Four Horsemen continue their dance with Dickens for 2024.
For past few years Four Horsemen have been bringing us surprise Christmas figures each holiday season. The first was Krampus and the second Father Christmas. Last year, Four Horsemen surprised us with the Ghost of Jacob Marley. A ghost character, especially one in 19th century clothing, can make for a fun design and figure, but it was still a bit surprising to see Four Horsemen pivot from folklore to literature. Granted, A Christmas Carol is practically folklore at this point and it’s ingrained in the Christmas season. The only downside to such a release was that it essentially removed the element of surprise when it came to the annual Christmas offering. I suppose some may have wondered if Four Horsemen would really go down a Dickens hole, but any who were still uncertain likely aren’t now for this year’s release is the unsurprising Ghost of Christmas Past.
She’s here to party.
Ghost of Christmas Past went up for sale the Saturday after Thanksgiving and has been rolling out to customers ever since. She is much like the other figures in the line in that she comes in a tall window box with a wrap-around cover that doubles as a backdrop and is held in place with magnets. The cover features some beautiful artwork of the character by Nathan Baertsch in a snowy setting while the reverse would appear to depict the interior of old Fezziwig’s. It is quite lovely, though part of me is left wishing that it was an image of Fezziwig’s from the outside of the building like the spirit is looking in.
Give her a flight stand and she really comes alive.
That’s a minor critique and what most are likely going to be interested is the figure itself and the Four Horsemen interpretation. The original text described the spirit as male, and an old one at that, but many have also depicted this spirit as female. Four Horsemen lay out their reasoning for such in a lengthy write-up of the character, but the simple fact of the matter is making this ghost female adds some variety to the line. The look of the figure conforms with my interpretation of the character, with a few twists. She’s about 6.5″ to the top of her head, but out of the box comes sporting a crown that takes her all the way to 8″. She is a beautiful woman with a fair complexion and gray hair. There’s a touch of color to her cheeks and lips, but little more. She’s clad in a white, sleeveless, gown that’s trimmed with a silver flower pattern with two flowing capes of a cheesecloth-like material, it’s light and partially transparent. The crown is quite ornate with translucent, blue, ice on the front with a wreath of silver roses. There’s a hint of a yellow-green behind the roses and rising from the crown are tall antler-like sticks. The outside of which are painted brown while the inside is a bright orange almost like there should be flame in the center. The cover picture has a burst of light shining through so I suppose that’s the illusion we’re going for here.
She basically has an adapter piece to achieve the four-armed look. The two circular holes on her back are not used for anything with this release.
Perhaps the most standout element of the figure are the extra arms protruding from her sides. This is accomplished by a piece that plugs into the figure’s upper back. In the text, Scrooge sees this apparition as constantly changing and sometimes he can’t tell if she has two arms or four and this is a clever way to accomplish such. The piece is easily removed if you prefer a two-armed ghost and the cape will cover the unsightly holes on the back of the figure. I will say these arms do not sit as high as the artwork depicts them, but that may have been a harder feat, especially if the intent was always to make them removable.
Some may prefer two arms, but I say more is better.
Adding two arms obviously adds to the articulation as well. The Ghost of Christmas Past, like most Four Horsemen figures I’ve encountered, isn’t going to really impress with the articulation, but she probably has enough. The head is on a ball hinge, which I wish wasn’t the case as it’s a bit ugly. Especially since if you use it too much you’re sure to have some paint flake off of it. Shoulders are ball-hinged and elbows single-hinged. They’ll swivel, but they’re tight and some of the arms almost feel like they’re binding. Do be careful. Wrists all have standard, horizontal, hinges and will swivel. There’s a ball joint in the diaphragm and a waist twist. Legs are ball-hinges and there is a thigh swivel. Knees are single-hinged and will rotate a little. Ankles have a cut for a swivel and the feet, which are bare, have a hinge and ankle rocker. The body beneath this appears to basically be wearing gray underwear. I assume it’s sourced from another figure, but you won’t want to remove the dress unless you need a blank to customize.
The different faces of the Ghost of Christmas Past along with her alternate hair piece.
Not only do the arms change in the story, but so does the spirit’s face. Four Horsemen have equipped her with three portraits. The first of which is a conventionally attractive woman. She looks like the actress Abigail Spencer to me, but that could just be me. Her other portraits show her in an aging, or decaying, state. The first replaces her left eye with an all white one and her skin is deteriorating slightly on the same side. The third has both eyes whited out and her skin is cracked and damaged. Aside from the eyes, the effect is subtle, but both heads add a more supernatural element to the presentation. And if you don’t care for the large crown, there’s a separate hair piece that omits it. These extra faces are basically just to add a different vibe and to keep the figure from being “too tame,” as Four Horsemen put it. Drop the crown and other distinguishing touches and she can basically just be a wraith for a non-Christmas display. It’s your choice.
Do be careful when swapping hands. Maybe just heat the forearms up out of an abundance of caution.
For hands, Past comes with a pair of open hands and a pair of gripping hands by default. In the box are a set of fists, a set of style posed hands slightly different from the open ones, and another set of gripping hands. The figure, including the hands, is all painted which may contribute to the hands being difficult to remove. I did not even attempt to remove the two open hands, but I did remove the gripping hands from the second set of arms. They were tight and I actually broke the hinge on the left hand. I had to dunk the forearms in hot water even days after opening the figure (it’s cold up north so I let figures warm up this time of year) to get the hands off. Since the figure came with four gripping hands, I didn’t feel like reaching out to customer service was warranted, but do beware.
Stuff is good.
The Ghost of Christmas Past comes with several other accessories to liven up the package. For handheld things, we get her staff which is topped with a snuffer. It’s gold in color and has a spiral texture. The snuffer end is on a ring so it’s floating, almost like a bell. She also has a large, stand-alone snuffer or extinguisher. It’s gold and has some nice silver trim to it. There’s a little tab on it she can hold onto, though she isn’t going to get a truly tight grip with any of her hands. The last handheld object is a little piece of holly. It looks the part, but it’s too thin for her gripping hands. You’re better off using one of the more style posed hands and sliding the stem between some fingers if you’d like her to hold it. The other, main, accessory is a snow base with a street light that fits into it. It’s a snug fit and the lamp being a hard plastic makes it a little worrisome when trying to slot it in. Don’t get too rough or you may break it. It looks lovely though, I just wish it was battery operated so it could actually light up.
If you prefer the no staff look, she has more of a handheld extinguisher.
The Ghost of Christmas Past comes with two more items. The next part of the story which is in book form and a bonus accessory intended to be a surprise. I won’t spoil it, but as far as surprises go I think it’s the best, and most useful, one yet. The book is stave 2 of 5 and if you have any kind of familiarity with A Christmas Carol then you should know who is on deck for 2025. I will say, that one is less interesting to me as I don’t see an obvious way to make the character visually striking, unless he’s huge, but maybe they’ll surprise me. It would seem that the next three years are basically cemented as far as releases go with this Christmas line. It’s a little disappointing knowing we don’t have a surprise coming for awhile, but maybe one of the next staves is doubled-up. The final stave is basically the aftermath where one would expect to find a figure of Scrooge. Maybe Scrooge instead gets released with the final ghost as a two-pack or optional two-pack? Some may only be in it for the ghosts, though I suspect many want a Scrooge as well. Perhaps to make Scrooge a bit more exciting he’ll come with multiple outfits so that he can basically be any of the Scrooge’s from the story, save for the child version. Or maybe he’ll come with Tiny Tim? I guess there are still questions left to be answered.
This is shaping up to be a fun display in another 3 years. I wonder how many people out there will want a Scrooge for every ghost they have?
If you’re down with Four Horsemen’s take on Dickens then you’ll probably enjoy this figure. It’s undoubtedly part of what will be a much larger display some day and is an interesting take on the character that also can pass for a traditional one as well. If you’re looking to buy it, however, you have missed your chance for 2024. She will undoubtedly be back as a retailer edition with a slightly different colorway at some point next year and Four Horsemen will probably make this version available again next Christmas, which is what they do with this line. If you happen to catch them at a convention in 2025, then they may have some of these on-hand as well. In other words, if you missed it this year don’t go nuts trying to get one on the aftermarket. The MSRP is $60 and I definitely wouldn’t pay much more than that just to get the figure early.
Missed out on any of the past Figura Obscura Christmas figures from Four Horsemen? Check these out:
Four Horsemen Studios is back with another holiday release in its Figura Obscura line of action figures. This sister line of their more famous Mythic Legions property launched two years ago with Krampus and continued with last year’s Father Christmas. Many fans, myself included, expected another holiday figure this year, though if you had asked…
It was just last year that Four Horsemen launched a subline of its popular Mythic Legions brand of action figures called Figura Obscura. Practically speaking, there’s little difference between the two lines as Mythic Legions seeks to serve as a modular line of toys based on myth and legend and that doesn’t feature licensed characters.…
Over the years, I’ve acquired quite a few action figures designed by the good people over at Four Horsemen LLC. They’ve been designing figures for companies for awhile now. My first exposure to the company was via NECA’s inaugural line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles based on their appearance in the Mirage Studios comics. Lately,…
We’re going to keep sticking with the animated sitcom Christmas special for another day and this time we turn to Bob. Bob’s Burgers has been a reliable staple for holiday viewing ever since getting a more robust endorsement from the Fox network for its third season. That was the first full season, by television standards, with 23 episodes that contained the show’s first Christmas episode. We’ve looked at a handful of Bob’s best Christmas outings already, but I skipped the very first one for some reason. Perhaps that was a mistake on my part? I guess we’ll soon find out.
Unlike Family Guy, American Dad!, and even The Simpsons, I feel pretty confident that we won’t get a bunch of suicide jokes with this one. Even though Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin), as a struggling restaurant owner with a family to feed, should probably be the most susceptible to seasonal depression out of all of the main characters for these shows. Everything is riding on the success of Bob’s restaurant and that’s a lot of pressure. Unlike some other animated families though, the Belchers are pretty adept at rising above everything life throws at them. There isn’t much cynicism to be found here so I suppose in some way that makes them the best fit for a Christmas special.
This episode of Bob’s Burgers does not feature a special, seasonal, opening title. It does contain the usual sight gags though with the business next door and the utility vehicle that pulls up in front of the restaurant and this time we get Can You Dig It Candy Cane Outlet (No licky-loos!) and Silent Mice Exterminators. I like it!
Nothing says Christmas like festive ninja star window clings.
The episode begins with Linda (John Roberts) decorating the front window of the restaurant while the family looks on. She’s clearly placed snowflakes on the window, but Gene (Eugene Mirman) mistakes them for ninja stars while Tina (Dan Mintz) thinks they’re doilies. It is noted that we are seven days out from Christmas (kind of late with the decorating, Linda) so the children hand over their list of demands, as Louise (Kristen Schaal) describes it. It would seem the kids expect gifts from the parents and if anyone believes in Santa Claus it is not implied. Louise demands her own apartment (no studios), Tina would like a dry erase board to write down her thoughts and then erase them (Penis Fly Trap), while Gene wants the bobsled from the movie Cool Runnings. Bob tells the kids they can’t afford any of that stuff and when Tina asks “Even the dry erase board?” he angrily confirms even that. It’s been a tough year for the Belchers and Bob attributes it to the restaurant being mistakenly classified as a gas station in some local newsletter.
Remember to tip your mail carriers at Christmas, folks.
Sometime later, Mailman Mike (Tim Meadows) enters the restaurant and receives a very enthusiastic “Merry Christmas” from Linda that he responds to in his usual, deadpan manner. We can now see that the burger of the day is the One Horse Open Slaw Burger which comes with coleslaw. Not sure if it’s on the burger, or just a side, but it will set you back about six bucks. Mike hands over the mail and then stands there and awkwardly coughs. Bob picks up on the social cue here that Mike is looking for a holiday tip. Bob confesses to Mike that he never knows what to tip the mailman and Mike confirms that Bob does not. Bob then writes a number on a piece of paper and slides it over to Mike for his approval. He says it would be a good amount – if he delivered the mail once a week! Bob then hands over a wad of cash that is more than the number he wrote. Mike thanks him, then hands him some more mail which Bob has to sign for. When Bob asks if he was going to withhold his mail if he didn’t tip him, Mike assures him that he would have got the letter, just not today. He is a professional, after all.
A letter from a law firm can be good, but it can also be very bad.
Mike leaves and everyone decides to show interest in the letter Bob received. Tina even asks if it’s from Santa, so I guess there is a believer in our midst. The letter is from a law firm informing Bob that he’s been named in the will for dear, old, Uncle Ernie. Bob doesn’t seem to know him very well and the kids know nothing of him. Gene suggests that “Talking to Uncle Ernie,” would be a great metaphor for taking a poop, which Bob objects to. Linda snatches the note before Bob can read what his uncle left him as she wants to have a reading of the will. She says she’ll make punch which is apparently a thing she wants to do often (much to the chagrin of Louise) because she keeps getting samples in the mail. With everyone onboard, Gene announces he’s so excited that he needs to go talk to Uncle Ernie and races off to the bathroom.
Linda Belcher: Punch Enthusiast
In the Belcher living room, punch has been made and the family is ready for Linda to read the will. The children are clearly expecting a windfall here from their great uncle who owned a furniture store, but Bob tries to reset expectations. Linda does a dramatic reading (of sorts) only to find out they have been left whatever is in some storage unit. The family is slightly deflated, but they have to go check it out for themselves. We cut to the Just Stow It Storage facility where the family has resumed letting their imaginations run wild with optimism. Bob, being a bit of a downer here, reminds them they’ll have to pay taxes on whatever is in the storage unit if it’s any good. He lifts up the door to the unit and everyone gasps to find a dude just chilling inside in a tracksuit amongst a ton of boxes. He says “Oh, hi,” and Gene declares triumphantly “We won a cave man!”
Precisely what you don’t want to see when opening a storage unit.
After an act break, we discover that this man is named Chet (Zach Galifianakis) and he’s apparently been living here for some time. He had no idea Ernie died and upon hearing the news gives Bob a reassuring hug that he wants no part of. Gene tries to get in on some of that action, but is rebuked by his father. Chet reveals that he did window displays for Uncle Ernie’s store for 20 years until it closed. When he had no place else to go, Ernie let him stay here in the storage unit. Linda immediately feels bad for him and wants to invite him to live in their basement, but Bob doesn’t see the need to do so. That is, until the owner of the place asks Bob if he’ll be taking over the $150 per month lease on the unit.
Maybe Chet’s presence will at least keep the vermin away?
We smash cut to Chet and the Belchers checking out his new basement home. They’ve moved all of his stuff in and Chet is making himself feel right at home. He remarks that he can’t wait for the carpet to come in and asks if they’re married to the present color of the walls. Bob then has to remind Chet that he’s apparently only welcome to stay through Christmas and Chet has to doublecheck that he means this Christmas. When Bob confirms that he does, Chet doesn’t seem mad and actually says this is the nicest thing anyone has done for him since Sal gave him the tracksuit he’s wearing. He gestures to a nude mannequin indicating that’s Sal and Gene remarks that if Chet wants to do something nice for Sal that he could really use a penis. We may not have suicide jokes, but that’s our second penis joke so far!
It would appear that Chet has a hidden talent.
It is now six days before Christmas and Bob and Linda are woken up on this fine morning by their daughter Louise bursting into their room screaming “Fire!” She then tells them she’s just kidding, but she clearly wants them to come check out something. Downstairs in the restaurant, a festive window display has been erected. Gene remarks that he can’t find Chet and that his pee jar has gone cold, but he clearly made this display which everyone seems most impressed with. Bob remarks he’s glad Chet apparently took off and notes there was something “off” about him and that he smelled. One of the mannequins then turns and gives an awkward cough revealing that it’s Chet and Bob is forced to try and backpedal. Chet doesn’t bring attention to what Bob said and instead asks if the display is “Holi-doing it for ya?” Bob and Linda remark that it is indeed holi-doing it for them. Chet has dubbed his display Class Under Glass, but as Bob starts to ask more questions he just silently retakes his position in the display and says nothing causing Bob to remark that “he’s being weird again.”
Something we don’t get to see too often: Bob happy at Christmas.
The window display seems to be a big hit with the town as lots of people are shown stopping to look at it. An old couple enters the restaurant basically desperate to spend money there. When they find out that Bob doesn’t have any merch he offers to write out a gift certificate on a napkin. When the restaurant closes for the day, Bob is shown to be rather upbeat as he credits the display with really driving a lot of foot traffic. Chet hops down out of his display and informs the family he intends to create a new one each day until Christmas. The kids like the sound of this and indicate that they would like to be a part of them while Bob suggests hanging a big curtain to have an unveiling of the new display each day. Chet remarks that’s a very theatrical idea then asks Bob if he’s gay. Louise answers for him with a “We wish.”
Looks like Chet did find a carpet for the floor.
That night, Chet and the kids are going through all of his stuff in the basement in a bid to come up with an idea for tomorrow’s display. Gene proposes they utilize a toy train he’s found while Louise remarks that the lamp she’s found will look nice in her new apartment. She confesses the request was a joke at first, but indicates that all of this newfound success has her convinced it’s happening. The kids then discover that window displays was something Chet used to do with his ex-wife, Nadine. He seems a little blue, but tries to cheer himself up by suggesting they don’t want to hear about his past relationships and Gene enthusiastically agrees.
I would have saved this display for Christmas Eve, but that’s just me.
A musical montage follows set to “Father Christmas” by The Kinks, an easy top ten Christmas song in my house. This is a way to blast through the various displays that Chet and the kids come up with on the road to Christmas. The first one is set at Santa’s workshop with Chet dressed as the jolly, old, elf and the kids portraying elves. The kids aren’t great at this human mannequin thing as Gene tumbles backwards taking out a wall and Louise turns to hang up a “0 days without a workplace accident” sign. The next display as a Hannukah themed one followed by Chet as a Christmas tree with Louise riding a train around him and Gene and Tina dressed as presents. Louise slaps the faces of her siblings as she rides in circles while we keep getting cuts to the cash register filling with money and a very satisfied Bob.
I wonder what they do when someone has to go talk to Uncle Ernie?
The montage fades out with a local news broadcast drawing attention to the changing displays. In the window, Chet is now a gingerbread man, Tina a sugar plum (or ornament), and Gene a candy cane. Louise is apparently sitting this one out, or she’s in the giant gingerbread house. Mort (Andy Kindler) and Teddy (Larry Murphy) are at the counter and Teddy is very impressed by the fact that he’s on television right now as he waves to the camera. Bob has to tell Gene to stop licking himself since he’s on TV, but Gene just shouts back “Where I belong!” Teddy is eager to find out what tomorrow’s big, Christmas Eve display will be, but can’t make up his mind if he wants to know now or be surprised. Chet doesn’t respond to his pestering anyway since he’s very committed to his craft. Mort is so pumped for it that his mother is coming into town just to see it. He tells Bob to make it big since she has cataracts.
Not everyone is set to have a merry Christmas.
That night, the good vibes continue as Bob and Linda are doing the dishes. Linda is already convinced that this will be the best Christmas ever and Bob, surprisingly, doesn’t disagree. He even thinks they should have enough money to get the kids something nice and suggests that Linda cover for him tomorrow so he can sneak out to do some shopping. She assures him that she’ll tell the kids he needed to go buy something for his mistress. Bob is not amused. In the living room, Gene is wrapping a gift for his dad. It’s the television remote since his dad seems to love it so much. Louise thinks this is a great idea and decides to wrap Linda’s glasses up as a present for her. All the while Chet is there staring longingly out the window at the lightly falling snow.
What could possibly be on that picture?
Bob and Linda enter the room and Linda asks what Chet is doing. He informs her that he’s just zoning out as the song playing was Nadine’s favorite Christmas song. It’s at this point I notice “Silent Night” is playing and as Linda tries to ask who Nadine is Chet starts singing the song. The kids fill her in and then Chet produces a photograph. We can only see the back of it as Linda reacts by saying she’s gorgeous, then gets confused. The rest of the family looks at it in confusion as well and they try to all ask the same question, but in a polite way, for it would appear that Nadine is actually a mannequin. Bob just comes out says it and Chet informs the family that he used to be a mannequin too, complete with overly dramatic musical stings! The kids seem impressed, while Bob is quite uneasy with this revelation. Chet tries to smooth things over by assuring Bob he’s not one of those “murder mannequins,” he’s just a simple store mannequin that came to life. No big deal. Bob can only muster a “So…happy…you’re staying with us…in our basement.” Chet then resumes singing “Silent Night” which has a different aura now that we know “the truth.” Bob tells his family that they need to leave.
Oh…
Following an act break, we resume the living room conversation with Bob asking Linda if she thinks Chet will murder them before or after Christmas. Linda doesn’t seem concerned and points that he said he’s not a murder mannequin. Chet remarks, in a callback to a shared conversation at the storage unit, that the two still need to work on their whispering. Louise decides to test the mannequin theory by kicking Chet in the shin. She has deduced that a mannequin would not feel pain, but Chet made it clear that he was a mannequin and isn’t anymore. Tina can relate as she points out that one day Chet just suddenly became anatomically correct which is something she just went through.
Back when “life” was perfect for Chet and Nadine.
It’s now time to hear Chet’s origin story. He was a mannequin in a sports store and Nadine was too. She didn’t have any nipples and she didn’t need them, per Chet. As the seasons (and fashion) changed from summer to fall casual their relationship became anything but. Chet remarks that one day he took Nadine skiing and we’re shown that they were just covered in skiing attire. An accident happened, a clerk knocked Nadine over smashing her right hand. She was taken away for repairs and when she came back she had two left hands. Chet then tells the family he had to make an important decision. Gene thinks he means what hand to replace with a hook, but Chet corrects him by saying he had to decide which hand to put a ring on. The two are shown in a wedding display apparently getting married. Gene shares this opinion on the resolution with a “Boo!”
Did the pain of loss bring Chet to life or are these just the ravings of a mad man? How can one ever know?
With the flashback over, we return to the living room where Bob is shocked to find his wife in tears. She can’t help it, weddings always get to her. Chet tells the family that everything was perfect, until the mall came. The store closed and during the liquidation sale the two were separated. It’s at this point that Gene wants to go back to earlier in the story by asking Chet why Nadine didn’t require nipples. He ignores the child and continues his story. We see Chet being locked away in the storage unit where Chet theorizes that the pain of his loss caused a transformation to take place. Tina concludes that this is the greatest love story ever told.
Bob’s not winning this one.
Bob remains unconvinced and tells Chet that he was never a mannequin. Chet isn’t hearing it and wants to be reunited with his love. Tina is onboard with finding her as the two theorize she may be in Paris or Milan. Bob tells the kids that they are not going on a mannequin hunt with Chet and suggests she’s probably in a landfill somewhere. Chet can’t take the abuse and runs away in tears. An angry Linda orders the kids to go to bed since she needs to have a word with Bob, but he’s apparently frightened by his wife and orders the kids to stay. This goes into a routine where each parent keeps ordering their kids to do the opposite of the other until finally the kids obey their mom and leave, since they’re taking her side. With the kids gone, Linda scolds Bob for making Chet cry. Bob points out that the man is unstable and suspects many things make him cry. Linda ends the argument by stomping off to bed telling Bob not to bring the mistletoe with him, but do bring her a snack. Chocolate!
Well that’s sure to surprise the onlookers.
The next morning, Gene and Tina come barging into their parents’ bedroom telling them to get up and come see the display. We also see that Bob slept on the floor. They head downstairs to find a rather grisly display: a decapitated reindeer with ground beef in the neck hole, an elf swinging by a noose, and a headless snowman with two bottles of ketchup placed where the head should be squirting “blood.” This obviously won’t be good for business, and unfortunately for the Belchers Chet is nowhere to be found. Oh, wait, he’s actually sitting right there in a booth. The display is a window to his soul, as Chet puts it, which has been severely wounded by Bob’s words the night prior. Louise likes it, but no one else does. Bob insists that Chet replace it with something happy, but Chet’s happiness has been discarded in a dump somewhere. He zings Bob by asking him if his face can catch because he’s throwing his own words back at him! Chet runs off to the basement and the kids decide it’s all up to them to save Christmas with a traditional, mannequin, hunt.
This group is very invested in these window displays.
Our second montage of the episode is now upon us. It’s set to an instrumental I don’t recognize, but sounds jolly enough. The kids are shown handing out fliers with Nadine on them to various side characters from the show. It’s a brief montage which ends at the restaurant where a small crowd has gathered demanding to see the Christmas Eve display. The kids slink back into the store with an important announcement: they’ve found Nadine! Bob scolds them for disobeying his mandate to not go on a hunt for her…it, but Gene seems to not take his father seriously for we get a cutaway of him surprising his dad while he’s in the middle or urinating as an example of other boundaries he ignores. Linda is excited though while threats from outside seem to suggest they need to produce a display and quickly. She informs “Old Saint Dick,” that he’s going to go get this mannequin from the store the kids found her at, but haven’t elaborated on yet. Bob is forced to agree since getting the mannequin is the quickest way to getting Chet to do a kinder display. As Bob moves, we can see that the Christmas Eve burger of the day is The Fifth Day of Christmas Burger which comes with five, golden, onion rings.
Well, I guess it’s a better location to find Nadine than a landfill?
With the family leaving out the back, Linda tries to stall for time by heading outside to deliver a poem she wrote. Or rather, one she’s clearly making up on the spot since the poem is basically just “Christmas, oh Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas…” Meanwhile, Bob and the kids are at the store where Nadine presently resides in the window display: Spanks A Lot. It’s an erotic store and Nadine is in some light bondage gear and handcuffs. They can tell it’s her though by the presence of two left hands. Bob orders the kids to wait outside as he heads in and speaks to the clerk (Fred Stoller, who must have been identified early for the role because the character even resembles him) where he confirms that Nadine was indeed discarded in a landfill. The clerk has no desire to loan the mannequin out and says this is the biggest sex shopping day of the year. When Bob points that there’s no one in the store, the clerk gestures to the back to confirm where all of the customers are.
As far as diversions go that’s a pretty good one.
The kids, meanwhile, have snuck in because of course they did. Gene is surprised to find limbless finger puppets, which are most certainly not finger puppets. Louise can tell that her dad is getting nowhere with the clerk so she instructs her siblings to create a diversion with the…personal massagers. They turn the sex toys on and toss them on the floor where they vibrate and slither about. The clerk sees them and shouts at them to get out since they’re minors while Bob bolts and grabs Nadine. The kids lay down some lube by the door which the clerk slips and falls on as he tries to chase after them. Bob shouts back that he’ll return her after midnight while the clerk shouts out “Sickos!” A voice from the back thinks he was referring to them, but he calls back, “No, not you guys,” in a defeated tone.
We’re kind of setup to dislike the clerk, but I can’t blame a sex store owner for not wanting to loan out his BDSM mannequin for a few hours on Christmas Eve.
We return to the restaurant to find Linda has switched tactics and is now singing “The Carol of the Bells,” only she doesn’t know any of the words so she just keeps singing “La la-la bells!” Gene lets her know she can come in because they have Nadine and the family races to the basement. Chet has apparently locked himself in the room down there, which I don’t think had a door before, but who cares? He’s apprehensive about seeing Nadine again since the tracksuit is twelve seasons old and he’s got a gut. Louise assures him that Nadine has changed too and Bob pleads with him to come out. He’s forced to apologize to Chet, though he won’t allow himself to go so far as to say he believes him. He tells Chet that what matters now is he’s a man in love with a mannequin and the mannequin that he’s currently holding should be in Chet’s arms, not his. Chet is clearly moved by Bob’s words and agrees to finally open the door.
The reunion we’ve all been waiting for?
Uplifting music plays as Chet gazes upon Nadine for the first time in…seasons. He remarks, “Tough times, huh baby?” upon seeing her new look but assures her that he won’t judge her for what she had to do to get by. They proceed to have a one-sided conversation as Chet mostly makes noises like he’s agreeing with whatever she has to say. Linda remarks that Chet is a good listener and women like that. Bob has to interject that she’s a mannequin with Gene adding, “one that won’t shut up, apparently.” Bob then tries to steer Chet back to the display as he’s pretty concerned about it. Chet confers with Nadine, who apparently had something funny to say. Bob is very concerned about what she had to say, but Chet assures him he wouldn’t get it and agrees to do a new display.
Simple. Traditional. Tasteful. I award this final display an A-.
We cut to upstairs and we’re apparently going with a nativity scene. Chet is Joseph, Nadine is Mary, Tina, Linda, and Louise are kings and Gene is baby Jesus. Chet gives a brief pep talk concluding with “Aaaand no action!” Hah, mannequin humor. Bob heads outside to present the display which goes over well. Mort’s mom is present and remarks it was worth the wait. Teddy offers to take a picture of Mort and his mother and tells Mort to fix the wig. Mort thinks he was referring to the rug on his head, but Teddy informs him he was referring to Mort’s mother who has a weird, pointy, thing going on.
Louise is enjoying this.
The good feelings are short-lived though as almost immediately the sex store clerk shows up demanding the return of his mannequin. He barges into the restaurant and goes for Nadine while Chet informs him “She’s with me now.” The two grapple over the wooden woman while the display gets knocked over and poor baby Jesus finds himself in manger danger. The clerk seems to gain control of the doll and tells everyone they’re lucky he doesn’t call the cops on them and mistakes them for perverts. Well, Chet might be, but Tina asks if they can simply buy Nadine off of him. He tells them she’s not for sale, but Gene correctly points out that every sex shop owner has their price. The clerk counters with five grand and Bob quickly refuses. Louise retrieves a wad of cash from the cash register and counts out $263 bucks. Bob protests and tells her that was the money they were going to use to buy them presents, but Louise laughs since it’s no where near the amount needed for an apartment. Tina tells her father that he can spend her allotted money on Nadine and the others agree with Louise adding she better get one hell of a President’s Day present. The clerk relents and takes their money in exchange for Nadine.
Well now, things have certainly taken an awkward turn.
With Nadine returned to Chet where she belongs, the family is overwhelmed with positive vibes. Chet is beyond happy and Bob is even feeling the warmth as he tells Chet, though somewhat reluctantly, that he can stay through New Years. Everyone is happy, and Chet remarks how he and Bob are so lucky to each have a special lady in their life. Bob just sort of politely agrees, but Chet pushes the sentiment further by suggesting the four of them take a vacation. Linda is onboard, but Bob clearly wants this conversation to end. Tina bails him out by saying they’ve waited long enough and urges Chet to kiss Nadine. Bad move, Tina, as Chet just starts making out with a mannequin in a restaurant window display while dressed as biblical figures. Nadine’s head even falls off, but Chet just picks it up and resumes making out with it. Then he makes the head kiss his neck while moaning. The crowd outside stares with rapt attention while Teddy indicates to Mort’s mom that this is making him hot. Is Teddy making a play for Mort’s mother?
I believe Edith is sincere when she tells the Belchers to go to Hell.
The kiss continues and Tina points out that “It’s happening.” The kiss is turning Nadine into a woman! No, it’s turning Chet back into a mannequin! No, it’s actually doing nothing and Tina seems let down. Mike the Mailman, who is in the crowd, determines they took things too far with this final display and everyone else seems to agree as the crowd disperses. Edith (Murphy), the always grumpy old lady, even tells the Belchers to burn in Hell as she departs.
So…happy ending?
Christmas Day arrives and we’re in the Belcher living room where Linda is declaring that Uncle Ernie’s storage unit had a few treasures in it. Gene opens his gift and thanks Santa for an exit sign. Tina is happy with her shoe sizer while Louise seems thrilled to have a device that removes security tags from merchandise. I can see her getting into some trouble with that as she declares “Next Christmas is on me!” Chet is seated in a lounge chair with Nadine draped across his lap in a sexy Santa outfit. Bob asks what he’s going to do after the new year and Chet just casually remarks he plans to go back to Manhattan. Apparently he owns a loft there which has been in the process of getting renovated. We hear an exasperated Bob shout “WHAT?!” before heading to the credits.
That’s one hell of an ending! We may not have had suicide jokes, but we did get another story of apparent mental illness of a man who misses his ex. Only the ex isn’t really an ex in the traditional sense. Not because she’s a mannequin, but because they never broke up or anything. They were just forcefully separated, if you believe Chet’s story. I would categorize him as an unreliable narrator, at best.
This one has lots of twists and turns. Down on their luck family seems posed to have a Christmas miracle befall them in the form of an unexpected inheritance, only it occurs in the first act so we kind of know that’s probably not where we’re going. Then it turns into a case of a family that has almost nothing taking in a guy who literally has nothing who turns out to be a blessing in disguise. The fact that all of Chet’s exposure he got the restaurant only amounted to $263 really drives home how unsuccessful the business really is. And from there, things get turned on their head when we find out that Chet is a very troubled man who is in love with a mannequin. Bob doesn’t believe him, and yet he and his family do what I guess is the right thing in reuniting Chet with his “wife,” only to have it dropped on us that Chet is apparently a pretty well-off guy with a loft in New York. Or maybe that’s a delusion as well, who can say? All I know is we went on one hell of a ride. It’s a bit unorthodox for Christmas, but the very first Christmas special for Bob’s Burgers never loses sight of the holiday. It’s basically a typical, atypical, holiday special in that the Belchers do something that’s mostly selfless in the spirit of the holiday without any real reward, in the end.
Poor, little, Tina, denied her dry erase board.
As a viewer, we do root for the Belchers so this one can be a bit frustrating to see them throw away what is probably some much-needed money on a mannequin. Especially if Chet is some rich guy. The ending might rattle some nerves since there’s obviously more to the story, but I like how it lands and nothing that follows could be funnier or more satisfying. We don’t need to see Bob angrily throw Chet out or see him have the opposite reaction of depressed acceptance. Chet probably didn’t reward the family any further than his displays did and it would work against the whole selfless act resolution. So many selfless acts in Christmas specials are essentially undone with the protagonist getting rewarded anyway so I like that we just end it right where it did.
This is a very entertaining episode of Bob’s Burgers, Christmas or otherwise. I may like some other Christmas episodes more, but this is one of those episodes that does make me rethink my Bob’s Burgers Christmas hierarchy. If you would like to take this one then you need only turn to Hulu or Disney+. I’ve said that a lot so far this year and I’ll probably say it some more! The episode is also available to purchase in the usual spots and it’s probably airing in syndication if you have cable.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Yesterday, we took a look at a Cartoon Network original aimed at a pretty broad audience. Today, it’s an Adult Swim original very much aimed at an adult audience. Or at least one older than eight. Smiling Friends is the creation of Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel and it’s an animated sitcom about a couple…
The Ren & Stimpy Show burst onto the scene as part of the original trio of Nicktoons in 1991. The other two, Doug and Rugrats, were fairly gentle cartoons. Rugrats could sometimes get a little blue since the main characters were all babies, but the occasional poop joke was hardly something to get offended by.…
Well fellow cartoon Christmas enthusiasts, we’re in a new and interesting place today. We’re coming in for the second part of a two-part story we started looking at yesterday. In the first part of “The Bleakening,” the Christmas special from Bob’s Burgers which originally aired in 2017, the children of Bob and Linda Belcher were…
The 2024 edition of The Christmas Spot has been a year in which we return to a show we haven’t talked about in a little while. Today’s subject is certainly one such show as we’re heading back to Arlen, TX for a Christmas episode of King of the Hill. Up to now, the only episode of the long-running Fox sitcom included on this countdown was covered back in 2020. This episode has been on my list ever since, if not longer, and is one of my favorite episodes from King of the Hill. It does take place at Christmas, though it’s perhaps not as full of the holiday as some other King of the Hill holiday episodes. What it lacks in Christmas cheer it certainly makes up for with a heaping helping of one Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root).
Bill is one of my favorite characters from the show even if he is one of the saddest. He’s a very depressed man and it all stems back to his divorce which took place before the events of the show. It took several episodes to figure out just how pathetic Bill is, but this episode is going to capture it well. When I think of Bill and the word “pathetic,” I think of him eating spaghetti off of his counter and taking a swig of sauce right from the jar to wash it down. Remember the show Step by Step and the Cody character who would pour milk in his mouth, squirt the chocolate syrup in after, then shake his head all about before swallowing? That was ridiculous and just stupid funny (to an eight year old, anyway), something TGIF featured a lot of. Bill’s spaghetti meal is similar in construction, but almost believably pathetic. I’m pretty sure I imitated the Cody milk trick as a kid, but it would never occur to me to do the same with Bill’s spaghetti.
Nothing sums up how pathetic a man Bill is than this right here.
“Pretty, Pretty Dresses” puts Bill’s mental health at the forefront. I suppose this one comes with a bit of a trigger warning as Bill is suicidal and it is played for laughs. It’s similar to how Moe would be portrayed on The Simpsons, only with Moe there was really no one caring about him to talk him down. Bill does have people who care about him. They don’t really take his suicidal actions with 100% seriousness as some of the actions by Bill are pretty, well, pathetic. That’s the word of the day, apparently. He probably lacks the conviction needed to go through it and it’s the classic “cry for help” we sometimes hear about. I’m also no psychologist and while I’ve had my share of bad days I’ve never gone to a place even remotely close to what one would call suicidal. In other words, this isn’t the sort of stuff that is likely to bother me, but it might bother you. It’s also just dawning on me that I have quite a few animated sitcoms in the countdown this year and just about all of them have a suicide joke. That’s admittedly a bit weird, but maybe not that surprising considering the darker side of Christmas. The most famous Christmas movie of all time even dabbles in suicide so maybe we should be blaming Frank Capra?
Bill is sad, and no one in his life is well-equipped to respond to that fact.
The episode begins with the usual suspects standing in the alley drinking a beer. Hank, Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer look as they do so often in the show, and then Bill just starts sobbing. As he cries, a very jolly, instrumental, rendition of “Sleigh Ride” comes in as Bill continues to sob and his friends continue to ignore him by just staring blankly straight-ahead. This smashes to the intro and when that ends we go right back to the alley. Bill gets ahold of himself and very plainly remarks, “I love Christmas.” Then he continues with the sobbing and we find out that it was at Christmas time his wife, Lenore, left him. He tries to convince himself it was the best thing that ever happened to him, but he just goes back to sobbing. Bill heads home leaving the others behind. Hank (Mike Judge), being the better friend of the three, remarks out loud that he’d like a cookie and can always count on Bill to have cookies in his house. This is his cover to go check on Bill because these men could never admit to one another that they care about each other.
One gets the impression that if Lenore was dead instead of just gone this would get even uglier.
Hank enters the house to a sad scene. There’s a very dead tree in the corner with Lenore’s stocking on it and a bunch of wrapped gifts with her name on them beneath it. Some must be old from when she left, but there also appears to be new ones as Bill was apparently in the middle of wrapping his toaster. Bill enters the room and is surprised to see Hank and starts hiding gifts and shoving the very dead tree in a closet. Hank awkwardly asks if these are all gifts for Lenore and Bill proudly admits that they are and he suspects that she’ll appreciate his saving them when she comes back. Hank then tries to level with his old friend, but he can barely get a word out before Bill starts to whimper. Hank can’t bring himself to do it and just remarks that stranger things have happened. Bill cheers up and thanks him before confirming with Hank that he’ll be attending dinner at their house through the holidays. This is apparently a thing the Hills do each year so that Bill isn’t alone.
Maybe having Bill over dinner every night won’t be so bad?
We are then treated to one of those dinners. Peggy (Kathy Najimy) is excited about a Christmas party they’re hosting and Bill decides to awkwardly steer that subject into a conversation about break-ups. He reminds Luanne (Brittany Murphy) about her dead boyfriend and how it can be hard to find someone else as he reckons there was only one person meant for her. This disarms Luanne and Peggy immediately tries to steer the conversation back to the party and asks Luanne to help out hosting it, but she’s still reeling from Bill. Bobby (Pamela Adlon) is happy to volunteer to host the party, so Bill brings up the girl who dumped him a few episodes prior and he too looks defeated. He then brings up a high school boyfriend of Peggy’s, Cecil, but she insists she didn’t even like him. Bill just reminds her matter-of-factly that she did, but he didn’t like her.
Oh Hank, this should be the least of your concerns when it comes to Bobby.
The next morning, Bobby is serving breakfast which Hank seems to be uncomfortable with (“Shouldn’t you be doing this, Peggy?”), but like a lot of things with his son, Hank is just going to have to roll with it. Peggy is just happy to have an appetite following last night’s dinner and makes a comment that suggests Bill is like that at every dinner. Bobby remarks that he could live without him, which Hank objects to. He takes the time to remind the two that he set Arlen High School’s single season rushing record in football and Bill was his lead blocker. A running back who forgets his frontline is the person Hank could live without, not Bill, and leaves the table without touching his bacon and eggs saying “Shame on you two.”
The addition of a pet has only made things worse. Of course, it’s not helping that the pet is an iguana.
We cut to another dinner scene and Bill is playfully feeding someone off camera that the Hills seem to find…disturbing. When the camera centers on Bill we see that he’s brought an iguana to dinner which he has named Lenore, naturally. Hank carefully asks Bill if the store was all out of puppies, but Bill insists that iguanas are the new trendy pet. He’s trying to get the thing to eat what looks like a carrot and insists that he’s just shy (and it does sound like this is a male iguana that he’s named Lenore) and is probably nervous with all of the new faces. He looks to his right and stares at Luanne as he says this and she picks up on his social cue to ask if she should leave to which Bill responds simply, “Thank you.” He then opens up what looks like a pill bottle and dumps a cricket onto the table. The rest of the family is shocked, but Bill says “Don’t worry, it’s dead.” It then wriggles a bit and everyone gasps as Lenore jumps on the table and scarfs it down.
Dear God, someone might see Hank in his boxer shorts!
That night as Hank and Peggy get ready for bed, Peggy lets Hank know that this thing with Bill has gone far enough. She doesn’t want him at another meal of theirs, but Hank insists that he thinks Bill seemed happier so maybe things are getting better? Peggy just refers to the iguana (which she mispronounces) as a cry for help, but before their argument can go any further they’re interrupted by the door opening. Hank immediately cries out to Luanne to knock first, but it’s Bill. He apparently had a nightmare where Lenore returned and kidnapped Lenore and drove off with him while he chased after the car until his teeth fell out. He informs Peggy that she was there too then requests to sleep on their couch. I was ready for him to ask about sleeping at the foot of their bed. Hank just says “Yes, Bill,” and once the door is closed Peggy delivers an ultimatum, “I’m giving you twenty-four hours to get me out of that man’s dreams!”
Very normal behavior.
The next day, Hank and Bill are pounding beers in the alley with Lenore. Bill chucks an empty into his cooler, pats his belly, then turns to Hank and says “Shall we?” Hank awkwardly delivers the news that he’s not welcome at dinner tonight. Bill takes the news rather well, even adds that he prefers to eat alone, though he’s not exactly convincing anyone of that. The Hills have a nice dinner without Bill, while Bill eats his pathetic spaghetti meal off the counter I talked about earlier. He really chugs that meat sauce. We cut back to the Hills and Hank is apparently pitching a movie to his family about propane that would involve Clint Eastwood. He does a bad Eastwood impression then turns to the family for approval. Bobby, his ever reliably enthusiastic son, tells him it’s a great idea. They all laugh and we see Bill is watching sadly from the street.
Does this count as an attempt?
Bill takes a ladder out of Hank’s open garage, and as he walks off, it gets caught on some string lights and he inadvertently pulls them down. Or he always intended to leave a mark since this gets Hank’s attention from inside. He’s irritated to find his ten foot ladder missing and immediately accuses Dale, then Bill, then Dale again. He then takes his longer ladder (I guess a 12 footer) and heads up to the roof to fix the lights. From there, he sees Bill across the way on his own roof. He asks him what he’s doing and Bill just casually tells him he’s up there to kill himself. He then goes to jump, but instead awkwardly rolls off the side of the house grasping the gutter. He dangles a moment, then the gutter breaks and he falls to the ground below. It’s important to note that Bill’s house is a ranch. Even if he jumped, he’d be at almost zero risk of killing himself. Hank still cries out in horror when Bill falls though as he’s a good friend.
Nancy looks concerned, but it’s probably for show. Hank seems to be the only one who gives a damn about Bill.
The neighborhood is now gathered in front of Bill’s house to discuss what to do with him. In the background, we can see Bill on his own stoop with his arm in a sling so he apparently got hurt a little bit in his fall. Peggy acts like she’s going to say something mildly profound when she says “You know who I feel sorry for the most in all of this? Bill.” Yeah, no kidding, Peggy. She suggests he see a psychiatrist, but Hank snaps “He’s suicidal, Peggy, not crazy.” Hank seems to think they just need to keep a constant surveillance of Bill until he snaps out of it while Dale (Johnny Hardwick) thinks he’s too far gone and they should sit back and watch the bloodbath. Hank is not about to let that happen and lays out the Bill Suicide Watch schedule for all to hear and adhere to. And since it’s nighttime, Hank is up first.
It’s electric, Bill.
Hank leads Bill back into the house and suggests that Bill get to bed. Bill remarks that all he does is sleep and suggests that maybe he’s preparing himself for The Big Sleep. Hank shudders and goes into the kitchen for a beer. Bill declines one on account of beer being a depressant which causes Hank to angrily snap at him, “Don’t go blaming the beer!” As he goes into the fridge to get himself one, Bill comes in and sticks his head in the oven. Hank ignores him as he heads back into the living room then calls over his shoulder to remind Bill it’s an electric stove. When he says that it’s still pretty hot, Hank relents and yanks his head out of the oven and deposits him on his bed face first. Hank is trying to get him some pajamas and is surprised to find silk ones in Bill’s drawer. Bill refuses to go along with this so Hank is basically forced to dress him, then brush his teeth for him, and then he has to sit beside the bed while Bill sleeps. Only Bill isn’t sleeping! He’s just waiting for the right moment to resume his suicide attempts and when Hank nods off he does just that…by trying to slam his own head in the drawer of his nightstand. Hank wakes up with a “Damnit, Bill,” and is forced to take the drawers away while Bill tumbles out of bed.
Bill has lost all ability to function within society.
It’s the next day and we see Bill is on his couch. He goes to get up, but he’s soon ordered back down. It’s Dale’s watch, and he isn’t taking any chances as he sits in front of Bill with a shotgun. Bill just asks to go “tinkle,” but Dale informs him “Not on my watch.” The humor here is Dale is threatening a suicidal person with death so I suppose if the audience wasn’t convinced that Bill’s suicide attempts were lacking conviction they should be now. We then cut to Bill at a bar called Uglys because it’s now apparently Boomhauer’s (Judge) turn. He’s slow dancing with a woman while Bill looks on from the bar looking sad. He remarks to the bartender that he and Lenore used to come here and watch other couples dance indicating that they were never very much in love. He gets up real close on one couple who is making out at the bar, whimpers, then runs out crying. He runs straight into the road intending to have a tractor trailer truck be his end. It’s just careful editing though and when the camera zooms out we see the truck make a harmless left turn as it was more than a full block away from Bill. Boomhauer then appears to just angrily grab Bill by the arm and drag him back inside.
Dale isn’t about to wait and see what Bill left him in his will.
We next see Bill seated on his couch with his head down from a distance. The camera is in the kitchen and it pans to reveal that Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer are having a little conference about their friend. Dale insists he can’t keep doing this because it’s not in his nature to care about others while Boomhauer remarks it’s all “Work. Bill. Work. Bill,” and suggests that it’s making him want to put a bullet in his own head. Hank doesn’t really put forth any argument to try to keep them onboard with Operation Keep Bill Alive and instead says that he’ll take over all shifts, if he can clear it with his boss. He then calls out Dale for wearing Bill’s silk pajama top under his shirt, but Dale sees no harm in doing so since Bill’s as good as dead anyway.
If it’s any consolation, Hank, it’s the end of the year and Bud Strickland doesn’t seem like the sort of boss who lets his workers rollover vacation time year-to-year.
Now, we head to Strickland Propane, Hank’s place of employment, to see how his time off request goes. We find him in the office of his boss, Bud Strickland (Root), as he starts into his request. Bud thinks Hank is requesting time off to get ready for the party he’s hosting, and since he invited their whole client list, he seems to think it’s a good idea. Poor Hank can’t lie to his boss though, and clarifies it’s for a friend and even categorizes it as a matter of life and death. Strickland doesn’t care, and just tells Hank to have the secretary zero-out his vacation days which elicits another, “Damnit, Bill,” from Hank. We then cut to Hank and Peggy at their kitchen table where Hank is bemoaning his current state. He tells her that Bill tried to drown himself in the toilet earlier and then asks her if she can find him a date? Peggy starts into trying to make an excuse for why she can’t since she’d have to invite a woman over and not tell her anything about Bill and Hank just thinks this is Peggy outlining a plan. He thanks her and walks away in what is basically a repeat of the dinner scene between Bill and Luanne. It’s still funny though so I’ll allow it.
Pay no mind to the iguana piss on his uniform, ma’am.
And who did Peggy find to join them for dinner that night? Why that would be Mrs. Tobbis (Janet Waldo), perhaps the stuffiest looking woman character one could draw. She is visibly angry to be at dinner under false pretenses. To Bill’s credit, he put on his old military uniform and looks nicer than usual, but he still brought Lenore who is nestled on his shoulder. He informs Mrs. Tobbis that he isn’t allowed to have a knife at the table because he’s in the middle of killing himself. Tobbis doesn’t even comment on that and instead accuses Peggy of setting her up with this man against her will. Peggy tries to reason with her by saying Bill is a collector of exotic reptilia and she collects throw pillows – they’re practically the same! Tobbis admits to having a few pillows, but justifiably doesn’t see what that has to do with her being there. Bill then asks her if she likes iguanas and she informs him, in no uncertain terms, that she does not calling the thing filthy. Bill takes the criticism lightly and suggests they all could use a bath which is Lenore’s cue to pee all over his shoulder. Bill just dabs at it with a napkin and says “When it’s your own.”
The only thing Bill had left just ran out the window on him.
Mrs. Tobbis informs Bill that he is a gross man so Bill does the expected and proposes to her! Tobbis is rightfully aghast at the suggestion while Luanne shrieks with glee like she’s witnessing something truly romantic going on. Bill starts clinging to her and she demands someone get her coat – for the love of God! Ladybird then enters, the Hill family’s dog, and once Lenore and her lock eyes the iguana goes into flight mode. It scampers down the table and out an open window prompting Bill to cry, “Lenore! Don’t leave me!” As he goes out the window to chase down his pet, Peggy decides now is the right time to tell Mrs. Tobbis that she’s already given Bill her phone number. That poor, poor, woman.
This is the point where Hank runs out of patience with his old friend. Honestly, it took him longer than I would have expected.
Hank goes outside and observes Bill searching through his bushes and even his mailbox for the iguana. He then goes inside, I guess because he thinks the reptile might have went home, and once inside we see Dale emerge from behind the house carrying Bill’s television. Hank yells at him, but Dale insists that Bill would have wanted him to have it. When Hank points that Bill is still alive, Dale just returns with a “Nitpicking ain’t gonna bring him back.” We head inside the house to find Bill searching under couch cushions as Hank enters. Bill grabs onto his legs begging his friend to help him search for Lenore, but Hank has had enough. He gives Bill the dose of reality he declined to give him earlier in the episode. He tells him that it’s his fixation with Lenore that is his problem and she isn’t coming back. To emphasize this he also throws the presents at the wall and stomps on them. Thankfully, he didn’t find the toaster and they were all clothes so it’s not much of a mess. Bill cries out at first, but then just looks shell-shocked. Hank sees this change as an improvement and even thinks Bill is fine. His demeanor shifts and he’s quite happy as he tells Bill he was worried for a bit since he was acting so crazy. Bill can only say “Yes,” in a monotone fashion when asked if he’s all right as Hank leaves. Once out, Bill slumps against the wall and slides to the floor defeated.
Something isn’t right here…
The next morning, Hank is getting what looks like a leftover pork chop out of the fridge while proudly telling Peggy how tough he had to be with Bill. Peggy actually seems worried about Bill, but Hank is not since he asked him twice if he was okay. He then sees Lenore just hanging out on top of the fridge and, rather calmly, just notes it. He brings Lenore over to Bill’s house and lets himself in. As he walks into the kitchen he puts Lenore down for he spies a woman hanging clothes in Bill’s backyard. He angrily goes out the slider and demands to know what she’s doing in Bill’s backyard, but a very, bad, female voice returns “Why Hank? Don’t you recognize me? I’m Lenore!” She turns around and we see that it’s Bill in a long dress and woman’s hat. She (he?) adds that she’s just washing her dress for Hank’s big party which causes Hank to gasp, yet again.
If Hank was at the end of his rope with Bill the night before he is now well past it.
After an act break, we find Hank demanding Bill knock it off. Bill insists that he’s Lenore, though he has trouble keeping his voice high enough to produce his “Lenore” voice. “Lenore” insists that she’s returned because she loves Bill “sooo much!” Hank can’t wrap his head around this one and brings it back around to football. He points out how Bill blocked for him when he set the single season rushing record, but that he also had to help himself by hitting find the running lanes. He says he’s blocking for Bill now, but Bill isn’t even playing the same game. Feeling he needs a sport to complete the metaphor, he just suggests Bill is playing some sort of crazy tennis. As he storms off, “Lenore” just thanks him for coming by and says “See you at the party!” Hank spins around to tell Bill that no, he is not allowed at his party, before walking off. Lenore-Bill isn’t dismayed though and just smiles to herself and notes she was already invited. Technically, Bill was already invited, but not Lenore, though Bill isn’t really in a state where he can be reasoned with right now.
It’s a nice dress, and Bill did coordinate the shoes rather well.
Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer are drinking in their favorite alley, once again, when “Lenore” comes strolling in. She’s ditched the hat, but has a very nice yellow dress instead. Lenore asks if any of these gentlemen can spare a beer for a lady and you just know that Dale cannot go along with this. When Bill insists he’s Lenore, Dale challenges him to produce Bill. “Lenore” says that Bill is in the house and offers to go get him to which Dale responds, “I’m skeptical that you could, but yet intrigued that you may.” Lenore leaves to get Bill and Dale just turns to Hank to remark that Bill has been acting weird as if he thinks no one else has noticed. Hank doesn’t even dignify this observation with a response. Lenore then returns with a sweater and a beer and says that Bill was busy wrapping presents. Then she takes a sip of her beer and does the usual “Yep,” but in the high, Lenore voice. Hank can’t do this and walks off.
Now Hank, don’t go taking out your frustrations on the potatoes.
Hank is shown massacring a potato that he’s supposed to be peeling. Peggy remarks that he’s peeling in anger and Hank confirms as much. He’s pretty sore about blowing his vacation days on Bill and in the process reveals that he had to actually help bathe the guy. Peggy is sympathetic to Bill’s plight remarking that the only way he could get over Lenore was to become her, then adds it must be a psychological thing – a classic Peggy-ism. Luanne admits she isn’t qualified for such a determination, but suggests that what Bill needs is closure adding that’s what her dead boyfriend’s angel told her. No one seems willing to touch that, but Peggy loves the suggestion and decides to invite the real Lenore to the party! Hank seems skeptical while Luanne is just worried that the two might show up in the same dress which would just be a disaster.
This is sure to go over well.
It’s now the evening of the Christmas party we’ve been hearing so much about. The Hill house is hopping and Hank is ladling out punch to his boss. Bud informs Hank that all of their clients have showed up tonight describing them as big fish and little fish and tells Hank it’s his job to pull him out of any conversations with the little fish. Hank tells his boss they should treat all of their clients like big fish and Bud just tells him that’s a good thing to say to the little fish before walking off. Then Bill, as Lenore, enters and everything seems to stop. Bill is wearing a purple, shoulder-less, dress and hat and upon entering Bud demands to know “what that is.” Hank just says he ordered a Santa and that there must be some mistake as he goes over to order Bill to leave. Bill just does what he’s been doing lately and insists he’s Lenore, will not be leaving, and is here to mingle. She then goes over to a table and pours herself a glass of wine while her inner Bill causes her to pick up a beer as well.
If you were hoping to catch a glimpse of the real Lenore sadly this is as close as the episode gets.
Peggy answers the phone in the kitchen and it’s the real Lenore on the other end. She shouts to Bill that Lenore is on the phone and he looks shocked. We don’t hear anything Lenore says, just Peggy’s reaction to whatever it is she is telling her, and it becomes clear that Lenore isn’t coming. Desperate, Peggy asks Lenore if she could just speak to Bill and send her love, but that’s clearly a nonstarter. Lenore hangs up, and Bill hangs his head in sorrow. With tears streaming down his face and his hands trembling, Bill tries to top off his wine glass while the other party goers look on with actual venom in their eyes. Bill turns to face them with his tear-stained face and is told to go back to Hollywood and that this isn’t the Democratic National Convention.
Why Hank Hill, aren’t you just full of surprises?
Hank has left the room at this point seeming to abandon his old friend. When it looks like things are about to get real ugly, Hank reemerges. He’s wearing what I assume is one of Peggy’s dresses and tells everyone enthusiastically, “Yeah, it’s one of those kind of parties!” Dale is both hurt and confused because this wasn’t on his invitation and he asks Hank if he gave Bill a special invitation? Bill just screeches in as high a voice as he can probably go for everyone to stop it before storming out. Hank gives chase while Peggy tries to smooth things over by asking who is up for Boggle, but no one seems interested.
This is Bill having a breakthrough. You’re just going to have to trust me on that.
Hank catches up with Bill out in the alley and tries to play by his rules. He tells Bill that he’s Lenore and he doesn’t love him. Bill still tries to insist that it is he who is Lenore, but Hank just keeps laying into him. He tells him that he’s lazy and no good. Then he adds how they fight all day and all night and that even the neighbors can hear giving us some more insight into how terrible a marriage they had. Bill has not dropped his Lenore persona and is trying to reason with Hank, bargaining, really. Obviously it’s not working, so Bill instead gets angry. He’s pretty upset that he never even got a “Dear John” letter and turns things around by yelling at “Lenore” and insisting he’s worth more than that. He tells her to leave and Hank responds by removing the dress signifying that Lenore is gone.
Merry Christmas, Bill.
Bill says nothing, just removes the dress and shoes he’s been wearing. He must have been practicing to be able to walk so well in those heals. Standing in his shorts, Bill remarks to Hank that he hit rock-bottom there. Hank just confirms that he did and Bill responds that there’s no where else to go but up. Hank agrees and wishes his friend a “Merry Christmas” as the two turn to look at the stars. The camera repositions in front of the two who are just smiling as they look at the neighborhood all covered in Christmas lights. In the background, we see Dale emerge from his house in a purple dress. He sees that Hank and Bill have ditched their own and quickly turns around before the two spot him.
I think Bill looked better in a dress than Dale.
And so ends a Christmas special unlike any I can think of. It’s a pretty complex plot as we go from the uncomfortable reality that is supporting Bill around the holidays, to suicidal Bill, to Bill as Lenore, and ultimately a resolution. I said upfront that it wasn’t the most festive Christmas episode out there, but it never lets the holiday become irrelevant to the plot. It’s always there in the background and we even get to see some festive attire on the main cast during the party scene. I find it amusing that the first Christmas episode of King of Hill involved Hank losing his sight due to mental trauma and here in the second it’s Bill losing his sense of self and becoming his ex. That is, if you believe him. I think the show is pretty clear that Bill knows what he’s doing the whole time. He’s probably more in control than he lets on, but at the same time, he’s also out of answers and willing to try something drastic in order to cling to the memory of his wife.
Oh Bill, we love to watch your pain.
Bill is a very sad man, but one played for laughs. The show is very careful with his portrayal here so that I think we can feel bad for him while also laughing at him. He needs help, but as Hank observed, he also needs to help himself and he’s basically unwilling to do that. Maybe turning to a pet was actually a start, though naming the pet after his ex-wife undermined that. A huge amount of credit needs to go to Stephen Root who is so wonderful as Bill. It’s one of those voice performances where uninformed people are surprised to see who the actor is behind the role. He must be appreciated by Mike Judge given the role he played in Office Space, and like a lot of this cast, it would be hard to imagine anyone else playing Bill as well or as convincing as Root.
I think we witnessed Bill come real close to getting murdered.
What it comes down to with this episode of King of the Hill is are you able to find humor in suicide and depression? If you can’t that is understandable and you will want to avoid this episode of King of the Hill. I think it arguably gets a little darker during the party when it looks like Bill is about to get lynched for presenting as a woman. Transgender rights weren’t as forefront in 1998 as they are now, but this episode did air just over two months after the murder of Matthew Shepard. King of the Hill rarely shows the ugly side of Texas when it comes to such things. Usually, the show delights in playing against expectations, but in that scene they presented a gathering of people who almost all seemed united in wanting to inflict harm on a biological male who dared to identify as a woman. It reads a lot heavier than maybe the show intended.
Even so, I think this is a very funny episode of King of the Hill. I find Bill’s halfhearted attempts at ending his life harmless and the reactions of those around him are also pretty damn amusing. It’s not a typical holly, jolly, Christmas episode, but it does have a happy ending and no one is irreparably harmed. Well, maybe Mrs. Tobbis. It was a real dick move on the part of Peggy to offer up her phone number to Bill. If you want to catch this episode, it’s currently streaming on Hulu with the rest of the series or on Disney+ depending on your location or subscription. If physical media is more your thing then it’s also available with the rest of Season Three on DVD.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
I have a pretty tremendous blind spot for most animated shows produced between 2005-2015. If it was a show animated and marketed at adults, then I might have checked it out. If it was a show created primarily for kids and not based on some existing IP I knew from my childhood then I almost…
This one has been a long time coming. One of my all-time favorite television shows is The Venture Bros., but it’s a show I really haven’t spent much time discussing on this blog. I guess because I view it as contemporary, even though the pilot premiered almost 20 years ago now. For most of this…
All right, we’ve been at this for a few years now so you probably don’t need much of a primer on Bob’s Burgers, right? The animated sitcom which is shockingly in its 12th season (shocking because it still feels new to me) has become a reliable spot for Christmas fun each and every year. The…
This year we’re doing not one, but two classic Mickey Mouse shorts set at Christmas time. The first one, Mickey’s Orphans, was a cartoon I had failed to mention years ago when doing a scattershot look at Mickey-related Christmas specials. Today’s subject, Mickey’s Good Deed, was mentioned in that post and is the second Mickey Mouse Christmas cartoon released just a year after Mickey’s Orphans. In that it’s fascinating to see how much the look of the shorts has changed in just a short time. The animation is sharper and Mickey’s features are more rounded making him resemble the corporate overlord he would become. It’s also still in black and white as Mickey’s first color toon was still years away though a colorized version has been released for those who just can’t bare to watch a cartoon devoid of color.
Mickey’s Good Deed has some additional notoriety attached to it. When Disney started releasing its Walt Disney Treasures line in the early 2000s, it wanted to make sure it included all of the short form cartoons that spanned a given era. The problem there is that some cartoons have not aged particularly well when it comes to what is acceptable and what is not. The Donald Duck World War II era shorts are the most famous and most obvious of these as they depict Japanese men with yellow skin and offensive accents. Disney’s solution for its more controversial material was to place them in “The Vault,” which just meant they were sectioned off on the DVDs with a mandatory video explanation from film critic and historian Leonard Maltin. And sure, it’s a little annoying for the adult collector that might have preferred to just watch all of the shorts in chronological order, but in the grand scheme it’s not a big deal. Kids like these cartoons too and if a parent doesn’t want them to see it then that’s fine.
Why do I bring up the subject of this virtual vault? Because today’s subject exists in that very vault on Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume II. It’s a bit crazy to think of the Mickey Mouse of today doing anything controversial, but he’s had his dances in the past. And with this cartoon the issue that landed Mickey in the vault is a fairly common one for this era: black face. Just look at any of the old cartoon shorts featured here at The Christmas Spot and, more often than not, there’s a black face joke in them. From a modern perspective it’s pretty nuts how prevalent it was with Christmas cartoons and they’re almost all found with toys. On the other hand, this particular instance is almost comical to the point where I didn’t even notice it on first viewing. I had to watch the cartoon again and really pay attention to some of the details. I won’t make you do the same. And I suppose it goes without saying, but just in case, I’m using the original 1932 release in black and white. The colorized version is fine as far as that type of thing goes. It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it still looks unnatural. Black and white is beautiful too, folks.
Depression era Mickey is not the rich, corporate overlord he is today.
The cartoon begins with Mickey (Walt Disney) playing his cello with his dog Pluto (Pinto Colvig) on a snowy, city, street. There’s a Christmas tree in the background among the subtly lit homes, though the streets are surprisingly absent of life. Mickey is playing “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” on his cello and soon the streets show some signs of life with horse-drawn sleds zooming by in the distance and people passing by on the sidewalk who appear to be finishing up some Christmas shopping. As they walk past Mickey, they flip a coin into a tin cup Mickey has at his feet. Pluto howls along to the melody pausing to chew on his own ass which causes a flea to get tossed into the snow. Pluto resumes his “singing” while the flea eagerly jumps back into the warmth of Pluto’s fur.
Who is out there stiffing Mickey Mouse?!
Mickey, apparently content with his haul, stops his playing and shakes the cup enthusiastically to excite his dog. They march off to a nearby restaurant and the pair gaze inside at the food on display. Pluto barks his approval at Mickey’s intended purchase, but when Mickey dumps the contents of the cup into his hand he finds nothing but nuts and bolts. He angrily tosses the worthless scraps in the snow and drags his cello behind him as he walks off. Pluto starts to follow, then turns around and returns to the restaurant to lick the window. There appears to be a large ham behind the glass that Pluto is dreaming of enjoying.
Get ready to hate a child!
If it wasn’t clear yet that Mickey is poor in this short, it’s driven a home a little more when we see him turn and face the window of a home. His shorts feature a patch on the back, a telltale sign of a poor character in a cartoon, and the ends of his shorts are little rough looking too. It’s clear Mickey needs to keep performing in order to earn money enough to eat. Mickey looks inside a large home, and then turns around with a smile as he resumes playing the cello with Pluto at his side. Inside the house, we see a wealthy pig (I mean that literally) who is trying to entertain his kid (Disney) with toys, but the kid just keeps crying. The house looks massive with a big central staircase and a large Christmas tree. A butler stands nearby ready to assist his employer with whatever he needs.
Rich people always think they can get their way with a little cash and a little violence.
The guy (Colvig) and the butler (uncredited, but I assume it’s Pinto Colvig) keep handing toys to the little swine who just keeps howling. Apparently, nothing will satisfy him. Nothing, that is, until a sound gets the kid to jump on his feet and run to the window. Outside, he hears Pluto barking and upon seeing the dog declares that he wants it. He immediately goes into a tantrum and his father grabs a wad of cash from his pocket, slams it in the palm of his servant, and demands him to get that dog! The butler does as he’s told and exits the home and calls for Mickey. Mickey, thinking he’s in some sort of trouble, immediately stops playing and goes into a run. The butler chases after him trying to tell him he just wants to buy his dog. Mickey yells back that the dog is his pal and he’s not for sale. The butler, likely knowing that rich guys don’t take “No” for an answer, grabs Mickey by the tail and continues chasing him thinking that this will surely get the mouse to sell his best friend. Pluto helps out his pal by biting the butler on the ass forcing him to let go of Mickey and allowing the two to escape.
A devastating development for a poor street performer.
As Mickey and Pluto share a smile, they hit an icy patch in the road. It looks more like a frozen pond and it causes both to drop to their rears and slide across the ice. Mickey loses his grip on his cello which slides off the ice and into another street where a horse drawn sleigh is there to crush it. Mickey races over to inspect what remains of what was likely his most prized possession as some kids from the sleigh (also pigs) shout a “Merry Christmas!” Read the room, kids.
A far more accurate vision on Christmas than sugar plums.
Mickey barely has time to mourn the loss of his cello as the sound of a woman weeping gets his attention. In a nearby shack, a mother cat (Marcellite Garner) has her head buried in her arms at a kitchen table as she sobs. On the wall is a picture of a cat in jail with the word “Father” below it. The breadbox is empty and crawling with vermin while a fish that’s entirely bones swims circles in a bowl. On the fireplace, there hangs 12 mostly ratty looking stockings and a “Deer (sic) Santa” pinned to the mantle. Above the mantle is a calendar alerting us that it’s Christmas Eve. The camera continues to pan and we see a bed full of nine sleeping kittens. Above them, images of Santa play above. He appears to be a human and his sleigh contains just four reindeer.
What’s a poor mouse to do when confronted with such a sad sight?
Outside, we find Mickey who has witnessed this sorry state. He too is crying and Pluto looks pretty sad as well. He knows that there’s no Christmas morning coming to these kids, at least not the one they’re dreaming of, but what can a poor mouse do about it? One look at Pluto and a smile returns to his face. He grabs the dog and takes off down the street. Oh no, Mickey, don’t do it! Don’t sell your dog to the rich pig with the spoiled son! He’s your best pal! And you would just be helping out a family of cats – your mortal enemies!
Mickey, your heart is in the right place, but don’t sell your best friend!
Despite my pleading, Mickey does just that. He rings the bell at the rich pig’s house and the butler answers the door. Before he does, Mickey gives Pluto a kiss on the nose and then tells the butler he’s willing to sell provided he gives his dog a good home. The butler enthusiastically hands over a few bucks. Mickey then looks at his dog with sadness in his eyes, he starts to tell him “Good bye,” and moves in for a hug, but the butler snatches the dog before he can and slams the door in Mickey’s face causing a bunch of snow to fall off the roof and bury the mouse. He pops his head out and immediately smiles at the fistful of dollars he now possesses and races off.
Don’t fall for it, Pluto, that kid is evil!
Inside, Pluto is introduced to his new master. The little pig is excited for the dog and gestures for him to come close, only when Pluto does the kid wallops him on the head with a mallet. The little shit laughs and then smacks the likely concussed dog in the face with the same mallet causing him to roll backwards. Pluto winds up on some toy train tracks with his head clearly still spinning for the double shot inflicted upon him by the little pig. Laughing, the twerp walks over and switches on the train which crashes into Pluto’s rear causing him to jump. It’s a fairly sizable train which just keeps on truckin’ forcing Pluto to run from it. If you’re thinking the kid’s dad is going to step in and discipline his son well you would be wrong. We instead see him cheerfully shake the hand of the butler for now that the little porker has a doggy to abuse he’ll presumably no longer annoy them.
That little balloon poking out of the top of this stuff is the reason for the controversy. What little there is.
We then cut back to Mickey who is walking through the streets with his arms overburdened by boxes and decorations, including a fully decorated Christmas tree. Emerging from the top of the pile is a single balloon and it would appear to be the reason why this cartoon landed in the dreaded vault. It’s a round balloon that appears to be a blackface design with little, curly, bits emerging from the top for hair. It’s not the most obvious blackface gag I’ve seen in a cartoon. Actually, it’s probably the least obvious. Some of that is due to it being in black and white. If the nose weren’t black one could maybe convince themself it’s a clown, but it is what it is. And if you’re wondering, it’s presented exactly the same way in the colorized version.
I hope you’re prepared for this amount of children, Mickey.
Mickey takes his bundle of gifts and such to the dilapidated little shack. Inside, the mother cat is still at the table crying seemingly resigned to the fact that her kids aren’t waking up to toys and food on Christmas. Mickey, dressed in a Santa hat and false beard, slyly opens the door to the dwelling and quietly drags his bundle into the home. He creeps over to the bed and lifts the covers to find a whole lot more kittens underneath than previously thought. He doesn’t seem dismayed about it as he’s still smiling that trademarked Mickey smile.
Animators back then just loved Jimmy Durante.
Mickey lays the blanket back down and creeps over to the fireplace. Along the way he kicks a little duck toy which quacks and he has to stifle the sound quickly. He steps on the tail of some weird cat creature toy that squeaks which gets Mickey to jump a little and drop the duck toy. He puts a toy cow in a stocking which lets out a moo and it’s clear these kids are heavy sleepers. Or their mom cries really loud and often and they’re used to sleeping through that. A toy doll cries out “Mama” while a Jack-in-the-box pops out to reveal a caricature of comedian Jimmy Durante who gives a “Ha cha cha cha” as Mickey tries to stifle it. Durante got around during this era.
It’s party time, kids!
There’s a pan back over to the kittens and they’re somehow still sleeping. Mickey’s eyes are on them as he creeps away, but naturally slips once again on another toy and crashes into the wall causing a bunch of pots and pans to land on his head. He scrambles out the front door and turns to look through the window as the kittens jump out of bed. They gleefully start playing with their toys and Mickey looks on with a smile. They mostly seem to be playing with the toys as intended with only one appearing to be mildly destructive with a drum. Meanwhile, back at the rich pig house, Pluto is raising Hell because the little brat (I’m assuming) has tied a bunch of stuff to his tail causing him to rampage through the house. On his tail is a whole, roast, turkey, a kettle, fork, and some other stuff I can’t quite identify. The kid is on a counter throwing whatever he can find at the dog while the father stands off to the side with a scowl on his face as he’s clearly lost control of this situation.
I think this is going to hurt the kid more than the father, honestly.
The kid grabs an entire bowl of fruit and hurls it at his dad’s face knocking him to the ground. Pluto beats it into the living room where the butler is standing on a ladder and placing an ornament at the top of the tree. It’s not a star, one of those gaudy, pointy, tree toppers that probably has a proper name, but I don’t know it. Pluto runs by though and knocks the guy off the ladder while the kid picks up a massive cake and lobs it at his father. He’s a pretty good shot as he nails the elder pig in the face and has a good laugh. He then sets his sights on the dog again while Pluto retreats to the top of the tree. The kid grabs some garland and yanks on it, but it causes the tree to rebound and send Pluto flying into the father pig along with the decorations from the tree. The aforementioned pointy tree topper finds its way into the pig’s rather large rear end which has to hurt. He angrily jumps up and orders the butler to throw the dog out. The butler does as he’s told, while the kid starts screaming “I want doggy!” The father pig has had enough though and grabs his son and lays him over a knee and starts wailing on his bare ass. The butler stands by approvingly. Maybe this is part of the reason why this cartoon landed in the vault?
Pluto enjoying the sounds of capital punishment.
Pluto, in a snowbank outside, pops his head out and hears the cries and slapping sounds coming from inside. He smiles and laughs clearly enjoying this display of child abuse. He doesn’t have time to relish in the child’s agony though as he starts sniffing the snow-covered ground clearly in search of his best friend. His sniffing takes him right into a curb though and the poor dog whacks his head again. He’s going to have some permanent damage.
A sad, beautiful, shot of Mickey Mouse.
We cut to Mickey sitting by a fire in the cold snow roasting a sausage on a stick. He must have saved a little money for some food, but he doesn’t look happy. On the other side of the fire, a snow Pluto sits as a reminder of the friend he’s missing. Mickey looks positively miserable, and I suppose he should considering it’s Christmas, he’s alone, and has no home. Pluto’s nose leads him to his pal and he burrows into the snow to climb the hill to where Mickey sits. Mickey pulls his hot dog from the fire to take a bite, then holds it out to the snow Pluto as if to offer it a bite as well. At the same time, Pluto emerges from the snow popping out of the snow effigy of himself and gleefully takes a massive bite of the hot dog. The music quickly shifts from somber to jaunty as Mickey cries out “Pluto!” and the dog leaps into his arms. If you were worried about Mickey going hungry after Pluto ate the rest of his sausage, worry not, for Pluto still has a whole turkey tied to his tail. Mickey sees the turkey and scoops it up. He rips a drumstick off and hands it to his best friend who gobbles it up bone and all while Mickey takes a bite out of the rest of the bird. He says “Merry Christmas, Pluto!” who barks in return, though there’s no audio for his bark so it’s kind of weird.
At least Mickey is not alone (or hungry) for very long.
And that’s the end! A bummer we ended on an audio hiccup like that, but at least it’s a happy moment. I don’t know how I feel about his one. Mickey does do a good deed by helping to give some poor kittens a happy Christmas. They get a lot of toys, but they definitely need some food. I guess we can assume Mickey included some food among those packages too. At least, I hope he did. It’s more of the cost of the deed that I take issue with. Selling your dog, your only companion, just to buy toys for some kids? It’s noble, but shortsighted. I guess we can reason it that by selling Pluto to a rich pig Mickey thinks he’s doing right by his pal. He has a hard enough time providing for himself, let alone a dog too. Maybe it’s the responsible choice to give the dog a good home. After all, he has no idea how terrible that home will turn out to be for Pluto.
Enjoy that meal, fellas, because who knows when you’ll be having another?
The other aspect of this short that’s a downer is thinking about what’s next for Mickey and Pluto. They have no money, no home, and no cello to make money with. Sure, they have a turkey, but that’s only going to last so long. I guess Mickey has that Santa hat and beard still so he can sell it, but there’s probably not much of a market for that on December 25th. I guess the simple solution here is to not think about what would come next. And as a Christmas short, it’s fine. I just think the feel good aspect of Mickey’s good deed is undermined by the tragedy of him having to sell Pluto to make that deed happen. It all worked out in the end way better than Mickey could have predicted, but the ride to get there doesn’t work that well. Perhaps because this was released during the Great Depression, the studio couldn’t make it too syrupy. They apparently wanted to keep this semi-realistic by not having a mythical being like Santa Claus provide for these kids. He doesn’t exist in this cartoon. I guess it’s bad for the kids of 1932, but perhaps more era appropriate as delivered.
At least visually I think this short still holds up. There’s plenty of good character animation as this one goes more for that than outright gags. It’s actually short on those and they’re mostly limited to Mickey and the toys. None of the gags are memorable and there’s not really a laugh out loud moment. There’s satisfying moments with the most satisfying being perhaps the spoiled kid getting spanked. I’m not ashamed to admit I enjoyed seeing that kid get what was coming to him even if I’d never strike a child myself. Maybe a more elegant form of comeuppance could have befallen the kid that wasn’t so direct. The climactic embrace between Mickey and Pluto is probably as equally satisfying. It’s an embrace I’ve seen countless times as it was featured as a clip in the NBC broadcast of Mickey’s Christmas Carol back in the 80s. I think this was the last cartoon from that broadcast featured in clip form that I had to track down. It was a mission of mine once upon a time to see all of the cartoons featured there so mission accomplished.
Mickey’s Good Deed is not a Christmas classic, but it is a better Christmas cartoon than Mickey’s Orphans. As a short form, it gets a recommend from me just because it doesn’t require much of an investment in time and I enjoy the visuals. The snow, especially, looks so cold and appropriately miserable. There’s no real cozy moments to be found, instead this one is just harsh. The warm confines of the rich guy’s house are juxtaposed with chaos and animal cruelty making them anything but cozy. And if you want to watch this cartoon you can easily do so via YouTube. Disney is not protective of its classic shorts, especially those in black and white that will never be added to Disney+, so you have options. Even the colorized version can be found easily enough. If you prefer to go legitimate, it is on the set Mickey Mouse In Black and White Volume II, but that’s probably not cheap since it’s been out of print for about 20 years now. It was also released on VHS way back in 1986 on Jiminy Cricket’s Christmas and the colorized version was released on DVD in 2005 as part of Holiday Celebration with Mickey & Pals collection. That last one is not a bad collection of shorts, but few of them are actually Christmas cartoons. And it too is long out of print, but if you’re a collector of classic cartoons, it might be worth owning just to have the colorized version of this cartoon even if it doesn’t look as good. And if you like Mickey, be sure to keep coming back each day because we’re not done yet with the famous mouse this year!
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
I don’t think there’s much debate that the most popular and enduring character churned out by the Hanna-Barbera factory during its hey-day is none other than Scooby Doo. About the only franchise that even competes with the big dog is The Flintstones, which hasn’t been relevant for ages. Scoob has basically had an omnipresence ever…
When I was a kid growing up in the 80s The Berenstain Bears was a popular series of books that usually imparted a simple, clear, message. I seem to recall a fire safety book being a go-to in school for fire safety week and I know I got a copy of one about not eating…
Tex Avery is one of the most influential animators in cartoon history. Beginning his career at Universal, he would make the jump to Warner Bros. when he famously convinced producer Leon Schlesinger he was an animation director when he actually had little or no experience at such. While working under Schlesinger, Avery was influential in…
It was a week ago that we took a look at the Seth MacFarlane produced American Dad! and I remarked it had been a minute since we did an American Dad! Christmas episode. Well, it’s been even longer for the MacFarlane original, Family Guy, the show that was famously unloved, cancelled, and then brought back from the dead. It’s pretty incredible that Family Guy is now over 400 episodes in total. It’s also somewhat appropriate that we look at another Christmas episode from the show in the year 2024 as, for the first time since its revival, it feels like Family Guy may be in some jeopardy. That’s because Fox kicked it out of its Animation Domination Sunday night block and moved the show to Wednesdays. As of this writing, Family Guy has not been renewed past its current season, but that’s not unusual for the current television landscape. If Wikipedia can be trusted, the show was threatening to dip below 1 million viewers per episode when last season ended, would dropping below that merit cancellation? Basically all shows on TV are seeing gradual declines in ratings (The Simpsons dipped below 2 million for the first time in its existence during the 2023-24 season) so it’s hard to tell just what warrants cancellation or renewal these days, but a major shakeup like moving from Sunday to Wednesday is something worth monitoring for fans of the show.
When I first started doing this Christmas countdown, I had the very first Family Guy Christmas episode in my top 25. It has since been removed, though not because I dislike the episode now, I just feel there are specials out there that are better. I don’t always make it a point to check out what Family Guy is doing around Christmas, but this 2020 episode was one that I did view in its initial run and it remained in my memory because of how similar it is to the very first Family Guy Christmas episode. Any show that has been on for hundreds of episodes is bound to repeat itself, but it’s especially amusing when the subject matter is the same. In the very first Family Guy Christmas episode, Lois (Alex Borstein) does her best to make sure the family has a great Christmas only to be undermined at every turn by her useless, selfish, family. She snaps and goes on a rampage until the family can restore her Christmas spirit. In this episode, Lois is going to basically do the same thing, but the snap comes in the first act. Then we get to see the rest of the family try to have a merry Christmas without her.
A joke so good we’re going to do it twice!
The episode begins in standard fashion. No overlays of snow on the song and dance number, no dressing-up of the title. The episode begins with an exterior shot of the Griffin household sparsely covered in snow. Inside, the family is watching The Today Show which features an announcer pointing out that former host Matt Lauer is watching from outside their Times Square studio. The two hosts are shown reading off benign holiday stories while Lauer lightly bangs on the glass from outside and asks if they’re still mad at him. He was fired by the show for being a sex creep.
If they really wanted to torture Lois they would have shown her trying to get this box out of the attic. The hard part is already done.
Lois then comes down the stairs dragging a very heavy box of Christmas decorations. She’s clearly struggling with it as she swears between each movement. What she is saying is a mystery since it’s bleeped, even though I’m watching on Hulu (I guess since it’s not TV-MA they have to bleep it?). When she finally gets to the bottom of the stairs, Peter plainly remarks “That looks heavy,” but Lois just cheerfully announces that the sound of her dragging a really heavy box of Christmas decorations down the stairs can only mean one thing – Christmas! Peter corrects her and says he knew it was Christmas because the “O” in Pornhub changed into a wreath recently and son Chris (Seth Green) responds, “Same” and they share a fist-bump. Father and son bonding over their shared interest in pornography really puts one in the Christmas spirit. I feel the need to point out that Peter made a very similar observation in another Christmas episode, only it was with Instagram Porn Stars in Santa hats instead of Pornhub.
Oh man, Christmas chores? No way!
Lois then makes the announcement that she wants the family to help out with Christmas this year. Peter informs her that won’t be happening because they split everything 0 – 100, he being the zero contributor and she 100, like most couples (Peter’s words, not mine). Lois ignores him and continues to say she also wants a real Christmas present this year and not some clearance, misprint, shirt from Marshall’s. Peter then holds up a t-shirt and says, “But you love the Roling Stons,” and he has the defective merch to prove it. We’re doing a bit here. Lois again ignores him and instead hands out a list of chores for each member of the family. Peter’s rebuttal this time is he can’t do any chores because his trick elbow is acting up. He then turns to Chris and pushes a playing card out from between his forearm and bicep and asks, “Is this your card?” When Chris says it is not Peter quips “Oh no it’s worse than I thought!” Lois just keeps setting him up and Peter keeps…knocking them down?
A character getting their identity stolen from a fraudulent ATM could be the plot of a Christmas episode for some shows, but on Family Guy it can be a quick joke.
We cut to downtown Quahog which is tastefully decorated for the upcoming holiday. Peter and the kids pull into a strip mall to do their shopping. Brian (MacFarlane) asks why they’re doing their shopping here and Peter informs him it’s because the gas ran out here. Chris tells him he needs to get that gas gauge fixed, but Peter rhetorically asks him “Do you want the gas gauge fixed or a year of Quibi?” Chris, wisely, chooses the gas gauge. Remember Quibi? Crazy how dated an episode from 2020 can already feel. Meg (Mila Kunis) assures the family they can find everything on their mother’s list here, while Stewie decides this is the right moment for him to get a line in by saying this place better have Baby Yoda toys or else…he’ll probably just get something with Spider-Man on it. Peter then leads the group to a freestanding ATM and points out how dangerous and terrible an idea it is to use such things. It eats his card and he gets a phone call to which he answers “Peter Griffin. Oh, not anymore?”
One of those stock jokes that could appear in any episode. The only requirement is that Peter needs to at least mention H&R Block.
Peter leads the family into a greeting card store and announces that this is a place to look at cards while releasing tiny farts. The family does this, until Meg unleashes a more pronounced fart that the clerk (Chris Parnell” objects to announcing that this store is for tiny farts only and directs her to Lids for her big, juicy, farts. Peter then heads to an H&R Block to get what I suppose is a very early start on his taxes. He addresses the clerk (Mark Hentemann) and asks how much the H charges, then how much R charges, then inquires if R knows that H has a side thing going on with M? He then mentions the store H&M suggesting he is not entirely confident in his joke being understood. The clerk seems concerned and suggests he has no idea what Peter is talking about. Then a giant, letter, R (Rachael MacFarlane) with lipstick comes out of an office and asks if H is back yet? Then H (Ralph Garman) enters wearing a designer shirt purchased at a fraction of the price with lipstick on the collar. R accuses H of cheating on her and H suggests he wanted to get caught and we suddenly have a suicide joke as R blows her brains out. H drops to his knees wailing “Why? Why?” A letter Y then emerges from the bathroom and asks, “What’s up? I was just taking a pee” Then a letter P pops in and says, “Someone called?” Peter then looks at the camera and informs the audience that sometimes the writers let him write his own skits. It’s an attempt to save this half-cooked idea of a joke, but doesn’t exactly redeem it.
Never count out Peter Griffin!
We then return to the Griffin house and Lois is watching CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose lurking outside. It’s the exact same joke as the Lauer one, only now it’s Charlie Rose. The family enters the house noticeably empty-handed. Lois is pissed and starts listing off all of the stuff they were supposed to either purchase or put out. Peter assures her he has everything under control and then takes off. Time passes and it’s night time. The Griffin house is now covered in snow and the family is inside enjoying a quiet moment by a roaring fire. Peter then enters dramatically with a big tree at his side. Lois runs over and gives him a hug. As she tells him she loves him, the word “Peter” just keeps repeating. We dissolve to find it’s Lois calling his name while beating on the window of the family station wagon while Peter sleeps in the driver’s seat.
A chance to get some more characters some face-time.
Lois demands to know what’s going on as Peter wakes up. He explains he fell asleep after rubbing one out to Madonna’s “Santa Baby.” He then announces that tonight’s “Date Night” has been cancelled due to lack of interest. Lois storms back into the house irate that no one is stepping up and helping her out with Christmas like she wanted. She directs her anger at Brian claiming he’s supposed to be the smart one and punctuates it with a “Bad dog!” He whimpers on the floor like an actual dog – I do always find it amusing when Brian behaves like a dog would. Lois then demands to know who got candy cane all over the couch and Peter begins to mimic Brian by whimpering on the floor. Lois declares she’s had it and will be leaving the family for Christmas to spend it in Cabo with her cousins. Quagmire (MacFarlane) then cartoonishly just pops in thinking she’s leaving Peter, but she corrects him. Then Mort (Johnny Brennan) shows up in a manner identical to Quagmire thinking that Lois plans to ruin Christmas by covering over the town’s decorations. This excites him on account of him being Jewish. When Lois corrects him, a deaf woman (Marlee Matlin) pops in to inquire if she’s doing deaf jokes. Lois says no to the deaf jokes and the woman has to break the news to the classic character Greased-Up Deaf Guy (Mike Henry), who also just pops into the house unannounced. Peter then corrects them and says “I think we are doing deaf jokes, at this point.”
There’s a lot of anger in that boy.
We next find the Griffins seated on the couch in front of the TV without their matriarch. Lois has seemingly followed through on her threat to spend Christmas in Cabo with family so Peter decides that to get revenge they’ll delete all of her favorite programs from the DVR. Chris announces that he would like to be the one who gets to delete The Crown, claiming his mother never watched it and was just stockpiling all the episodes on the DVR preventing him from watching Modern Family. Again, crazy how dated something from just a couple of years ago can feel. When Chris tries to delete The Crown he’s just confronted with a never-ending assortment of prompts confirming that he actually wants to delete the very prestigious show. This eventually leads to a prompt that tells Chris that he actually can’t delete the program so he rips out the cable box and smashes it on the floor in a fit of rage. We then hear the television impossibly announce “We now return to The Crown,” even though television stopped doing that 30 years ago, if not more. Some unintelligible British voices filter out of the TV and Chris is forced to confess he kind of likes it. Peter says the same and adds “It’s because I’m trash and I love how fancy it is.”
Thank goodness the dog is here to prevent Peter from murdering his children.
Meg is the one who points out that none of this will help them save Christmas. The kids turn to their father for advice, but his only suggestion is for everyone to go kneel in front of the holes he dug for them suggesting a murder-suicide is on the table. Brian emerges removing a baseball bat from Peter’s hands and tries to convince everyone they can handle this. Peter just announces his Plan B, which is to take opiates and listen to records. We cut to him drooling in his lounge chair listening to some bad jazz or something. The camera zooms out to reveal Stewie and Brian standing next to him with Stewie announcing, “It’s been four days.”
Lois didn’t really go to Mexico, she just wants to punish her family with her absence and watch them unravel from a cheap motel. Fiendishly clever!
We next head to the outskirts of town to check-in on Lois. She is not in Cabo as she threatened, but actually at a cheap motel that’s high enough in elevation that she can view her family through the window with binoculars. After remarking just how good her binoculars are, she spies Peter bringing in a very dead tree into the house and the family looking excited by it. She suspects that she’ll get a phone call any minute now from them begging her to come back and save Christmas. While she waits, she decides to relax on the bed and turns on the TV. A voiceover (John Viener, I think) coming from the TV welcomes her to the hotel and announces their stationary is the best in the industry for recording suicide notes. More suicide jokes – hooray! Lois announces her plan will work perfectly and intends to “Wait like a cobra.” This is the spot for a traditional Family Guy cutaway gag of a Cobra (Alec Sulkin) waiting for his table at the bar. A waitress (Rachael MacFarlane) asks if he would like her to bring his drink to his table for him and he replies that he would and points out his lack of hands. This might be the worst cut-away gag I’ve ever seen on this show.
Poor Peter. It’s so hard being a white man in 2020 New England.
Back at the house, everyone is outside putting up the decorations. Peter announces it’s time to put out the 2020 version of their decorations and then begins listing off the figurines he’s placing in a manger scene: ethnically accurate baby Jesus, Father Mary, Mother Josephine, the three genderless wise people on their scooters, Tig Notaro (for some reason), and the Little Drummer Them. He then adds, “Because, God forbid, we call a boy a boy.” Chris tries to confront his dad on his apparent transphobia and he erupts shouting “I don’t like what the world is! I’m white! When’s it going to be our turn?!” This does feel pretty authentic for the Peter character. Brian tries to calm him down, but Peter doesn’t see how that’s possible without “the woman who normally takes care of all of this.” He either doesn’t appreciate Lois to the point where he can’t remember her name, or he’s so mad at her that he doesn’t even want to address her by her name. Both seem plausible. Brian asks if he means Lois and he just refers to her as the redhead with the voice. He then starts tossing decorations over his shoulder as he goes through them remarking how she would put them up until one of the kids points out that he did it.
Now this is a true Christmas miracle!
The family turns to look at the house and the decorations are shown to have miraculously landed precisely where they were supposed to. Peter declares it perfect as the whole family basks in the festive glow of the holiday display. His cell phone then goes off and it’s Quagmire. He requests Peter dim the lights because he’s presently in bed “with a three and light isn’t doing her any favors.” We then cut to Lois in shock as she views the family’s accomplishment. She is then interrupted as the letter H from earlier mistakenly enters her room with his side piece, M. He sees Lois and then apologizes adding, “We’re excited because my wife just killed herself.” Why are we returning to this joke?
Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean the show is going lay off Meg.
It’s time for a holiday montage! Set to an instrumental version of “Deck the Halls” that’s heavy on saxophone, we find the Griffin family in their living room as Peter holds up a holiday movie: Christmas with the Kranks. He inserts it into the DVD player and we then see the family relaxing with the glow of a fire cast on them. We zoom out to see that Peter actually set the movie on fire. As someone who has seen the film, I approve. We then check out Peter hanging the stockings. The kids nod in approval before Peter hangs up the last one which is for “Dad’s gym friend Emilio who he goes to Greece with every summer.” Apparently, Peter is a closet homosexual who cheats on his wife – I suppose that explains his disinterest in her. We pan out and Emilio (presumably) is revealed to be standing behind Peter in just his boxer shorts. He gestures to Peter who playfully waves him off to the shock of his children. It’s now time for Christmas dinner and Peter is preparing to cut the ham. As the camera moves across the table it’s revealed that there is a live pig in one of the chairs. Peter reacts with surprise and runs to the oven only to find he mistakenly cooked Meg instead of the pig. Whoops!
The only thing Lois has accomplished is showing the family that it can thrive at Christmas without her.
Time to check-in on Lois once again. She is aghast to find the family having a snowball fight in the front yard. Tom Tucker (MacFarlane) and a news van are even onsite to document this. Lois then observes the family standing hand-in-hand while Peter says “I love you,” to his kids, but in slow-motion. Lois suggests the kids better not return the sentiment in slow-motion as well to emphasize her horror so of course they do. “That’s it,” she shouts as the camera zooms in on her rage with a rack focus technique so that she can inform us that she must stop Christmas! She’s interrupted by the sound of a fart from the room next to hers. She pounds on the wall and shouts “What do you think this is? A Lids?!” The logo for the store is superimposed over the screen while the announcer voice chimes in with “Lids: come get a camouflaged Knicks hat and let one rip!” The clerk from earlier told Meg to go fart in Lids. Did someone have a particularly bad experience in a Lids? I don’t get it. I don’t think I’m supposed to.
You just can’t take the “Mom” out of Lois, even when she’s trying to be bad.
Well, there is only one place for this story to go. Lois shows up at the house decked out in Grinch attire. Before she can get down to business, her cab driver (Viener) has to bid her farewell while sharing his unprompted racial stereotypes about people from Turkey. She enters through the chimney intent on ruining Christmas, but then spies all of the dirty dishes left out. Lois does the dishes and then tells herself she won’t even think about the grocery situation, but then of course she open the fridge to find it nearly empty. We cut to her coming through the back door with two bags of groceries, but now she’s dragged in mud so she has to mop the floor. Once finished with that she seems ready to resume (well, start) ruining Christmas, but then she tells herself not to think about checking the washer to see if they left the wet clothes in it without transferring to the dryer. Of course she checks and finds what she expected and remedies that situation like she did the others.
They’ll both never speak of this again, it would seem.
With the clothes properly sorted, we can finally go into the “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” parody segment we all expected. It’s an instrumental version of the song and as it plays Lois creeps around miming the Grinch from the far more famous television special. There aren’t really any jokes as she just does exactly what the Grinch does, though she does pause to do a hideous version of the Grinch smile so there’s your joke. As she stuffs up the tree, she’s interrupted by a little girl asking “Santa Claus?” Well, actually, it’s Stewie and he’s dressed like little Cindy Lou Who from the special. He asks why Santa is taking the tree, but Lois just responds by asking why he’s in pigtails and a little girl’s nightgown. Stewie, realizing he’s in over his head, just suggests they both forget what they saw tonight and heads back up the stairs.
You know, this whole time I’ve definitely been asking myself, “What’s Quagmire doing at Christmas?”
We now head outside and the house looks to be in disarray now that Lois has effectively stolen Christmas. We see her creeping down the sidewalk with all of the Christmas stuff as the show decides that now is the right moment to check-in on Quagmire. He’s all alone in his house and remarks how he dislikes being alone on Christmas so he whips out his phone and calls someone named Joan. He asks if he has a payment due on his Discover card. Based on what follows, we can assume that Joan asked if he’s alone on Christmas and Quagmire denies it. He says he’s with his very large family, but she asks him for names. We don’t actually hear anything from Joan, just Quagmire’s responses, but he basically repeats all of her questions so we don’t have to guess. He lists off obvious fake names (Bloofus and Klunt) for his kids and when she doesn’t believe him he starts smashing stuff around his house and blaming the kids. She doesn’t buy it and Quagmire is forced to hastily retreat from the conversation and hang up. I’m guessing the episode came in a little short and Quagmire was called on to fill some time.
Is this the part where they join hands and sing?
The next morning, the family rises to find that Christmas has been stolen. They’re pretty shocked, but Peter has a solution: everyone kneel in front of daddy’s pre-dug hole. That’s his solution for everything! Brian then tells Peter this is all his fault for getting rid of the Ring camera. We jump back via cut-away to Lois entering the house wondering who crapped in front of their door. She pulls out her cell phone to check the Ring camera, but Peter slaps the phone out of her hand and smashes it. He tells her that whoever it was probably had no choice because their family was using all of the bathrooms.
Lois may have failed to inflict misery upon her family, but at least she taught them to appreciate her.
Lois is shown arriving via cab, and before she enters the house she puts on a sombrero and poncho to play up the ruse she was on vacation. The family is watching a Tony Bennett (RIP) Christmas special and we see Tony badly singing “Jingle Bells” and falling asleep mid song. The bit continues with an announcer saying to stay-tuned for a duet with Willie Nelson. We then cut to the two of them asleep. They wake up and start performing different songs. They’re both very old. Lois enters the home and Peter welcomes her back by pointing out he cleaned and bought groceries, but unfortunately Christmas was stolen. Lois has to feign shock, but then is really surprised when she finds out that not everything was stolen. It turns out, they got her a present, but since they didn’t think she’d be home for Christmas it was kept upstairs. The kids retrieve it and Lois is forced to read the card out loud. It’s played straight and thoughtful, but the gag is that it’s going to just go on and on. She has to read the inner card, the back, and even some stuff hidden by a black light while sad music from This is Us plays. I’ve never watched the show so I don’t know if the sad music is authentic, but whatever.
I bet you saw this coming.
Lois is moved to tears and finally opens the gift to find a misshapen bowl. Meg tells her they all took a pottery class and made it for her. Despite the bowl looking terrible, it affects Lois. This is the part where the narrator comes in to inform us that Lois’ heart grew three sizes that day complete with overlay as seen in The Grinch. We then smash cut to Lois unconscious in a hospital bed because your heart tripling in size is actually a bad thing. The doctor (MacFarlane) is there to tell us she’s lucky to be alive, and then soon leaves the scene allowing the family to all hug Lois while Peter declares it the best Christmas ever! The narrator returns to inform us that Lois is happy this medical emergency covered up her crimes. We’re told Lois never came clean and instead their Muslim neighbor was arrested for the crime and deported back to Turkey. Another voice chimes in, “See? What did I tell you? Always Turkey!” It’s the voice of Lois’ cab driver from earlier who shared his views on race unprompted with her.
This episode basically had to end with another double-up on a past joke. It’s clearly something the writers are fond of.
We’re not done yet! We return to the Griffin house and everyone is seated in the living room by a replaced Christmas tree. Peter says he’s glad to have Lois back so he doesn’t have to keep doing dishes and buying groceries, much to her annoyance since it was Lois who did those things. The family then challenges her on her alibi and asks her to come up with names for the cousins she was supposedly visiting the whole time. Predictably, she hastily comes up with the same names Quagmire did earlier: Bloofus and Klunt. She even says she thinks she hears them upstairs. She runs upstairs and we stay with the rest of the family as they listen in on Lois narrating the carnage being spread by Bloofus and Klunt. She smashes a diorama Meg made which was due the next day and also Stewie’s aquarium containing the fish you have to feed so damn much and they die anyway. Stewie is apparently buying this charade as he remarks, “Fricken’ Klunt, man.” She then gets to Peter and his discreet box of pills. He races upstairs, but can’t beat “Bloofus” to the toilet who flushes them away.
Lois just wanted some help around the holidays and is basically punished throughout the episode for that.
And that’s how Lois stole Christmas and got away with it! Well, she did get hospitalized as a result of her scheme and I bet the resulting medical debt was crippling to a family like the Griffins, but she still technically got away with it. I like this one as a companion to “A Very Special Family Guy Freakin’ Christmas” as it’s a 2020 take on that 2001 episode. The show and the depiction of the family has changed so much since then. They’re basically all worse people, though really only Peter and Lois are on display in this episode. The kids are mostly window dressing and Brian is still in his role of arbiter and moral compass. It’s still a familiar premise of underappreciated mother figure getting the shaft at Christmas. Only Lois tries to combat this with subterfuge and is basically punished for it. Just not all the way punished since her family is basically none the wiser. Though they do border on accusatory in that final scene, but then appear to accept Bloofus and Klunt.
There are some good jokes here and some not so good ones. Family Guy is a show that tries to overload its running time with as many jokes as possible. It’s quantity over quality. If I’m being honest, the strategy doesn’t work too well here as there’s a lot of groan-inducing jokes. And this particular episode apparently either didn’t know which ones were going to land, or felt that a bad joke could be improved by repetition. We return to the stupid joke with the personified letters as well as the discarded television show hosts. The observational humor the show tries for with the ATM machine is just okay, while Peter’s insecurity via the nativity scene was decent. The suicide jokes were numerous and even American Dad! loves those in their Christmas episodes so I guess it’s a MacFarlane thing? I liked the repeated gag of Peter’s suicide solution, but not so much the rest.
If they wanted to make an image creepier than the original then mission accomplished!
If you are a fan of Family Guy then I think this episode lands as “just okay.” The show has better Christmas episodes like its inaugural one and “The Road to the North Pole.” Those are the only two I watch each year and if it weren’t for “The Road…” being an hour long I’d have covered it in this space by now. Instead, I did the one that parodies The Grinch because I am a sucker for that. In terms of Grinch parodies though, this one isn’t that great because it just doesn’t use the opportunity to make a new joke. We just get a visual gag of Lois trying to smile like the Grinch and Stewie being confronted by his choice of evening wear. The Quagmire bit that followed was pure throw-away too, but I guess we needed it to setup the final scene.
If you would like to watch “The First No L” then the easiest way to do so is via Hulu or Disney+ depending on where you reside or subscription plan. Family Guy still airs in syndication as well for you cable subscribers and this episode is likely being shown somewhere this December. If you, however, only have room in your schedule for one Christmas episode with the Griffins, then you can probably do better than this one.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Today, we return to my best Christmas specials of all-time list with television’s first family: The Simpsons. The Simpsons are the brainchild of series creator Matt Groening who allegedly came up with the idea as a spur of the moment one when he needed something to pitch to the Fox Network. He essentially based The…
Alvin and the Chipmunks is one of the oldest, family-owned, pieces of intellectual property left in the world. And it might not be for much longer as the franchise is reportedly up-for-sale and has been since last year, but as-of this writing nothing has been agreed upon. The Chipmunks date back to the 1958 novelty…
For December 10, we are returning to the theme of this year which is to revisit the best of the best. When I originally ranked my favorite Christmas specials, I had the recently released It’s a SpongeBob Christmas! ranked at #19. The years have been kind to this throwback Christmas special as last year I…
It was a few years ago that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly in which they picked their favorite and least favorite episodes of the long running show. I couldn’t find an active link for that interview, but it’s covered in various other places on the web and part of the reason why is because the two shared a somewhat controversial take on the first three seasons of the show: they stink. Parker went so far as to say he wishes those first three seasons could be permanently erased from existence. They did select one season two episode as being one of their favorites, but it was the Terrance and Philip episode that was basically a giant troll job by the show (viewers tuned in expecting a resolution to a cliffhanger, only to get an episode about two Canadians who fart a lot). Even though the first three seasons are pretty juvenile and raunchy for the sake of being raunchy, it must not be that aspect that Parker and Stone take umbrage with since they’re still sticking with that Season Two stinker.
Despite what the creators think, I think there’s plenty of good stuff to be found in the early days of South Park. I would agree it’s not as consistent and there probably are more duds in those seasons than what followed in the next three, but that’s hardly atypical for any long-running show. The Simpsons needed to figure things out in its first three seasons too before hitting a stride that wouldn’t let up for several years. South Park had a similar run and long-time fans like me probably feel like the show fell off at some point. As reliant on being “random” and offensive as the first three seasons were, other later era South Park episodes became so fixated at parodying something in the news that they often felt forced.
Season Two of South Park can be a bit of a slog at times. I like some episodes in it, but even back in the 90s it felt like the show lost a little steam during the second batch of episodes. And who could blame it? South Park struck hot and Comedy Central demanded more episodes while the parent company set its sights on a feature film. Parker and Stone, responsible for the bulk of the writing, direction, and voice acting, were working on a television show and a movie simultaneously. The writers on The Simpsons described a similar situation as being truly exhausting when that show made a movie to the point where most never want to do it again, and that was a movie with about a dozen writers.
Perhaps then it comes as no surprise that the show’s second Christmas episode isn’t the most beloved. Is it the show’s worst Christmas episode? Honestly, it might be, though part of that depends on how much you like the musical that follows in Season Three. It’s an episode that takes a somewhat generic Christmas plot about someone finding the true meaning of Christmas, and applies it to a truly wretched human being. That’s the sort of stuff early South Park did for shock value as who wouldn’t be taken aback watching the convicted murderer Charles Manson sing a Christmas carol? It’s about as subversive as making a Santa-like being a literal piece of shit, and now we’re going to turn another piece of shit into a Christmas devotee.
Stan’s mom won’t let him go to Nebraska with his friends because…it’s Christmas? Near Christmas? I don’t know.
The episode begins with the conventional, Season Two, opening. When the song is over, we find young Stan Marsh (Parker) in his living room in the midst of an argument with his mother (Mary Kay Bergman). Stan has been invited to travel with his friends to Nebraska where Cartman’s grandmother lives for the weekend. Stan’s mom understandably doesn’t want him to go since it’s the holidays or something (it’s hard to pinpoint the exact day here), and looks to her husband for some help. Only she phrases it poorly and instead directs her son to ask his dad if it’s okay and Randy (Parker) predictably doesn’t care and says it’s fine. Stan’s mom still says “No” so Stan tells her off and heads for his room. Once there, he grabs his backpack and mutters how he doesn’t need his stupid family and exits out the window.
Ah, the annual South Park Christmas Elephant Parade!
Outside Cartman’s house, Kyle (Stone) and Kenny (Stone) are being dropped off by their parents as they apparently got the okay to travel to Nebraska with the Cartmans. Kyle’s family doesn’t care about it interfering with Christmas since they’re Jewish while Kenny’s family is just hoping he can smuggle home some turkey for them. Stan then shows up to the surprise of the other boys who somehow found out he couldn’t go, or they just expected his mother to say “No.” Stan, understandably, wants to get moving so he just heads straight for the car. Cartman then goes to hop into the front seat, but finds Kenny already there which pisses him off because he’s a spoiled little piece of shit. He tries to tempt Kenny to vacate the shotgun position by saying there’s a sale on orange jackets down the street and also by claiming there’s an elephant parade taking place. When neither works, Cartman pulls a dollar out of his pocket and tosses it like a kid playing fetch with a dog. That works and Cartman smiles at himself for his fast thinking and also calls Kenny a poor piece of crap. As the car pulls away, an elephant parade can be seen taking place in the background.
I don’t think Stan and Kyle thought this whole thing through. Kenny, on the other hand, just wants a hot meal.
With the car in motion, it dawns on the kids to ask how long it’s going to take to get there. Cartman’s mom, Liane (Bergman), informs them it’s about six hours to grandma’s house and the kids are immediately dismayed. Cartman’s mom suggests they could pass the time by singing and Stan enthusiastically responds in the negative to that idea, but Cartman and his mom just start singing “Over the meadow and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go,” as we head to a break. When the break is over, we find out 4 hours have passed with Cartman and his mom just singing the same two lines over and over. Kyle starts to quietly ask them to please stop, but since they can’t hear him he just kicks Cartman’s seat so hard it sends him into the dashboard. Neither he nor his mom realize what happened and they blame it on the road while the boys in the backseat are relieved for the momentary silence. I’m left to wonder what’s in this for Stan and Kyle? Surely they can’t imagine a trip with the Cartmans to Nebraska is going to be something special.
Mr. Hankey better be careful, he’s really infringing on Santa’s racket.
Cartman’s mom announces they’re about to enter Nebraska and when they do the background goes from snow to brown crops and a slow, twangy, banjo, theme enters. The boys are unimpressed, but Cartman’s mom tries to explain Nebraska’s local agriculture until her son rudely tells her to shut up. The boys soon have their attention sapped away by a billboard advertising Mr. Hankey at a local mall. Apparently, the events of last year’s Christmas special have raised his profile considerable so Mr. Hankey isn’t just a Christmas icon in South Park, but the whole country. The kids all want to go and Cartman’s mom is happy to inform them that Cartman’s grandma lives near that particular mall. Cartman then asks his mother why his grandmother has to live so far away? He doesn’t like driving six, god, damn hours to get a present and would rather they just stick grandma in a nursing home close to them. His mom tells him they need to get him out of his grumpy mood and she knows the best way: through song! The two begin singing their awful song again, much to the chagrin of the boys in the backseat.
Cartman’s great grandmother mistakes Kyle for Cartman. This hits home because my own great grandmother did this to one of my friends. She at least didn’t smell like piss.
The long ride finally ends and the boys practically run out of the car to get away from Cartman and his mother’s singing. Unfortunately for them, things aren’t really going to get any better. Cartman goes racing up to the front door shouting “Grandma!” over and over. A large, old, man who basically looks like Cartman answers the door and soon Cartman’s grandma (Bergman) appears as well. She informs him that she got him a present and the little boy starts rubbing his hands together. When she says it’s inside, he shoves her out of the way and off the stoop and barges in. The rest of the crew follows and Cartman’s mom introduces the boys to the Cartman family. They basically all look like Eric Cartman, just older and fatter. Great Grandma Florence (Parker) then hobbles over and mistakes Kyle for Eric and gives him a big hug. He manages to wriggle away and informs Stan she smells like pee and vitamins.
Eric got a shirt for a present. I’m sure he will be very appreciative.
With the introductions out of the way, it’s time for Eric’s present. His grandma hands him a box and he rips into it only to discover it’s a shirt. His grandma tells him she thought it would look really good on him, but Cartman is not to be consoled. He angrily cries out that he drove 9 hours through butt-fuck nowhere for a god damn shirt! He then tells his mom grandma has gone senile and demands that she be stuck in a nursing home! No one reacts to Cartman’s outburst though as they seemingly all enable his awful behavior. I do question the wisdom of his grandma though to get him a shirt for Christmas. My grandmother was always keenly aware that kids do not want clothes, she she would give us the clothes first and then the toys. Maybe Cartman’s grandma knows he’s a little piece of shit and this is a troll job.
It’s just an entire house full of Cartmans. Stan and Kyle definitely didn’t think this through.
We hard cut from that to a dinner scene. All of the Cartman’s are seated along a long table, including Eric who is in his new shirt. Cartman’s grandfather mentions how the holidays are a time for family which Stan angrily objects to. When they ask him why he says his family is dead! Cartman’s mom apologizes to Stan for the death of his family while Kyle is smart enough to ask a follow-up question to which Stan replies “they’re dead to me,” which should clear things up a bit. Eric, meanwhile, can’t believe he got a shirt for Christmas and his mom apparently made him wear it to dinner.
Meet Uncle Howard. We don’t know why he’s in prison, but it sure seems like he’s been there awhile.
Cartman’s mom then asks Kyle if he wouldn’t mind holding Grandma Florence’s catheter bag at dinner. He is understandably repulsed by this and the bag is quite full. Normally, people just strap those things to their leg or something. Cartman’s grandfather (Parker) then draws attention to the fact that everyone is present, including Cartman’s Uncle Howard (Parker) appearing live via satellite from prison. The boys are pretty surprised by this and Cartman confirms he does this every year. His grandma remarks to Howard that he looks good and he just shouts back “No I don’t!” He’s probably right. Cartman’s cousin Elvin, a toddler who has a taste for Fudgsicles, throws his tasty treat at the TV seemingly not supportive of his uncle being here. Cartman’s grandma then asks her mother, Flo, if she could say “Grace.” Flo responds, “God damnit, why the hell do I always have to say ‘Grace’? If one more person asks me to say ‘Grace” I’ll be like, ‘Hey!, I’m not saying ‘Grace,’ and if you ask me again I’ll kick you straight in the nuts!'” She holds up a fork in a threatening manner for added emphasis, and when her rant is over Cartman just says “Amen,” and the rest of the family follows. They all dig in and start eating like savages, which the boys can scarcely believe. Jimmy, the family dog, then starts begging beside Grandpa who goes into a “No Jimmy, that’s my pot pie,” echoing a familiar refrain we’ve seen in the past with Eric. The whole family joins in telling Jimmy that’s Grandpa’s pot pie all in the same Cartman way. Stan confesses he doesn’t know how much more of this he can take. Meanwhile, Kenny is seen stuffing food into a paper bag.
Hey look everybody, Uncle Howard is home! And he brought a friend! And his friend is…oh…oh God, no…
That night, we find the boys asleep in the basement. Kyle wakes up screaming and when the others ask what’s wrong he says he had a nightmare that he was trapped in a house full of Cartmans. When Stan tells him that he is trapped in a house full of Cartmans he resumes screaming. His screaming is interrupted by a crashing sound. Stan pinches Cartman to make sure he isn’t dreaming, then to be sure Kyle punches him in the face to doublecheck. Eric is getting pissed off and then Kenny punches him too. The boys soon realize they’re not alone and Eric turns on the light to find it’s Uncle Howard. He apparently busted out of prison which the boys think is pretty cool. He tells them not to let the rest of the family knows he’s there and informs them that they’ll be hanging out in the basement with them. When Eric asks who “they” refer to by asking if he has a turd in his pocket (a zinger he’s used before), his question is answered by another fellow entering through the window. He’s a haggard, bearded, man with a swastika carved into his head and a prisoner number of 06660. He introduces himself as Charlie Manson (Parker) and we get some thunder and lightning for dramatic effect.
The Cartman tantrum is hereditary.
The next morning, Manson is itching to get out and raise some Hell, but Howard cautions him to relax and just watch some TV. He sits down and turns on It’s a Wonderful Life, only it’s a little different. The one scene we’re treated to is George (Parker) admonishing Mr. Potter calling him a little bitch and asking if he’d like to suck it? The boys wake Cartman up, who sleeps in his Beefcake tanktop, because they want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hanky. They all head upstairs and Cartman asks his Uncle Stinky (Parker) if he can take him and his friends. Stinky, and the rest of the family, are all heavily invested in a football game and when Cartman insists that the elder Cartman take them he’s told “No” and to “Respect my authori-tay!” This is the Code of the Cartmans as Eric doesn’t challenge his uncle and instead walks off angrily muttering about him and his god damn authority.
Sticky bun, anyone?
A news bulletin interrupts the football game and it’s to inform the public that Charles Manson is at large. It’s interspersed with actual footage of Manson while the news anchor (Stone) implores the public to punch his face in and kick his ass if they see him, and then call the police. When the bulletin is over the rest of the family finds out that they missed an incredible comeback in the football game causing them all to shout out “Lame!” In the hall, Eric’s grandma asks him if he can look after cousin Elvin for a bit as a favor to her. Eric just sighs and demands ten dollars and his grandma gives in without another word. Downstairs, It’s a Wonderful Life is nearly over and it’s not making Charlie feel any more in the spirit of the holidays. Quite the opposite, actually, as he sees Christmas as just another attack on him. The boys enter and Cartman brought his uncle and accomplice some sticky buns. They’re pretty happy to have them as the boys lament their current situation. When Charlie finds out about it he volunteers to drive the boys to the mall on account of the fact that he wants some action. Kyle tells him “Good for you,” while Howard thinks it’s bad a idea. Charlie will not be swayed though and he tells the boys he’ll hotwire the car and take them. Stan is a bit apprehensive about trusting this guy, and it’s become clear the boys have no idea who he is, while Cartman tells him he needs to start trusting people.
This is sure to end well.
In the driveway, we’re treating to “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” as Charlie hotwires the car and the boys all pile in, including Cartman’s cousin Elvin. Meanwhile, back in South Park Stan’s parents have realized he’s missing. Stan’s mother is pretty certain where he is, but Randy tries to caution her that maybe he just ran away or got kidnapped or something. She picks up the phone and calls the Cartman house where Cartman’s mom answers. She’s surprised to hear from Sharon Marsh since Stan told her she was dead. She confirms that Stan is with her though and Sharon hangs up telling the family they’re going to Nebraska!
Eric has a way with kids.
At the mall, the boys are stuck in a very long line to meet Mr. Hankey. Manson is just standing there with them too seemingly unafraid to be out in a very public setting wearing a prison jumpsuit and sporting a pretty hard to miss swastika tattoo. Kyle is super excited to see Mr. Hankey again, while Cartman notices that he’s also adertised to be appearing at another nearby mall. He questions how he could be in two places at once, but Kyle isn’t swayed and dismisses it as magic. Kenny is shown just staring at Manson who in turn is staring at him. He asks the boy if he would like to head to a more secluded section of the mall and Kenny can be heard saying through his coat, “Okay!” The two walk off and Stan announces that he really likes Charlie. Elvin then realizes he’s finished his Fudgsicle and starts crying. Cartman, having no idea what to do, grabs a club like object and bashes him over the head. It works as he stops crying, but one of his eyes is drawn as a circle instead of a dot and he’s no longer making any sound. Cartman actually looks a bit concerned.
Ever wonder what the Grinch would look like if he was a big piece of shit?
In a not so secluded area of the mall, Charlie is giving Kenny a sermon of sorts on the subject of his ruthlessness. He sounds like he’s about to go on a rampage, but then gets distracted by another Christmas special. It’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, only all of the characters have been replaced by poop. It’s the part where the Grinch is shoving the tree up the chimney and is interrupted by little Cindy Lou Poo. I could see the estate of Dr. Seuss not appreciating this beloved, children’s, classic getting represented as shit onscreen, but they let Mike Myers play The Cat in the Hat so I have no sympathy for them.
He may not be the real Mr. Hankey, but he’s sure done his homework.
Back in line, it’s now Kyle and Stan’s turn to meet Mr. Hankey. They’re lead to Hankey’s throne by a woman (Toddy Walters) in an elf costume with smears of poop all over her. It’s pretty gross, though hopefully it’s just makeup. The boys are rather surprised when they meet Mr. Hankey (Dian Bachar) and find he’s adult-sized. It’s clearly a human in a costume, but the boys need to prod a bit before confirming such. When they finally unveil their skepticism in full, the kid in the costume tells them it’s just an act and there are a bunch of Mr. Hankeys like him at every mall in the country and to just go with it. When he adds that Mr. Hankey isn’t real, it sets Kyle off. He mimics his own mother with a “What! What! What!” and hops up to unmask the imposter. A group of children (one of them being Craig for some reason) are all shocked to find out that this man is posing as Mr. Hankey. A riot breaks out as the kids start trashing the place. One little girl (Bergman) calmly informs her mother she’ll never forget her lies. This is some heavy trauma, right here. The kids start setting the set to fire while some security guards can be seen nonchalantly remarking “They’re rioting again.” I think one adult may be dead.
What’s Craig doing at a mall in Nebraska?!
At the electronics store, Charlie and Kenny are watching the end of the Grinch show. It features the Grinch Poo carving the roast poo so I guess they’re cannibals or something. Charlie finds the ending touching because the Grinch started off evil, then became good. Before he can reflect further, a wall is smashed in by some Police vehicle that looks like it could have come from RoboCop. A bunch of riot cops stream in and are soon overrun by angry children. The kids get tear-gassed and mayhem ensues. Kyle and Stan then rejoin the others seemingly oblivious to everything going on around them. Kyle is still fuming over the Hankey situation, while Charlie has a new tattoo to show off. He was so touched by the holiday special that he had his swastika converted into a smiling face. Cartman seems to think it’s cool, surprisingly, and Elvin somehow got another Fudgsicle and seems to be fine now. Then some cops finally notice that Charles Manson is among them and everyone is forced to run while Cartman and Elvin lag behind for obvious reasons. They make it to the car, but the cops give chase and even open fire on the vehicle containing children. Cartman is shocked while Kyle is still just pissed off about the fraudulent Mr. Hankey.
Is this an OJ joke? Feels like every overhead car chase shot is an OJ joke.
At the Cartman house, everyone is still watching TV when news breaks about Charlie Manson’s run from the law. Grandma notices the car on television being driven by Manson resembles her husband’s, but doesn’t take it a step further. In the car, the cops are gaining on the boys until Elvin tosses his Fudgsicle out the window. The cops cry out “Fudgsicle!” and try to avoid it causing a pile-up to Elvin’s delight. The someone screams out the name of a harmless object only for it to lead to mayhem is a common joke for South Park (“Peeps!”). Even with Elvin’s assistance, there are still a ton of cops after them. Charlie pulls the car into the driveway of the Cartman residence and Grandma is outside to greet them for some reason. He barks at her to get in the house as the cops come flying in.
Uncle Howard isn’t messing around anymore.
When Charlie and the boys get inside, the family is shocked to see Charles Manson. Howard emerges from the basement to more surprise and also sporting a shotgun. Everyone is fairly calm about the whole thing and Grandma is even happy to see her son. The cops form-up outside along with a news crew as they demand that Charlie Manson come out so they can shoot him. Another cop has to correct the one on the bullhorn that they won’t shoot him, or he’s just telling him to say that while they fully intend to shoot him. The Marsh family then arrives and Sharon marches right up to the cop with the horn and demands to know if this is the Cartman residence. When he tells her that it is, she grabs the bullhorn and starts screaming at Stanley. Everyone in the house looks at him nervously with the convicts even expressing some relief that they aren’t him right now. When Sharon finishes her tirade there’s a still frame of the exterior of the house and we hear Stan call meekly from inside “Sorry!”
Thanks, Uncle Charlie.
Howard is trying to form an escape plan while Charlie would rather watch Christmas specials with the family. He also calls out Howard for pointing a gun at his mother and Howard expresses confusion about this new attitude being displayed by Manson. Howard’s dad tells him he can try to escape out the bathroom window on the back of the house. They’ll have to move quickly as the cops have promised to storm in and create a bloodbath after one of the cops finish counting to 100 marshmallows. The two head for the bathroom, but are surprised when Stan tries to join them. He wants to flee from his parents and Howard doesn’t really have time to discuss it so he tells him it’s fine if he wants to come along. Charlie, on the other hand, sees the error for what it is. He talks about his old family, the Manson Family, and how they weren’t really his family. He encourages Stan to go back to his family because they love him otherwise why would they drive nine hours to Nebraska? Stan is convinced and he thanks “Uncle Charlie” with a hug. Howard just implores him to move it, but Charlie informs him that he will not be running away this time.
Kenny survived the first Christmas episode, but not the second.
Charlie returns to the living room and apologizes to the Cartman family who are all still seated in front of the TV seemingly unbothered by all of this. Charlie tells them he intends to surrender and asks if anyone has a white flag they can wave. Outside, we see the cops as they’re nearly ready to march on the house, but the front door opens. A white flag appears and it’s being held by, you guessed it, Kenny. The lead cop (Stone) shouts out “He’s holding a white flag!” as they all take cover and open fire. Kenny is riddled with bullets prompting Charlie to remark, “They killed the little orange coat boy.” Kyle finishes it off with a “You bastards!”
Where did this kid between Kyle and Cartman come from? And where’s Elvin?
The house empties with everyone holding their hands up, even Howard who apparently decided not to try and flee. The cops approach and Charlie lets them know he’s surrendering. Howard too, though he doesn’t seem too happy about it. Charlie is then allowed a moment to explain what he’s learned, that the holidays are a time for happiness. This resonates with Kyle who decides to get over the whole Mr. Hankey thing while Stan seems to come to appreciate his family more, or something.
Looks like old Chuck found the spirit of Christmas.
Now it’s time for Charlie to sing a song. Remarking he feels like he’s in his own Christmas special, he breaks into an original. The chorus is basically “Happy Holidays,” and everyone joins in. He ends the song with “Happy Kwanzaa too, from me to you!” The cops arrest him, and Charlie understands he deserves it and that he belongs in prison. Grandma remarks it was nice to see Howard while his dad tells him to watch his ass in prison (you didn’t think we were getting out of here without a prison rape joke, did you?). Howard tells him he always does and then thanks Eric for all of his help. Cartman sarcastically thanks him for being a great role model. Randy announces they should forget about what Stan did and head home and Sharon agrees. Stan is pretty excited by this news until his dad says they’ll punish him after the holidays. Newscaster Robert Pooner (Parker) reports that everything appears to be all wrapped up here, and rather than insert another insensitive message from a sponsor (a running gag with the news broadcasts in this episode), simply offers up a “God bless us, everyone.”
Back to jail for you, Manson.
We cut to find Charlie back in prison surrounded by other prisoners. He’s reading from a book, one of his own he apparently finished writing, and reflecting on what he’s learned this holiday season. When he closes it we can see an actual picture of Charles Manson on the cover and the smiling face tattoo has been added to his forehead. When he asks the other inmates what they think one tells him it sucks just like all his other books. We get a quick glimpse of them on a shelf, one of them being “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Manson.” Charlie gets into bed and wishes the others a Happy Holidays, but they tell him to shut up. After the lights are out, there’s a commotion. Charlie turns the lights back on to see the entire Cartman clan, plus the boys, as they all cry out “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” You know what follows as they break into “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” with Eric Cartman sounding very loud and terrible. They sing until Stan turns to Kyle and finally acknowledges that, “Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here!” It’s a Christmas tradition!
Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!
That is how the episode ends. Parker and Stone decided to take real world mass murderer Charles Manson and insert him into his own Christmas special, just as the character recognized. He was obviously selected because of his name being similar to Charlie Brown and he was also still alive at the time of the episode’s creation. As the writers pointed out, it is a pretty fucked up premise and that’s the point. There isn’t a message here that anyone can be reformed or that Christmas has special healing powers for the soul, it’s just weird to see an actual murderer being the subject of a Christmas special. I think that’s why they had the TV announcer be so hostile towards Manson so that we, the audience, wouldn’t think Parker and Stone liked the guy or something.
Well, Charlie got to have a merry Christmas in the end. That’s good?
That’s the plot for basically the second half of the episode. The first chunk is the Cartman family. I can see the humor in imagining that Eric Cartman comes from a family where everyone talks and acts like him to some degree. He’s just even more selfish, but otherwise the same. I have no idea why Stand and Kyle wanted to go along with this and I can only assume Kenny did for the free food. It felt like the episode could have done more with the Cartmans. We don’t really know any of them, and the boys being trapped in the house could have been a plot all its own. Instead, we got the mall detour. I guess they wanted to make sure to include Mr. Hankey in some form and provide Kyle a distraction from all of the ridiculous stuff going on with Manson and Uncle Howard. The episode was clearly counting on indifference from the boys as being a driver for humor in this one. It works to a certain degree, but I’m kind of over it once it becomes clear they have no idea who Charles Manson is.
The resolution of the plot is basically pure Christmas cheese. There isn’t really a twist to it other than the main benefactor is real world villain, Charles Manson. There’s humor to be found there, but it’s basically all shock value. Once that wares off, the viewer is basically just watching a mediocre Christmas special come the final act. Albeit one that does kill an eight year old boy in a savage manner, but that’s every episode of South Park in this era.
The Cartman family is basically all just like Eric. They just want to eat salty snacks and watch TV and could not be bothered to care about anything else.
All that is to say that yes, this Season Two Christmas episode of South Park isn’t anything special. It’s mostly a one-trick pony and that trick doesn’t hold up on repeat viewings. It does feel like a real outlier among the other Christmas episodes and that’s partly due to the setting being so unique. I suppose it’s that uniqueness that keeps me from passing it over when I rewatch the South Park Christmas episodes every year. If you want to take it in, you may be able to catch it on cable this month or you could view it on Max. This episode is also on the complete second season DVD release as well as the Christmas Time in South Park DVD that’s probably close to 15 years old by now. One advantage of watching it on Max is that the bleeps have been removed while they were in place for the DVD releases.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Come 1996 the Nicktoons were an established brand. Launched in 1991, Nickelodeon had tremendous success with the likes of Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show and soon more shows followed. Nickelodeon seemed to be a bit stingy with their in-house shows when it came to renewals as when a network looks to renew a…
If the 70s were defined by Scooby Doo when it came to Hanna-Barbera, then the 80s belonged to The Smurfs. The little blue creations of Pierre Culliford, better known by his pen name Peyo, had an animated series that basically spanned the entirety of the 80s totaling an insane 258 episodes. And once the 80s…
Yesterday, I sung the praises of American Dad! for its ability to give me fresh, Christmas, content seemingly on an annual basis. I should also apply the same to Robot Chicken, for even though it goes about making people laugh in a completely different manner from a more traditional animated show, it does have a…
Last year, Prep & Landing was given the prestigious slot at The Christmas Spot of Christmas Day. I try to reserve a really good special for the big day each year and Prep & Landing is one of the best. In fact, I have declared it the 9th best Christmas special of all-time. That’s no faint praise and I suppose that means it’s a good thing that Disney wasn’t content to make Lanny and Wayne, the Christmas Elves, one and done. The original special debuted in 2009 and hot on the heels of that was the short Operation: Secret Santa.
