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December 6, 2023

Dec. 6 – The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries – “It Happened One Night Before Christmas”

By Joe
Original air date December 16, 1995.

We touched on it a bit just a few days ago when we talked about The Justice League, and we’re going to do it again! What is “it?” Why, the launch of The WB, of course! The network fronted by Warner Bros. was a newcomer in the mid 90s and was here to challenge the other broadcast channels, mostly Fox. Unfortunately for Warner, a lot of their intellectual property was unavailable to start because they had signed agreements with other networks. Again, mostly Fox. In order to launch some original programming aimed at kids, they basically had to come up with some new ideas for some old characters which is how we ended up with The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. This show would pair the often adversarial characters of Sylvester and Tweety (both voiced by Joe Alasky) in a mystery solving plot, something that felt more Hanna-Barbera than Warner Bros. With them was Granny (June Foray) who was in charge of basically steering the whole ship and also along for the ride was Hector (Frank Welker) the bull dog, because you need a dog apparently. Plus, it’s reminiscent of Gift Wrapped to have him along.

The show got its 52 episode order and occupied some air space in the 90s without sucking. It did its job.

This isn’t our first dance with the show as we covered the episode “Feather Christmas” a few years back. For that reason, I don’t feel a long preamble is needed this time around. We’ll just jump right into today’s episode which is a parody of It’s a Wonderful Life, but not in the way you think. Many shows have gone that route over the years and they almost exclusively run with the plot of George Bailey who has to learn a lesson about how much the world would suck without him. Or suck more, anyway. This time, we’re rolling with the Uncle Billy character. You remember him, right? He’s the idiot who mistakenly lost two thousand dollars when trying to one-up old man Potter. It was his screw-up that nearly drove George to suicide since losing that amount of money back then could cripple a business like a savings and loan. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the film. It’s fine and a genuine classic, I just don’t feel the need to watch it on an annual basis like my parents and probably most boomers. One thing though that always bothered me when I did watch it is that Potter never gets his comeuppance. Uncle Billy mistakenly hands over that two grand to the old man and he just pockets it, basically. This episode of a cartoon starring a canary and a cat is going to try to make Potter answer for his deceit by solving the mystery of what happened to the money.

He’s the spitting image of Thomas Mitchell’s Uncle Billy.

The episode begins with a cold open. Sylvester is narrating the story and it takes us to the town of Bedspread Falls, instead of Bedford Falls. Sylvester begins his narration as-if he’s going to tell us about Paul Revere’s midnight ride, but corrects himself and switches to a ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas styled rhyme. A gray-haired man of generous proportions is currently fretting about a missing sum of money in the Daily Bros. Loan & Building Building. It was established in 1946, which even if you were unaware could probably guess is the year It’s a Wonderful Life was released. This older fellow has apparently misplaced eight thousand dollars, because we need to up the amount here to make it a little more painful. While he tosses papers aside from the floor a familiar duo looks on. That would be the mice Hubie (Jim Cummings) and Bertie (Jeff Bennett). They feel for the poor guy who is just throwing himself on the floor in despair and want to do something to help him. A Christmas card gets their attention and it would appear it has an answer for them. The old man has since taken a seat at his desk with his head in his arms and the mice place the card in front of him. When he looks at it, we get to see it’s a card from Granny, who signs her cards Granny because that’s just her name apparently. Overjoyed, the fellow grabs his old-timey phone and makes a call!

This seems very unnecessary, Granny. And who is her hook-up for this stuff? Bruce Wayne?!

The opening title then enters and it’s underwhelming considering how good the WB shows on Fox were at the time, but not terrible. When it ends, we find Granny riding through the street in a car with giant, metal, legs. It’s like an AT-ST from The Return of the Jedi. Her animal companions are riding in the car with her and everyone is decked out in some holiday attire. Sylvester continues his narration to inform us that they’re heading to Bedspread Falls and shouts out to Donna Reed. When Granny slams on the breaks to this contraption, the occupants (except her) all go flying out of it because it’s a topless vehicle which makes so much sense to ride around in during the winter. They smash into a snowman so we get a tiered look at all three occupying one of the three segments of the snow creature while Granny admonishes them for playing in the snow and wasting time. Someone needs to narc on Granny for animal cruelty.

An early indicator that Willy isn’t too bright.

We then head into the Daily Bros. and meet the old guy again. It turns out his name is Willy (instead of Billy, naturally) and he’s Granny’s brother (his voice is also uncredited, but I think it’s Bennett). That explains why he got a Christmas card from the old gal. She happily introduces him to her pet canary, Tweety, but he slams the door on poor Sylvester and Hector. He hears the door contact them and mistakes it for a knock, opens it, and the two waddle in flat as a pancake. Granny introduces the pair and Sylvester has to blow himself back up to return to his normal shape. Willy then introduces them to his pets, Hubie and Bertie, and Sylvester is happy to meet them as he gobbles them up immediately. Seriously Willy, why are you waving your pet rodents in the face of a cat? Granny turns him upside down and smacks his bottom until the two mice are set free all the while admonishing Sylvester for trying to eat family. The mice roll over to Tweety’s cage where the little bird chirps, “Been there, done that.”

The Minah bird is a memorable gag from classic era Looney Tunes in that once you see it you’ll immediately recall seeing it before, but maybe without specifics. His routine in this episode is basically exactly the same as it was back then.

