classic 1975 Peanuts special, "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown."

As usual for these specials, it's a pretty sophisticated affair. Sally gets a candy heart inscribed with the entirety of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How Do I Love Thee," Lucy threatens to "leave" Schroeder, and Charlie Brown ponders settling for a "pity valentine."

Warning: watching it might move you to send Charlie Brown a valentine of your own, they way hundreds of people supposedly did after it first aired.

There's a nice, detailed appreciation of the special here. For further explorations of Charlie Brown's romantic life, we also have the specials "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown," "You're in Love, Charlie Brown," and "There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown."