The Truth About Hardrock, Coco and Joe

Stuff you didn't know about the three little men two feet high from local pop culture expert, Rick Goldschmidt.

If you’re a Chicagoan of a certain age—and we won’t say what age—the annual airing of Hardrock, Coco and Joe on WGN was no doubt part of your holiday tradition. The black-and-white “cartoonette” employed all of the state-of-the-art technology available to stop-action animators in 1951. Buried in shadows and set high above a spinning earth, a chorus of male yodelers sang the story of Santa’s three favorite helpers acted out by scary Laplander-looking elves and a Santa that bore a striking resemblance to its Chinese-American creator. Children were first introduced to the “story so queer” about Hardrock, Coco and Joe by the genial host of WGN’s Garfield Goose and Friends, Frazier Thomas, on Dec. 18, 1956. WATCH THE video of 'Hardrock, Coco …

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