The first instance of Prep & Landing was produced as a half hour television special. It’s sequel was not. Coming in at a tidy 7 minutes, Operation: Secret Santa is more like a theatrical short than a television special. I don’t know why they took this approach. The sequel that’s actually a half hour special arrived in 2011 in Naughty vs Nice. Did they fast-track the shorter one to have something ready for 2010? Maybe, but a seven minute short still takes a lot of work and given the short window in which all of them were released (not to mention the other short, Tiny’s Big Adventure, which is even shorter than this one by a lot) it stands to reason that development was taking place concurrently. This special doesn’t require a lot of backgrounds or new assets and maybe Disney just figured they could combine it with one of their many other shorts of a similar length to fill out a half hour of television. Regardless, it was only an issue for one year as once Naughty vs Nice arrived in 2011 there was a reliable hour of television content for ABC pushing Operation: Secret Santa to physical media and digital.
In the first Prep & Landing, we were introduced to Wayne (Dave Foley) and new his partner Lanny (Derek Richardson). The two elves are part of the prep and landing team which is tasked with getting a house ready for Santa’s visit. Wayne was in a rut and not really feeling the job after 227 years, but by the end of the night he and Lanny basically save Christmas for one kid and it restores his faith in his job. In this short, the stakes are lower and there’s no real internal conflict. Wayne and Lanny are going to be put to a different task, but one that takes advantage of their skills. And the job is coming from an unlikely source.
You didn’t forget about Magee, did you?
The short begins with an image of a cozy fireplace at night in a very scenic home which is just used to display the title card. There’s no big intro or anything since this is a short one, or a “Stocking Stuffer,” as it’s branding would indicate. We’re then shown an exterior shot of Santa’s work shop at the North Pole while some text over the screen informs us that it’s December 21st like this is some episode of 24 or something (it was 2010). We soon find our leads, Lanny and Wayne, as they’re walking in a shadowy hallway and discussing a meeting through whispers. Lanny seems especially on edge, but both jump when Magee (Sarah Chalke) emerges from the shadows. She tersely informs them of their tardiness and quickly gets to the point. She is merely the facilitator of this meeting as it’s not with her, but someone else. Someone in a big sleigh, with a red coat, and white gloves.
Everybody is really on edge to start this one.
Magee rings a little bell and the robed one returns with the same. As Wayne and Lanny begin the long walk to the chair, Magee lets Wayne know that if he doesn’t come back from this she’s claiming his snowmobile. This is some heavy stuff! The two elves approach nervously likely anticipating a face-to-face with the big boss, Santa Claus, but are surprised to see who their real contact is: Mrs. Claus. It would seem their trepidation was unwarranted, as Mrs. Claus (Betty White) quickly shows us that she’s a kind woman and not someone to be feared. She gives the boys some hot chocolate and goes into why she summoned them. She needs to call upon their special skills to retrieve an item for her, an item that’s being kept in Santa’s own personal office.
I don’t need a fancy cookie to tell me that guy is asleep.
What do you do when Mrs. Claus requests a job of you? You do it, of course! Wayne and Lanny take the intel Mrs. Claus relayed and head out for Santa’s office. She let them know that he takes a nap everyday just before 3 o’clock so that’s their chance, but he only takes a very short one so the window is tight. As the two approach the chimney to Santa’s office, Lanny is clearly unnerved and unsure about this one. Wayne gives him a pep talk, the old stuff your worries in a hat bit (I thought it was a sack?) and the two begin their descent down the very long chimney. They go via cable with their night vision goggles on. At the bottom, they find a roaring fire which they quickly extinguish. Wayne can see that Santa is asleep at his desk and the two enter. Even though the room is very well lit, they still keep their goggles on. We get some nice espionage music from Michael Giacchino and the sequence is very reminiscent of the first special right down to Wayne using his gingerbread man device to note the lack of stirring creatures. The two start sneaking around and Lanny looks up at the clock which show it’s currently 2:45. The minute hand then jumps five minutes and the coocoo function engages!
Well this took a dark turn.
Santa (W. Morgan Sheppard) jumps from his desk as alert as if he had never been sleeping. Immediately, Lanny and Wayne are discovered. He picks up a sheet of parchment which contains the worst punishment imaginable: The Naughty List. Their names are jotted down, they’ll be on it forever, and Wayne can only faint in response. Santa shoves a lump of coal in Lanny’s hands, then his pants fall down for added shame. We cut quickly to Lanny getting kicked out the door and into the snow where he’s forced to take shelter in an igloo. Freezing and clutching his knees, it would seem there’s nothing left for hm to do except wait for the icy hand of death to claim him. That’s right, Lanny is doomed. Or not, as he quickly snaps out of it and we find out he’s just having a minor panic attack at the base of Santa’s desk.
I love these ceramic trees. I actually have a Disney one in my house, but it kind of sucks.
Wayne grabs his own head and sends Lanny a signal to resume putting his worries in his hat. Lanny just responds he thinks his hat is leaking. They move on and synchronize their watches to Santa’s clock. They have five minutes to pull this off. Wayne takes out the “doohicky” Mrs. Claus gave them which creates a 3D projection of a ceramic Christmas tree. There’s audio as well from the old gal informing them this is to be found on a shelf nearby. The elves locate it, but they have to lock it in position to advance further. Wayne is unsure of what to do, but he remarks he was never very good at trimming the tree which seems like a little motivational bait for Lanny to take. It works, as Lanny realizes that since it’s a tree it should be oriented so that the most festive side is facing out. He spins the tree parts into place and a soft click indicates that what he did was a success.
With how on edge these two have been this whole time I’m starting to wonder if they’re expecting to uncover some weird secret Santa sex dungeon.
The tree lights up and on Santa’s desk, a button emerges. It’s red and glowing – what do you do with a red and glowing button? You press it! Wayne and Lanny climb up onto the desk and push the button. The desk rumbles and shakes and the two elves do their best to hide amongst the clutter in case Santa wakes up, but the look of concern on their face suggests they know they’re boned should that happen. The floor opens beneath the desk and the whole thing descends down into the basement, or rather, Santa’s secret work shop.
Instead it’s more like Santa’s junk storage.
All fear of getting caught seems to melt away at the sight of the work shop. Some lights automatically flicker on and we can see some of Santa’s other wardrobe such as robes of green and a longer red. We hear the voice recording of Mrs. Claus in the ears of the elves explain the nature of this work shop, how it’s basically just a place for Santa to basically tinker and get some alone time. She also gets to try out some material as she warns the pair to watch out for a giant nutcracker. Naturally, Lanny bumps into it and Wayne has to help him keep it from falling over. Mrs. Claus goes on to explain it used to be in their foyer and she’d bump into it a lot suggesting it should have been called a hip-cracker. Her joke doesn’t get a response from Lanny or Wayne, better luck next time Mrs. C.
A little gift exchange is in order.
Mrs. Claus directs the boys to a pile of what she describes as “manly clutter.” The target, a small, ornate, box, is indeed amongst such clutter. It’s on top of a bunch of more conventional boxes with several more on top of it. Getting it out without making a sound is going to be like playing a game of Jenga, but apparently these elves are pretty good at Jenga. The two elves play Batman and fire off their grapnel guns into the ceiling. Then, both dangling by their belts, Wayne informs Lanny they’ll be using the Gift Exchange maneuver. Lanny seems enthusiastic as Wayne basically gives him a slap on the behind to get him swinging. As Lanny swings towards the clutter, he grabs a gift from the top. Wayne then swings in and pulls out the target. Lanny quickly swings in behind him and slots the box he grabbed into the spot vacated by the target. Piece of cake.
I thought about doing a suspended train or monorail in my kid’s room when he was little. Yeah, didn’t happen, but I bet it would have looked cool!
Or not. Unfortunately for Lanny, the force of shoving the replacement box into place caused the whole pile to shift slightly backwards. It contacts a switch which activates a toy train, the track for which is suspended from the ceiling. It’s pretty cool actually, but as Wayne congratulates Lanny on a task well done he’s struck by the train and knocked onto the top of it. Lanny snaps out of his momentary high and out from his wrist springs his mini saw. Normally, this is used for trimming a tree to accommodate presents under it, but now it’s used to slice the cable holding him from the ceiling. Lanny drops onto the track and chases after Wayne. Meanwhile, Wayne comes to after some momentary grogginess to see that the box they’re after is stuck in front of the train and is getting pushed down the tracks. A bend is coming up which is right in front of Santa’s desk. Wayne runs across the top of the train and jumps, too late. The box falls and Wayne soars through the air after it. He catches up to it, but a lot of good that did as he’s currently on a path that will see him land in Santa’s beard.
Save him, Lanny! Save him!
Lucky for Wayne, he’s got Lanny! Lanny jumps off the track after him, grabs Wayne, and fires off another grapnel. The two swing out of harm’s way and Santa’s beard stirs ever so slightly due to the rush of wind as they pass over him. They’re not quite out of harm’s way though, as they have to swing back. Lanny lets go of Wayne and the cable and they both tumble onto Santa’s desk in a somewhat sloppy manner. He still doesn’t wake, but with only 15 seconds left on their timer Lanny requests permission to panic. Wayne grants him that as he presses the button, but the desk is moving way too slow for them to have any hope of getting out of there undetected.
Come on, Lanny, you’ve made it this far without a “leak,” you can do it!
The desk reaches the top floor, but there’s only five seconds for the elves to go back up the chimney. As they run, Lanny announces they’re out of time. Wayne has one final trick up his sleeve though: a snowflake shuriken! These guys are armed with saw blades and shurikens? Seems a bit extreme for a couple of Christmas elves, but I’ll allow it. Wayne tosses the snowflake at the clock striking the second hand and knocking it back another five seconds. He catches the shuriken as well so this guy is pretty damn talented. The two quickly flee up the chimney and drop their little fire sparkle on the logs causing it to burst into flames. The clock hits three, and a little figurine pops out to ring the quietest of bells. Santa jolts from his slumber seemingly refreshed by his cat nap and none the wiser about what took place in his secret work shop that afternoon.
If you were wondering (I really wasn’t, which is a bit strange), it’s a wooden wheel.
We cut quickly to Mrs. Claus opening the box the two elves retrieved as they look on. Inside is an old, worn, wooden, wheel. Mrs. Claus explains that this thing has been tucked away for ages, but she finally found the toy it goes to. We cut to December 25th, 09:00 hours, and a bunch of elves are watching Mrs. Claus give Santa his Christmas present. We can only see the elves while Santa and the Mrs. are shadows on the wall. Turns out, the toy is a little wooden duck. It was the first toy Santa built and he sounds pretty emotional upon receiving it from his wife. Lanny, with moist eyes, nudges Wayne and remarks, “Mission accomplished, partner.” Magee then leans in to say she really wanted that snowmobile as we iris out.
And the wooden wheel belongs to this duck. I’m guessing there really weren’t any stakes here, just Lanny and Wayne potentially blowing Mrs. Claus’ surprise for Santa.
Operation: Secret Santa is a fun little Christmas cartoon. The production values are on par with the longer special that came before it, it’s just a lot tidier. It’s also a cartoon willing to let us just enjoy the Wayne and Lanny pairing. There’s no drama there, they’re happy to be working together, and they have a somewhat unusual task to perform. It makes sense though and is an extension of the original Prep & Landing which shined a light on how the job of Santa and his elves is a bit like a spy movie. This just leans full into that by having the Christmas Elves essentially steal something, rather than help to deliver a present. And if you want to portray the elves as sneaky, little, thieves, they need an altruistic task.
These specials are committed to not showing us all of Santa, though we see quite a bit of him in this one. Mrs. Claus cannot be shown about the neck.
Enter Mrs. Claus and her wish to get something from her husband’s work shop without him knowing. We can poke holes in this, of course, like why didn’t she just do it herself when he’s out delivering presents? She is old so maybe she didn’t think she was physically capable of getting that box. And since she knew where the thing was, maybe it indicates that she’s tried. No matter, it’s a lot more fun to watch Lanny and Wayne swing and sneak about to accomplish the task. They get to demonstrate their skill for the camera and the fake out was pretty fun too. It all leads to a syrupy sweet ending, but an appropriate one. It’s not long enough for the viewer to get all that invested in the object the elves are after and the structure of the short also allows it to move very quickly. It’s faster than its 8 minute run time, but it works pretty well. It’s a shame we haven’t received more.
Lanny is overselling this one a bit, but it’s a fun little cartoon.
Operation: Secret Santa was a cute little short when it came out. Now, it’s a nice little palette cleanser if you’re watching all of the Prep & Landing specials in a single session. They’re a little weighty, dramatic, and there are some actual stakes in them. This one, by extension, is far more low stakes. There’s a bit of tension, but it becomes clear that nothing save for the clock can wake Santa. After the fake-out, it pretty much feels like clear sailing, and that’s okay. We don’t need every holiday special to put Christmas in crisis and it’s also nice that we get to just like and enjoy Wayne when the longer form specials are not so accommodating.
If you want to check out Operation: Secret Santa the easiest way to do so is via Disney+. The short has also been released on physical media a couple of times, once as part of a collection of other Disney shorts and also on the Prep & Landing Blu Ray which includes the rest. Disney+ has kind of made that release superfluous, but it is definitely worth buying if you want a physical back-up.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
I’ve been known to be a bit critical of Warner Bros. for not creating more Christmas shorts. The most notable one is Gift Wrapped starring Tweety while Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck basically had to wait until after the Golden Era to give Christmas a whirl. And those weren’t really that great. Low key, the…
It was around Labor Day of this year that Will Sloan (@WillSloanEsq) took to Twitter to uncover the origins of an image that had confounded his girlfriend and him for the past five years. It was actually a return plea as he had posted the same image 3 years prior. The image in question was…
It was just last year that we finally broke the seal on American Dad!. It surprised me how long I was able to avoid American Dad! year in and year out since it has a wealth of Christmas episodes at its disposal. Last year, the featured Christmas episode was the very first one the show…
I told you we would probably take a look at the other Christmas episode from The Cuphead Show!, though maybe you expected a buffer. I considered it, but why not pair them up just like the creators and Netflix already did? This second Christmas episode comes right after the first. Titled “A Very Devil Christmas,” it feels more like a typical Christmas special from an animated series. It’s extra long, has a different approach to the production of the episode, and tells a story that takes place on Christmas Eve involving devils, elves, and Santa.
Wait? Devils?! Yes, this one, as you could have probably guessed based on the title, stars The Devil himself. The Devil is the main villain for the video game and show and he gets to star in his own stand-alone episode for Christmas. It’s rather unconventional for a show to make the star of its Christmas episode Satan himself, but The Cuphead Show! isn’t always typical so why should its Christmas episode be? Plus, we got the one starring Cuphead and Mugman out of the way already opening the door for The Devil to take center stage.
Ready for some wholesome Christmas entertainment starring The Devil?!
And it’s a great move. The Devil, played by Luke Millington-Drake, is a fantastic character. The portrayal here reminds me of one part Futurama‘s Robot Devil and one part Family Guy‘s Stewie Griffin. Millington-Drake and Dan Castellaneta (who plays the Robot Devil) almost seem to be using the same affectation for their respective characters. It’s fun. It gives The Devil this somewhat stuck-up persona, but also with a certain element of childishness as well. He’s a brat and that makes sense for a cartoon devil who is unlikely to be shown flaying the flesh from the bones of the damned. And in this episode he is going to be very childish indeed. The Devil is going to set his sights on a toy choo choo. He wants it for Christmas, but he has some issues with The Naughty List he will need to address if he hopes to receive such a gift. It’s pretty much a true solo outing as well as Mugman will not be featured at all and there’s just a brief instance of Cuphead. This is The Devil’s Christmas and he is going to soak up the spotlight.
Just a taste of what The Devil has to offer.
The episode begins with an original composition. It’s a rather idyllic piece of holiday scenery of people (well, what passes for people in this universe) walking through a downtown area. The snow is falling, people seem happy, and there’s lots of winter activities taking place. And there’s also The Devil. He’s dressed for the cold with a festive scarf, though aside from that he’s completely naked. He’s at the park leaning on a large tree and observing the goings on. With a wistful smile he lets out a contented sigh and taps the ice on a nearby pond with the tip of his trident. It creates a crack which runs through the ice to a group of individuals ice skating in a circle holding hands. The crack spreads around them and the ice gives way plunging them into the cold, cold, water.
He’s a real showman.
The Devil lets out a giggle and breaks into a song titled “Brings Out the Devil in Me.” And it’s a song all about how Christmas brings out the best in people, but it brings out the worst in him, which is why he loves it! As he sings, it’s treated sort of like a montage of chaos The Devil spreads about town. Some of the stuff is harmless pranks, like photo-bombing a family portrait, while other stuff may actually cause fatalities. His final act, and the big finale of the sequence, is he winds up a little toy soldier that waddles into traffic, pops the tire of a car that strikes it, which causes that car to crash into the giant town Christmas tree setting it ablaze. The Devil gets to preen in the streets while the fire department races to put it out.
The Devil and Sammy Sandwich agree: being nice sucks an egg!
The delightful toot of a toy train snaps The Devil out of his moment of joy. It’s coming from a nearby store window and he races over to it, shoves the little brats who were standing there first out of the way, and presses his face to the glass to take it in. It’s a modest little train, an engine and two cars, but it’s self-propelled and quite charming. The Devil simply adores it, but his concentration is broken by the cries of another child. This boy, Sammy Sandwich (Dave Wasson), is a literal sandwich and he’s begging his mother for a train, but he mostly just wants a spaceship for Christmas. His mom (April Winchell), a submarine sandwich, seems irritated at the requests of her son and we get to hear about how Sammy didn’t get anything last year. He was on The Naughty List, the mere mention of such perplexes The Devil, for gluing his sister’s face to the floor. Sammy pleads that he’s been nice this year so he should get something, but the conversation is over. The Devil, who was rather happy with how awful this child sounded, quietly asks him as his mother is leading him away about this whole Naughty and Nice List business. The kid gives him a quick rundown, letting him know that he detests having to be nice, leaving The Devil with something to think about.
Henchman is right to be afraid.
In Hell, The Devil’s minions are all seated at a long table debating something or other. Henchman sits near the head of the table and there’s also the character of Stickler (Andrew Morgado), a blue-skinned demon with a nasally voice who exists just to remind The Devil about things he doesn’t want to hear about. Stickler is in the midst of complaining about someone always eating his lunch out of the community refrigerator, but none of the little imps are coming clean. Henchman (Dave Wasson), who is a round, purple, imp much larger than the rest, remarks that despite living in a fiery Hell hole, they should all exhibit good manners. The debate is ended by the arrival of The Devil who takes his position at the head of the table. He asks of his minions what it would take to get someone like him onto Santa’s Nice List. Everyone goes quiet and most adopt an expression of fear. The imp beside Henchman tries to quietly ask how their boss even came to know about the list, but before Henchman can answer The Devil nukes the little imp to oblivion. The Devil then asks Henchman to explain why he withheld such information from his boss. He has to carefully tell him that he didn’t think it was his kind of list on account of him being evil and all. The Devil takes offense and when he asks in return if he’s saying that he can’t be evil and on The Nice List at the same time Henchman just remarks, “Well, yeah.” The Devil just puffs out his chest and turns away from the table seemingly intending to prove them all wrong. And since it is Christmas Eve, there is only one person who can get him onto The Nice List at this hour.
Oh! I’ve seen this before!
The Devil taps his trident on the floor and disappears in a puff of purple smoke. The scene shifts to an exterior shot of Santa’s Workshop at The North Pole. It’s done with a physical model, but there are elves (voiced by Wasson, Grey Delisle, and Cosmo Segurson) animated over it as they ride atop reindeer or walk to the shop itself. It’s also clearly an homage to the Silly Symphonies short Santa’s Workshop as it’s staged almost exactly the same way as the first shot in that classic short. The elves even appear to be modeled after the same from it. The elves are all singing (an original composition titled “The Elf Song”) and working with cheer to make Christmas happen until Santa (Fred Tatsciore) enters. He also resembles the Santa from that short and he’s an appropriately jolly fellow. He encourages his minions to keep up the good work before disappearing into his office.
Even The Devil gets a thrill out of sitting on Santa’s lap.
Once there, Santa finds himself face to face with The Devil himself! Seated at the big man’s desk, The Devil addresses him as Nicholas and lets him know that he’s here to put in a request for Christmas. Santa seems to have no idea who he is and even remarks that he’s a hairy boy. Santa, being the good-natured sort that he is, invites The Devil to whisper in his ear what he wants for Christmas. The Devil is surprised, but also a little disappointed and asks him, “Aren’t you going to…you know?” as he gestures towards the ground. Santa realizes what he wants and pulls up a stool so that The Devil can sit on his lap and whisper to him properly what he wants for Christmas. He does so and Santa thinks he says “Too too,” but The Devil corrects him that he wants a choo choo. Santa laughs and tells him it won’t be a problem, but he just has to do one thing first: consult The List!
For The Devil, this is like that feeling you would get when handing over a bad report card to an unsuspecting parent.
Santa looks over his Nice List while The Devil stands off to the side looking rather anxious. Santa seems almost embarrassed that he can’t find his name and asks him to confirm it. The Devil tells him it’s “Devil,” which Santa assumes to be a surname. When he can’t find that he asks to know his first name which he responds is “The.” Makes sense. Santa still can’t locate it, and there’s a good reason for that obviously. He then opens up The Naughty List and practically jumps out of his suit. Not only is The Devil present there, it’s number one! He’s been number one on that list since time began! This won’t do and Santa has to firmly tell The Devil he won’t be getting that too too, I mean, choo choo for Christmas. The Devil, feeling sad, sinks into Santa’s chair as a sad violin plays. Santa can’t bare to see another being in distress, even if he is The Devil, and makes him an offer: if The Devil can be nice until midnight, he’ll give him his too too. Choo choo.
The man has a drinking problem. Don’t meet your heroes, kids.
The Devil enthusiastically agrees to Santa’s proposal and heartily shakes his hand. He vows to be nice and prove to Santa that he’s worthy of that choo choo. With another puff of smoke, he vanishes back to town with confidence and bravado. Almost immediately, a little old mouse woman (Winchell) asks him if he can spare some change. The Devil recoils with an “Ew!” and blasts the little, old, women with his trident murdering her on the spot. We smash cut to an angry Santa demanding to know what happened from behind his desk. The Devil can only offer that he was off to a good start, which Santa points out was about ten seconds. He stands and grumpily remarks that he needs a drink. He walks over to a globe and it opens up revealing what you probably expected: cookies and milk. He pours himself a glass and tells The Devil that he’s likely to remain on The Naughty List forever. The Devil erupts with anger at this suggestion complete with a wall of flame behind him. Santa just shakes his head with a “tisk tisk” and adds “Threatening Santa,” to the list of naughty behavior exhibited by The Devil. At that point the horned one collapses at Santa’s feet. Groveling over his too too (Santa has to correct him this time), he begs him to give him another chance. Santa tells him there is one other way onto The Nice List, but it comes at a cost. The Devil is willing to do anything.
Nothing bad will come of this.
We cut to outside the work shop, but we can hear chanting from within. Inside, the elves are all dressed in robes like druids as they prepare an ancient ritual. A circle has been created on the floor of the darkened workshop fashioned out of peppermint sticks. One of the elves then leads The Devil into the circle, smiles at him, and departs. They all toss back their hoods to reveal lit candles and Santa enters, in a hooded, red, robe, and begins a new chant. Up until this point, they have just been chanting “Fa la la la” in a monotone fashion. Now it sounds more like Latin which the subtitles say is “Decatus, seasonem, holly jolly om.” Google says that simply translates to decadence season. Santa stops chanting and his eyes glow a light blue. He blows some sparkly dust at The Devil which blots out all of the candles. When the dust dissipates, the light returns and the elves return to their traditional song as they filter away with Santa seemingly gone. The Devil is left standing in the circle, confused, left to remark “What the heck was that?!”
Could it be another Disney homage?
The Devil returns to his throne room in Hell left to feel the whole trip north was a waste of time. As he looks at his nails, his hand begins to swell. It looks like a surgical gloves that’s been inflated and soon his other hand does the same. The Devil is quite alarmed and even appears to be in some pain as he drops to the floor. There’s a cut which just shows The Devil’s shadow on the wall as he writhes and contorts. He ends up at a vanity, clutching it as his cheeks enlarge, a white beard sprouts from his chin, and his flesh rips apart to make room for a big, red, coat. When the transformation is complete, The Devil can only look at himself, the now spitting image of Santa Claus, and exclaim “Ho ho ohh no!”
Why Mr. Devil, that is a very different look for you!
The Devil is left to stare at his new visage in the mirror in horror. His only thought is to get back to The North Pole and make Santa fix this. Before he can get his pitchfork though, some imps pass by still complaining about stolen lunches. The Devil, understandably not wanting anyone to see him, has to duck for cover. He sneaks his way into the throne room, but before he can get his pitchfork, Henchman enters with the vacuum. The Devil tries to duck for cover behind the throne, but he’s spotted. Initially, Henchman thinks he’s in the presence of the real Santa, but once he gets a closer look at this Santa he realizes it’s actually The Devil. And, once again, his first inclination is wrong as he thinks his boss has been Santa this whole time, but The Devil has to correct him and explain the situation. When Henchman asks (what we’re likely all wondering) why The Devil doesn’t just create a choo choo with his magic, The Devil angrily corrects him that creating an object for himself is not the same as receiving it as a present. That’s basically what this is all about: The Devil, having never been the recipient of a gift, wants one for Christmas.
The big guy you were expecting?
The Devil is forced to return to The North Pole and he takes a very excited Henchman along with him. When they get there, they find the elves are loading the sleigh and singing their working song once again. Upon seeing Devil Santa, they all exclaim with glee “Santa!” and move in for a hug or something. The Devil is grossed out and starts pushing them away with the handle of his pitchfork, so at least he’s not stabbing anyone. He tells them that he’s not Santa, he’s looking for Santa, but he’s soon interrupted by a loud and drawn out, “Ehmmm!”
Does every immortal being have a Stickler among their underlings?
It’s Stickler, only it’s not Sitckler, but an elf that looks, talks, and behaves exactly like the Stickler we know from Hell. This one steps forward to inform The Devil that he is, in fact, now Santa Claus which means he needs to undertake all of Santa’s Christmas Eve responsibilities. The Devil has no interest in doing that, but Stickler tells him that he must. In fact, if he does not deliver all of the presents to children on The Nice List by midnight he’ll not only never be on The Nice List himself, but be stuck as Santa Claus for all eternity. When he says that, the camera zooms in on The Devil’s face while the word “eternity” echoes in his brain. Only, it’s not an echo, as when the closeup ends we see Stickler is just repeating the word over and over for dramatic effect until The Devil barks at him to knock it off.