Granny wants to get down to business and asks Willy what’s wrong? He tells her he misplaced the weekly deposit, which happened to be 8 grand. He explains he put it in a yellow envelope and brought it to the bank, but when he got there, the money was gone! She basically just pats him on the shoulder to comfort him. Meanwhile, Hector is nosing around and comes to a file cabinet. It jiggles, then opens, and he barks a whole bunch until a disinterested crow pops out (Uncle Billy had a pet crow in the film). It just casually hops with its head down like it’s not paying attention to much of anything until it reaches a waste basket which it hops into. Hector barks some more and then inspects the waste basket only to find the crow is gone! I call it a crow, but it’s actually the Minah bird and this routine is straight out of classic Looney Tunes. The character first appeared in the short The Little Lion Hunter. Elsewhere, Hubie and Bertie question Tweety about the intelligence of Sylvester. Tweety shares his very low opinion of Sylvester, which just riles the cat up. He charges, but the mice jump out of the way and onto a window sill. When Sylvester pounces again, he goes out the window. Poor, stupid, kitty. He lands in the street and leaves behind a Sylvester-shaped crater in the snow. When he pops out, Granny and Willy are there to praise him for finding Willy’s tracks in the snow. Sylvester doesn’t seem to feel much pride in his “discovery.”

This guy hates Willy, and I’m kind of the same mind.

We then cut to the gang following the footprints and Sylvester narrates some more to inform us that old Willy’s memory is apparently failing him in his old age. Despite telling Granny he went straight to the bank, the footsteps lead them to a drug store. Bower is the name, and he’s not happy to see Willy. Mr. Bower (Cummings) complains (in what sounds like a drunken stupor) that Willy came in and ruffled through all of his magazines getting subscription cards all over his floor. He didn’t buy any of them, but he did buy a sasparilla and a newspaper which Bower notes he placed a yellow envelope inside. Granny thanks him for the info while he continues to just rant wildly. Upon leaving the store, the shopkeep follows them to tell Willy he has his keys which he apparently forgot earlier. During the rant, we are also treated to Hector teaming up with Hubie and Bertie to pulverize Sylvester. When Willy and Granny walk off, the others follow with Sylvester taking up the rear in a clearly concussed state. Bower also lets us know he hates keys for some reason. That’s sort of his thing, he hates everything. He’s also loosely based on the alcoholic drug store clerk from It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Gower, hence why he sounds vaguely intoxicated.

It’s a slightly off-model Cool Cat that arguably more resembles the Pink Panther. I’m going to stick with the assumption it’s Cool Cat, though it’s a bit odd that anyone would make the effort to try to find the lamest of the Looney Tunes characters.

Sylvester stumbles in the street and informs us the search continued “While visions of burly dogs danced in my head.” He slips on an icy sidewalk and finally goes down. Meanwhile, Willy is shown walking directly into a pole and it would appear a missing person sign on the pole contains an image of Cool Cat. It’s been there awhile, which makes sense since no one would actually look for Cool Cat. Granny tells her brother he needs to watch where he’s going. Sylvester chimes in to tell us that Granny’s patience is wearing thin while Willy dusts himself off. Out from his coat floats a piece of paper. It’s a ticket for a movie theater and Granny waves it in his face since he never mentioned anything about seeing a movie before the bank. Willy corrects her to say it wasn’t just a movie he saw, but a whole film festival! The subject of which was apparently Curly of The Three Stooges and Willy does his best Curly impression. Granny seems to be growing tired and demands to know if he went to the bank next or not. He didn’t. Instead, he mailed out his Christmas cards and gets mildly defensive about it when Granny shoots an angry glare his way as if it’s the cards she’s mad about.

Why does Granny insist on bringing her pets everywhere? It’s clear that Sylvester only cares about eating Tweety. Seems like it would just be easier to leave the cat at home.

The gang then heads to the mailbox that Willy apparently utilized to send out his cards. A mailman is there and is opening the base of the mailbox and out pops the Minah bird from earlier. He does his little walk-hop-shuffle once again and Hector follows. The bird disappears behind a lamp post leaving Hector more confused than ever. Willy and Granny were apparently granted permission to sort through the mail and Willy gets excited for a moment. Did he find his missing yellow envelope? No, he just found the Christmas card intended for Granny. She seems disappointed, but before she can say anything a passing cab stops to say “Hi” to Willy. The driver (sounds like Bennett again) thanks Willy for the tip he gave him this morning. Granny is once again angry with her brother for leaving out more important information and then asks the cabbie if it happened to be an eight-thousand dollar tip? He laughs and says “More like 8 cents,” before sharing with Granny that he drove Willy over to Rossi’s.

This horse thinks its hilarious.

We then cut to Rossi’s (I guess a play on Martini’s from the film) after Granny angrily demands they get in the cab. This time, the driver gets a twenty cent tip and sarcastically remarks how these two are going to spoil him. The fare was only $1.80 so twenty cents is honestly not that bad. I wouldn’t know what to tip on such a fare, though I can’t imagine $1.80 would get you very far in 2023. The cabbie then tells Willy he nearly forgot to remind him that he left something in his cab earlier. Willy is hopeful it’s his missing money, but it’s actually his horse. Yes, you read that right, he forgot a horse. And to add a little extra comedy to the whole thing, no one apparently noticed the horse during their most recent ride. The horse just a gives us all a good laugh and apparently no one has any reaction to this gag because we’re heading inside. Now let’s never speak of the horse again.

At least those feet are clean.

Rossi’s is an italian restaurant and Willy and Granny are greeted by the manager. He’s a tiny, italian, stereotype voiced by Jim Cummings and he asks Willy if he’s back for another hot chocolate. He’s not, but while the humans chat, Sylvester sets his sights on revenge. Hubie and Bertie see it coming though and they fling some sugar cubes at the cat which get lodged in his eyes. Rossi then remarks that Willy left something there earlier and gestures to it: a full, hot, steaming, bath tub. This guy has some tremendously deep pockets. The bath tub also has a rubber ducky floating in it and Hector pops up to get a closer look. The ducky then pops out of the water to reveal that the Minah bird was in there taking a bath. Hector finds this rather shocking and just sits there looking dumb-struck as the bird hops onto the edge of the tub, walks over Hector’s head, and off the screen to the right.

Stupid cat.

