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December 8, 2024

Dec. 8 – Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa

By Joe
Original air date December 7, 2010.

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:

Dec. 8 – The Looney Tunes Show – “A Christmas Carol”

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…

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by Joe

Dec. 8 – The Soulmates in The Gift of Light

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…

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by Joe

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December 4, 2024

Dec. 4 – Doug – “Doug’s Secret Christmas”

By Joe
“Doug’s Secret Christmas” premiered December 14, 1996 as a primetime special on ABC.

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.

Pretty much everyone is back with only a slight redesign.

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.

That’s a pretty good Grinch parody.

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?

Doug?! As the Grinch!

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 more like it.

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.

Doug gets meta on ABC.

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.

I wonder how long he’s had this book?

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…

They still fight like kids. That must be exhausting.

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).

The new school is a monument to Beebe. I guess if that’s what it takes to get funding from a rich guy in town then so be it.

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.

Doug finds nothing funny about the Funnie family Christmas tree.

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.

I know the last day before school vacation is usually pretty loose, but this is taking things to another level.

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.

It’s the waffle iron of Skeeter’s dreams.

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.

Don’t mind Doug, he’s just cooking some ears.

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.

Earrings that look like ears. That Doug is one clever boy.

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.

This is Doug’s idea of a good old-fashioned Christmas.

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.

I guess this interaction exists to show us that even the nerds are down with Christmas.

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 is finally getting a little ticked off with his family and their attitude this year towards Christmas.

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.

Well, it’s certainly an improvement over the tree his dad bought. And who can complain at that price?

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.

I can’t tell if he’s embarrassed to be declared the world’s greatest dog or if this is a fake smile implying he hates the mug.

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.

Time to meet the little Dirt Bike.

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.

I’m more than done with this B plot.

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.

“It’s not such a bad little tree.”

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.

Come on man, the girl is practically throwing herself at you. Make a move!

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.

And in the end, Doug gets a merry Christmas. Did you expect anything less?

“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 is easy to root for since he’s not after a toy or something, he just wants to have a nice, family, Christmas. That’s not too much to ask.

“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:

Dec. 4 – Doug – “Doug’s Christmas Story”

Last year, we covered in depth the inaugural Christmas episodes of Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show, two of the three original Nicktoons that premiered in 1991. Now, we’re going to look at the Christmas episode for the other original Nicktoon: Doug. Doug was created by Jim Jinkins and was one of the first…

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by Joe

Dec. 4 – The Pups’ Christmas

Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were among the first stars of cartoon creation to burst onto the scene. Together, the duo would work for Disney, Warner, and MGM (among others) creating and overseeing some of animation’s most memorable characters from the golden age. After working with Leon Schlesinger’s studio to produce Looney Tunes shorts, the…

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by Joe

Dec. 4 – Family Guy – “Christmas Guy”

In the fall of 2013, beloved family dog, Brian, met his demise. Brian was an extraordinary dog capable of communicating in English with his family members who was often seen walking on two feet. Despite that though, he met a rather ordinary end for a dog when he was unceremoniously struck by an automobile. Life…

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by Joe

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in christmas, Television

December 2, 2024

Dec. 2 – Dinosaurs – “Refrigerator Day”

By Joe
Original air date December 11, 1991

Nothing puts one in the Christmas Spirit like carols about the refrigerator. Or so Dinosaurs would have you believe. Not that Christmas is actually mentioned at all in today’s special because it takes place in a setting on Earth millions of years before the Christ in Christmas was born. Back then, the sentient beings of the world celebrated a different sort of holiday and it was one centered around the refrigerator. Think about it for a second – the refrigerator really is an amazingly transformative invention. Prior to its creation, there was no way to keep food from spoiling when the outside temperature was above 50 degrees or so. People would have root cellars where they would store things like apples and cheese in the winter because they were hearty. Apples could be turned into apple sauce or pie while cheese would spoil from the outside in. Those moldy parts could be discarded, or consumed if you like that sort of thing. That’s why in a society that apparently doesn’t really worship a god a refrigerator can seem like a truly miraculous thing.

Dinosaurs was an ingenious idea that lead to a pretty great show.

On this blog, I tend to stick with cartoons when it comes to the daily Christmas post, but it’s not a hard and fast rule. And Dinosaurs is kind of like a live-action cartoon. It was often compared (sometimes negatively) to The Simpsons during its heyday and it’s fairly apt. Both shows are sitcoms that just go about the whole medium thing different. Where as The Simpsons is a bonafide animated production, Dinosaurs is a costumed one with advanced puppetry. The show was created by Mike Jacobs and Bob Young and receiving a “developed by” credit is the infamous Jim Henson. Henson died before the show’s premiere, but it’s he who is credited with the idea of doing a sitcom about a family of dinosaurs. The costumes for much of the cast are very similar to what the company made for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. You basically have an actor in a big, rubber, suit, with animatronics built into the face that are then operated by a puppeteer. I can’t imagine how miserable these costumes must have been to wear, but the technology on display is truly amazing. These characters are as alive and expressive as most sitcom stars and the show became an overnight success when it debuted in 1991.

The Sinclair family is a fairly typical family of four at the beginning, but made five before the first episode ends.

Dinosaurs was considered an expensive production, but despite that it ran for four seasons totaling 65 episodes, an important number if syndication was going to be in its future. It’s also a show that has become infamous since it left the air because the final episode basically kills everybody off. I mean, it’s a show about dinosaurs – how else could it have ended? The Sinclair family doesn’t literally die, but the ice age is essentially about to begin and it’s pretty bleak. Their doom was brought about by their own society’s ills and in that regard it’s even less of a surprise the show ended in such a fashion. Dinosaurs is a sitcom and a funny one at that, but it’s also a pretty biting satire of 90s culture. The show was very critical of war during a time when most of the country was consumed by Gulf War patriotism and the show even tackled religion in a pretty savage way for network television. In my experience, the show burned bright and faded quickly with most only remembering it for the baby and his infamous “Not the mama,” routine, but once the show hit Disney+ I gave it a complete rewatch and was kind of blown away by how well it holds up.

The enduring image from the show.

If you are new to the show, Dinosaurs is about the Sinclair family. Earl (Bill Barretta as the suit actor, Stuart Pankin the voice) is a typical sitcom dad in that he’s a blue collar worker with a mean boss who just wants to be left alone when he’s not on the job. He’s not stupid, but he is pretty ignorant which leads to some stupid decisions. His wife, Fran (Mitchel Young-Evans, Jessica Walter) is the typical moral center of the family and a stay-at-home mother to a pair of teenagers, Robbie (Leif Tilden, Jason Willinger) and Charlene (Michelan Sisti, Sally Struthers). Both kids have pretty typical teenaged problems dealing with popularity, the opposite sex, puberty, and so on. In the very first episode, Fran lays a surprise egg which hatches into Baby Sinclair (a more conventional puppet operated by Terri Harden and Kevin Clash with Clash providing the voice) who basically throws their world for a loop. Earl and Fran, already having teenaged children, certainly weren’t looking to start over with another baby, but life is funny like that.

This will be Baby’s first Refrigerator Day.

“Refrigerator Day” is the 12th episode of the show’s second season. It originally aired on the ABC network on December 11, 1991. The episode begins with everyone in the Sinclair household decorating for Refrigerator Day. Basically, it looks like Christmas with a different name. Fran has just finished baking a traditional mold pie while Baby asks his grandmother Ethyl (Brian Henson, Florence Stanley) what Refrigerator Day is. She dryly informs him she already told him, but he asks if he was listening. The humor in this show is very much in-line with The Muppets. Ethyl explains that before there were refrigerators life basically sucked. Fran chimes in as well, but the whole thing is lost on Baby who doesn’t understand their explanation, but does perk up when Charlene mentions it includes lots of presents.

Instead of having to introduce a new item to the home and decorate it, the dinosaurs just trim-up their fridge. It’s a sound method.

Robbie asks his dad if he’s basically going nuts on gifts this year and Earl is happy to tell his son that he indeed is. He gets in a dig at his own expense when he points out that it’s easy to blow all of their money on presents with his salary, but he’s in a very jovial mood so his dead-end job as a tree pusher isn’t going to bother him. He does bring up the dreaded Refrigerator Bonus, so you know he’s either not going to get one or its going to be miniscule. He reaches into that holiest of appliances, the refrigerator, to pull out a snack. It’s a living, small, mammal which gives the show an almost Flinstones vibe as most of their food is seen alive first and is often sarcastic. Fran comes over to lecture him about the true meaning of the holiday. And wouldn’t you know, it’s basically all of the same stuff as Christmas with the noted exception that this holiday is preceded by two days of fasting. Fran snatches the little vermin away from Earl who also gets to make a fat joke at the expense of the megalosaurus.

We jump to later in the day and Earl is on the job. His friend and co-worker, Roy (Pons Mar and Julianne Buescher as puppeteers, Sam McMurray voice) is puzzled by Earl’s lack of lunch who is then forced to explain the whole fasting ritual. Roy, being a bachelor, doesn’t have a wife to enforce such things. Earl isn’t too bummed though, because he soon hears the summons of his boss B.P. Richfield (Leif Tilden and Steve Whitmire, Sherman Hemsley) which can only mean one thing: bonus!

“Toddy.”

Earl heads into his boss’s trailer in a very good mood which is unusual for him as heading into the boss’s trailer is usually a terrifying experience for Earl. Richfield is apparently in the Refrigerator Spirit as he’s decorated his trailer with lights and tinsel and even installed a fireplace so his workers could come in out of the cold. He offers Earl a hot toddy and even takes time to remark what a funny word “toddy” is. Earl is very much enjoying this as his boss produces three envelopes. They each contain a Christmas bonus and when he asks Earl to guess which one is his he surprises him by saying “All of them!”

Now that’s the Richfield we know and love (?).

If this all seems too good to be true it’s because it is. Earl is having a pretty sad fantasy about getting love and respect from his boss, which is shattered by the screams of said boss to get in his trailer. The actual trailer is just as cold and miserable as usual. No fireplace, no hot toddy, no offers of an embrace, and perhaps not unexpectedly, no bonus. Earl actually gets handed four pencils, not to keep, but to sharpen. When he prods his boss about a bonus he’s met with an angry stare and confirmation that there is none. They do a little Looney Tunes bit where Earl tries to say there will be one, while Richfield says otherwise, but Earl being a dinosaur and all has never seen a Bugs Bunny cartoon so he doesn’t know how to turn the argument around in his favor. When Earl protests that he depends on the bonus, Richfield tells him that’s why he isn’t getting one. When you expect a bonus, it’s just salary. When Earl tries to tell him that he isn’t expecting one now, Richfield just remarks, “Good! Now you won’t be disappointed!” As Earl leaves dragging his tail behind, Richfield tells him not to tell anybody else about the no bonuses this year. He wants to tell them himself and describes it as a little holiday treat. I love Sherman Helmsley as Richfield, he is just so damn good at being a terrible boss.

At least Earl doesn’t try to hide his lack of a bonus from his family.

If you’re worried that this means we’re about to embark on an A Christmas Carol like plot involving Richfield then worry not. He’s beyond hope. Instead, Earl heads home with the bad news. We first find Charlene and Robbie preparing more decorations while watching TV. There’s a commercial about celebrating Refrigerator Day by giving paint which Robbie finds distasteful, but Charlene seems more open to Refrigerator Day commercialism. It’s followed up with a holiday greeting from the We Say So corporation about deregulation and corporate freedom. Wow, does it ring true in 2024. Following that is when Earl enters to summon the family to share the bad news. At first, Baby won’t let him share the bad news as he keeps interrupting to talk about his new found love of Refrigerator Day which involves drawing a refrigerator, drawing on the refrigerator, drawing on the walls, etc. Earl is finally able to get it out that he’s not getting a bonus and that they’re broke. Charlene sees no problems here because Earl already bought the presents. When her mother points out that they have no money to pay the bills she still fails to see a problem. Earl tries to reassure everyone that they’ll be okay. It’s the holiday season and everyone is more charitable at this time of year and more willing to wait for their money.

Avert your eyes, dear reader, it’s too gruesome!

We smash cut to the family’s refrigerator getting repossessed in front of a distraught Earl. Larry the repo dinosaur informs him he’s half a day late with his payment so the fridge has got to go. Earl tries appealing to the guy by pointing out his children and that it’s Refrigerator Day. Baby has even latched into his leg, but his mother pulls him away. Larry informs the family that his boss demands that they take the appliance that leaves the biggest mark and puts them under the most pressure, hence why the fridge goes. Earl refers to the guy’s boss as an evil man, which Larry confirms also while adding that he did give them all a nice holiday bonus. With the fridge gone, Earl is left to confront his own failure. He declares himself lower than dirt and despite his family trying to console him he announces that this will be the worst Refrigerator Day ever!

Earl is not coping well.

Earl rises the next morning and, out of habit, saunters over to where the refrigerator would normally be. When he discovers it gone, he becomes delirious and basically starts sobbing. The rest of the family retreat to the living room where Fran shares an idea she has with her kids: they take the presents back to the store, get their money back, and use it to buy back their fridge! Charlene is so disgusted by the suggestion that she can’t even form a proper analogy to describe what it would be like to have no presents on Refrigerator Day, but one look at their father singing to himself while holding ice trays is enough to convince the others. It’s here we find out that the concept of returning purchased goods to a store is a completely foreign concept in dinosaur society. Fran acknowledges it’s an odd thing to do, but thinks they have to try. Meanwhile, Earl seems to be getting even more delirious and cries out that they’re starving. Fran reminds him that they’re fasting, but Earl points out that fasting is a choice. They have no food and therefore are starving. He’s pretty logical when he wants to be.

These two just can’t wrap their heads around the idea of returning bought merchandise.

We next find the family at Kave Mart, a pun that is generic enough to still work today, but is obviously a pun on K-Mart which no longer exists or barely does. Fran and the kids carry in their wrapped gifts and approach a clerk about returning them. He seems puzzled, but says okay and tells them to just put them whereever. When Fran explains that she also wants her money back he gets real confused. He calls in his co-worker Hank to try and figure this out. It’s basically a very straight-forward discussion on logic: why would a store, which already has enough product, buy back its own merchandise? And why would someone like Fran try to sell something without making a profit? This is what it’s like to have a discussion with a libertarian. The two clerks get a bit angry with Fran thinking she’s trying to pull a fast one before declaring that the only way they would be willing to buy merchandise would be if they paid wholesale. Fran reluctantly accepts despite the protests of Robbie who rightly points out that they’ll get practically nothing for these items. What kind of fridge could they possibly get selling these items back to the store for far less than what they paid?

Refrigerator Day is saved?

A Styrofoam cooler, that’s what. We smash cut to the not-fridge while Ethyl takes a gander as Fran informs her mother it was all they could afford. Earl enters to wish everyone a happy Refrigerator Day, but in a very gloomy manner. He informs them he wanted to give them the presents he bought, but it seems they’ve been stolen so he’s going to head to the garage to hang himself. Fran intercepts Earl’s suicide march to tell him the gifts weren’t stolen and they returned them to the store to buy back their fridge. Earl can hardly believe it and nearly becomes overwhelmed with emotion, until he sees the new fridge. He’s back to feeling suicidal as he apologizes to Baby for ruining his first fridge day and implores him to take a whack at his dome with a pot as he so often does. Baby declines which makes Earl feel like an even bigger failure. Ethyl is there for him though as she strikes him across the belly with her cane reminding him that she’ll always be here for him, “Fat boy.”

And now Earl’s own son has rejected the proposal of inflicting violence upon his skull. Could this day get any worse?

It’s at this point that Fran feels inclined to remind everyone what Refrigerator Day is all about. She reminds them all the day is for them to reflect back on their ancestors who have nothing and appreciate all that they have today. She tries to throw it back at Earl by declaring them blessed, but he’d still rather head to the garage and hang himself. Fran stops Earl to inform him that they are going to do the annual Refrigerator Day pageant. Earl replies, “At the risk of sounding immature – I don’t want to!” and stamps his feet. Fran pushes past him to say then they’ll do it without him as the kids follow along behind her. I’m finding it hard to believe that teenagers would go along with a family pageant, but they are a different breed from me.

Now here’s a custom I can do without.

We cut to Ethyl reading from a book, “And now it can be told…the True Story of Refrigerator Day.” It’s essentially a parody of A Visit From Saint Nicholas/Twas the Night Before Christmas. Come to think of it, that’s what this holiday is lacking. A cosmic being who spreads presents and good cheer. Actually, the story is more like the first Thanksgiving complete with pilgrim-like costumes. Earl reluctantly takes part while the rest are fairly enthusiastic. We learn the story of the holiday is that the patriarch of this story heard a voice demanding he build a box that’s cold inside. The dinosaurs stopped migrating and constructed their box. They do, and the family has a little, prop, fridge for their story. As its told, to make it cold they were going to toss it in a lake, until the daughter discovered it had an electrical plug. The play ends with the family singing a “Fridge Carol” that sounds like “The Feast of Stephen.” It’s a crazy holiday, but when you get right down to it, Christmas is pretty wacky too. And don’t get me started on Easter!

It’s a Refrigerator Day miracle!

Performing in the pageant has done wonders for Earl’s mood. He declares his love for the pageant while someone is at the door. It’s the guys from Kave Mart! They’ve brought back their fridge and all the presents from before. Refrigerator Day hadn’t been stolen, it came just as before! Actually, there was no change of heart or visit from three ghosts. The store just figured out that a return policy like the one Fran proposed is a huge, money-making, idea and to buy off the Sinclair family from claiming credit for it they’re being bribed with their old refrigerator and gifts. Earl even gets his bonus and the store also installed snow machines on the roof for ambience. All they have to do is sign away all rights to the return policy idea which Earl is happy to do.

With everything all wrapped up in a neat, Refrigerator Day, package, there’s nothing left to do but celebrate. The children gather around the refrigerator while Earl and Fran reflect on what they have. The image is framed like a greeting card with the cast and crew of Dinosaurs wishing us all the happiest of Refrigerator Days!

The Sinclairs get a happy ending, but they’re also swindled out of a million dollar idea.

It’s not exactly Christmas, but it’s just Christmas with a different name. Dinosaurs took a conventional plot, oddly one also utilized by The Simpsons which Dinosaurs was sometimes accused of ripping off, but they found a way to turn it on its head. The concept of a return policy is completely off the wall in this consumerist society. The world of Dinosaurs is one dominated by We Say So which basically has a monopoly on everything. Do they own Kave Mart? Probably. The bit at the store is great and the show has several expertly crafted cuts to drive home its own brand of satirical, sometimes dark, humor.

It’s that dark humor that can possibly rub some the wrong way. We have multiple suicide jokes and the Richfield character is truly detestable. I find it all pretty damn hilarious, but that’s just me. The characters emote really well and this episode contains a rare additional set in the form of the department store. The one criticism I have of the show is it often takes place in very familiar locations, but that’s because new sets are really expensive. The extras, like the clerks and repo man, are basically stock costumes that get used and reused constantly throughout the show. Sometimes they change up the voices and sometimes they stick with the same ones. It’s almost like a fourth wall situation where the dinosaurs are just actors in this show we’re watching and they play the roles expected of them.

Every Christmas episode should end with a faux greeting card.

Dinosaurs is a terrific little 90s gem of a series. If you remember it somewhat negatively as “The Baby Show” then know that your memories are inaccurate. While Baby was a breakout star, he wasn’t relied upon to do a lot of heavy lifting outside of an episode here and there. It really is a family sitcom, but one that’s not at all sweet or mild and it really leans into the satire. It has a lot of Muppets-styled timing with some of the jokes, but it’s far more focused and lacks that intentional corn of its more famous predecessor. If you have never watched it definitely give it a try especially if you’re a fan of other Jim Henson productions. It’s a pretty unique show and it’s all available on Disney+ so it’s pretty accessible by today’s standards. And remember, while you’re drinking down your nogg and opening presents, think about those who made our refrigerator possible and thank them. If you want to know their names, go check Wikipedia or something. I’m busy decorating for Refrigerator Day.

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 2 – Justice League – “Comfort and Joy”

In 1995, Warner Bros felt it was a big enough entity that it could launch its own broadcast television network. Dubbed The WB, it would try to compete with the big four of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, but never really achieved that level of success which is why it no longer exists. The strategy…

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by Joe

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December 1, 2024

Dec. 1 – Mickey’s Orphans (1931)

By Joe
Original release date December 5, 1931.

It’s December 1st and you know what that means – time for Christmas specials! Not to “well, actually,” myself, but the Christmas special viewing season began before today in my house as it’s annually the day after Thanksgiving. What you may call Black Friday, I dub the start of the Christmas Special Season. And this year, it’s a shorter than usual one since Thanksgiving occurred on the 28th of November which is the latest the holiday can take place which means we have less time than usual to squeeze in some favorite seasonal viewing.

Not that any of that has any impact on this year’s edition of The Christmas Spot. It’s always 25 days of 25 festive topics which most often take the form of a holiday special walkthrough. It’s actually been years since I did something other than a holiday special on one of the 25 days of Christmas (sorry Family Channel/ABC Family/Freeform/Whatever you’re called now, I’m stealing your bit) – will this year change that? I don’t know! I just know I have my work cut out for me.

