Last year, I made an effort to get to a lot of the Nicktoons that I had yet to cover. My initial thinking when I started doing this Christmas blog was to try and avoid the specials that had been covered in depth many times over. Then I realized that, hey, if you want to post about 25 Christmas specials a year you really can’t be picky. Plus how many people really want to read about mega babies and chuckling critters who reside in the woods? And it was on December 4th last year that we talked about Doug, the somewhat quiet original Nicktoon that ran for 52 episodes before leaving the network. Doug was supposed to be the big hit, but it lagged behind Rugrats and The Ren and Stimpy Show among the first trio of Nicktoons. I’m guessing Rocko’s Modern Life eclipsed it as well when that showed up a year later. It’s hard to say why Nickelodeon thought so highly of Doug initially to the point where they expect it to be more popular than the other two shows. Maybe because it’s adults that are in charge at any given network and Doug’s coming of age whimsy speaks to an adult more than a show about babies?
Whatever the reason, Doug still had a solid run and I knew plenty of kids that liked it, even loved it. When creator Jim Jinkins entered into a contract to produce the show for Nick the contract was for 65 episodes to be ordered as seasons of 13 episodes. If Nick failed to order all 65, he was allowed to take the show elsewhere. He also retained ownership of the character and, like the other early Nicktoons, was able to run the show via his own production company. Nickelodeon seemed to learn a lot from those initial shows and would retain more control and ownership in the future, but it was a good deal for Jinkins and it allowed Doug to eventually be sold to The Walt Disney Company.
That’s how we ended up with Disney’s Doug (and in some places it’s referred to as Disney’s Doug). After a hiatus of over two years between new episodes, Doug made his debut on ABC’s Saturday morning television block in September of 1996. The show was a direct sequel seeing Doug enter middle school (I thought he was already in middle school?) with all of his usual friends. Most of the cast was able to return, save for perhaps the most important member in Billy West as Doug. The show would last another 65 episodes while also spawning a movie. It seems to be generally accepted that the Disney version of Doug is inferior to what we got with Nick. I checked out the new version as a kid when it premiered, but didn’t stick with it. It felt similar, but different, but more than anything I think I had just moved on from Doug. The low stakes and slice of life programming just wasn’t my thing at that point as I found myself aging out of Saturday morning television. Once X-Men was done not long after, so was I.
Now, nearly 30 years later, I’m ready to take another look at the Disney version of Doug. The first season included a new Christmas episode which I had never seen until now. I definitely didn’t stick with the new show long enough to make it there and I actually never even knew another Doug Christmas episode existed until very recently. For me, this is like finding hidden treasure, though it could only be considered such if it’s actually good. Considering this is Doug we’re talking about, I’d be surprised if it’s awful. Doug is what I’d call a high floor kind of show. It may rarely impress, but it’s almost never bad.
The Disney version of Doug begins a lot like the old one. The song is new, but still very much Doug. And since the show had a new production company, it looks a little different, but still Doug. The lead character received only the most basic redesign in that he has long sleeves now instead of short ones, but he’s still rocking that green vest. Now, if this is the first episode of the Disney version of Doug that you’ve ever watched, you might initially think it looks a lot different. That’s because the episode opens on Doug’s neighborhood looking quite…toony?
That’s because it’s a Grinch parody! There’s a narrator (sounds like Doug’s dad, Doug Preis) speaking in rhyme as a shadowy figure with an animal companion descends Doug’s chimney. It’s Roger (Chris Phillips), the town bully, only he resembles the Grinch. And with him is his cat Stinky who has a lone antler atop her head a-la Max. He’s here to steal Doug’s Christmas, only there’s a problem: it’s already been stolen! He looks around and finds no tree or decorations of any kind. The interior of the house is drawn and colored to resemble a home from the classic television special and the creative team a pretty nice job. When Roger-Grinch looks around to find out who stole Christmas first, it’s revealed to be Doug himself! He’s all grinchified as well and we fade to black on this shocking revelation!