We now finally find ourselves at the bank where Willy supposedly lost his money. Again, no one is apparently going to address the crazy fact that this guy misplaced both a horse and a bath tub as well. They head into Totter Bank (instead of Potter Bank) while Granny insists that Willy tell her he’s sure that this was his last stop of the day. The two head inside and we’re introduced to old man Totter. He, rather predictably, resembles Potter from the movie. He’s small, bald, and wheelchair bound. Totter (Welker) races over to Willy, running over the foot of his handler in the process, to taunt Willy when he enters and asks if he’s back to try and score a free coaster without opening an account. Granny just declares he’s not a nice man which Totter seems to relish in. Outside, Sylvester goes back to chasing Hubie, Bertie, and Tweety referring to them as his little sugar plums. They duck into an alley and Sylvester races in to find snow depictions of the three. The stupid cat thinks the three are frozen with fear and gobbles them up, only to realize he was wrong. He looks at the camera with a pained expression, then reveals that all of his teeth have shattered. I’m not really sure why eating three snow versions of two mice and a canary would shatter his teeth, but okay. The camera pans up to show Tweety and the two mice enjoying Sylvester’s pain allowing Tweety to remark, “See? This is what happens when you don’t floss every day!”

Gasp! Totter had the money the whole time!

Back inside the bank, Willy shares with Totter the reason for their visit. If they think this man is truly one of wicked nature, I’m not sure telling him that eight-thousand dollars have been misplaced is really a good move. Totter just reacts angrily at the thought of Willy being in his bank to make a deposit with no money. He tells him it’s against the law and orders the two to leave immediately! Back outside, Sylvester is freezing while his foils look on. They apparently aren’t very interested in Sylvester’s misery and instead turn their attention to what’s behind the window they’re in front of. It’s an office, and Tweety notes a newspaper on the desk. In comes Totter being pushed in his wheelchair by some oversized goon even though we saw in the last scene that his wheelchair is motorized. He comes to the desk and opens the paper to reveal Willy’s missing envelope. He flashes the contents of it – a big wad of cash, then cheerfully places it in a desk drawer. Tweety and the others note that they have to do something about this and Tweety gives the camera a concerned look to serve as the act break. I’m assuming the animals can communicate with themselves, but not the humans. I didn’t watch enough of this show to know if it had rules or not, but those are pretty much the same rules as the classic shorts.

Totter is either not very bright or needs to see an optometrist.

We then cut to a rooftop at night and some individuals are making some serious grunting noises. It’s Tweety, Hubie, and Bertie and they’re holding onto a rope. The other end of which is in a chimney. At the end of that rope is Sylvester, and if you’re wondering where Hector is, he soon appears from between Sylvester’s robes. Robes? Yeah, they’re dressed as Santa Claus and Sylvester wonders aloud how they let the others talk them into this. The expression on Hector’s face would seem to indicate he feels the same way (he doesn’t talk, for some reason). The two get rather close to the fireplace, before the mice and canary predictably lose their grip. They crash to the ground in a heap of smoke, which gets the attention of old man Totter who is seated at his desk. He demands to know who is there, but upon seeing Sylvester’s disguise takes the bait. He asks “Santa” what he brought him and Sylvester looks a bit puzzled before apparently getting an idea. He reaches into his coat and comes out with a fitting gift: a dog collar. Totter is quite pleased with the kinky gift and even remarks that it matches his eyes. While he oggles the item, Hector reaches his hand out from the coat and grabs a stamp on the desk. The newspaper from earlier is still there, and the dog stamps it to indicate it came from the desk of Totter.

I had a feeling this bit would show up eventually.

Hector then grabs the paper and Sylvester gives out a “Ho ho ho” and a tug on the rope to indicate it’s time to go. On the roof, we see that the diminutive creatures have a plan for getting them back up the chimney: they’ve tied the rope to an anvil. They push it off the side of the building and it gets the job done, painfully so for Sylvester. As for Hector, he’s left behind in the office. He just smiles sheepishly at Totter, grabs his collar, and runs out the door. On the ground, Sylvester is shown with visions of Santa Claus flying circles around his head as he calls out the names of the reindeer, eventually getting them wrong because he’s suffered a pretty severe head injury. Hubie, Bertie, and Tweety come to check on him and when they open an eyelid we get the predictable “Do Not Open Till X-Mas” gag printed inside his eye. Tweety then scolds Sylvester for laying down on the job for they need to get that paper over to Granny and Willy. Hector then comes running by and grabs Sylvester by the tail and keeps on running forcing the little guys to chase after them. For such a big, beastly, dog, Hector sure seems scared of an old man in a wheelchair.

Well, I guess it is good that she brings all of the animals along since they’re the ones who cracked the case.

We find ourselves in the park where Willy and Granny are seated on a bench. Willy thinks the money is a lost cause while Granny tries to keep his spirits up telling him the answer isn’t going to just hit him in the face. It then does when Hector smacks him with the paper. Granny is happy to see them while Willy is confused since he’s looking at a story about aliens or something. Granny grabs it and notes a sarsaparilla stain, followed by cab grease, and more indicators that this paper belonged to Willy. They think they’re onto something, but when Willy spots the stamp with Totter’s name he just gets mopey again and assumes it’s not his paper. Granny, thankfully, isn’t so dumb.

And let us not forget the importance of the bird in all of this.

We then cut to Totter’s office and Granny is waving the paper in his face and accusing him of knowingly taking her brother’s money. Totter plays dumb at first, but then his desk bounces and shakes and a drawer opens. I bet you can guess who pops out: the Minah bird! He does his little walking routine as he hops onto the desk and marches over to Willy with an envelope in his beak. He hops onto Willy’s shoulder and he takes the envelope, the whole time everyone looks perplexed to see this bird. They then turn their angry gazes on Totter, who again tries to play dumb. Granny accuses him of taking the money to put Willy out of business and Totter cracks. Declaring “So what if I took the money?” He then goes into a rant about starting his own Totter-Ville and he’ll own everything. The cop that Granny and Willy apparently convinced to come along then starts wheeling the old man out as he starts wishing “Merry Christmas!” to everything he sees, George Bailey style, including the fireplace and Sylvester.