It’s always a Mickey Mouse cartoon, never Mickey and Minnie. Poor Minnie.

To kick things off this December I am righting a wrong. It was many years ago I made a post about Christmas specials staring Mickey Mouse. You know that guy, right? He’s often celebrated as the first global cartoon star following his debut in 1928. I have no idea if that is accurate or not, there were a lot of cartoon characters that came before Mickey, but when you’re a company as big and powerful as The Walt Disney Company and you’ve lasted longer than many of your competitors you basically get to write your own history. I think we can all agree that Mickey is pretty damn popular and recognized around the world even to this day as the brand ambassador of a mega-corporation. He’s even still starring in current Christmas specials and probably will continue to do so long after many of us expire.

Oswald got to do Christmas first where he tried to bring Christmas to some poor kids. Only in his cartoon, it was the home of the children that got wrecked, not Oswald’s.

Back when I did that post though, I failed to mention Mickey’s first ever Christmas cartoon: Mickey’s Orphans. Released in 1931, it stars Mickey (Walt Disney), Minnie (Marcellite Garner), and Pluto and features the characters taking in some orphaned kittens (mice taking care of kittens – how absurd) on Christmas. The Wikipedia entry for the cartoon states it’s a remake of an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon (that guy who was famous before Mickey) titled Empty Socks. Well, I’ve watched Empty Socks and I don’t see how it could be classified as a remake. That cartoon features Oswald playing Santa for some orphans (who also happen to be feline) and they’re basically brats and they actually end up burning down the house. This one has the orphans coming to Mickey’s house and, yes, they’re pretty destructive. I can see how the Oswald short influenced this one, but calling it a remake seems like it goes too far.

This being a short from 90+ years ago, it should come as no surprise that it’s in black and white and the audio and visual quality isn’t exactly pristine. Mickey cartoons are often cited as being technically great, but not as entertaining as the stuff from Warner Bros or even the later cartoons from Disney staring Donald Duck. As someone who has watched a lot of cartoons from that era, I can mostly go along with that. Mickey cartoons tend to feature a lot of just singing and dancing. There are some that are quite entertaining though, and on a technical level even the oldest ones can often impress in some way. Mickey became more of a bland every man character much later into the 30s when he could play off of his more comedic sidekicks, Donald and Goofy. In ’31 he was allowed to be a bit less polished, more of a rascal, though this being a Christmas cartoon in which he takes in orphans don’t expect a whole lot of that stuff. He’s actually just going to roll over and take it in this one.

This individual isn’t even going to bother with the church, apparently.

The cartoon begins with a robed figure walking through the snow at night. The wind is howling and it’s whipping the individual’s ragged clothing around. The figure is carrying what looks like a picnic basket with its right arm. It’s a nice shot that doesn’t rely on a repeating background and “Silent Night” is helping to set the mood as a somber one. The individual then comes to a warmly lit house and we hear Minnie Mouse before we see her. The individual looks through a window to find Minnie playing “Silent Night,” but not singing it (she just keeps saying “La la la” because I guess she has trouble with lyrics), at a piano. I think? I don’t know, it has two large pedals that she’s working over. Nearby, we see Mickey decorating the Christmas tree. Each time he places an ornament we hear a little chime. He grabs two candy canes and then taps the ornaments in time with the music. We pan over to see Pluto asleep by the fire. He’s looking well fed as he snores.

I guess two mice can be parents to a cat. Why not?

Outside, the ragged figure runs over to the front door and lays the basket down in front of it. The person picks up a bundle from inside it, kisses it, then places it back in the basket and rings the doorbell. They take off as Mickey opens the door. An eager Pluto runs out and returns quickly with the basket. He sniffs at it, and from inside pops out a little kitten. Pluto doesn’t seem thrilled, but Mickey happily scoops up the little fella and brings it over to Minnie. She thinks it’s adorable, though it’s oddly hostile towards Mickey as it bites him on the finger. He’s such a good-natured man-mouse though that he laughs it off. Meanwhile, Pluto is still sniffing around that basket and soon another kitten pokes its head out and whacks him on the nose. Then an impossible amount of kittens burst forth!

That must have been some kind of magic basket to fit all of these kittens in it. Maybe they have a future as a gang of clowns?

The kittens soon overrun the place swinging on clocks, bouncing on pianos, and pulling on poor Pluto’s ears and tail. Another kitten has displaced the couple’s parrot in its cage while another group ride a chandelier like an amusement park ride. Mickey gets his tail tied around his ankles and there’s a long shot of the kittens just going nuts in the living room. To their credit, Mickey and Minnie seem unphased by all of this as they continue to smile. Minnie whispers an idea into Mickey’s ear, who in turn does the same with Pluto. The two soon depart, but not before Mickey grabs a deer mount from the wall. I wonder what they could be up to?

Hey! It’s food or a fashion accessory, not both!

With Mickey gone, it means Minnie has to look after all of the kittens. One needs help blowing its nose while another is tugging her skirt and seems anxious about something. I thought maybe it dirtied its diaper, but apparently the little tyke is just hungry. Minnie does what any responsible adult would do and gives the hungry toddler a candy cane. The little cat licks it all over then starts strutting around using it like an actual cane. That thing is going to get real gross real fast.

There was no way Mickey was going to star in his first Christmas cartoon and not play Santa.

Minnie then takes a seat at the piano once again. The pedals have strangely disappeared. She starts playing “Jingle Bells” which is apparently Mickey’s cue to come bursting through the front door. He’s dressed like Santa Claus and being pulled on a sleigh by Pluto who’s sporting the deer head like a helmet. Mickey is whipping him, which seems a bit cruel, and he’s apparently enjoying it since he has that same big, dopey, grin plastered on his face. When the sleigh comes to a stop, Mickey hops off with a big sack of presents, but the little monsters don’t even wait for him to start handing out gifts. They run him over and all dive into the sack. Each one comes running out with something until there’s nothing left, just a final kitten clutching the sack itself. It stops to ask Mickey, “Are you Santa Claus?” Mickey smiles and nods and the kid responds by blowing him a raspberry and tugging on his beard so hard that he topples over. Ungrateful brat!

This doesn’t even resemble playing anymore, they’re just hacking stuff to bits.

With the gifts distributed, the children return to their path of destruction. A series of them start a marching band and some have actual instruments while others are just banging on household items. The music is livelier now too and kind of sounds like it could be a version of “Ain’t We Got Fun.” Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound Christmassy. A bunch of the kids somehow got ahold of saws and hammers and we get to see them destroying Mickey and Minnie’s furniture. A bunch are also smashing other objects with more conventional toys while a trio of kittens wielding pop guns use them to break some stuff and blast Mickey in the bum. Meanwhile, the construction crew of kittens has moved on from the living room to the piano and they’re hacking that thing up. I guess they weren’t a fan of Minnie’s playing?

Mickey got to enjoy himself for maybe three seconds.

More destruction ensues as the kids smash windows and basically anything else of value in the house. A kitten comes riding by on a train (did you ever hear how Walt loved these things? Of course there’s a toy train in this picture) and smashes into Mickey. He does a flip and ends up seated on the caboose. He waves to Minnie as they drive by and she’s up on a sofa like she’s trying to escape the carnage, but the two happily wave to each other like their house isn’t getting demolished. I guess Walt pays them well. The kitten conductor drives the train under an end table so the back of Mickey’s head smashes into it and knocks him from his perch. Another kitten is shown shooting Pluto in the butt with a toy canon and when the dog runs into the wall the deer head he was wearing pops off and lands on his butt creating some weird chimaera of a creature that frightens the kid.

That’s…unsettling.

Mickey seems like he doesn’t know what to do, which just makes him more of a target. A kitten operating a toy steam shovel uses it to scoop coals out of the fireplace and drop them down Mickey’s pants. He starts hopping around which alerts the kitten fire brigade to come to his rescue. Two kittens come riding in on a toy fire truck and blast Mickey in the butt. He enjoys the relief it brings and just sort of stands there soaking it all in. Quite literally. On all fours. It’s an odd sight to be sure.

Oh, what a lovely tree! Surely those orphans will appreciate it!

Minnie then gets everyone’s attention with a little horn. She’s standing by a curtain and Mickey comes over to help her reveal what’s behind it by playing a drum. After a vintage drum roll, the curtain is pulled back to reveal the Christmas tree. It’s quite a lovely sight as it’s full of ornaments and lit with several candles. These things must have been extreme fire hazards back in the day. The kids all cheer and then attack! The tree has some more gifts under it, but the kittens cover the tree by climbing all over it and as they disperse what’s left behind is a standing, old, stick. Mickey and Minnie can only look on with shock and awe and for the first time there appears to be a twinge of sadness on their faces.

This is the shot we go out on. I don’t think it’s going to be a merry Christmas for the Mouse family.

If you think this is where the kittens realize they’ve been a naughty bunch and have treated these mice poorly, think again! Nope, there is no moral here as that’s the end. Mickey and Minnie can only stare at what’s left of their tree and are left to ponder what their Christmas might have been like if these wretched orphans hadn’t been dumped on them.

What a weird cartoon. It is similar to the Oswald short I mentioned coming in as in both some orphans just act like rotten kids and there’s no comeuppance for them. They just spread destruction at Christmas and that’s it. We’re supposed to laugh at their wickedness, I suppose, and that’s enough. We’re not really supposed to care about Mickey and Minnie and what’s left of their house. I suppose making sure orphans are in a safe environment at Christmas is something to aspire to. Minnie and Mickey’s physical possessions aren’t really that important, but these two take these kids into their home, go to great lengths to give them a special Christmas, and get nothing in return. It’s definitely not the kind of cartoon you would see starring Mickey Mouse in 2024.

Mickey is Mr. Nice Guy in this one, but he just gets crap for it.

There isn’t a whole lot to this one. There are some visual gags, but they’re not inventive or creative. It’s just kids being destructive in pretty standard ways. Mickey’s makeshift Santa entrance had a little cleverness to it, but it’s not like he used household objects to create toys like Grampy did in Christmas Comes But Once a Year. Visually, it’s a nice looking black and white short. Disney has always been on top of the animation game and that was true back then just as it so often has been throughout the decades since. The music is probably all public domain stuff. There’s a few Christmas numbers, and I think I even heard Beethoven, and it’s fine. There’s almost no dialogue save for the little kitten asking Mickey if he’s Santa and a few remarks by Minnie. The audio always comes across as more dated to me than the black and white visuals and that’s true here.