That’s when the title of the episode is presented in the same manner as the Nicktoons version with Doug coming out of a door to turn a light on revealing the show’s logo. Porkchop, Doug’s dog and star of his first Christmas special, comes in with a gift and reveals the title of today’s episode. The episode proper begins with Doug at his journal telling us about Christmas in his town, Bluffington. Right off the bat, I must say I can barely tell the difference between Thomas McHugh and Billy West as Doug. I’m a little surprised by that because I remember noticing as a kid, but I was definitely watching way more Doug back then. Doug basically lists out what people around town do for Christmas including his old pal, Skeeter (Fred Newman), who is addicted to Christmas specials (I can relate). We get a quick cutaway of him sitting down with his family to watch one and I’m expecting another parody of a classic television special, but instead we get a meta joke of Skeeter watching the first Doug Christmas episode. I approve. We also see Mr. Dink (Claude Nicot) who, as you may have expected, is setting up a very extravagant, very expensive, display. A woman walking by stops to check out the Santa he’s setting up, but it pops up from the ground and says “Hubba, hubba,” instead of “Ho, ho, ho,” which offends the woman.
As for the Funnie family, their traditions seem pretty ordinary. As Doug tells it, he starts putting up decorations in his room the day after Thanksgiving and I guess the rest of the family does as well. On the 20th, they put up the tree and the lights go up outside on the 21st. The 22nd is the last day of school, stockings go up after that, and on Christmas Eve they visit Grandma Funnie’s house for fruitcake. Before all of that can happen though, Doug informs us he must create The List! That would be the Christmas list of things Doug wants, always a major focal point of a kid at this time of year.
Doug sets out to seemingly discuss this list with others in the house. As he does, we see his mom and sister (both voiced by Becca Lish) go over breathing exercises in the living room. Apparently, Doug’s mom is pregnant and the baby is expected in about a month. I think that has been a season long arc for the Funnie family. In the den, Doug finds his dad (Doug Preis) who has something on his mind. Doug wants to talk presents, but dad would like to have a man-to-man conversation that he’s been putting off. He picks up a book which is all about the old birds and the bees. Apparently, Mr. Funnie would like to talk about how he and his mom made this new sibling that’s about to enter their lives. He reads from the book and doesn’t even insert Doug’s name where he’s supposed to instead just saying “Blank’s Name.” Doug stops him before things can get any worse and lets his dad know he’s learned all of this in school already. Doug even gladly explains what sex is (he’s even allowed to say the word), but the audio drops and there’s a clear indication of time passing. The two emerge from the den with Doug’s dad sheepishly rubbing his head and thanking his son for the lesson adding they left some stuff out when he was in school. Poor Mrs. Funnie…
With the “lesson” concluded, Doug’s dad has some bad news for his son. With the baby coming, Santa isn’t going to have much time for presents and Christmas. Doug looks glum and tries to hide his list behind his back when his dad asks about it. He plays it off as a list of baby names, but sister Judy is there to snatch it from him and laugh at his suggested “names” of in-line skates and dirt bike. She runs up the stairs while Doug gives chase prompting dad to remark to his wife, “Ready to start this all over again?” She responds by throwing a throw pillow at him (so that’s what they’re for).
It’s the next day at Beebe Bluff Middle School, a school literally constructed in the shape of Beebe’s profile. It would seem another ongoing plot of this first season is the construction of the school which wasn’t quite ready for its first day. I think the joke here is they made sure to have the Christmas lights up, while Doug still doesn’t have a rear wall to his locker as he spies a construction worker when he opens it. Beebe (Alice Playten) approaches Doug in the hall to inform him that her family is going away on some SCUBA trip for Christmas and she needs someone to feed her fish (I guess they give the housekeeper the week off, or maybe they travel with all of their staff). Roger walks by and announces that he’d happily do it on account of the fact that they’re neighbors (Roger’s family won the lottery and now he’s rich). Beebe counters she knows he’d feed her fish…to his cat! Doug agrees to do it and they’re interrupted by Fentruck (Newman), the foreign exchange student from the fictional Yakistonia. He’s one of those characters that exists for us to laugh at, “He’s funny because he’s different!” It’s not mean-spirited though, nor is it really well thought out as Fentruck explains Christmas in his country is basically just Halloween. Doug is polite about it all, but Roger comes over to basically tell Fentruck he’s an idiot because what he described is not Christmas. They don’t really use this as a teaching moment as Roger is just left to utter a one-liner, “How international?” as the two walk off.