The second instance of something circling Sylvester’s head in this one. The gags just lack imagination.

With the old man wheeled off to jail, Willy goes to put the money away, only for Granny to wisely snatch it and promise to hold it for him. He then notices they still have time to make Christmas dinner at his nephew’s house, so he deposits the Minah bird under his hat and they make haste. Sylvester notes he’d like a drumstick or two and eyes Tweety who takes on the form of a roasted turkey to better illustrate what the cat is thinking. He takes off and Sylvester gives chase and the pair end up back in the alley. Sylvester dives and grabs ahold of the bird as they slide through the snow and end up in a pile of the white stuff. Sylvester pops his head out, then produces Tweety and goes to drop the bird in his mouth only to be met with a boulder-sized snowball. Somehow, Hubie managed to throw that thing at Sylvester and it looks like he added some bricks too since the dazed cat has one in his mouth. Tweety comes over with a tiny, silver, bell and rings it delivering the famous line “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” Sylvester sits up and angel versions of himself are circling his head. He remarks, “Look at me, I’m giving out wings!” in a punch-drunk manner before collapsing once again as we close with an iris shot. Before the credits roll there’s an “In memory of Isadore “Friz” Freleng” which I believe appeared at the end of every episode in the show’s first season. Freleng was the originator of the Sylvester and Tweety shorts and passed away shortly before the premiere of the show at the ripe, old, age of 88. A fitting tribute for the animation legend.

If you really like the characters pictured above, then have at it. There’s a lot worse out there, but there’s also a lot better.

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries is a bit of an unremarkable series. The animation is okay for the era, though not as good as Animaniacs or Tiny Toon Adventures. It’s fluid though, it just lacks some of the flourishes of those shows and the gags aren’t especially novel. There’s basically no shading on the characters and it looks especially bad when Totter gets wheeled off to jail as he passes by a lightsource, but nothing on his character model changes. The premise still strikes me as a bit forced, but it works okay and was used as a means of getting in some cameos as we saw here with Hubie and Bertie and the Minah bird. It’s a show that’s not bad enough to be memorable as some abomination brought to television, but it’s also not really good enough to be remembered fondly as a classic from the 90s. And as a Christmas special, it’s kind of the same. I do think it’s an interesting premise and a useful way to work in It’s a Wonderful Life. Other applications are basically hack at this point and this one manages to be unique nearly 30 years later. It just doesn’t do anything special beyond that. There were no laugh-out-loud moments, no truly witty remark from any of the characters, and there’s also no heart to make up for the lack of comedy. It just exists and in this day and age it’s the type of Christmas special one comes to after they’ve exhausted all of their favorites. I suppose the real question is do I prefer this one to the show’s other holiday episode? I guess so? I don’t know. They’re both rather unremarkable, but I suppose the parody nature of this one makes it slightly more enjoyable. They work in plenty of references to the film, including snippets from the soundtrack, so if you really love that movie there’s some added enjoyment here. If not, then it just becomes a pretty haphazard mystery that doesn’t ask much of its audience. I don’t think this was the type of show that tried to be thoughtful with the mystery component. It’s just sort of “there” as a framing device and nothing more.

You could obviously do far worse with your time this year than spend it with Sylvester and Tweety. I would say if you only need one holiday themed short from the duo then you’re better off seeking out Gift Wrapped. If you have more fond memories of this show from the 90s then sure, go for it. I didn’t watch this one as a kid so I don’t have any attachment to it which is definitely something that’s working against it. I just never found the show interesting and often there was something better on. The show can be streamed on Max, whatever is left of it come publication of this piece, and I think it’s a part of Boomerang as well. The first season was also released on DVD way back in 2008 so it’s no longer in print, but can be found secondhand. The prices are fairly reasonable should you want to go that route, but if Warner dumps this from Max then it could see a bump.

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

Dec. 6 – Silly Symphony – “Santa’s Workshop” (1932)

Back in 1929 Walt Disney launched the Silly Symphonies series of cartoon shorts. Unlike the Mickey Mouse shorts that were growing popular at the time, Silly Symphonies did not center on just one character or even a group of characters, but rather were fairly self-contained. Some shorts that became popular, like The Three Little Pigs,…

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by Joe

Dec. 6 – Christmas in Tattertown

Nickelodeon in the late 1980s was a network on the rise. Cable was expanding to more and more households each and every day and Nick was able to seize the youth market almost from the get-go. Prior to that, broadcast networks dominated children’s programming, but restricted it to certain parts of the broadcast schedule. And…

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by Joe

Dec. 6 – Christmas Flintstone

The Flintstones have a well-established relationship with Christmas at this point. There have been a few specials, some even prime time, and plenty of home video releases. For that reason it’s a bit interesting that the show actually waited until its fifth season for its first Christmas episode. At that point, the show had been…

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by Joe

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December 9, 2020

Dec. 9 – Space Goofs – “Holiday Heave Ho”

By Joe
Original air date December 20, 1997.

Come the late 90s I was definitely losing track of what was airing on Fox Kids. X-Men came to an end, as did Spider-Man and The Tick. They were replaced with Silver Surfer and a new Spider-Man cartoon that was pretty awful. There was also that live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show called The Next Mutation which was a bit horrifying to look at. Even a lot of the comedy shows were coming to an end like Animaniacs, Eek! the Cat, and Life with Louie.

One of the shows that was meant to replace one of the above-mentioned was Space Goofs. Space Goofs is a French cartoon about some aliens who crash land on Earth and wind up hiding out in a seemingly abandoned home for rent. They’re pretty wise to the fact that if humans find them they’ll be rounded up and experimented upon so they do their best to scare people away and keep their presence a secret. All the while, they learn about human culture largely via watching television.