Mickey’s Orphans is a pretty unremarkable Christmas cartoon from the famous mouse, which is probably why it’s quite forgettable. There weren’t any scenes from this used in the broadcast of Mickey’s Christmas Carol like we saw with On Ice and Mickey’s Good Deed. Like a lot of what makes up the legend of Mickey Mouse, it mostly just gets credit for being first and not much else. Still, at only about seven minutes it’s hardly much of an investment of your time if you want to check it out. It can be found on YouTube and other free streaming platforms with ease as Disney isn’t very protective of its old black and white cartoons. If you want to own it then that’s a different story. This was released in the Walt Disney Treasures line on the very first Mickey Mouse in Black and White set, but it’s now long out of print and quite expensive. It’s also the only set I didn’t buy back when they were more affordable and that’s because these cartoons can be hard to sit through. Do I really want to spend all of that money just to say I own them even if I’ll never watch them all? The answer has, so far, been “No.”

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 1 – Christmas Comes But Once A Year (1936)

We’re back with another year of The Christmas Spot! And to kick things off this year we’re taking a look at a bonafide Christmas Classic. Christmas Comes But Once A Year may not be the household name that Rudolph and Frosty are, but for Gen X and millennial kids it’s probably familiar because it was…

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by Joe

Dec. 1 – 35 Years of The Christmas Tape

Welcome back to another year of The Christmas Spot! This year we’re kicking things off with a post I’ve been sitting on for a few years now. When I utter the title “The Christmas Tape,” I’m curious what comes to the minds of readers. It sounds both generic and specific and I suspect a few…

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by Joe

Dec. 1 – Frosty the Snowman

Welcome back, lovers of Christmas, to the 7th edition of The Christmas Spot! If you missed the introduction a few days ago, we’re doing things a little differently this year. Yes, you’re still getting a dedicated write-up each day through Christmas about a beloved or not-so-beloved holiday special, but this year we’re also going retro…

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by Joe

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November 21, 2024

Marvel Legends Deadpool & Wolverine Deadpool

By Joe
Time to make the chimichangas…again.

Despite the amount of reviews presents on this blog, I still do not consider myself a Marvel Legends collector. That’s because my interests are somewhat narrow when it comes to the Marvel brand. Over the years I’ve developed a fondness for Deadpool as depicted on film by Ryan Reynolds. I think the comic book character is fine, but I really like how the character has translated to live action. Which is unusual for me as typically I don’t care much at all about the live action versions of comic book characters. I enjoy the movies, when they’re good, but when it comes to toys just give me the comic book version.

“Hmm it’s probably a lot easier to hide all of the dried blook with a darker costume…”

Live action Deadpool appeals to me enough that years ago I picked up the Deadpool and Negasonic Teenage Warhead two-pack. I sold the Negasonic figure, but kept Deadpool as that was what I wanted. And it’s one of my, if not the, favorite Marvel Legends figure in my collection. I struggle to think of one I enjoy more. It wasn’t without some flaws, but generally speaking, it’s a fun figure with a great likeness. When it was announced that a new movie was coming I figured I’d be interested in any new Deadpool. If there was one thing about the old figure I wasn’t that crazy about it was the very muted shade of red. The new movie rectified that with a much brighter version of the Deadpool costume and it even added some little gold accents. The only question was how different was the figure itself from the one I already own?

Head is probably a little too big, or the body too small, but the details of the costume are pretty accurate.

Turns out, a lot. I’m guessing Hasbro had the digital files of that old figure still and used them to update the costume and create this new figure, but as far as cutting steel molds go this figure is almost entirely new. I can only say for certain that the hands are old as are the holsters for his swords (and the accessories are reused too), but the rest is different. Most of the differences are subtle as the previous figure had some distress marks throughout the suit and more visible wrinkles which this version has done away with. The chest has a different pattern to the costume as well as do the boots and holsters for the sidearms. It still very much feels like the same figure, but it’s different.

“See, I have swords, which are way less painful than blades that pop out of your fist.”

These differences all help to make this new version of Deadpool look like the one we see onscreen in Deadpool & Wolverine. And that makes a lot of sense since that’s what it’s supposed to do. The figure stands around 6.325″ making it a touch shorter than Wolverine. Jackman and Reynolds are close in height in real life with Jackman the slightly taller of the two, though onscreen they appear pretty damn close to equal. I’ve seen some express dissatisfaction with this Deadpool figure’s height, but I’m not bothered by it. The figure is mostly red plastic with the black and gold parts painted on. It has a better paint job than my old figure as the eyes are clean and there isn’t much overrun with the detail work. Some portions of the black are cast in black plastic. The holsters, for one, as well as the shoulders, wrist straps, and gloves. The feet are black as well with the red painted on and there the finish isn’t the same as it is with the other red. Perhaps it’s on purpose, but the red on the top of the boots is very glossy and a little darker than the rest of the suit.

“Ohhh, I should have seen that coming!”

The overall proportions for Deadpool are solid, certainly better than Wolverine. The head is probably a touch too big, but I like the shoulder placement and the torso shape. Could he be a little beefier? Yeah, probably, but it’s fine. Really, my only gripe with the look of the figure is that the bare plastic does give it a cheap look. This is consistent with a lot of Hasbro releases and even some higher end stuff like S.H.Figuarts. Give this guy a coat of paint and he probably would look a whole lot closer to “premium.” As it stands, he still looks good and the lighting of your display will either help to make the figure look better or look worse.

Oldpool has the edge when it comes to accessories.

Unfortunately, as was the case with Wolverine, this Deadpool figure is lacking some when it comes to accessories. Only in this case it’s made more obvious since we just saw the previous Deadpool get re-released with a bunch more stuff. For weapons, you get what is expected: two katana, one knife, and two sidearms. The sidearms are no longer glued into the holsters and are fully useable. The previous movie Deadpool had them glued in for some reason, but he also came with two additional handguns which were molded to make them appear to be mid-fire, which was cool. We don’t get those here nor do we get the extra hands. This Deadpool just has a set of gripping hands and trigger hands. The previous Deadpool had a set of fists and and a set of open, style posed hands. Deadpool is a very expressive character so it’s a shame to see the extra hands get axed. I’m not disappointed that Hasbro didn’t include the stuffed unicorn accessory again, but why not the hands? We’re also still lacking an unmasked portrait. It’s something consistently missing from movie Deadpool figures. Are companies just cheap and don’t want to pay for the likeness rights? Or is Ryan Reynolds averse to having his likeness (albeit a heavily distorted one via the makeup) cast in plastic for some reason?

“I do not respond well to my own failings!”

The sculpt for this guy may be new, but the articulation is exactly the same. It’s just as functional as before, but also just as dated as Wolverine. The main issue is the lack of a ball joint in the torso. Instead, we get the old ab crunch with a waist twist. It’s more of an issue with Deadpool since he’s basically a ninja and is a character that should be able to hit as many poses as humanly possible for an action figure. His gripping hands also have the wrong hinge for articulation as they’re sporting a horizontal one. The trigger hands have the proper vertical hinge, but they unfortunately are too loose for a satisfactory grip of the swords.

Some effect parts and more hands would have been cool, but honestly this is a pretty solid release.

This Deadpool is basically more of the same when it comes to movie Deadpool figures. If you like the old ones and want to see a deco more appropriate for Deadpool & Wolverine, then by all means go ahead and grab this one. It’s not as good a value, but he probably has the bare minimum, at least. If you don’t like the articulation of the old release or really lament the absence of a Ryan Reynolds portrait then this release won’t solve those problems for you. I ended my Wolverine review from the same film with the thought that while it was a flawed release, it nailed the Hugh Jackman portrait which was something other action figures weren’t providing making it perhaps a worthwhile investment. With Deadpool, the opposite is true as we are likely to receive a superior action figure in the form of the Bandai S.H.Figuarts movie Deadpool which has more hands, expressions, and effects. It’s also more than triple the price. If you only want one Deadpool and aren’t opposed to spending more money, that’s a figure that might make you happier. If cost is more of a priority then this will probably do fine.

We have more Deadpool & Wolverine and just Deadpool in general:

Marvel Legends Deadpool 2 Two-Pack

Look through my various toy reviews and you’ll probably notice that I’m not much of a Marvel guy. That wasn’t always the case for me though as I was huge into Marvel Legends once upon a time. I basically stopped around the time Hasbro was awarded the Marvel license. I felt there was a dip…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Series 6 – Deadpool

In celebration of the release of Deadpool 2 I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a look at one of my favorite action figures from the Marvel Legends line – Deadpool! Marvel Legends is a series of action figures that originated with the now defunct ToyBiz and is now owned by Hasbro.…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Deadpool & Wolverine Wolverine

It might be hard for the young folk to believe, but once upon a time movies based on comic book characters were treated like box office poison. Unless you were Superman or Batman, you just didn’t belong in cinema. Even those characters weren’t bulletproof. Superman had a nice run, but fizzled out with the fourth…

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by Joe

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November 14, 2024

Marvel Legends Deadpool & Wolverine Wolverine

By Joe
“Bet you thought it would never happen, bub.”

It might be hard for the young folk to believe, but once upon a time movies based on comic book characters were treated like box office poison. Unless you were Superman or Batman, you just didn’t belong in cinema. Even those characters weren’t bulletproof. Superman had a nice run, but fizzled out with the fourth flick while Batman basically did the same in the 90s. Still, 1989’s Batman was a massive hit in all of the ways Hollywood dreams up. It not only did well at the box office, but it was a cultural phenomenon with a hit soundtrack, tons of merch, and home video sales to back it up. Because it did so well, studios started to look at Batman as the blueprint for what could work in movie theaters when it came to comic book characters. If you couldn’t fit a franchise into that mold, then why bother? That’s probably why Spider-Man could never get off the ground despite someone always holding the option to start a film franchise. It’s also probably why a little known comic book hero in Blade did manage to sneak into theaters and actually do fairly well. And it meant that when it came time to bring the X-Men to film that franchise needed a dash of Batman.

“Why are you so short?”

This mainly manifested in the film’s look. Audiences weren’t going to believe a bunch of people in blue and yellow spandex could save the world. They’d look stupid, so out with the colors and in with the black. Almost all black, and since the film ended up being a hit I guess the lesson to take from X-Men was that approach worked, but was it the only way? When we finally made it to the now Marvel Cinematic Universe there seemed to be a willingness to just take the costumes people liked in print and just go with it. The Fantastic Four film franchise isn’t celebrated as a massive hit these days, but it made money with blue spandex. Spider-Man wore his traditional costume and faired well, so when Marvel got to Iron Man they basically let him do the same. Along with Captain America and, to some extent, Thor. Fox’s X-Men franchise still tiptoed around the subject, but eventually some of those comic blues made it in, but one thing we never got was Wolverine with the mask, with the yellow (or brown, for that matter), until a little movie called Deadpool & Wolverine.

Is this what we’ve wanted the whole time?