We next check-in with Doug as he’s heading home. On the way, he stops by the tree lot of one Mr. Chestnut (I’m not sure who is doing his voice, the credits on this show are terrible) who apparently knows him from last year or does something else in town the rest of the year that puts him in contact with Doug. He speaks with a southern drawl and remarks that Doug got his best tree last year (he probably says that to all of his customers) and asks what’s he going with this year? Doug tells him he’s just stopping by and will come back with his dad in a little bit to get a tree. As he walks home, he imagines he and his family decorating the perfect tree. Only when Doug gets home he doesn’t find a family waiting to go grab a new tree and instead spies some little, tabletop, half-finished tree. Doug can barely speak he’s so shocked as his dad explains that, with the baby coming, he didn’t see any reason to make a big fuss out of the tree. He hands Doug what I assume are the instructions to finish setting up the tree as he and his mom leave for some birthing classes leaving Doug all alone to construct this monstrosity.
It’s now the last day of school and Doug isn’t letting this whole tree business bring him down too much. He still has some hope that it could be the best Christmas ever, because why settle for just a good Christmas? As he heads out for school, we see that Mr. Dink is still messing around with his Santa display. Now it’s talking like a pirate instead of cat-calling the neighbors. At school, Fentruck is providing everyone with a look at a traditional Yakistonian Christmas which involves him dancing in a white sheet while everyone eats cotton candy and bobs for apples. Roger basically thinks Fentruck is trying to pull a fast one on them and, for once, I think I agree with the school bully. This is absurd.
After school, Doug and Skeeter engage in what Doug describes as traditional last minute shopping at the mall. Doug is looking for a gift for Patti (Constance Shulman), the girl he longs for, but he can’t find anything he likes. Skeeter, on the other hand, has his eyes on a Christmas Tree waffle iron. Apparently, his dad would make the family tree-shaped waffles ever Christmas, until Skeeter used it to create a bunch of trees for a diorama. The waffle iron did not survive the battle, as he puts it. He wants to get this one for his dad, but he doesn’t have the funds. Doug happily offers up his money, though we don’t hear any specifics which is probably smart as it will help keep the episode timeless, to a degree. Even though they’re shopping at a mall, which is pretty dated in some parts of the world. Skeeter is delighted and vows to pay Doug back as soon as he can, only there’s one problem now.
Doug is broke. He loaned Skeeter all of his money so he could get that waffle iron for his dad and now he’s left with just sixty-three cents to spend on Patti. Hopefully she likes gumballs. Doug, of course, did not let Skeeter know about this detail so he’s not one of those types who is going to then guilt trip someone he just helped out. This is Doug, who is one of the most selfless cartoon characters around. He’s also resourceful and decides he’ll just make something for Patti. We’re treated to a little montage of Doug basically doing some arts and crafts which involve some sculpting and baking. He had previously been looking at earrings at the mall and it would appear that he’s decided to make some instead. When they’re ready, he pulls them out of the oven and retreats to his room. Along the way, his mom asks who is going to finish the tree which Doug left unassembled save for the base. As he walks by it he derisively refers to it as a fuzzy TV antenna.
The next day is Christmas Eve and it’s Doug’s last chance to see Patti before she leaves for the holidays. They meet-up at the ice cream parlor in town where Doug gives her the gift he made: earrings of little ears. It’s quirky, it’s clever, I approve. Patti seems to as well. She gives Doug his gift, but on the condition that he can’t open it until Christmas. That’s…odd, but okay. They soon part ways, no kiss for Doug or even a hug, as Patti needs to get home and Doug needs to feed Beebe’s fish. We are then shown these fish which have their own indoor pool and eat steak. It would appear that Beebe’s fish are actually piranhas so I’m puzzled why she thinks Roger’s cat would ever be a threat to them. Speaking of, Doug pauses to look out the window at Roger’s mansion where a big Christmas Eve party appears to be going on complete with…clowns? You do you, Roger.
Doug heads for home and on the way passes by fellow schoolmate Chalky’s (Preis) house. He’s like the jock character and he’s playing football with his family in the front year. They’re all in a big pile, save for Chalky, who asks Doug if he wants to get in on this action? Doug politely declines saying he has to get home, but as he nears home it’s starting to hit him that this Christmas isn’t going to be a special one. This triggers Doug’s imagination as he ponders what it would be like to be coming home to a real old-fashioned, family, Christmas. And in Doug’s mind, that’s a cozy log cabin where his dad talks like Bing Crosby. The house opens up like a stage performance and some performers skate around a tree. I kind of recognize the vocalist, I think he was a Ringo Star parody in the original series, though he doesn’t sound anything like the Beatle. If it is his him then I guess his voice is still being provided by Preis.