Space Goofs is pretty much a forgotten piece of 90s pop.

It’s a show I recall seeing ads for, but I don’t think I ever watched it. It originally aired at 9:30 on Saturday mornings and I just wasn’t awake at 9:30 when I was in my teens. After some reshuffling took place on Saturdays, it moved to 10:30 where I would have been far more likely to be awake, but I never checked it out. By 1998, Fox had a ton of competition on Saturday as ABC had revamped its One Saturday Morning and Kids WB was now a real contender with Batman, Superman, and Pokemon. As such, it would seem Space Goofs got lost in the shuffle. After the first season, Fox booted it from Saturday to Monday afternoon where it went to die. It doesn’t look like the show ever popped up on any other network like a lot of Fox Kids shows.

The snowy home where the aliens reside. This show was originally titled Home to Rent before it was changed to Space Goofs.

As part of that inaugural season, Space Goofs tackled Christmas. This was a segmented cartoon show so each short is only about 10 minutes in length. It was animated by Gaumont Multimedia and actually has a bit of a modern look to it as it was probably done digitally. The backgrounds are pretty minimalist and the character designs are simple. Perhaps the most interesting aspects of the show include the theme song by Iggy Pop and the character Candy (Charlie Adler), who is clearly a homosexual. It’s still considered progressive and even taboo in some circles to have a homosexual character in a children’s cartoon in 2020, so to have one in 1997 is pretty surprising. It sounds like the French dub was more obvious about it, while the subject isn’t really tackled head-on from what I’ve seen in the English dub. In the Spanish dub, the character’s gender was changed to female to avoid any controversy. Since we’re talking about a little green alien, I suppose that works.

The aliens (left to right): Candy, Gorgious, Bud, Stereo, Etno.

The episode begins with the aliens sitting around the television in their pajamas watching a horror movie. Our aliens are Candy, Gorgious (Danny Mann), Bud (Jeff Bennett), Stereo Monovici (Jeff Bennett), and Etno (Maurice LaMarche). Candy has that Charlie Adler gay voice you’ve probably heard before while Etno is LaMarche doing his Vincent Price impression. It’s a colorful collection of voices that are quite suitable for these illustrations.

Bud practically has a nervous breakdown when everyone goes to bed leaving him to watch horror films all alone.

The aliens are all watching a film about a red blob. Bud, who is the most involved in the program, is getting rather anxious and is further upset when his comrades all retire for the evening. Left to himself, he starts to freak out, especially when he hears noises coming from the chimney.

Our Santa for the next 11 minutes with his frozen helper Brad.

Unbeknownst to Bud, Santa (LaMarche) and his elf helper Brad (Adler) are about to pay them a visit. Santa and Brad discover there’s a house with five individuals in it who have never appeared on the list before. Santa is determined to make his presence felt at this home in the only way Santa can – by bringing presents. He goes into a rather extravagant speech before the two set down on the roof. It should be noted, Santa is only accompanied by two reindeer, a severe Christmas fail.

Despite watching lots of television, these aliens apparently know nothing of Santa Claus.

When Bud hears noises coming from the roof he wakes up the rest of his alien buds who all gather at the fireplace. Bud is convinced the red blob from the movie he was watching is coming after them, but the rest aren’t so sure. Etno takes a look up the chimney and he does indeed see a big red blob coming his way. Of course, this isn’t a monster, just Santa’s big red ass which crawls down the chimney with animation that reminds me of Stimpy’s butt dance during the “Happy Happy Joy Joy” song from The Ren & Stimpy Show.

A rather solid depiction of pain on old Santa’s face.

Etno informs the others that Bud is right, and he’s pretty freaked out. He mentions the blob resembles an apple, and sure enough, as Santa’s rear descends into view it does indeed look like a big red apple (or a big, red, ball-sack) which gets the attention of Gorgious. Gorgious is essentially a giant mouth with eyes and a nose, so he does the thing he’s best equipped to do: he bites Santa’s ass. Santa climbs out of the chimney in a surprisingly calm manner despite the chunk missing from his bottom. Bradley is surprised to see Santa finished already, but Santa informs him (his face is contorted with pain) that there appears to be a clog in the chimney. It would seem Santa is rather embarrassed by the whole ordeal and would prefer Brad didn’t know he just went ass to mouth with an alien.

This Santa has a bit of a dark side, it would seem.

Inside the house, the aliens are congratulating Gorgious on a job well done, their pajamas suddenly vanishing. Bud isn’t congratulating anyone though as he knows the blob will be back. He then screams and points at the fireplace as some goo starts to leak in. Etno nominates Candy to do something about it, and he turns to the camera and says “Ships” to express mock enthusiasm in a cheeky manner.

That’s gonna require some skin grafts.

Santa is pouring some kind of corrosive substance down the chimney and is a bit gleeful about it. Candy checks it out and does not look eager to stick his head up the chimney. He looks back at his comrades and sees their assuring expressions, sighs, and sticks his head up the chimney. He screams and re-emerges shouting “It’s chemical warfare!” as his scalp melts away. He then realizes he’s standing in a puddle of the substance and his skin (Etno says shoes) melts revealing human-like feet underneath. We then see the burned part of Candy’s head basically turn to ash making him look like a giant, green, lit, cigarette. An interesting visual for a children’s show.

This Santa can really take a beating.

Stereo then suggests they try a new method of trapping the intruder and produces a giant mousetrap. They first test it on a teddy bear, which decapitates it reducing Gorgious to tears while the others react in a gleeful manner. On the roof, Santa decides it would be best to descend headfirst on this next try as he squeezes himself down the chimney. The aliens wait with the trap below, and once Santa’s face comes into view, they shove it up the chimney! They hear a satisfying snap as Santa goes soaring through the sky with the mousetrap attached to his head while Johann Strauss plays.

Never tell Santa to use the door.