I didn’t do a review of Deadpool & Wolverine here. I probably should have, though it would have been lost in the many other reviews of the same. If I were to summarize it briefly, I’d call it Fan Service: The Marvel Way. It was plenty fun, maybe a little too long, but an overall enjoyable movie-going experience. It sure seemed like a big reason for the movie to exist was just to get Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into a movie with a proper Deadpool (not that abomination from the Wolverine movie) and in a costume more reflective of his comic book self. Mission accomplished. The only surprise was that Hasbro wasn’t at the ready with Marvel Legends figures at opening. Now, I suspect there’s a good reason for that. Marvel and Disney probably wanted to keep the whole Wolverine look under wraps for as long as possible, at least until that first big trailer, and in doing so froze out action figure makers. They need a long lead time to get product on shelves and it probably wasn’t doable. They did manage a filler wave of older releases to try and placate fans, but now we finally have the first go at proper Deadpool & Wolverine figures and today we’re looking at Wolverine.

And who could forget his trusty sidekick, Deadpool?

Wolverine stands at approximately 6.5″ to the top of his noggin and comes clad in that bright yellow and blue suit you’ve likely seen by now. By default, he’s sporting his cowl which is interesting because this figure depicts a version of the character unseen on the screen. That’s because he has his yellow sleeves. If you’ve seen the movie, and I suppose light spoilers if you have not, then you know he begins the movie with the yellow sleeves, but eventually discards them. Before doing so, we never see him with the mask on. That’s saved for a big reveal later. He could have worn the mask at any time so I guess this figure is sort of like a depiction of the character before we ever meet him when his life was presumably better. And had Hasbro withheld the masked portrait people would have likely complained. They’re complaining anyway, but we’ll get to that.

I hope you like yellow.

What stands out with this figure right away is holy yellow, Batman! Or Wolverine. The yellow is very bright, though not necessarily inaccurately so when compared with the film. It’s just that in the film Wolverine acquires a fair amount of grime pretty quickly which this figure does not reflect. The yellow is also bare plastic which gives it a cheap look. Yellow is a tough color to sell and it would not surprise me if a lot of would-be customizers out there give this guy a wash to dampen that effect. There is a lot of blue on the costume as well which is mostly painted on. It’s fairly clean and Hasbro also painted the little, silver, rivets on the front of the costume which is a nice touch (they’re unpainted on the back, a fairly common tactic utilized by Hasbro). The X emblem on the belt looks nice and there’s black mixed in with the blue on the gloves and boots. The yellow is also all textured so it’s not a smooth figure. It almost has a sandpaper feel to it.

Deadpool and Wolverine from the film.
Proportions aren’t great here.

There are good and bad things to be found with this sculpt. The somewhat cheap look is one of those bad things and another would be the almost frumpy look Wolverine has. If you’ve seen Hugh Jackman in the role, then frumpy is probably one of the last words one would use to describe Jackman’s Wolverine. We see a lot of these issues with the comic Legends figures, but it’s largely a matter of proportioning. His chest is very narrow and there isn’t much thickness to it either. It doesn’t taper in like a human’s torso (or superhero’s) should and the head is too big. The legs seem short and he’s got these wide, birthing, hips. Now, this is all an issue when you have the figure just standing straight up and down on your shelf. Widen his stance and the issue is mitigated, but there’s no hiding completely that this body shape is off. And that’s a shame, because I bet we’re going to see most of this figure again at some point in the future. The other noticeable blemish that shows up more in pictures than in-hand is the different shades of yellow. The torso is almost a pale yellow while the limbs are more vibrant. The torso feels a touch harder and it’s thinner which may be the cause of the discoloration because both are cast in yellow as opposed to painted.

That’s a good looking face.

What undeniably turned out well though are the portraits. Well, specifically one portrait, but the masked portrait is solid too. It’s a good likeness of Jackman in the mask from the film which, honestly, looks a little goofy, but this is what we wanted, damn it! The yellow paint on the bridge of the nose is a little dingy, but that’s what happens when you paint yellow over black. The facial hair is a little messy too and there’s some overlap of the flesh on the edges of the jaw opening. It will look okay on a shelf, but up close isn’t all that impressive. And that’s assuming you want to display Wolverine masked and I’m not sure many will because this Jackman alternate portrait is fantastic. I don’t know if any other company at any other price range is going to top this likeness. It’s uncanny how lifelike this looks. Sure, get up real close and you see that almost pixelated paint app that’s a result of the face printing Hasbro uses, but at half an arm’s length it’s going to look awesome. The paint for the beard will probably vary a little from figure to figure and there’s a missed spot near my figure’s right ear, but overall I am very happy with this portrait. It’s the main reason why I decided to get the figure since the import versions look like they won’t even have a Jackman portrait.

The extra set of hands are kind of worthless. Just stick with the claws.

Accessories with Marvel Legends are rarely a selling point these days. Aside from the stellar unmasked head, this figure just comes with a set of clawed fists, a non-clawed right fist, and a trigger finger left hand. He has no gun to shoot so I guess Wade will have to loan him one. The clawed hands are probably what most care about and they’re fine. Claws are fairly straight and look good. The yellow paint on the hands is a little like the yellow paint on the nose, but what are you going to do? My hands did have some excess yellow paint in places, but I got it off with a Magic Eraser sheet. Obviously, the big omission here is the lack of optional arm parts. I mentioned earlier how we only see Wolverine in the film with bare arms while wearing the mask and that was certainly needed here. Was Hasbro not aware of that detail when the figure was designed? It’s possible. Or, they looked at all of this unique tooling they had to do in order to create this figure and decided a double-dip was in order. They can re-release this figure, throw in some arms that may not even need to be tooled, and call it a day. Maybe we’ll get a new head or something. An angry masked head, a yelling non-masked (which they could also repurpose from another figure), or maybe just this figure with bare arms. Personally, the bare armed look is the one I like best. Wolverine just looks weird in sleeves, like he’s wearing pajamas. Because it feels like such a certainty, I definitely don’t blame anyone willing to play the waiting game.

“Oh great, now there’s two of them.”

Wolverine’ articulation is a little different from what we’re used to. The head is a double ball peg and while it’s not executed perfectly, it is better than most Hasbro double ball pegs as Wolverine can look up, down, and there’s some tilt at play. He doesn’t have a neck joint though so those low Wolverine crouches aren’t really in play. The shoulder joints are basically big ball pegs. It’s what a lot of import companies use, but they do it in tandem with other joints to create more range. This one doesn’t. There’s a black, floating, cap and some space cut out of the chest to get a little range going across the chest, but it’s minimal. There’s almost no range going back so I wouldn’t even consider this a butterfly joint of any kind. Perhaps worse is that the shoulder pads just peg onto the shoulder itself. And it’s a big old peg with no play which means the shoulder pads are static and will hinder range at the hinge. He can’t raise his arms out to the side a full 90 degrees and even rotation is a bit cumbersome. The bicep, double-jointed elbows, and wrists are fine. The trigger finger hand has a horizontal hinge which is mostly worthless.

“And I thought Gambit was horny.”

The torso features an old school ab crunch. It goes back basically one “click” and forward two clicks. There’s a little nuance in between clicks, but not much. It’s very limited and the lack of a ball joint there is unfortunate. The waist twist is just a waist twist. The belt is floating so it can get out of the way. The hips are big ball sockets. He can almost hit a split and kick forward about 90 degrees with no room going back. There’s a thigh twist, but it breaks up the pattern on his thighs which is one of those things that may bug me more than most. The double-jointed knees work as expected as do the ankle hinges and rockers. The gloves and boots appear to both be separate pieces, but there’s no rotation to them. Overall, I’d call the articulation mediocre to average. Wolverine not being able to rear back with a fist is pretty disappointing and I don’t know why they let the shoulder pads become such a problem. I’m guessing there was a reluctance to break up the sculpt in the chest, but I personally would have done so for a ball-jointed diaphragm joint as well as a neck joint. I guess we’ll have to look to another company if we want a super-articulated Wolverine.

Friends forever?

Hasbro’s first stab at Wolverine from Deadpool & Wolverine is a bit of a half-baked release. It’s lacking in accessories including a major one and doesn’t hit a homerun with the articulation. It’s sacrificing articulation for sculpt, but the sculpt isn’t exactly deserving of such reverence. It does however deliver an incredible likeness of Hugh Jackman in the form of the unmasked portrait. Even with the limited articulation, it’s still possible to pose away some of the sculpt’s shortcomings. Because fans have been waiting so long to see Jackman in such a costume, it feels a little bit like this is a figure from a company that knows the fans were going to eat it up no matter what. And as a result, they only managed to deliver a satisfactory product. Hey, I’m clearly part of the problem in this instance since I bought this even though I really wanted a version of the character sans sleeves. And I fully expect such a character to come out in 2025. Knowing it’s likely to happen makes this a hard recommend. If you just want an MCU Wolverine right now and the imperfections don’t bother you then I guess go for it. I think the future S.H.Figuarts Wolverine will be a better action figure, but it too appears to lack a set of bare arms and I don’t think it’s even coming with an unmasked head. Plus it costs more than triple the amount of this one so I guess what I’m saying is I understand anyone who decides that this is good enough for now. I clearly did and while I’m not entirely satisfied with the decision, I’m not exactly regretting it either. Maybe I will when and if I replace it with something better, but who knows when that will be? At least for right now I get to enjoy tiny Hugh on my desk.

Do you like Wolverine? Do you like Deadpool? Well, I’ve got some other stuff you can check out:

Marvel Legends X-Men Animated Series Wolverine

The toyline of my dreams was announced last October. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the television series X-Men, Hasbro is doing a dedicated line of Marvel Legends with figures based on the look of the show. The show was obviously inspired by the designs of Jim Lee, but there are differences in the…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Deadpool 2 Two-Pack

Look through my various toy reviews and you’ll probably notice that I’m not much of a Marvel guy. That wasn’t always the case for me though as I was huge into Marvel Legends once upon a time. I basically stopped around the time Hasbro was awarded the Marvel license. I felt there was a dip…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS Wolverine 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Action Figure

When San Diego Comic Con was cancelled for 2021, many of the entities that would have sold exclusive merchandise at the event pivoted to web sales. And since the 2020 iteration of the famed event was also canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many seemed to expect the same for 2021, or the massive delays…

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by Joe

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October 10, 2024

Jakks Pacific The Simpsons Homer and Bart

By Joe
Another company is taking a whack at The Simpsons.

I think it was early this year that we found out Super7’s line of ReAction and Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons was ending after just a couple of years. That meant Super7 was done after four waves of Ultimates! and four waves of ReAction figures. We had seen figures for a possible fifth wave and listings for another wave of ReAction figures, but they will never see the light of day. If you’re curious about my thoughts on that whole mess, check out my review of King Size Homer linked at the bottom of this entry. Safe to say, I was let down and really not surprised that Disney pulled the plug. Super7 took too long to bring figures to market and frustrated the fanbase with its character selection. And once the backlog was unleashed earlier this year, the quality took a nosedive as well which would have only further irritated Disney.