When Doug snaps back into reality, he is once again trying to convince himself a good Christmas is still possible. He then runs into the twins, Al and Moo (Eddie Korbich). They’re both covered in Christmas lights and when Doug asks them if they’re afraid of getting shocked one of them (I have no idea which is Al and which is Moo) indicates that he is indeed getting shocked. They both have questions about Mr. Dink’s Santa, but also questions about why Doug’s house doesn’t feature any holiday decorations? They seem to assume that Doug’s parents are some kind of holiday haters. Do Jewish people not exist in Doug?
Doug returns home and finds his mother and Judy watching television. He asks about going to grandma’s, but his mom stands up somewhat uncomfortably and says they won’t be going this year. Doug’s dad is still at the mall (he’s a department store photographer so I guess he works there) and Judy adds that their mother is in no condition to travel this Christmas. She also sees this as an opportunity to complain about men as she’s a bit of a dated character type – the killjoy feminist. Her convictions are immediately undermined when she asks her mom to get her some coco while she’s up. Doug angrily announces he’ll be in his room.
Once there, we see Porkchop is either sorting cards he received or really procrastinating on his own Christmas cards. Doug is left to ponder that without lights or a tree can they even call it Christmas? He imagines what Christmas morning will be like with his family sitting around the kitchen table in silence until his dad remembers to wish them a merry Christmas from behind his newspaper. Doug doesn’t want that kind of Christmas so he heads out to Mr. Chestnut’s tree lot. He gets there just in time as he finds Mr. Chestnut cleaning up. When he inquires about a tree, he’s informed that he’s only got one left. It’s a small, diminutive, tree, but one that’s far healthier in appearance than what Charlie Brown settled on. When Doug asks how much, Mr. Chestnut tells him it’s free. A more cynical show would have him jack the price up on account of it being Christmas Eve, but this is Doug and Doug is a nice kid who people are happy to treat with the same kindness he radiates.
It’s on the way home from the tree lot that Doug and Porkchop vow to have their own, secret, Christmas. They setup the tree in Doug’s room and exchange gifts on Christmas morning. Porkchop got Doug another journal (he can always use more of those) while Doug gifted Porkchop a world’s best dog mug. I can’t tell if he likes it. Doug then turns on the radio and tries to stay positive as we hear a Christmas song which the DJ announces is a dedication to Doug Funnie from his pal…Doug Funnie. Okay, now this is starting to get sad.
Doug’s attempts at optimism have now run out. He asks aloud where is everyone? And no one answers. He leaves his room to look around the house and finds it empty. His parents aren’t in their bedroom, nor is Judy in hers. The phone rings and Doug answers. It’s his dad who is at the hospital. He tells Doug that “something happened,” but doesn’t elaborate. He seems very serious, even grave, and we cut to Doug walking down a hospital hallway with his dad still perplexed and sounding fearful about what’s going on. Despite that, we know what’s up as it turns out Doug’s mom had the baby. In the rush of everything, they just treated Doug like Kevin McCallister and forgot all about him. Doug enters his mom’s room to meet his new baby sister. He and Judy are surprised when their dad tells them that they decided to use the names they both came up with. Meet Cleopatra Dirt Bike Funnie! The older siblings can only faint in response.
And of course, Doug is going to get a happy ending. The Funnie family hosts a Christmas party at their house, it’s just a few days late. A lot of people seem to show up, including Skeeter’s family. His dad thanks Doug for the waffle iron, while Roger and Fentruck resume this runner about Yakistonian Christmas. Fentruck, dressed as a vampire, is listening to Roger explain Halloween. When he then explains what Christmas is, Fentruck basically tells him that’s Yakistonian Easter. Roger just drops to the floor and starts throwing a tantrum. Let’s move on.