One of the reindeer makes a quip (“Right out of the ballpark.”) as Santa climbs onto the roof. He orders Brad to get the trap off of him and I can’t tell if he’s talking through his mouth or a nostril. Brad sticks a foot on his face for leverage and pries the trap off. As Santa heads back to the chimney, the reindeer suggests, rudely, he try the door. Santa gives him an angry look, marches towards him, and insists this is tradition. He’s going down the chimney!

More ass-play with Santa!

Below, Candy is giving directions to someone as they drive a truck into the room. He pops the hood and produces some jumper cables. This is not going to end well for poor Santa. As the aliens ready the cables, they all make sure to inform the audience that this isn’t a safe thing to do. I’m glad we got that out of the way.

The only Christmas tree in the episode and really the only Christmas decor of any kind.

Santa, going rear first once again, approaches the fireplace near enough so that the aliens can attach the jumper cables. Once affixed, Etno gives the order to start the truck and Santa is once again sent rocketing into the night sky, again accompanied by Strauss. Bradley can only watch as Santa comes to rest in a Christmas tree.

It’s been one long, stressful, night for these guys.

Bud and Etno, with heavy bags under their eyes, keep their eyes glued on the ceiling. Bud is freaking out as they hear footsteps above them and the unmistakable sound of a chainsaw. The others are losing their will to keep this up, but Etno says they have one final weapon. On the roof, Santa is basically going mad as he and Brad are constructing something massive. When the camera pans out, we see what looks like a makeshift bobsled track on the roof of the house.

Beardless Santa is a bit unsettling.

Inside the home, the aliens have filled the fireplace with dynamite, and Etno has his hands on the activator. On the roof, Santa has climbed into a bobsled (with a helmet on) that’s numbered “13” which seems awfully unfortunate. As he descends the track, the sled picks up tremendous speed causing all of the hair on his face to be torn from him and his nostrils to flair like giant parachutes. The camera cuts quickly from Santa, to Etno, to Santa, to Etno throughout and when the jolly fat man hits the chimney Etno activates the dynamite.

Despite all of that violence and mayhem, Santa came through for the aliens.

Santa is sent blasting off into the night sky leaving the aliens feeling victorious. As they celebrate, presents start littering the room. The aliens are confused, but they begin to open them and find them to be full of things they wanted, including a new teddy bear for Gorgious. They realize that whoever was trying to get into their home meant them no harm. Stereo remarks how they mistook him for the color of his skin, and it seems the aliens are about to learn an important lesson, until Etno wonders aloud what else he brought them and they dive back into the presents.

These guys still have a long night ahead of them.

We then return to the sky, where a heavily bandaged Santa is flying through the air, his reindeer seemingly frozen. Bradley seems fine though as Santa remarks that the alien house was a piece of cake, even though he can scarcely move. He then asks Bradley what house is next, and he starts listing off some horrifying names: Frank Stein, Lizzie Borden, Young Jack Ripper. Santa then looks at the camera and his bandages fall off revealing his face as he laughs ready to take on all-comers. The sleigh passes in front of the moon to end things.

The writers of Space Goofs certainly know how to properly end a Christmas special.

I never really heard any good things about Space Goofs, so this wasn’t a show I was eager to check out. This episode has been on my list for years, to give you an idea of just how excited I was to watch it. Turns out though, it’s pretty solid. I didn’t find anything hilarious, or really felt myself getting attached to any of the characters, but I did enjoy the premise. It’s not often you encounter a Christmas special in which the would-be gift receivers do their best to keep Santa out. Futurama would go on to do so, but the circumstances were entirely different. Here we have some aliens with no knowledge of Santa just afraid someone is breaking into their home. Meanwhile, this version of Santa is basically a fanatic. He’s going to deliver those presents if it kills him. I definitely enjoyed watching his descent into madness as the episode went on and it felt appropriate that he didn’t feel defeated in the end, but somehow invigorated despite his broken body.

I rather enjoyed this somewhat deranged, hopelessly devoted to his job, Santa.

The personalities of the aliens don’t really have a chance to shine through. The cartoon is fairly brief, so I imagine it would take several episodes to give me a real handle on things. It’s obvious Etno is the de-facto leader or voice of reason, while Bud is probably supposed to be the one the audience likes the most. Candy is definitely unique and I enjoyed the Charlie Adler screams when the acid dripped all over him. Their designs feel very “90s” to me, for lack of a better description. I’m reminded of the stop-motion cartoon Bump in the Night when I look at some of them. The voice acting was great though, which I expected of this cast, and I liked the addition of classical music which had my mind going back to Loony Tunes shorts.

If you want to check out this holiday edition of Space Goofs then you’re in luck. Apparently no one sees much value in the property, so the official Space Goofs YouTube channel has uploaded every episode of the show, from what I can tell. No subscription required, you’ll just have to sit through an ad break midway through. There are certainly worse ways to kill twelve minutes this Christmas.

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

Dec. 9 – The Real Ghostbusters – “Xmas Marks the Spot”

  The 1980s sometimes feel like they belonged to the Ghostbusters. That’s because, for me, the Ghostbusters were always around. The film came out when I was but a wee baby, but by the time I had a real interest in television The Real Ghostbusters (not to be confused with the Filmation series) was airing…

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by Joe

Dec. 9 – Spectacular Spider-Man – “Reinforcement”

It’s not my favorite, but if you wanted to argue that Spectacular Spider-Man is the best animated series based on a Marvel property then I wouldn’t fight you on it. The show ran from March 2008 to November 2009 and produced a tidy 26 episodes. It was a re-telling of Spider-Man with an obvious emphasis…

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by Joe

Dec. 9 – Yogi Bear’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper

I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Hanna-Barbera. Well, mostly hate. Their animation is lazy, a lot of their characters (including many in this so-called comedy Christmas special) just aren’t funny, and they were also impossible to ignore because they made so many damn, formulaic, cartoons. At the same time though, I grew up…

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by Joe

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November 15, 2019

The New Batman Adventures – “Beware the Creeper”

By Joe

beware the creeperEpisode Number:  23 (108)

Original Air Date:  November 7, 1998

Directed by:  Dan Riba

Written by:  Rich Fogel

First Appearance:  The Creeper

As we rapidly approach the end of The New Batman Adventures I find myself having some expectations of how the final episodes will go. I, of course, have watched all of these before, but I’m certainly thinking about them differently as I engage with them this time around. Last week’s episode, “Chemistry,” gathered a bunch of old faces from the first two seasons of Batman: The Animated Series for one giant cameo. That’s the sort of thing I would expect a show to do near its end. Next week’s finale is going to reexamine a villain who is very much associated with the program. That also seems like a thing to do. What does not is introducing a new face to the mix, but that’s exactly what this week’s episode, “Beware the Creeper,” is aiming to do.