He’s just here to help.
Unbothered, Stickler resumes informing The Devil of the other conditions he must satisfy this evening. There’s a list of rules and rule number one is reciting the reindeer roll call. The Devil has no idea what that is, but Henchman is happily willing to inform him of the proper roll call and receives applause from the elves upon finishing it. Rule number two is that Santa must remain jolly at all times and must never lose his temper. As Stickler informs The Devil of this, he’s wagging his finger at him which causes The Devil to explode with rage. He blasts Stickler into nothingness with his pitchfork, realizes that it was a bad idea, then simply undoes it by tapping the end of the pitchfork on the ground. Once returned to the world of the living, Stickler simply moves on to rule number 3 which is that every kid on The Nice List must receive their present. The Devil reluctantly accepts this with a “How many kids can their possibly be on The Nice List?” Stickler lets the list unfold in response. It rolls across the floor, out onto the balcony, off the balcony, and then over all of the hills in the background. The Devil just explodes in fiery rage again declaring that he will burn someone, but Henchman douses his flames with a bucket of water. A soggy Devil sullenly thanks him for the reminder about remaining jolly.
That’s gonna be a problem…
We’re not done, as there is a rule number four which is that Santa must consume all cookies and milk left out for him. Henchman cheekily replies that it shouldn’t be a problem and shakes The Devil’s belly like a bowl full of jelly prompting him to inform him “Do. Not. Touch!” Henchman recoils in fear while Stickler takes The Devil by the hand to tell him the final rule: all presents must be delivered by midnight. The Devil dismisses the hand of Stickler and continues onto the sleigh to the roar of applause from the elves. The Devil arrogantly informs Stickler it won’t be a problem, but once out of sight he confesses to Henchman that he can’t possibly fulfill all of these tasks and that he fears being stuck like this forever! Henchman reassures him that everything will be fine and encourages his boss to go out and deliver those presents. Unfortunately for The Devil, he doesn’t even know the solution to the first rule. Instead of calling out the reindeer by name, he simply demands that they fly in a threatening manner. The reindeer, in a way, do as they’re told, but not before first detaching from the sleigh. With the reindeer gone, all hope appears to be lost, but The Devil has one friend he can turn to.
He’s no Rudolph, but Henchman gets the job done.
This is now a one-imp open sleigh as Henchman giddily takes the place of the reindeer to pull the sleigh through the sky. I guess it’s not a big deal that he couldn’t get rule number one down since Stickler said nothing. Henchman giddily leads The Devil to his first house. He approaches the chimney and deposits the presents down it without much care prompting Henchman to remind him to be more gentle. He takes the suggestion in stride before trying to squeeze down the chimney itself. It doesn’t go well so Henchman reminds him to use his pitchfork. The Devil does and materializes by the Christmas tree inside. There he drops the soot-covered gifts under the tree and then turns to the milk and cookies. He devours them with glee before returning to the sleigh feeling rather triumphant and orders Henchman to take him to the next house.
So many moon shots!
Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak” ushers in a montage of The Devil delivering gifts to the many houses on his list. Things do not go as well as the first house. He falls off a roof and gets tangled in Christmas lights causing himself to get electrocuted at one house. At another he gets mauled by dogs while another features a whole litter of kittens expecting gifts. They have all left out their own plate of milk and cookies which The Devil is now far less enthusiastic about consuming. We then go into a sequence of quicker shots. The sleigh flies past the moon in one direction, we get a little scene, then it flies past going in the other direction. There may be a record number of moon shots in this one. All the while there’s The Devil continuing to eat cookies and it’s clearly getting harder and harder to eat any more. During this, we do get a couple of cameos. A gift is delivered to the corpse of Telephone (Wasson) who had his soul taken from him by The Devil in, I believe, the very first episode. The gift is his soul and he springs back to life in triumph upon receiving it. We also see Sammy Sandwich who gets his spaceship. His sister, who is still glued to the floor, gets some glue dissolver.
I know what The Devil is getting for Christmas: Diabetes.
When the montage is over, The Devil is left groaning on the sleigh covered in crumbs and his belly massive and overstuffed. Henchman is there to offer encouragement as they’re nearly done. He’s looking forward to the part where The Devil gets to call out “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night,” upon completion of their work, but The Devil insists that he won’t be saying that. He then asks how many houses are left? Henchman consults the list and is happy to inform his boss that only one remains. His smile is soon replaced by a grave expression, but whatever is bothering him he doesn’t relay to his boss.
The last house on the list belongs to him!
The Devil soon realizes why his henchman may have been wary about this last stop and that’s because he can see it through the clouds: the home of Cuphead and Mugman. This immediately causes the flames to rise once more prompting Henchman to remind him of his jolly requirement. They land on the roof of the massive kettle and Henchman immediately starts trying to pump his boss up. He reminds him that he’s Santa and that every kid on The Nice List deserves a present, even Cuph—. The Devil cuts him off before he can finish that sentence remarking that if he even hears the name of Cuphead he’s going to throw up.
And to add further insult to injury, The Devil has to give Cuphead the thing he wants most!
The Devil disappears in a puff of smoke and reappears in the living room of Cuphead and Mugman. If you watched the previous episode, or read yesterday’s entry here, then you’re not wondering why Cuphead’s tree looks the way that it does all burnt to a crisp. The Devil hates that he’s here and wants nothing to do with this final house. He really wants nothing to do with it when he finds out that the gift he’s supposed to leave for Cuphead is the very same train that he himself wants! The Devil almost can’t bring himself to do it. He contemplates simply stealing the train for himself. Yeah, that will teach Cuphead a lesson and shouldn’t naughty children be taught lessons? Even hard ones like not getting what you want at Christmas?
Just take it!
The Devil’s contemplations are interrupted by a sound like the coo of a dove. It’s little Cuphead (Tru Valentino)! All dressed in his cute red pajamas wondering what Santa brought him. The Devil tries to play it cool, but he’s clearly uncomfortable. Cuphead remarks that he wasn’t sure if Santa was coming and then adds he hasn’t always been nice this year. When he says it’s hard to be nice all of the time and is looking for reassurance on the subject, The Devil practically breaks down with a “You have no idea!” and stuffs his face with milk and cookies in response. Cuphead then adds that even if he wasn’t good enough to get a present this year, just meeting Santa has made this the best Christmas ever. The Devil is flattered, and sort of ashamed, and he finally agrees to give Cuphead his present. He can’t bare to look at him though as he dangles the train out with his back turned. Cuphead has to pull rather firmly, and thank Santa more than once, before he can finally pry it loose. He’s pretty much overjoyed though and The Devil will have to live with the knowledge that he contributed to his mortal enemy’s best Christmas ever. As he hears the train give out a toot, it’s almost enough to make The Devil take it back, but instead he sadly walks over to his pitchfork to prepare to leave, but before he can, Cuphead has one final message: Merry Christmas, Santa. He sighs in return, and replies with the same, before vanishing.
Did all this niceness pay off?!
On the roof, Santa Devil looks dreadful. Henchman carefully asks how it went in there and The Devil only sighs in return. He’s practically doubled over by the sleigh when he confesses how awful it felt to do something nice. The realization then sets in – The Devil did something nice! Henchman pulls open the list and goes to the bottom. The two stare for a moment, but when nothing happens a sadness overtakes them. Then the list glows! Magically, the name The Devil appears at the bottom in big, bold, cursive, letters! The two clasp hands and jump up and down with glee as Henchman cries out “You did it!” The Devil announces that it’s time to return to The North Pole – there’s a choo choo with his name on it just waiting for him there!
Well, look whose back.
The two return to the work shop and are greeted by a mass of cheering elves. Even Stickler Elf is seen clapping, though his facial expression never changes. The Devil drinks it all up and even receives a compliment from Stickler Elf. He begins to boast about how when he sets his mind to something he can do anything, and as he does Henchman notices a change taking place. He calls out attention to the swirling, blue, mist gathering about The Devil which encircles him like a Christmas tree. When the dust tree pops, The Devil is himself again! The mist then swirls a short distance away and soon materializes Santa Claus looking just as he did before the weird ritual from earlier.
Time for the fat man to pay up!
At the sight of the real Santa, Henchman looks like he’s about to burst. He keeps his cool though as Santa congratulates The Devil on a job well done. He even declares it a Christmas miracle that he was able to deliver all of the presents in time. Now, it’s time to collect as The Devil informs Santa he’s ready for that choo choo now as he rubs his hands together. Santa laughs and says he’s receiving something that’s better than a choo choo. The Devil falls for this and his eyes swell at the thought of something better than a choo choo only for Santa to inform him that his gift this year is the joy of being nice!
The Devil may be pissed, but I think Henchman just had the time of his life.
As you can imagine, this does not go over well with The Devil. Not at all. He does his exploding fire thing as he declares the idea stupid. He points to Santa and his elves and calls them all stupid before announcing to Henchman that they are leaving. As he drags Henchman away, the imp waves happily shouting “Bye Santa!” The two disappear in a puff of smoke to return to Hell. Honestly, I think The Devil took that better than any of us expected. Santa, on the other hand, looks hurt as he turns to Sitckler Elf and shrugs. The elf returns the shrug and we fade to black.
Oh to be miserable on Christmas, is there no worse a fate?
The blackness is interrupted by the opening of a refrigerator. The camera is placed inside the fridge and we see The Devil’s sullen face staring in. There’s a bag marked “Stickler” and The Devil pulls a sandwich out of it answering the question of who has been stealing everyone’s lunch. He begins consuming the sandwich as he slinks over to his throne and drops into it. He puts his head in his hand and bemoans his plight, how even when he does what he’s supposed to he still doesn’t get what he wants. Oh woe, is The Devil!
The Devil gets his happy ending after all!
A tooting of a train horn breaks the sound of sad music. The Devil’s head pops up to behold a toy train right there in his throne room! It’s not the train he wanted, it’s even better! It’s a larger train, a ride-on, and it has four cars instead of two! The Devil is overjoyed and magics up an engineer’s uniform and hops into the center of the circular track declaring that this train makes an even better noise than the one he wanted! He jumps on the first car and rides around the track in triumph. The camera zooms out and we can see behind the throne. Henchman is there, covered in soot with a bunch of tools and some instructions strewn about. He has a look of happiness on his face as it’s clear he’s the one who got the train for The Devil. He says “Merry Christmas, boss,” as this one fades to black.
Such a sweet little demon.
And that is how The Devil had a merry Christmas! It’s such a farcical concept on its face: Satan wants a choo choo for Christmas and is willing to help Santa in order to get onto The Nice List. I suppose some would find that immediately distasteful – Satan, and Santa?! The character of The Devil is so charming and funny that we forget about how insane a premise this is almost immediately. Even his outbursts are played for laughs, though he definitely murders some folks in this one (that poor, little, old mouse) for no real reason other than he’s just a bad guy. I suppose if you want to find a moral in this one, it’s that Christmas can bring out the best in anyone. Even The Devil.
The animation is top notch even if it’s not hand drawn. I love the many expressions we see from The Devil and Henchman throughout their night. The town looks lovely with this Christmas coating upon it, almost Rockwell-esq. The music sprinkles in some public domain stuff, mostly from The Nutcracker, but also makes liberal use of its own original compositions. Composed by Dave Wasson and Ego Plum, the two originals are unmistakably Christmas tunes even if they don’t directly adapt a more well known song. The cartoon is also not long enough for us to get sick of them and aside from their first instance in the show, they’re mostly confined to instrumentals. I love the homage to Santa’s Workshop and I was repeatedly dazzled by the many, many, moon shots in this one.
The Devil does get a happy ending, but on the way he was made to suffer. Perhaps nothing was more painful than making his most detested foe happy on Christmas.
And it’s funny! This is one of the funniest and most entertaining Christmas specials I’ve had the pleasure of watching. It’s not even reliant on the viewer being familiar with The Cuphead Show! as pretty much everyone knows who The Devil is. It certainly helps to be familiar with it when the scene does shift to take place in the home of Cuphead, but knowing who he is and why the tree looks as it does only adds a little to the scene. For newcomers, they can easily understand that ordinarily The Devil and Cuphead are at odds with each other and that’s pretty much all you need to know. The cartoon does have to cheat a little in that scene for every gift we saw up to that point was fully wrapped. For Cuphead’s house, they’re all unwrapped so that The Devil can see that Cuphead is getting the toy he covets himself. They could have just had it fall out of a box or something, but I’m not bothered by it. It’s basically one of the few nits I can pick with this one, and I had to hunt for it.
If you can’t tell, I really like this Christmas special from The Cuphead Show! It is high on my list of modern Christmas specials alongside Prep & Landing, Duck the Halls, and the DuckTales Christmas episode “Last Christmas!” Coincidentally, all of those are Disney creations and this cartoon, while not made by Disney, references a classic Disney short within it. If you have never seen this one I recommend you check it out regardless of whether or not you’re familiar with Cuphead or The Cuphead Show! It’s streaming on Netflix, which is full of other Christmas episodes and specials from other properties, so it’s not a bad one month sub for Christmas season if you ordinarily are not a subscriber. I plan to watch this one again before the holiday arrives – toot toot!
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
When two billion dollar organizations butt heads, it can be hard to know who to root for. Take Disney, somewhat of an “evil” overlord when it comes to content, which seemingly owns everything these days and likes to throw its weight around when it comes to copyright claims. And then there’s Fox, owned by the…
In 1964, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass unleashed a Christmas Classic upon the world in the form of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The special basically put the company on the map and put it on the path to holiday domination for decades to come. Despite that, few of the specials that followed Rudolph truly hit…
Not every Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies star had to be inherently funny. Sure, most of them were and that’s often what many cartoon enthusiasts will point to the Warner catalog of cartoons as having over Disney, but it wasn’t some hard and fast rule. That’s why when a guy by the name of Chuck…
What’s next for a video game that looks like a cartoon? Why, a cartoon! Novel concept, huh? Cuphead is a 2017 video game created by Jared and Chad Moldenhauer heavily inspired by animation from the 1930s. It’s basically a hand drawn video game and a fully playable one, at that. It made waves when it was first unveiled and seemed to instantly become one of the most anticipated video games in recent memory. It attracted so much attention (and additional funding) that the Moldenhauers and Studio MDHR decided to expand upon the game from its original boss rush premise to something closer to a full-fledged platforming experience with the addition of run n’ gun levels. Upon release it received quite a great deal of praise for its animation and a lot of notoriety for its punishing difficulty. The game has since been released across several platforms and also received a downloadable add-on, Delicious Last Course, which also received a physical release alongside the main game.
Once Cuphead was a bonafide success, it was basically a no-brainer to commission an animated series. Netflix, along with King Features Syndicate, did just that with The Cuphead Show! releasing in 2022 on the streaming platform. It has since released three “seasons” totaling 36 episodes, though in typical Netflix fashion, all of the seasons were part of the same initial episode order. We’re now two years removed from the finale airing without word of another batch of episodes being ordered so I guess that’s all she wrote, but with a streaming show it’s not uncommon for years to lapse in between seasons.
Brothers Cuphead (center left) and Mugman (center right) spend most of their time getting into and out of trouble.
The show is about Cuphead (Tru Valentino) and brother Mugman (Frank Todaro), two rubber-hosed miscreants with cups for heads who get into mischief all throughout Inkwell Isles where they live. Early on, they get on the bad side of the Devil himself with Cuphead losing a game in which the cost was his very soul, so the boys have to spend a great deal of time (and episodes) avoiding the Devil at all costs. The show is animated with modern technology, the puppet-like stuff utilized by most, despite the video game being hand drawn. Despite that, it does a reasonable job of approximating the look of a hand drawn cartoon and is one of the best looking animated shows on Netflix (or pretty much any streamer, for that matter). Like the game, there are filters applied and some desaturation techniques to make the show look aged while the soundtrack (provided by Ego Plum) is appropriately jazzy. There is a throughline to the show involving the plot surrounding Cuphead’s deal with the Devil and the ghostly Chalice (Grey DeLisle) character, but for the most part episodes can be consumed in a stand-alone fashion. This helps to make The Cuphead Show! feel almost like a relic in this age of serialized story-telling, even in kids shows.
As part of the third batch of episodes, we received not one, but two Christmas episodes. This one, “Holiday Tree-dition” is the first of those two and the shorter of the two. Most of the episodes are half episodes while some are stretched out to a half hour or longer. It’s quite common for cartoons with that type of setup to devote two segments to Christmas, but with this episode we’re looking at a pretty typical running time for the show. The other one starring the Devil gets the double-length treatment.
The home of Cuphead, Mugman, and Elder Kettle is done using real assets like a stop-motion production.
The show begins with the standard intro. When I first booted this program up with my kids, I was surprised the show didn’t just use the theme from the video game, but after hearing this new intro I could see why. This one pops. It’s jazzy, bouncy, and fun and one of those intros that is rarely skipped in my house. The episode is introduced with its own lovely title card before we’re shown the outside of Elder Kettle’s home where Cupman and Mugman reside. The opening shot is done with real assets. They’re models and I assume this is an homage to what the Fleischer Studios used to do back in the day where they’d have a live-action setting and animate over it.
They’re all bundled up to go get a Christmas tree!
Inside the giant teapot we find Elder Kettle (Joe Hanna) in his cozy confines welcoming us with a jaunty Christams tune! Mugman and Cuphead are going to join in on the fun as the trio sings an original diddy about Christmas trees. It would seem getting the tree each year is a big deal in this house and as the trio sing they put on cold weather clothing, Elder Kettle grabs an axe, and they head out the door to go get their tree. I feel inclined to point out now that the inhabitants of Inkwell Isle are a mix of anthropomorphized animals and objects. Cuphead and Mugman are somewhat unique in that they have human bodies, albeit toony ones, with a cup for a head that’s filled with what looks to be milk. Elder Kettle, is just a giant kettle with rubber hose arms and legs. I don’t know if his relationship with the boys is ever explained. He’s a fatherly figure, though more grandfatherly I suppose, but I don’t know if there’s a mother in the equation here.
I fear for what will happen to these two if they don’t come back with five bucks and a tree.
Anyway, as the trio marches off to get a tree, Elder Kettle starts to drift back out of scene. Cuphead and Mugman soon notice he’s gone, and when they turn around they see him going back into the house. They run over and bang on the door and Elder Kettle answers. It would seem he’s decided that he no longer wants to be held responsible for the Christmas tree. He’s retiring, so to speak, and entrusts the boys with the task. Now, even though he was seen carrying an axe moments ago, Elder Kettle is not going to entrust the boys with actually cutting down a tree. Instead, he gives them a ten dollar bill and instructs them to go to Porkrind’s and buy one. Porkrind is going to ask for ten, but Elder Kettle instructs his boys to only offer five bucks. He seems to suggest that they’ll enjoy having some change leftover, but then also tells them in no uncertain terms that they are to come home with change so I guess he didn’t intend for them to do anything with it.
I’m starting to think that Elder Kettle stayed home because he wants nothing to do with trying to negotiate with Porkrind.
Cuphead and Mugman then head to Porkrind’s as instructed. There we see Porkrind (Cosmo Segurson) overseeing his tree lot and reenforcing that all of the trees cost ten bucks. Porkrind, if you could not guess it for yourself, is a big pig-man with an eyepatch. I guess you would not have assumed the eyepatch part, but probably the pig part. Everyone at the lot seems fine with the price, but that’s not going to stop Mugman from attempting to haggle. Cuphead stands behind him as both a supportive voice and to play “the kid” in the relationship while Mugman is like the bartering father. He suggests to Porkrind that five dollars would be a fair price for a tree and to add to the verbal suggestion he holds up five fingers. Since Mugman is a cartoon character, he only possesses four digits on each hand so he has to use two hands to do so. Plus, since he’s wearing mittens, his fingers have to rip through the mittens for added emphasis. Porkrind seems unwilling to haggle though and tells Mugman the price was ten bucks last year, it’s ten bucks this year, and he’s even willing to say they’ll be ten bucks next year. That doesn’t stop Mugman from trying as he does the typical bad barterer maneuver of just going up a dollar on his offer hoping Porkrind is willing to give a little. He does not. Actually, he ups the price to fifteen. Mugman can’t believe it, and then some little light bulb guy (Keith Ferguson) accepts the fifteen dollar offer. Mugman tries to negotiate back to ten, but there’s a problem: Porkrind is all out of trees.
We’re only a few minutes into the cartoon and Christmas is already ruined!
With no tree, but still ten bucks in their pocket, the boys decide there is only one maneuver left: cry. They throw a fit as Porkrind heads into his trailer fearing their Christmas is ruined, only for the pig-man to pop back out. No, he’s not feeling sympathetic for them or anything, instead he just suggests they cut down their own tree. Naturally, to do so they’ll need an axe. I guess going back to the house for the one Elder Kettle had is out of the question, so instead they opt to buy one from Porkrind. The price? Ten bucks!
Cuphead should not allowed to handle sharp objects.
Even though the boys managed to spend all of Elder Kettle’s money, when they were only supposed to spend five, and also still lack a tree, they seem rather happy as they march off into the woods. Cuphead is even swinging the axe around irresponsibly, but Mugman is apparently used to such as he manages to duck every swing and still keep a smile on his face. As they stroll though the woods, they walk by various trees which Mugman dismisses for pretty obvious reasons since they’re all pretty ugly. One tree which has the idyllic Christmas tree shape is dismissed as being too desperate because it was also juggling snow balls. The boys begin to feel like they’ll never find a good tree, which of course occurs just as they’re walking by a perfectly good tree.
Behold! The perfect tree!
With the tree found the only thing left to do is cut it down. This presents a problem because, like brothers often do, the two boys fight over who gets to actually wield the axe and chop this sucker down. As they fight over it, the axe gets thrown by accident and it cleanly slices through the trunk of the tree. That is a damn fine axe. You can complain all you want about Porkrind’s pricing, but at least he’s selling a quality product. The tree then falls over and lands on the boys, but they emerge from the pine looking no worse for ware. Instead, they have a different problem. The tree has started to move, and soon they find themselves running down the side of a mountain in pursuit of a runaway Christmas tree!
It’s just a little snow-covered. It’s still good! It’s still good!
The boys have little trouble in catching up with the tree, but as they run alongside it and try to jump on, something always gets in the way be it a big boulder or a random snowman popping out of the ground. Both finally make a jump for it, but they collide in midair. When the two hit the ground they’re rolling and soon end up in a massive snowball before getting smashed apart. Now they’re running, but Cuphead can’t locate the tree. That’s because it’s sliding behind them, but faster than they can run, and it takes them both out. This works out though because now they’re on the tree, but it’s still racing down the hill in an out of control manner. The good news is the hill finally ends, the bad news is that it ends in a cave full of sleeping bears.
What?
At first, the bears appear like they’ll remain sleeping and it will fall on the boys to somehow get the tree out of there quietly, but before they can do anything the bears all suddenly wake up with a roar! From outside the cave, we see the tree get tossed out. Then we hear the sound of pummeling before a bear emerges holding both Cuphead and Mugman by the back of their shorts. He gives them the boot, but they end up landing on their tree which is sliding somewhere. Cuphead remarks that those bears were pretty mad while Mugman sees an opportunity for a pun and says “Yeah, we barely escaped with our lives!” As he does so he nudges Cuphead looking for some feedback on his joke, but Cuphead couldn’t hear him.
This should give the video game designers an idea on how to punish the player.
And that’s because they’re in a sawmill! Mugman doesn’t realize it at first as he keeps repeating his joke only for Cuphead to say “What?” Finally, they notice where they are just as a bunch of wild saw blades appear. There’s a pretty menacing, personified, furnace (Dave Wasson) full of saw blades that waits for them at the end of a conveyor belt. It’s laughing too, but whatever it planned to do it either doesn’t or we just don’t get to see it because we cut to an exterior shot of the mill. It literally spits the tree out, with the boys still atop it, and they sail into the night sky past a full moon holding each other and screaming.
There’s no Santa to be found, but we’re still getting in a moon shot.
The tree returns to Earth and is once again in motion. It’s all bent and mishapen and Mugman is in some serious distress over the quality of their tree. When he declares that things can’t possibly get any worse, Cuphead responds in the only way a cartoon character can, “Wanna bet?” It would seem they’re heading for a cliff and when the tree goes off of it, it hangs in the air a second allowing the boys to scream before it drops. When it hits the ground it does so with a bounce. It pops open, like an umbrella, and returns to its former glorious shape! The boys aren’t out of the woods yet though (well, technically they are out of the woods, but you know what I mean) as the bounce and pop of the tree has basically turned it into a rocket sailing through the sky.
Cuphead appeared to get the worst of that.
At home, Elder Kettle opens the front door and wonders aloud where the boys are. That’s their cue to come rocketing in like Goofy after the ski jump! Elder Kettle is barely able to jump out of the way as the tree crashes through the front door. When he peaks his…head…into the house, we see Cuphead has crashed into the piano while Mugman landed on the stool. As for the tree, it’s right where it’s supposed to be in its tree stand in the middle of the room.
What a glorious tree!
The trio look on with awe and it immediately transitions to a decorated tree. Elder Kettle announces that the boys get to do the honor of lighting it. He holds up two ends of an electrical chord and the boys cheerfully plug it in. The tree lights up a glorious hue, but then the cable sparks. The spark travels down the chord leaving blackness in its wake until it arrives at the tree and the whole thing goes up with a puff of smoke leaving a smoldering husk behind.
Oh, well, I guess this is more fitting for them.
Once again, Cuphead and Mugman are reduced to tears. As they cry into Elder Kettle’s…waist?..the two wail that they ruined Christmas. Now is the moment where some traditional Christmas special wisdom is brought in. Elder Kettle tells the boys that Christmas isn’t about a tree, it’s about who you spend the holidays with. He adds that whatever tree they have will be just fine. Then he adds, bluntly, “Even if it is burnt to a crisp.” The trio then rejoin in their Christmas tree song and march once around the tree before standing and looking upon it together. We get an external shot of the house all lit up for Christmas and that’s the end.
This holiday edition of The Cuphead Show! is plenty fine. It’s just a fun romp about the two main characters setting out in search of the perfect tree to keep their family tradition alive and encountering problems along the way. Its a silly, absurd, sort of cartoon with a lot of fun quips and visual delights. It’s not the most inventive and it’s pretty easy to predict the next story bit as the cartoon moves along, even the non-traditional ending felt like a foregone conclusion. The only real surprise was that there was no payoff for Elder Kettle’s threats about not returning with change. I was expecting a Home Alone style ending where we hear the outraged scream of Elder Kettle looking for his five bucks before smashing to credits.
