PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Little Drummer Boy [Watch it on Amazon Video.] WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The most popular Rankin-Bass holiday specials were all intensely secular in nature.

The Little Drummer Boy features amazing stop-motion animation that helped pave the way for animated films to follow. It was made by the same people who brought you Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and ...

"It's very basic," Joel Smallbone, 36, tells PEOPLE, explaining how he and his brother cracked the "Little Drummer Boy" code. "This is a song about a boy who's playing a drum for Jesus.

The collaboration defied musical logic. But in 1977, art-rock icon David Bowie and smooth crooner Bing Crosby came together for a now-infamous duet of the holiday staple “Little Drummer Boy ...

"Little Drummer Boy" is only one of the many exciting performances set to be featured on the episode, premiering on Dec. 12 at 10 p.m. ET.