There is a bit of a long game at play here. It’s not an obvious one though, but if you’ve been paying attention during the show’s run you may have noticed that Jack Ryder has essentially replaced Summer Gleason as Gotham’s go-to news anchor person. He’s appeared in multiple episodes, though he’s never played much of a role in any. He’s just been there. A long game designed around him doesn’t feel like it was in play, but today’s episode some-what rewards viewers for noticing him as he’s going to assume this new persona of The Creeper. And tied into it all is Joker, making his final appearance on the show.

The episode opens at a familiar location:  Ace Chemical Plant. This is where I remind you that the lore of this television show has largely been adapted from Tim Burton’s Batman from 1989. At least as it relates to Joker, anyway. Unlike in the comics where Joker’s origin is non-committal, in this series he was indeed born at this chemical plant. He was a mob hitman, as outlined in the film Mask of the Phantasm, who went by the name of Jack Napier. He encountered Batman one fateful night at this plant, and the resulting fight caused him to fall into a vat of chemicals and become disfigured leading to his current persona as The Joker.

joker gang

Joker and his gang are here to supervise the television special and make sure it’s accurate.

Jack Ryder (Jeff Bennett) is hosting a special on the Joker titled “The Madness Behind the Laughter” from this location. It feels like one of those docu-series programs or an episode of Dateline, with the peculiar distinction that it’s being broadcast live. As Ryder walks across the scaffolding above the chemicals, he takes the viewer through Joker’s creation complete with dramatization. Interestingly, we find out this all happened a mere seven years ago, though Batman is depicted in his 1940s costume in the re-telling. Bruce Wayne is watching rather intently from home and Tim gives him some grief for being interested in hearing about how Joker was created.

reenactment

The reenactment of when Joker met Batman.

As Ryder goes about his business, high above in the rafters lurks Joker himself. The camera catches him in frame, and Wayne notices him right away as he and Tim race out of there. Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin) is with Joker (Mark Hamill) and asks him if he thinks Batman saw him. Joker responds in the affirmative (and quotes Tweety Bird in the process) as Batman is his biggest fan – there’s no way he’d miss this! Also with Joker today are his henchmen Mo, Lar, and Cur (Billy West) whom we haven’t seen since the first episode. It’s nice to see they’ve been doing well.

joker and ryder

Joker and Ryder just having some laughs.

Joker was going to wait for Batman, but he’s a bit bored. To make sure he’s noticed, he bombs Ryder and his crew with gas-filled rubber chickens. The crew starts laughing as Ryder barks at them that they’re on live TV. When Joker hops down he starts shouting for the viewers that this isn’t part of the show, but soon the gas gets him as well and he begins laughing uncontrollably. Joker then gives him a shove and he flips over the railing and into the same vat of chemicals that created Joker.

The Batmobile comes barreling in and Batman and Robin emerge. Harley and the boys hop down to take them on as she blows a whistle signaling the beginning of the fight. As Batman and Robin tangle with the big men, Ryder tries to climb out of the chemicals. He’s looking no worse for ware, but still laughing and Joker promptly kicks him back in. He again emerges and this time Joker shoves a cigar in his mouth. It’s a gag cigar that soon explodes. The image shifts to reveal a sign that says No Smoking and warns of explosive chemicals. Director Dan Riba apparently didn’t trust viewers to see the sign so the camera even zooms in on it to make sure.

ryder emerges

I think Ryder is going to be okay…

As the place starts to go up in flames, Batman is finally able to confront The Joker. Unfortunately, Joker has opened a valve on the chemical tub which is ejecting all of the chemicals into the ocean, including Ryder. Joker points this fact out to Batman and he’s forced to go after Ryder as opposed to Joker, completely forgetting he has a partner in Robin who could have probably tended to the reporter. When the two head to where the chemicals are being ejected, they see Ryder’s shirt which is on fire floating in the chemicals, but no Ryder. Assuming he’s dead, the two climb back into the Batmobile to presumably try and catch the Joker or alert the police of what transpired. As the Batmobile races away, a manhole cover opens and Ryder emerges. He’s still got a serious case of the giggles and a crazed grin to go along with it. His hair is green like Joker’s and his skin slightly yellowed. He basically mugs for the camera before running off.

Ryder then bounces around the streets of Gotham laughing to himself. It’s apparent these chemicals have really heightened his agility and strength as he effortlessly leaps from street level to the top of a street light. He tries to slow down and encourages himself to think logically about the situation. The sound of a coocoo clock going off is played and Ryder grimaces as if he has a headache. He jumps to a nearby ledge as he sees a woman inside. She is frightened and runs off and Ryder gets even more cartoonish by quoting Mindy from Animaniacs (“Okay-I-love-you-Buh-Bye!”) and bounds into a clothing store named Ditko’s, an obvious nod to Steve Ditko who created the character of The Creeper. Inside there he scares all of the patrons away, but a clearly bored store associate (E.G. Daily) just hangs around and even gives him fashion tips. She suggests green and hands him a little pair of green and black undies that he puts on along with some fashionable red gloves and boots. To complete the ensemble a large red boa is draped over his shoulders.

harley pie

She puts so much effort into her relationship with Joker and what does she get in return?