So the tree sucks, at least everything else is looking rather nice and festive.
Even if this feels almost by-the-numbers for a silly Christmas adventure, “Holiday Tree-ditions” manages to entertain with its audio and visual presentation. I really love the cast for this show and feel like they found the perfect voices for both Cuphead and Mugman. There’s also a smattering of Christmas music in the background as well as a lovely, fast-paced, instrumental version of the Christmas tree song which accompanies the duo’s journey down the mountain on their tree. The animation is really expressive and this is the sort of cartoon that rewards people like me who pause it constantly in search of good screen caps because it allows for one to appreciate all of the facial expressions in use. My only critique of the visual presentation is that maybe we should have seen Cuphead and Mugman’s condition degrade throughout the episode since they do get smacked around pretty good.
If you would like to check out this episode of The Cuphead Show! then I think your only avenue is via Netflix. I’m not sure if it’s been sold outside of the streaming giant or not. If the episode seems a bit too light for your taste, then you could always check out the other Christmas episode from the show which is much longer. Maybe we’ll even cover it here very soon…
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
We touched on it a bit just a few days ago when we talked about The Justice League, and we’re going to do it again! What is “it?” Why, the launch of The WB, of course! The network fronted by Warner Bros. was a newcomer in the mid 90s and was here to challenge the…
Back in 1929 Walt Disney launched the Silly Symphonies series of cartoon shorts. Unlike the Mickey Mouse shorts that were growing popular at the time, Silly Symphonies did not center on just one character or even a group of characters, but rather were fairly self-contained. Some shorts that became popular, like The Three Little Pigs,…
Nickelodeon in the late 1980s was a network on the rise. Cable was expanding to more and more households each and every day and Nick was able to seize the youth market almost from the get-go. Prior to that, broadcast networks dominated children’s programming, but restricted it to certain parts of the broadcast schedule. And…
In 1985, a little film called Back to the Future debuted in theaters. Starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the story about a modern day teenager going back in time 30 years to encounter his parents when they were teens was an instantly timeless tale. It spawned two sequels which were shot back-to-back and they too have weathered the test of time and emerged quite favorably. It’s a film franchise that definitely has every right to be in the conversation of best movie trilogies of all-time. And since the basic premise is so relatable in any era, it’s a franchise that lends itself tremendously well to more sequels or even a reboot.
Except that ain’t gonna happen. Creators Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale have taken the stance that there will be no sequels or reboots as long as they’re around. The two wisely retained enough degree of control that they have this kind of sway when it comes to future films. And then there’s the unfortunate reality that Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease making his return as Marty McFly very unlikely if not impossible. I have no idea what happens when Zemeckis and Gale are no longer with us, but for now there will be no Back to the Future Part 4 or a new school reboot like Back 2 the Future.
And that’s fine. Creators should have that kind of sway and if they don’t want to hand over their property to the Hollywood reboot machine then that’s their right. Most fans of the franchise seem to be of like mind anyway, though if you’re disappointed then that’s okay too. Reboots, or long delayed sequels, from my experience are usually not very good. The thing is, their existence doesn’t erase what came before. If a reboot is bad I either don’t watch it or move on after a single viewing. What I don’t do is take to social media and complain about some new movie ruining my childhood or destroying the legacy of Property X. Reboots and sequels do none of those things.
The two Bobs may have said “No” to more movies, but what they didn’t say “No” to was an animated series. That may seem odd, but I’m guessing when the cartoon came up they weren’t sure if they were done with the franchise yet. Plus, what harm can a cartoon do? It’s for kids, it will make some money, maybe sell some toys, and after it’s aired it probably vanishes into the abyss of forgotten media. Only they couldn’t have predicted the Internet and what it would make possible nor the rise of entire shows existing on physical media. The kids of the 80s and 90s were practically raised by television so no show was allowed to be forgotten for very long.
The main cast (left to right): Verne, Clara, Doc, Marty, Jules
The Back to the Future animated series debuted on Saturday mornings in the fall of 1991 (well, technically late summer, but fall TV programming). Returning from the film franchise is Christopher Lloyd who reprises his role as Doc Brown, only not in the way you may have expected. I guess he didn’t want the voice acting paycheck and instead opted to film some live-action segments introducing the episode and closing it. Usually, he’s working in his garage or something. Bill Nye is also on-hand to do some experiments and inject an educational component as well. For the actual cartoon, Brown is voiced by Dan Catellanetta and he’s the patriarch of the Brown family. The show takes place after the third movie, so he’s married to Clara (Mary Steenburgen who apparently did want that voice acting check) and father to boys Jules (Josh Keaton) and Verne (Troy Davidson). Marty (David Kaufman) is still hanging around and attending school, though he’ll graduate from Hill Valley High and go on to college. Each episode basically takes this crew and throws them somewhere in time where they’re certain to encounter a descendent of Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson, also returning from the films) who is up to no good.
It’s really a solid premise for a weekly show so long as you don’t mind Doc Brown deciding to screw around with time once again. It’s easy to integrate an educational component and we have built-in lore thanks to the film franchise. And unlike cartoons such as RoboCop or Rambo, this one is actually based on a franchise kids might actually be allowed to watch. The show only ran for two seasons with each totaling 13 episodes so no syndication deals for Back to the Future. That meant this one did kind of go away for awhile, but like everything, it’s been found. During that first season we got a Christmas episode. As you can tell by the title, this is going to be a variation on A Christmas Carol, but since we’re talking time travel here, it gets to do something other than a direct parody or adaptation. Instead, think The Real Ghostbusters if you’re familiar with that show’s Christmas episode (and if you’re not, we got you covered).
The show begins with a re-recording of “Back in Time,” so no Huey Lewis for the kids. The opening is composed of what appears to be unique animation as opposed to clips, which is always a plus. It does feature the gang tangling with a dinosaur though which is actually kind of a bummer because the episode is unlikely to be as exciting as that adventure probably was. Full disclosure upfront, I’m watching this online and the pics are going to be bad because it’s not available for streaming officially anywhere. I thought I was going to be able to watch it on Peacock, but apparently not. The episode begins with Doc Brown who is presently working under the DeLorean. I question if this is actually Christopher Lloyd since we can’t see his face. He sets up the episode by remarking about a summer that was really hot and they used the time machine to basically escape it. That’s where our cartoon begins.
I apologize in advance for the quality of these images.
It would indeed appear to be hot, as Doc suggested, as Clara is seen carrying a basket outside. Verne comes running into the kitchen (still wearing a coon skin cap even though it’s oppressively hot) and tries to nab a cookie from the cookie jar. He’s intercepted by his father, who he didn’t notice at first because he’s suspended from the ceiling. Doc tells his boy that he specifically forbade him from consuming more baked goods. He has to sound like he’s of a higher intelligence so he can’t just say “No more cookies.” The kid takes off, disappointed, and Clara comes in with a basket of what Doc thinks are prunes. They’re plums, but it’s so hot they’re basically becoming prunes. Clara snaps at him because it’s so damn hot and also because Doc has left greasy footprints all over the ceiling. He assures her that once he’s finished installing the ozone-friendly, freon-free, cooling device he’ll clean up. The irritated expression on her face suggests to me that she’s heard similar lines before that did not bear fruit. Jules then enters with an egg that has become hard boiled, essentially repeating the plum to prune joke, but now with poultry.
I wish whenever my family got into a fight we could just go back in time to solve our problems.
We cut to a monster movie featuring a bootleg Godzilla. The picture is a bit, shall we say thin, and that’s because it’s a projection coming from Marty’s hoverboard. He’s zooming through the streets of Hill Valley on that thing while watching a movie. He’s basically predicted modern day distracted driving, just on a device time has yet to truly invent (those hoverboards they sell at the store should be banned for false advertising). And since he is distracted, and this show strives to be somewhat educational, he crashes. First into Ein who was enjoying a swim in a kiddie pool and then into the home of the Browns apparently destroying the cooling device the doc was trying to install. Everyone starts yelling at each other until Doc calms them down. He notes that they’re “at each other’s trachea,” and Marty reacts with, “Yeah, and soon we’ll be at each other’s throats.” A good language joke, though wasn’t Marty always pretty smart in the movies? Clara remarks it’s because it’s hotter than the dickens, which gives Doc an idea. In order to beat this heat they need a little Christmas spirit!
Nice threads. Even Ein gets a cute little hat and scarf.
We’re then whisked away to a snowy cityscape. As the title of the episode implies though, we’ve gone back in time to the 19th century. Some carolers are singing “Good King Wenceslas” on a street corner until the time machine zaps into view high in the sky. They quickly change their line to making a remark about not believing what they’re singing. The Brown family, and Marty, take refuge atop a nearby building. Once out, Doc uses a device to zap some period appropriate clothing onto everyone, though not until he first hits them with period inappropriate clothing for a gag. Once concluded, young Jules requests to look after the keys to the DeLorean, which Doc shows some apprehension about because he’s using an old family heirloom, a watch, as a key fob. Jules insists he needs to demonstrate how responsible he’s become and Doc relents. Obviously, something unexpected is going to occur when it comes to the watch.
What is up with this guy’s nose? It’s like he’s from a different show.
Doc then asks Marty if he likes the view and Marty confirms that he does. And that’s because he’s being a little perv and peeking at some girl strolling through the streets. You would think after running into his mother and all of these other descendants that he’d maybe be a little gun-shy about eyeballing a woman in the past. She’s probably a relative. Marty is so keen on getting a closer look that he actually falls off the building. The idiot somehow manages not to die though and the rest of the family find him in the snow-covered street. He ducks into a toy store after the girl and the Browns catch-up just in time to see the girl smack Marty across the face. Doc then spies the toys inside and is captivated. In order to get a closer “gander” he heads inside and picks up one of the toys with glee. The clerk comes over (he looks like a rodent for some reason) to ask if he likes it and Doc replies that he does for he had one as a boy. The clerk is profoundly confused because, as you may have guessed, he just invented the thing that morning.
Of course Biff is Scrooge.
Outside, the boys are just staring through the window like a couple of creeps when some shady looking character sneaks up behind Jules and picks the watch out of his pocket. Verne notices him almost immediately and alerts his brother. Verne wants to tell their dad right away, but Jules is reluctant to and decides to give chase. Ein notices them run off and lets out a bark which alerts Doc and Marty that the boys have taken off. They too give chase leaving Clara in the store to witness the entrance of the next character. You probably could guess it, but it’s this era’s version of Biff. And it would appear he will be assuming the role of Scrooge, though his name is still Tannen. He apparently has done business with the clerk here who owes him a mortgage payment which is an hour late. The penalty for such? Debtor’s prison! Some cops with this Ebenezer Tannen arrest the man and his wife and as they’re leading them away Tannen takes note of Clara. It would seem he likes the woman, calling her comely, and makes a pass. She shoves him away into a bunch of toys which only enrages him. He starts calling for the police to arrest her too. It would seem Clara has made a powerful enemy and these cops are plenty crooked.
Probably unwise to chase blindly after thieves into their menacing looking hideout.
We catch-up with the boys who find themselves in a dark alley. They spy the kid who swiped the watch as he’s heading up a long, rickety, staircase into a dilapidated looking building. The kids race up there, but are soon met by a bearded fellow named Murdock who seems eager to dispose of them. After an act break, we find the boys suspended upside down and bound with rope. The kid who stole the watch seems sympathetic to them while his boss suggests he’s going to dispose of them. The thief thinks maybe these boys could be pickpockets like him, but Verne gives him a “No way, Jose,” channeling his inner Michelle Tanner at the mere thought of being a crook. It takes his brother to remind him that going along with such a thing may get them the watch back. If he’s trying to be discreet he’s doing an awful job, but Murdock appears to not overhear. He asks the two if they’ve ever stolen anything before and Verne just responds with, “Cookies!”
Back in the old days, there weren’t cameras everywhere contributing to a constant state of surveillance. Instead, carolers kept a detailed log of all that transpired.
Outside, Marty and Doc collide in the street having been unable to locate the boys. Ein soon follows knocking them over, and when they all get to their feet they discover that they’re back where they started only now the toy shop is closed and there’s no sign of Clara. Doc notices some carolers in the street and asks them if they know what happened to the shop owner. They reply in song to the melody of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as they recount what transpired. Doc is alarmed to hear the name Tannen, but rather proud of his wife when he finds out she clobbered him. He then asks about the boys and it would seem these folks have been keeping a close watch on everything that’s happened as they recount their tale. These folks are a very convenient plot device. Marty then asks if they know where they may find the pickpocket and demands they respond without song. The lead conductor tells him the kid’s name is Reg (as in short for Reginald, or Reggie) and he hangs out at the Hog’s Head Tavern. Doc announces he’ll go after the boys and tells Marty to go see about Clara as he runs off into the night.
This old timer is his own biggest fan. That guy in the back is grumpy because he’s had to hear the same joke countless times at this point.
We’re taken to the prison where Clara, the shop owner, and his wife are being lead to a cell. The guard tells them it’s semi-private, which is a joke because the cell is jam-packed with people. Clara asks the first old man she sees how long he’s been there. He tells her that when he came in he was wrinkled, drooling, and absent most of his teeth which is true of is appearance now. He then adds that he was a baby and he has a good laugh at his own joke. At least the people in here have been able to hold onto their sense of humor. Meanwhile, Doc has located the tavern in question and with him is Ein. Doc enters with his canine companion to find a rather unsavory looking bunch in attendance. He nearly gets darts lodged in his head when he mistakenly steps in front of a target. The man playing the game is irritated, but when Doc whips out some cash in exchange for information he becomes far more friendly.
Why was some guy walking around with a stinky sock in his coat pocket?
It’s time to check-in on the boys as Murdock and his companion have taken them to a shopping district. It’s probably the best place for a pickpocket to be on Christmas Eve and Murdock is giving them a lesson in thievery. He sends Reg out first as a demonstration and the kid nabs what must be a dozen watches with lightning speed. It’s now Verne’s turn and he spies a fellow with a large overcoat. He reaches into the massive pocket, but it’s so deep he falls in. He comes out and the man appears none the wiser, but when Verne returns to the others we find that he only managed to steal a smelly sock. Murdock makes the crack that his first try stinks, and Verne seems to agree. Just then, the guy Verne stole from (I think) has his pants fall down. That’s odd, since no one stole a belt, but he calls for the police and assumes he’s been pick-pocketed. Murdock tells the boys not to worry and act casual, then he has them all run. Way to play it cool, Murdock.
The only thing missing is a lightbulb over his head.
Marty is shown coming upon the debtor’s prison. He knocks on the big door to get the guard, or warden, or whatever’s attention and announces to him that the queen herself just pardoned Clara Brown. The guard is unmoved and informs Marty that the only one who can pardon the folks in here is Ebenezer Tannen. Marty asks how many people has Tannen let go and the guard responds with the expected number: none. Marty concludes he’ll have to sweet talk old Tannen, but the guard just tells him he’s wasting his time and refers to Ebenezer Tannen as a real “Scrooge” – hah, he said it! Hearing that just gives Marty an idea.
Don’t worry, boys, daddy is here to save you! Maybe.
Back at the hideout, the boys are being made to scrub the floors while Murdock announces he needs to rest his thinker on account of being the mastermind of the operation is hard work. He then smacks his head on a door frame and is alarmed to see another man has entered the hideout. It’s Wilkins, who is the man Doc paid for information back at the tavern and he brough the Doc with him. He tells Murdock that Doc claims to be a friend of Reggie’s, so Murdock calls for the lad. When Reggie tells him he’s a stranger to him, Murdock accuses Brown of being a cop. Doc seems particularly horrified at being likened to a cop, which is pretty amusing. The two men aren’t buying it though as they eye him with evil intentions as we hit another act break.
I mean, it’s not a bad idea.
It’s time we see what Ebenezer Tannen is up to. He’s in his nightgown and cap and preparing for bed when he hears a voice calling to him. He throws open the shutter of his window to find Marty, draped in a black robe, and atop his hoverboard. He announces to Tannen that he’s the Ghost of Christmas, which just confuses Tannen as he asks which one – past, present, or future? Marty wasn’t prepared for that, but since this is a 23 minute show and we’re past the halfway point, Marty tells him “All of the above.” He then tells him he’s hear to save his soul and he grabs Tannen by the wrist and hauls him out into the night sky. He then politely requests that he keep his arms and legs inside, though since he’s not actually in anything this joke makes no sense.
No Breath Right strips back then, just Breath Right jabs.
At the hideout, Murdock is taking that nap he was so looking forward to while Wilkins sleeps nearby. In another room, Reggie and the boys are asleep on the floor, that is, until Reg elbows Jules in the ribs to tell him to pipe down (he was snoring). With all three awake, the boys start asking Reggie about his life with them wondering why his father makes him sleep on the floor. Reggie almost laughs in response at the suggestion Murdock is his dad and explains that he’s just some guy that provides food and a roof over his head so long as he keep stealing watches. When the kids point out that stealing is wrong (they’re so persuasive) Reggie just remarks that stealing is better than being placed in a juvenile work camp and I have to agree. Though the whole sleeping on the floor thing sucks. He should steal a bed.
I’d probably have the same reaction if I walked into my father suspended from the ceiling. Though considering how this episode began, maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised?
It’s time to see how Marty is doing as he brings Tannen to one of those mentioned work camps. There they find children slaving away on Christmas Eve and it’s enough to make Tannen cry. No, not because he feels any sort of pity for the children, but because he just remembered an eight-year-old who owes him money. This is going to be a long night, Marty. We quickly jump back to the hideout where Jules apparently has an idea. He informs Reginald (as he calls him because he speaks with proper English like his father) that they may have a way for him to get out of this life he’s leading if he were to only help them retrieve the stolen keys. Reggie apparently needs no convincing and agrees to do so. He retrieves the watch and keys and hands them over to Jules prompting Verne to declare him lucky. I think he really wanted to see his brother get in trouble. As Jules starts walking out assuring Verne he always had the situation under control, he cries out “Father!” when he nearly walks into his old man. It seems Doc was tied up along a rafter and upon hearing his son cry out he wakes up and slams his head into the beam. Jules quickly unties him and when Doc hits the floor with a thud Murdock finally wakes up only to see the kids and the “copper” running off. Wilkins wakes up, slams his head into the ceiling (Murdock did the same), and remarks “We have to find a taller hideout” before too giving chase. I figured all of those head bumps were leading to something, though I don’t know that the payoff was worth it.
Gimme those nuts! That’s literally the line from the show. You can’t convince me they weren’t making a balls joke.
In the city streets, a poor family sits crowded around a fire cooking a meager meal of chestnuts. Marty and Tannen happen upon them, but when Marty points out how this family has nothing but a few, meager, chestnuts, Tannen just tackles the father demanding some of the nuts. Marty takes to the sky and grabs Tannen and hauls him off leaving the mother to remark to her little child that Marty is an angel. The father scoffs at the thought for the supposed angel left his nuts all strewn about. I think the writers enjoyed getting to use the word “nuts” so liberally.
All wrapped up in a soggy, salty, package.
Doc and the boys are seen running through the streets with the bad guys hot on their heels. They happen upon the Hog’s Head, once again, only to find it closed. That doesn’t stop them from barging in and when the maid cleaning up the place objects, Doc just hands over a wad of cash to “Cover the damage he’s about to do.” They run off into the tavern while Murdock and Wilkins arrive. The maid is further angered to see more people as Doc taunts them from…the ceiling? Oh yes, those magnetic anti-gravity shoes or whatever they were called just had to reappear. Doc is on the ceiling and preparing to give these scallywags a lesson on Newton’s first law of motion: A body at rest will remain at rest while a body in motion will remain in motion. Doc then unleashes a bunch of pickle barrels from the ceiling which collide with Murdock and Wilkins. The resulting collision leaves them all wrapped up somehow which the police, who soon arrive, appear to enjoy. It’s a good outcome, save for the fact that Doc left shoeprints all over the ceiling and wall. The maid angrily hands him a mop and bucket and demands he clean it up giving Doc a chance to look at the camera with a glum expression.
Obviously, we’re going to need to see Scrooge dance on Christmas Day or it just wouldn’t be Dickens.
Marty has apparently had enough as he returns Ebenezer Tannen to his chambers. Marty remarks he’s shown Tannen stuff that would make The Terminator cry getting in a topical reference for its time. Before Tannen can even respond, a device falls out of Marty’s robes and lands on the floor. It’s the projector he had on his hoverboard and it’s still showing the monster movie. Upon seeing the projection of this Godzilla like being, Tannen is immediately shaken! He begs Marty to spare him from the monster’s wrath and Marty informs him only if he releases everyone in debtor’s prison and also clears all debts. Tannen frowns, but agrees, and we cut to a scene of all of the prisoners joyously racing out the front gate. As the former prisoners stream into the streets, the shop owner and his wife come upon Tannen who is now dancing and singing in the streets with a wreath around his neck. They can scarcely believe what they’re seeing, but Tannen instructs them to call him Eb from now on and vows to lead a better life. That monster movie worked way better than I would have expected.
Looks like Reggie gets a family for Christmas. Good for him.
Now that all of the wrongs have been righted, it’s time for a merry Christmas! The Brown family (and Marty) are celebrating with the toy store owners. Reggie has been adopted by them and he’ll be able to work in the store now. As for the poor, downtrodden, family that had nothing but a few chestnuts to eat, well, we don’t know. I guess they’re still in the gutter because they are no where to be found. Everyone seems happy though, and even Tannen comes barging in with a Christmas goose, but upon seeing Marty he realizes he’s been tricked. Marty runs and Tannen gives chase only to collide with a cart full of figgy pudding (I guess we can’t do manure jokes on Saturday morning network television) and is left laying in the street. The carolers return to basically tells us what happened and Tannen ends it by saying he hates it, it being the pudding he’s covered in. Or Christmas. Or both! I would have thought he was going to say “Bah! Humbug!” but maybe that was too obvious? The camera pans to the sky where the DeLorean is passing by. Doc gets to finish the song by singing “And a happy new year,” only for Verne to correct him that it’s actually an old year. “Not for long,” cries his dad as the DeLorean jumps forward in time, back to the future!
It’s not shit, but I guess figgy pudding is the next grossest thing one could be covered in?
That ends the cartoon portion. The episode goes back to Doc under the DeLorean who tells us the family still returns to London each year to see how everyone is doing. He sets up an experiment about potential and kinetic energy which is demonstrated by a young Bill Nye. When that’s done, we return to Doc for one final gag where it seems he’s been stretched out some how. It’s at this point we finally see his face and I guess it is Mr. Lloyd. He makes a crack about the car being a stretch DeLorean and then tells us he’ll see us again in the future. A very un-Christmassy conclusion.
Back to the Future the TV series is a pretty mediocre cartoon from the 90s. Well, I am judging it on this one episode which is admittedly unfair, but I also did watch it a bit as a kid and that was pretty much my opinion then too. I didn’t stick with this show week in and week out and I fell off pretty fast. I’m not sure I even made it to this episode, though I did get a few of the Happy Meal toys. As such, I couldn’t justify buying this thing on physical media hence the awful screen caps. This blog isn’t monetized, after all. The video I watched was cropped and rotated slightly in addition to just being kind of lousy quality. It could be a VHS rip, as the show was released on VHS, which would explain the quality. Or it was intentionally made to look bad so as to avoid a copywrite strike.
This poor family is presumed dead.
As a Christmas special, this is merely okay, just like the series as a whole. I give it credit for taking Dickens and putting a different spin on it. Scrooge-Tannen was pretty easy to see from a mile away, but his part of the story was really quite minimal. In fact, there was just too much going on for this episode to really land in any meaningful way. The boys had their story wrap in surprisingly simple fashion while Marty and Tannen only had three brief scenes. The episode didn’t bother to keep tabs on Clara once she was locked-up which is probably for the best considering the one joke from the jail was pretty bad and there was just no time. There wasn’t even enough time to give that homeless family a happy ending. I can’t think of a children’s show where such a family was just left to dangle like that. Doc is running around tossing money around like it’s nothing and he can’t find time to give those people some of that cash?
If forced to say something positive though, I will say I enjoyed the voice cast. Thomas Wilson, in particular, is great in the role of Tannen. Actually, I liked all of the Tannen scenes and I wish we got more of them. The resolution was actually clever, not so much the monster movie thing (though that was clever too), but I just liked how he didn’t really learn a lesson. He only cleared the debts because he thought he was about to be consumed by a giant beast. Once the fraud was revealed, he was clearly back to being the same asshole he always was and probably returned to being. At least for one Christmas everyone involved got to enjoy themselves debt free.
Despite that, the more I ponder this one the more I dislike it. It’s not that funny, though not offensively bad with the material. The stakes never feel that high even though they probably should given the plight everyone finds themselves in. We don’t spend enough time with the store owners or Reggie to really care about them and their ending. It’s just a bunch of stuff that happened at Christmas. The animation is average and I’m not a fan of the character designs. Despite my somewhat negative take, if you want to watch it for yourself then you have some options when it comes to physical media. The show is available on its own, in seasons, or as a massive set with the film trilogy. If you don’t own the film trilogy, then hey, maybe go for that? Or you could watch some bad quality options online in the usual places. I felt like the one I watched was the best, but there are more available which all do their own thing to the audio and video. Those are probably your best options as you don’t need a time machine to know that this thing isn’t likely showing up on a streaming platform, officially, anytime soon.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
It’s the fifth of December so that means we are returning to one of the 25 Greatest Christmas Specials (as decided by me because it’s my blog) to take a deeper look than what was done some 8 years ago. When I re-evaluated my Top 25, one of the biggest fallers was A Flintstone Christmas.…
This year, I’m bringing back a feature from last year where I take another look at, what I consider to be, the greatest Christmas specials ever made. I explained my reasoning for doing this in prior posts, but in short, the first time I looked at some of these specials I did just a short…
Today we’re doing the second look-back to one of the best Christmas specials ever conceived, as chosen by yours truly, and it’s one of my all-time favorites: Pluto’s Christmas Tree. Despite being titled Pluto’s Christmas Tree, this Jack Hannah-directed cartoon short from 1952 is actually considered a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Mickey apparently had it written…
The Nostalgia Spot 