It is entirely my assumption that Disney ended the deal with Super7 largely over money in that they probably wanted more. They also apparently had another partner ready and willing to dive into The Simpsons in Jakks Pacific. Unlike Super7, Jakks is a company that specializes in low cost action figures and toys released at mass market retail. You have probably seen their figures based on various Super Mario Bros. licenses and Sonic the Hedgehog. The Simpsons is apparently their next mountain to climb and it’s possible that Jakks either wouldn’t do the deal with Disney or wasn’t willing to pay as much as Disney wanted without some kind of exclusivity over the license. For fans of the property, it basically just means we’ve swapped out one company for another. The approach of the two is very different and it remains to be seen what the finished product will look like for Jakks when it comes to selection, but for now we have a few figures we can look at and assess.

I don’t have any of the figures from Playmates, but I can show you how they scale with Super7 Ultimates!

The Jakks approach for The Simpsons is a lot like their video game figures in that there are basically two lines: a 2.5″ line and a 5″ line. I don’t actually know what the measurements of the smaller line are because I have yet to buy any. They are small though and minimally articulated. It looks like this line will be how Jakks gets play sets into market as there’s already a Homer and living room set. The 5″ line is the one I’m more interested in as it’s a more fully articulated line of figures. The 5″ scale also has the added benefit of fitting in with the old World of Springfield toy line from Playmates that existed in the early part of the century. There’s also a third tier, a deluxe line, that’s starting to come out. These figures will feature more paint and come with dioramas and special features. I’m not sure about that line at this time as the price is around $25 for those and I’m not seeing the value, but maybe I’ll change my mind. There’s also a talking Krusty doll (I have it, it’s great for what it is) and a roleplay item in the form of Moe’s telephone. I might have to get that too, but it’s very much a “toy” and something I don’t need (not like that ever stopped me).

And I can also show you how they scale with the Super7 ReAction line.

Wave One of the 5″ line contains four figures: Homer, Bart, Willie, and Otto. I have so far only managed to find the two Simpson boys, but I do hope to run into Willie and Otto at some point. The figures are sold in window boxes with the same licensing art across all of them. It’s fine and sturdy and if you’re an in-box collector the window is generous and provides for a good look at the figure inside. Each figure will retail for about $13 and it looks like the aim is to do a figure with at least one accessory. As a first wave, this seems like a solid approach to get two family members and two fairly prominent side characters. Otto was definitely more of a factor early in the show’s life, which I do kind of appreciate since it’s those long-time fans that are mostly likely to buy these. After Super7 failed to release any women in their main line though, I’m a little remiss that Jakks did the same. It looks like we won’t have to wait long though for such characters to arrive as Wave Two is set to include Lisa along with Krusty, Moe, and another Homer. I guess Marge will have to wait until the third wave.

The scale here is not great.

Homer and Bart follow a pretty similar approach. Homer is around 5″ tall while Bart is a tick under 4″. You will likely notice right away that the scale is pretty far off for the pair. Bart is way too big, but it’s basically the same scale as what Playmates did. Toy companies have a tendency to make the smallest characters in a property bigger than they should be while the largest characters tend to be smaller than they should be. In the case of Homer, I think his size is perfect. His proportions look pretty good and I really have no complaints there. Bart, in addition to being too big, also doesn’t look proportional to me. His head is huge relative to his body and his arms and legs are too long. The arms and legs I can excuse since it’s probably to help facilitate articulation, but he’s not a great looking figure. I pretty much bought him because he’s, well, Bart!

Homer actually scales pretty well with little Hugo here. I think I prefer the kids be just a little too small than too big.

Both figures feature minimal paint applications. There’s really almost none to speak of. On Homer, it’s possible the only paint is the black hair that zig zags around his head and the pupils of his eyes. His mouth and the white part of his eyes look like they may be separate pieces of colored plastic glued into place. It’s certainly the case with the eyes, while I’m less certain about the mouth. For Bart, his pupils are painted along with some of the parts of his shoes. And with the shoes, the only paint might actually be the white circles on the inside of his sneakers (something Super7 failed to paint) as the soles of his shoes are all white and there’s a little excess plastic around his socks which makes me think that too is a molded piece. It’s possible the blue is painted on and then the white circles over that.

Similarly, this new Bart doesn’t look too bad beside an Ultimates! Homer.

The lack of paint basically means these figures have a very glossy appearance. From a collector’s standpoint, it’s the thing that bothers me the most. Yes, I know, we’re talking about a very low price point here, but if just the heads were at least painted it would give these figures a much nicer aesthetic. The other issue that stands out for me are the portraits. Both characters have a hint of a smile that’s really only visible from the side or a 3/4 angle. From the front, there isn’t much personality to convey. The Simpsons are a pretty animated bunch and I would have liked some more personality. Something else that kind of bums me out is that the heads don’t feel like they’ll be easy to remove. If Jakks had planned it better, perhaps we could swap portraits with future Bart and Homer variants to create more expressive poses.

My favorite detail about Homer’s behavior at work is how he always just takes the box of donuts from the break room and heads into the bathroom.

This line is a fully articulated one and Homer and Bart probably have as much articulation as one would expect of a Simpsons line. It’s also the same setup for both. There’s a swivel head, ball-hinged shoulders, biceps swivel, single-jointed elbow, wrist swivel and hinge, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips, single-hinged knees, and ankle swivels. Bart’s thighs can also swivel where they meet his shorts, though it’s tight enough that I wonder if it’s intentional. I was also able to get his lower leg to rotate at the knee which I only did because his lower leg was inserted backwards out of the box. Again, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to do that, but it did. Homer’s elbow range is a little less than 90 degrees, while Bart’s is a little more. The waist joint is mostly a rotation point, but there’s a tiny bit of tilt all around on the ball joint there. It’s decent and probably enough for this brand. The arms are a little ugly since both characters are bare armed, but what are you going to do? I suppose a more collector focused line would do swappable arm parts instead of joints, but that clearly isn’t what Jakks is going for. The only joint that’s really worth criticizing is the lack of an ankle rocker. I suppose a simple ball joint for the head would also be superior to what we have.

Eating and skateboarding, that’s pretty much what both characters like to do most. Aside from maybe watch TV.

Both figures do feature a primary accessory. I suppose for Homer we technically have two. For Bart, it’s his skateboard which features a single peg at the rear of the board and purple wheels that really spin. The board itself is red plastic with stickers applied for the other colors. I always thought of Bart’s board as more orange than red, but it’s fine. Even though Bart’s right hand is a gripping hand, he doesn’t come with a slingshot or anything. For Homer, he has a pink box of donuts with an articulated lid. Inside the box, are eleven donuts which are non removable. There’s one missing because it’s separate and Homer can hold it. It has a big bite missing and it’s Homer’s favorite donut with the raspberry glaze. It too appears to be two pieces of different colored plastic glued together. That approach must be way cheaper than paint for Jakks to go through all of this trouble assembling tiny donuts.

Homer’s box of donuts turned out pretty well.

Overall, I would say these figures of Homer and Bart are pretty much as expected. They look cheap and they feel cheap because they are cheap. Now, they don’t feel fragile or anything and they have a nice weight to them, but they definitely don’t feel like a true “collectible.” I’m far more pleased with Homer than I am Bart and it has everything to do with the scale and proportions on Bart. I’m tempted to buy the 2.5″ Bart to see if I like how he fits with Homer and maybe making that my way of collecting the Springfield kids. I like how Homer looks with the ReAction Hugo so it gives me optimism that He’ll look good with the smaller Bart.

They might not be the figures we want, but maybe they’re what we deserve?

If you’re looking to start another collection of The Simpsons action figures, these are currently showing up at both Target and Walmart and have been for quite a few weeks now. It actually took me awhile to find a Bart that didn’t have misaligned pupils which is what took me so long to get to them. Amazon is also selling the first wave and they can be found at other online retailers. The figures should retail for about $13 so it’s definitely an affordable line, but you also get what you pay for. I’m largely interested in this line and I do plan to buy more, but I’m not excited about it. It’s mostly a feeling of acceptance that is driving me to buy these as more than anything they just remind me of what I want from the brand. And that’s 5″ scale figures with more paint and more accessories. Not so much accessories in the form of “stuff,” but just in extra expressions via portraits and hands. I can pose Homer with his donuts, but his mouth isn’t open to bite into one nor can he just drool over them. These figures are very sterile, but The Simpsons should be anything but.

If these figures from Jakks Pacific aren’t really doing it for you, maybe you’ll like the stuff Super7 did:

Super 7 The Simpsons Ultimates! King-Size Homer

Well, we’ve done it. We’ve reached the last figure in Super7’s line of Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons. Did we save the best for last? No, not really, but I am happy to say today’s figure is definitely not the worst. And this fourth and final wave has featured multiple contenders for worst…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Kang and Kodos

We are onto the third wave of Ultimates! from Super7 based on The Simpsons. Like past waves, plenty of questions abound when it comes to Super7’s character selection and they’re not unfounded. Perhaps the two most questionable inclusions in this third wave are the subject of today’s post: Kang and Kodos. These are two separate…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Bartman

When I concluded my review of wave 1 of The Simpsons Ultimates! from Super7 I was thinking that I’d be back with more reviews later in the year. That was in February of 2023. We are now in April of 2024 and finally wave two has arrived (my original order was place January 5th, 2022).…

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July 17, 2024

Star Wars – The Acolyte

By Joe
The Acolyte (2024, Disney)

It’s fine.

Looking to read some more Star Wars reviews?

Star Wars: The Vintage Collection Boba Fett (Vintage Comic Art)

I’ve been collecting action figures in some capacity for my whole life, and it occurred to me now that I’ve never owned the Fett man. That’s Boba Fett, who is one of the most iconic characters from Star Wars and also pretty noteworthy in the world of action figures. I am not the place for…

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by Joe

Star Wars The Black Series Mandalorian Warrior (Holiday Edition)

We’re getting to Christmas coverage at The Nostalgia Spot one day early this year with this look at one of the latest in the Holiday Collection from Hasbro’s Star Wars line of action figures referred to as The Black Series. I have previously looked at a figure from the very popular streaming show The Mandalorian…

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by Joe

Star Wars: The Vintage Collection Dark Trooper

I’m back with another Star Wars action figure review! Actually, I don’t do these very often. This is only the third such review out of me because I usually don’t collect Star Wars. Sure, I think the franchise is fine and I did collect figures as a kid, but it’s not something I’m drawn to…

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by Joe

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Television

June 13, 2024

Super 7 The Simpsons Ultimates! King-Size Homer

By Joe
Homer is large and, more or less, in charge.