Doug, seated with his family on the couch, declares they should make this an annual tradition. And by this he means his parents having another baby which earns him a throw pillow to the face from someone offscreen. Judy then chimes in to announce that they’ve run out of diapers, but Doug cheerfully volunteers to run out and get some. As he’s grabbing his coat, Patti approaches with the gift she had given to Doug. It would seem in all of the chaos of the Funnie Christmas, Doug forgot to open it. He notices Patti wearing the earrings he made her and she says she likes them because it looks like someone made them. Doug blushes and says that’s because he did and starts to go into his money problems, but Patti stops him as she doesn’t want to get all mushy and literally says “Shut up and open your present.” Inside is a scarf which Pattie knitted for Doug. He’s touched because apparently Patti hates knitting. It’s not that great since it gets narrow at the end because she ran out of yarn, but Doug doesn’t care. He even gets a hug from Patti. I bet he wishes he wasn’t wearing sweatpants right now.
Doug and Porkchop then run off into the Bluffington night in search of diapers for little Cleo. He’s sporting his new scarf, naturally, and runs by Mr. Dink who is taking down his decorations (why isn’t he at the party?). Mr. Dink wishes Doug a happy new year while Doug returns with a “Merry Christmas.” It’s at that point, predictably, that Dink’s Santa finally says “Ho. Ho. Ho.” with Dink remarking, “Oh, now you get it right!” Doug then pauses at the next street corner so he can look up at the sky and shout “Merry Christmas everybody!” The camera zooms out to an aerial view of town and we fade to black.
“Doug’s Secret Christmas” is basically what I expected. It’s a quiet, low stakes, affair with just the right amount of sweetness. It’s a lot different from the previous Christmas special which actually had very high stakes as Doug found his dog on death row. I’m glad they went for something less intense this time. It is a predictable episode as I’m guessing everyone expected Doug’s mom would have the baby by the time it was over. What is less predictable is that our main character never gets spiteful. He shows no hint of resentment towards the baby at all during the episode even though his family is basically allowing the unborn child to ruin Christmas. I would add his dad is pretty bad at managing everything because surely he still could have taken his son to get a tree? It’s understandable though that their belts may have been tightened with the incoming child, but kind of odd to still hear his dad refer to Santa. Maybe he was just being cute? He is the same guy who didn’t think his middle school-aged son knew about sex. I’m guessing the show didn’t want to blow the whole Santa thing since kids were likely to watch this so I’ll forgive them that.
I was a bit surprised that by the time we get to the actual secret Christmas the episode title is referencing that it’s almost over. Doug and Porkchop essentially have a failed secret Christmas and then find out the baby is here. The whole episode moves both methodically, but kind of briskly, because we’re waiting for the premise to kick-in, but the show is in no rush to do so. It does help to setup the ending and I like a holiday episode that covers the run-up to Christmas along with the holiday itself. I liked the subplot of Doug helping Skeeter which lead into his gift for Patti. It’s an example of the show still moving quickly because that potential crisis is averted almost immediately and Patti is happy with her gift. The only subplot I continuously rolled my eyes at was the one with Fentruck and Roger. I just don’t find that type of humor funny. I’m not offended by it because the show isn’t really mocking another culture, I just don’t buy Roger getting all worked up about it. Who cares? It’s just a lazy Yackov Smirnoff joke.
“Doug’s Secret Christmas” keeps the art style of the first Christmas special by making sure Doug is dressed for the occasion. Such minor details are something I appreciate in animation because who would wear shorts at Christmas in a cold climate? Doug is all bundled up and appropriately so. The town is pretty well decorated and I very much enjoyed the introduction done in a Chuck Jones style. It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense upon reflection, Doug didn’t steal Christmas, but I guess it’s a lot more engaging to have Doug be the Grinch. It’s not like they could have a baby Grinch. Well, I guess they could have, but it probably would have really confused people and changed the whole tenor of the episode. I also found this to have pretty much the same feeling as the original series. Maybe just toned down a little? Skeeter doesn’t make any weird noises and the only weirdness really comes from Fentruck. I guess Beebe having piranhas is odd, but it’s just a visual joke as we’re left to ponder what kind of fish a rich girl like her would have. They could have been anything extravagant, I suppose.
All that is to say that I can safely recommend “Doug’s Secret Christmas” for anyone who has enjoyed an episode of Doug, be it on Nickelodeon or ABC. I think I actually prefer it to the more popular Christmas episode of Doug as that one is uneven for me. It’s a very serious story, but it’s not really handled in a serious enough manner. Plus it tortures poor Doug and Doug is a character I don’t want to see in abject misery. He can face hardships, but lets not dangle the death of his dog over his head for an entire episode. This one doesn’t do anything spectacular, but it’s an enjoyable watch. The high floor Christmas special.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
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