Well, we’ve done it. We’ve reached the last figure in Super7’s line of Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons. Did we save the best for last? No, not really, but I am happy to say today’s figure is definitely not the worst. And this fourth and final wave has featured multiple contenders for worst in the line. I don’t wish to beat a dead horse, but for whatever reason this fourth wave was pretty terrible. Even the figures that look fine, like last week’s Drederick Tatum, suffer from inexcusable levels of quality control. How hard is it to make sure an arm or a leg fits properly? I don’t know. A lot of toy companies seem to have no issues with such things, but Super7 has certainly made it look challenging with this line.

A much wider Homer than we’re used to.

King-Size Homer comes from the episode of the same name from the show’s seventh season. It is our second Homer Simpson in this short-lived line of action figures which normally wouldn’t seem like something that stood out, but here it does considering we never got a Marge or a Lisa in the line. The company that made it a point to include a female character in each wave of its Mighty Morphin Power Rangers line didn’t seem to find any value in doing the Simpson women before double-dipping on Homer. Cool. At least this Homer is a little more of a popular variant than wave one’s Deep Space Homer. Not that Homer going to space wasn’t a memorable episode, it’s just that there are a lot of Homer variants I would have gone with over that one. I still would have chosen several over this version as well, but I concede that of all the various Homer Simpson looks he’s had in the show, this is among the most memorable. And it’s way better than Dancing Homer or Homer the Vigilante, though it’s no Mr. Plow.

Oh look, he’s monologuing again.

King-Size Homer comes in the standard box with no slipcover, as has been true of every figure in this wave. If you’re unfamiliar with the episode, this gargantuan Homer is the result of him trying to gain a bunch of weight to be declared medically obese and thus eligible to work from home. As evidenced by his appearance here, Homer was pretty successful in packing on the pounds (thank you Play-Doh doughnut) and achieved his dream. Homer stands at right around the 7″ mark which is more or less in-line with the wave one figure, only now he possesses far more girth. He’s in his floral moo-moo and comes packaged with his “fat guy hat” and has an optional soft goods cape. Since this Homer is far bigger than the last, everything here is new sculpt and it looks pretty good. Homer has his much girthier neck and even his hands have been enlarged to match the show.

This sort of thing drives me nuts.

As for the paint, well it’s again another mixed bag. Unlike that first wave Homer, this one is done in yellow plastic and not painted over. There is a matte coat to cut down on the shininess of the plastic, but he has a cheaper look than that first Homer as a result, but it also puts him in-line with Devil Flanders, Burns, and Ralph. The strands of hair atop his head are done with soft plastic and with Homer it works far better than it does with Ralph. Unfortunately, he’s packaged wearing his hat and the default head on my figure has some warped hair as a result. It also has a blob of white paint on the back of the head too. The garment he’s wearing looks okay and the flowers are painted cleanly, but they did a thing that really annoys me. Since Homer has a cut for articulation in the torso, some of the floral pattern gets broken up and if you line-up one flower it doesn’t line up all of them. The cape looks nice at least and it’s well-tailored. It might be a tad on the small side, but it’s not as if it gets lost when he’s wearing it. It just slips over the head and it completes the look. The paint on the shoes and eyes is hit or miss. Some portraits look good, while others have a sloppy edge to the eyes. My Homer’s right shoe has a chunk of white missing around the sole.

Reaching broom included.

For accessories, Homer comes with various items from the episode that should look pretty familiar. For heads, we get one with a slight smile, a side-eyed angry expression, and one where he’s making his “Ooo” mouth. It’s basically the same expression that Deep Space Homer came with, which is one I like, but it feels a little redundant. For hands, Homer has fists and that’s really the only “set” he has as the rest are specialized hands. He has a gripping left hand which seems intended to work with his ice cream cone (Ooo, raspberry). The cone looks fine and comes close to matching Ralph’s alternate head which I suppose is nice for symmetry. There’s a different-shaped gripping right hand and that’s intended to work with Homer’s “reaching broom.” In the episode, Homer sits on the couch watching TV and utilizes the broom to just whack the keyboard of his work computer so it seems like he’s doing something. The broom-head has sculpted indentations for his fingers and thumb to slot into and he gets a pretty good grip on it. Sadly, his articulation is lacking so he can’t really use it as intended, but we’ll get to that. There’s also an open left hand and that one works well with the famous drinking bird. This is the bird Homer got from his brother Herb in the season three episode “Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes” and it’s a novelty toy. It returns as Homer’s assistant in the episode. The bird is articulated so you can simulate the pendulum effect it’s supposed to have. The sculpt and paint are fine, and this is an accessory Homer had to come with. Lastly, Homer has a pointing right hand and his medal which he is awarded at the end of the episode for using his ass to prevent the release of deadly, poison, gas.

At least they got this guy in.

It’s a solid spread of accessories and I think Super7 keyed in on the right objects from the episode to give Homer. They could have given him a computer, but as we saw with Ralph, without something to put the PC on it serves little purpose. I would have preferred an expression that could work with the ice cream cone, but I suspect that didn’t happen because he can’t reach his face. There is absolutely one thing missing though and it’s Homer’s sign from the episode that reads “Give Me Ride or Everybody Dies.” Really, that scene should have been priority for Super7. Cut the pointing hand and replace it with a hitchhiker’s thumb. Cut either alternate portrait and give us exasperated Homer with his hair limp. When you’re going to do these episode specific action figures you really need to hit on the episode’s best jokes and Super7 certainly whiffed on that one.

They’ve been staring at this bird for hours.

As for the articulation I’ve been teasing, what is there really to say? It’s terrible. Just look at this guy. It was going to be bad and it is as expected. He is basically a statue with arms that swivel. The head is the only aspect of the figure that has moderate range, because the rest does not. The elbows are poor, the diaphragm twist adds little, and the garment renders the leg articulation absolutely useless. They could have done absolutely nothing with his legs and the figure probably would not have suffered for it. I’m not going to kill Super7 for the articulation here because there isn’t much that can be done with a comically obese Homer Simpson. Maybe if they had done all of the clothes with soft goods it would have allowed for the legs to have some utility, but to do what, really? I guess it would be cool if he could sit down, but the line didn’t last long enough for Super7 to deliver a couch. The only thing that sucks is the lack of a vertical wrist hinge so he could properly wield his reaching broom. The cape at least has a wire, so you can add some dramatic flair to your Homer, but this is a figure that is just going to stand there.

You’re probably not getting that cone much closer to his face.

King-Size Homer isn’t exactly a homerun Homer, but he’s a cromulent one. The look, aside from my nitpick with the floral pattern, is on-model and while I bemoan the lack of yellow paint at least the finish is a matte one. The accessories are also pretty solid and the figure looks good with or without the costume accessories in the form of the hat and cape. I’d be a lot higher on the figure if Super7 had nailed the “Give Me Ride or Everybody Dies” scene and if this figure carried the standard MSRP of $55. It does not and instead will set you back $65. I guess because there is a minor uptick in plastic versus some of the other figures? Hell if I know why it’s more money since one would assume Homer is going to sell the best out of all of the figures in the wave. I can kind of see charging more for an obscure character like Drederick Tatum, but a popular version of Homer? The pricing is absurd, but is functionally moot since this line is dead. This figure is all but guaranteed to hit the clearance rack before long so you need only wait it out if you want a better deal.

The only award this line will ever receive.

And that’s a wrap on Super7’s journey with The Simpsons. It got off to an odd start given the confusing character selection and long wait for wave one. Plus the thing with Moe’s apron wasn’t great, but remedied in a fairly painless fashion. I felt the quality of the first two waves was pretty damn good though and the figures were about as good as I think could be expected of Super7. The issues with those figures were just the choice of characters and I suppose disagreements over accessories. Starting with the third wave though, the quality took a hit in particular with Burns and Ralph and this fourth wave was practically a disaster. King-Size Homer is the only figure in the wave without blatantly obvious quality control issues. I suppose the only good thing for Super7 is that waves 2, 3, and 4 basically all arrived at the same time so the line didn’t experience a gradual decline, it just went off a cliff.

“Way to lower the quality of the line, Flanders!”

It leaves me wondering what will be the legacy of Super7’s take on The Simpsons? I’m guessing it will be viewed as a failure considering a great many fans were unhappy about the character selection and we know the intent was to pivot away from this approach with the canceled fifth wave. It should have a “missed opportunity” vibe, but did we really miss out on much? If the fourth wave is any indication then no, because it can be assumed the fifth would have sucked just as hard. The majority of this line was just flat-out not worth the money and yet the price kept going up while the figures were getting worse. That’s a pretty bad combination. The figures also lack an attention to detail that would have made it feel like truly hardcore Simpsons fans were in charge at Super7. Lacking that charm, there’s no pull. I don’t see these figures appreciating in value and becoming something fans who missed out on chase down ten years from now. Maybe they will the ReAction figures which were actually pretty well done. Perhaps I should make a post on them because they were certainly more deserving of your money than the Ultimates! line and they actually form a cohesive display, premature death and all. In the end, The Simpsons and Super7 is just a thing that happened. If the line has any sort of lasting ramifications it may be something we look back on as the beginning of the end for Super7’s Ultimates! because the company’s reputation certainly didn’t get better by producing this line.

Here it is, for better or worse, the entire assortment of Simpsons Ultimates! by Super7.

Missed any of our Simpsons Ultimates! coverage?

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Drederick Tatum

We have looked at 15 figures from Super7’s line of Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons and we’re about to look at the 16th. What I’m wondering at this stage is do I need to keep talking about the baffling character selection? Yes, yes I do. Drederick Tatum is today’s figure, the show’s Mike…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Radioactive Man

Last week, we started on our journey through the fourth and final wave of Ultimates! from Super7 based on The Simpsons. It did not start well. Devil Flanders represented a new low point for the line and maybe for Super7 as a whole. I know I certainly do not own a worse Super7 figure than…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Devil Flanders

Last week, we concluded our look at the third wave of Super7’s line of figures based on The Simpsons and now we embark on the fourth and final wave. That’s right, Disney pulled the rug out from under Super7 and handed The Simpsons license over to Jakks. Their products will start rolling out this fall.…

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by Joe

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

June 10, 2024

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Rogue – Limited Edition

By Joe
Rogue is here to add a little drama to your shelf.

The conclusion of X-Men ’97‘s first season has left behind a void. For 9 consecutive Wednesdays, we had something awesome to get up for. Now the long wait for a second season has begun, but here to help fill the void while we wait is Mondo. Mondo has been dishing out some very impressive sixth scale action figures based on X-Men, the ’92 version. I’ve been waiting since that show debuted for action figures dedicated to that show that match the quality and accuracy that I want from a figure line. I probably wouldn’t have selected this scale for such a line, but basically everything else has been great. And now here to bolster the ranks of the X-Men is the best female member of the team: Rogue.

The only surprise with the packaging is that they didn’t use the storyboard from the Apocalypse episode. You know the image I’m thinking of.

X-Men was my formal introduction to the character Rogue. I had seen her on the cover of comics, but always in her 80s look. When the cartoon debuted I only knew the two characters were the same because of her unique hair color. Rogue, despite looking like a super model, is the muscle of the team. She can knock a Sentinel’s head clear off with a punch and look good while doing it, but like all good characters her powers come with a price. And for her, it’s that she can’t touch another living person without sucking the life from them. This allows her to steal other powers from her fellow mutants which is pretty cool, but not being able to physically touch or kiss another human is a trade-off she often wrestles with. Her inability to touch makes her one of the most empathetic members of the team and someone that’s easy to sympathize with. Despite that personal torment, she is often able to maintain an upbeat personality, can dish out puns with the best of them, and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty when the situation calls for such.

There’s a lot to like about this figure, but I don’t think they quite nailed it with this default portrait.

Rogue from Mondo is a lot like the other figures released so far. She’s designed and sculpted by Alex Brewer and comes in a box featuring original artwork by storyboard artist for the show Dan Veesenmeyer. Tom Rozejowski handled the paint master and the rest of the packaging is adorned with recreations of original storyboards from the show from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part.” Original series showrunner and writers Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald provide the character bio which is situated on the inner flap of the box. Behind that is a window box showcasing Rogue and her array of accessories. This version of the figure is the limited variant which sold out much faster than any other limited edition to come before it in this line. Is that the popularity of Rogue or did she get an X-Men ’97 aided boost since anticipation was building to a fever pitch when she went up for sale?

That’s more like it!

Per Mondo, Rogue stands at approximately 11.75″ and I’m willing to take them at their word. She’s taller than Wolverine and Jubilee, but shorter than Gambit, Magneto, and the rest. That seems suitable and she seems much closer to true sixth scale than some of the other characters. She is wearing her show accurate yellow and green bodysuit with olive drab coat. She sports a variation on thigh-high boots in the show and Mondo’s approach for that was to make the green straps at the top of the boot as well as the yellow cuff separate, floating, pieces. Perhaps going this route made the figure easier to paint? Or maybe it was to allow these legs to be repurposed for a Storm down the road? Either way, the moving parts on a figure with so much paint are a little worrisome, but they can be seated in such a way that they’ll seldom move. Just do be careful when positioning them to not create a paint rub situation.

And if you want to get cheeky.

The head on the figure has received some criticism and it’s not unwarranted. The default portrait is basically a neutral expression. Rogue’s face has always been tough to duplicate in plastic for some reason. I think it’s because the female characters tend to not have hard facial features so there’s not a lot to key-in on. For the figure, Rogue features a very glammed-up look. Her eyes are narrow with long lashes and her lips are full and pouty. The paint is applied well as are the eyes (Mondo sent out a warning before the figure shipped that some heads featured poor eye placement. If your figure looks off just email their customer service and they’ll replace it), but it doesn’t really resemble Rogue. More like an artist’s interpretation of what a more sultry Rogue might look like. Or Rogue if she were in a Barbie line.

It might not be show accurate, but this power absorption hand is pretty neat.
Sorry Logan, not this time.

Thankfully, we have other, better, heads to choose from and the limited edition has far more than the standard. The alternate head for the standard edition is an angry expression and this works just fine. The right eye on mine features a dot of skin tone, but otherwise looks great. I think a lot of people will go with this for their display, whether they bought the limited edition or standard. If you did grab the limited version then you have some harder decisions to make. First up is the winking smile. The smile is very wide so this head doesn’t quite resemble the character from the show, but damn if it isn’t cute. I really like this one, though it does make me wish we had a non-winking smile portrait as well. Or perhaps a more subtle smile.

This is just fantastic.

Our next portrait is pulled directly from the show. In the episode “Deadly Reunions,” Cyclops gets knocked unconscious and stops breathing momentarily. Rogue, in an effort to save him, gives him mouth-to-mouth (C.P.R. back then called for this) and it works, but it also causes Rogue to absorb his powers. Rogue’s eyes start blasting red energy until Cyclops is able to instruct her to just shut her eyes. The included portrait is a screaming Rogue with those lasers streaking from her eyes. They’re done with translucent, red, plastic and it looks awesome. In some ways, I think this head most looks like Rogue from the show, probably because we can’t see her eyes and she looks kind of angry. The last head in the box is a bit of a gimmick one as it’s Rogue from X-Men: Evolution. Like the fairy Jubilee or unmasked Sabretooth, this head doesn’t work with the body since that Rogue had a very different look. It’s more of a fun inclusion. It looks fine, but I do think they should have added a touch of shading to the brim of her nose since that was something always present in the show.

I guess this one is for the younger fans.

That’s a whole bunch of looks for Rogue and one, if not more, are sure to please those who pick this one up. Also included are a whole bunch of hands. Rogue comes packaged with open hands, but she also has a set of fists, a right trigger hand, a left gripping hand, a more casual gripping right hand, and a bare left hand. When the left hand is removed, the yellow cuff is a separate piece which slides off to sell the look of her going ungloved. There’s also a removed glove accessory which slips into the casual gripping hand quite well. I do wish we got two bare hands since she did grab enemies with both hands at times, but one is better than none. If you want her to look like she is actually draining someone’s energy, she has yet another open left hand, but this one is encircled in translucent blue plastic. I don’t think her power absorption abilities were ever depicted like this in the show, her hand usually just glowed white and the light sometimes traveled up her arm, but I can’t deny that this hand looks pretty cool. Another included effect part of sorts is a gripping right hand that’s crushing a small gun. I don’t recall this gun or scene, I remember her crushing Bishop’s armband, but it’s an effective accessory at showing her strength.

This thing is all kinds of rad.
And the base works pretty damn well as a stand too.

The last major accessory included in the limited edition version is a base. Rogue is the first figure to get a base and Mondo stated they felt it was important to include something that hinted at her power. To do that, Mondo decided a decimated Sentinel head made the most sense. It’s well sculpted and really well painted and resembles a Sentinel from the show. There are two foot indentations, one towards the front and one towards the back, that the figure slides into rather effortlessly. It does a pretty good job of holding Rogue up too, though she has tumbled to the side on me once already. It’s not super heavy, so the figure took the base with it in falling over. I’ve resituated the figure on the base amongst my other figures in the line and hopefully she holds true. She also comes with a standard Mondo stand and I could potentially use that in conjunction with the base for added stability. One of the stands from a past release (Magneto?) that I have also has worked well to hold her off the ground just a little bit. That particular one has a very strong, telescoping, arm to it and can support the figure’s weight while some of the others feel too loose. I’m sure there will be folks in search of a proper flight stand for this figure and if I come across any that work I’ll be sure to update this.

Magneto has something to show you, Rogue.
A little X-Men ’97 preview, I suppose.

The visual aesthetics are what this line goes for, but this is an action figure so it does articulate. Rogue moves about as well as the rest of the line, and in some respects, perhaps a bit better. The head, shoulders, elbows, and wrists are all standard for the line. We’re talking a double ball peg at the head, single-hinges and swivels at the elbow, ball-jointed wrists, and ball-hinged shoulders. The head is limited by her big hair, but they did a decent job of sculpting out some room so the head can turn a bit and tilt. The shoulders and elbows are the most limiting. She can’t bring her arms across her chest or her hands to her face and it’s just something you’ll have to work around. Rogue does not have a waist twist, but does have a ball-jointed diaphragm. Mondo used a curved cut for it and I’m a tad surprised they didn’t try to conceal the cut under her bust or perhaps along the rib cage. It at least works well enough as a rotation point and it allows for a little forward and back. The hips are big ‘ole ball sockets and have probably the best range of any joint on the figure. They’re almost loose and I’m curious if they’ll get to the point where I do consider them loose, but for now they hold their pose fine. The knees are double-jointed and work okay while the ankles feature a hinge and an ankle rocker.

“Hey Remy, you got any plans tonight?!”
“I didn’t know you could read minds, ‘cherie.”

Since Rogue does wear high heels, she is a bit of a challenge to stand. It’s not as bad as I was expecting though. If you’re just looking to place her in a vanilla pose, she’ll stand okay. It might take a bit of adjusting, but it’s do-able. If you want her to do anything more dynamic then you’re better off with a stand. Even lunging positions are a challenge because she’s so top heavy, and I’m not talking about her chest. That hair adds a lot of weight, but since she doesn’t feature a trench coat or a cape, the Mondo stands actually can help out with this figure when normally I consider it useless. And if you have the limited version then you also have the base to rely on.

Cyclops and Jean kind of dominate the conversation, but this was the couple I was always rooting for.

Rogue is perhaps not a perfect, 1:1, encapsulation of the character model from the show, but she’s still a damn fine addition to the Mondo roster. The paint on this release is incredible. Not in the sense that it’s perfect and free from blemishes, but in that it just pops and really nails the cel-shading from the show. Yeah, you will likely find a dab of paint here and there where it shouldn’t be or even a slight smudge, but that’s the nature of hand-painted items. On the whole, the figure looks terrific and I’m very happy with the limited edition. With the Sabretooth figure, I wasn’t sure if the limited version was really worth it, but I feel completely different about this one. I love the base and the extra heads are probably the best heads in the box. The articulation may not be on par with figures in the 1:12 scale, but I haven’t had any real challenges in finding a display pose and I doubt many will.

We’re about halfway through the main roster and Cyclops is soon to be on deck.

Unfortunately, if you do want this version of the figure with extra stuff then you’ll have to score it secondhand. As I mentioned earlier, it sold out surprisingly fast leaving just the standard version as an option. Mondo sold out of the standard version as well, but has another preorder open right now on their website for $210. Other retailers may have open preorders as well that could be fulfilled sooner than Mondo’s estimate of September 2024. Even if I could only get the standard version, I’d consider it well worth it. She has the angry portrait and comes with all of the same hands as the limited edition version so you’re just missing out on the three extra heads and base. Rogue is an essential character for any X-Men display and she will certainly look good in your collection.

Now, nobody fall!

Interested in seeing more from Mondo’s X-Men line of sixth scale action figures:

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Gambit

It is my belief that when it comes to X-Men, the animated series which debuted in 1992, the breakout star of the show was Gambit. Wolverine was the closest thing we had to a household name going into the show and was the de-facto pick for favorite character of many. And while the whole roster…

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Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

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Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Magneto

If you showed a random individual this blog and asked them what my favorite cartoon was as a kid I’m guessing they would go with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And they wouldn’t be wrong as that was my favorite for a time, but come 1992 I was starting to drift away from that show. Batman:…

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