Batman and Robin are driving around in the Batmobile when they receive a call from Alfred. It would seem Ryder actually paid for his new threads with his own credit card, and Alfred is relaying the tip. Meanwhile, Joker is heading back to his hideout in a bit of a rage as word on the street is someone is stealing his act. When he enters the hideout he finds a surprise waiting for him. Harley emerges from a giant cream pie. She’s covered head to toe in whipped cream, but the presence of her headdress seems to suggest she’s not nude underneath it all, but I suppose she could be. Joker is rather stunned and Harley kicks an oversized cherry his way. It would seem she wants to celebrate the anniversary of Joker’s creation and beckons her puddin’ to come play with her. She playfully informs him that he’ll enjoy her “pie” and probably want seconds. It’s yet another risqué joke the show somehow managed to get past standards and practices.

As was the case in “Mad Love,” Joker is in no mood for play. Once again, Harley is shown being thrown out on her ass and comes crashing down between her beloved hyenas who start licking the cream off of her. Joker tastes some of the filling stuck to his coat and recoils with dissatisfaction remarking she’s a good kid but a not so good cook. He also orders her to find the plagiarist stealing his act.

stacked deck

He’s not here to play pool.

We return now to another location we haven’t seen in awhile, the Stacked Deck club on Gotham’s waterfront. Mo, Lar, and Cur are inside playing pool when Ryder comes busting in. They refer to him as a creep, which Ryder likes and uses to create a new name from himself:  The Creeper! He then tangles with the trio, and Billy West voices Lar with his Stimpy voice which is both weird and funny. A mopey Harley then walks by and is nearly hit with a flying pool table. Above, the shadows of Batman and Robin are seen arriving as well.

Inside the club, Creeper mostly has things under control. He’s been made much stronger than a normal person, but he still has the same “appetites” as normal men. When Harley enters he’s immediately taken by the pale-skinned woman. The camera lingers on her sexualizing her in a very obvious manner, much as it did when she was covered in pie. He starts hitting on her, and Harley soon realizes he’s the one Mr. J is after. As the two stand and talk, Batman tries walking up behind Creeper who casually uppercuts him without taking his eyes off of Harley. Batman crashes into a pool table and soon Mo opens fire on he and Robin as Harley and Creeper take things outside.

creeper and harley

The Creeper has found himself a new target and Harley is not having any of it.

Creeper keeps advancing on Harley like, well, a creep while she shows no interest. She soon realizes she can use this attraction to her advantage though and beckons Creeper to come forward. As he does, she releases the restraints on some cargo dangling precariously over Creeper’s head which drops on him. Satisfied, she flips away as Batman and Robin race over. Batman tells Robin to help him check on Creeper and Robin suggests they get a mop. They tare down the walls of the battered crate and find a huge statue was inside. The head then breaks off and inside is Creeper. He jumps out and when Batman asks who he is he informs him that he is “…Yellow-skinned Wacky Man! But I prefer The Creeper!”

Creeper is not at all interested in chatting with the Dynamic Duo. He seems to desire revenge on Joker and Harley’s affection, possibly in that order, and he bounds away. Batman and Robin follow and they come across him sniffing around an alley like a dog. It’s at this point it dawns on the two that this guys is Jack Ryder, and Batman reasons that the combination of Joker’s laughing gas with the chemicals in the plant are what caused this odd mutation.

joker meets creeper

Joker coming face to face with his latest creation.

Creeper apparently locks on Harley’s scent and runs off causing Batman and Robin to lose him. Harley went running back to Joker’s hideout and she busts in on him while he’s refilling his boutonniere which nearly causes an explosion. She frantically tells Joker someone is after her, when Creeper busts in. He approaches and quickly lives up to his name by grabbing Harley and licking her face. She tells Joker he’s the guy stealing his act and swears she didn’t lead him on. He believes her, remarking he knows she’s a one man loon. He then asks Creeper if he’d like to head on a one-way trip to Metropolis and waves a vial threateningly.

Batman and Robin are perched on a clocktower searching for Creeper. An explosion lets them know where he is and the two race to find Joker’s hideout. The explosion did little to discourage Creeper and Joker and Harley flee via a large parade float. Creeper races after them and hops into Joker’s convertible forcing Batman to grab onto the bumper. Robin hits it with a grapple gun and ends up on a dolly being pulled behind it.

creeper crash

He just can’t stop from acting like a creep at all times.

Joker leads the Creeper on a chase through the streets of Gotham and onto the freeway. Creeper is close behind the uncharacteristically fast parade float with Batman hanging onto the bumper and Robin being pulled behind. The parade float has a giant castle on it with a massive glove above which Joker knocks off. It crashes into Creeper’s car and smashes into pieces. Creeper starts fiddling with the various devices in the car and inadvertently fires off a bunch of rockets which nearly roast Batman and Robin and likely kill some unfortunate motorists offscreen. He then finds the rocket ejector seat which launches him onto the parade float.

Creeper crashes into Joker which knocks the both of them into Harley, who is trying to drive. This sends them careening off the overpass and into a waste disposal plant also conveniently owned by Ace. As they fly through the air, Creeper continues being a creep by gleefully chewing on one of Harley’s tassels from her costume. The car Creeper was once driving goes flying off the overpass as well and Batman is able to grab Robin and keep the two of them relatively safe. High above them, the other three have come to rest atop a giant heap of garbage. Creeper has Joker in a reverse chin-lock and eventually tosses him down to Batman. Joker, bleeding and on his knees, pleads with Batman to save him from the lunatic and Batman responds by slapping some bat-cuffs on him.

creeper assault

I do not like where this is going at all!

On the garbage heap, Creeper is continuing to live up to his name as he moves in on Harley. He shoves her down and basically looks like he’s about to commit a rather serious crime. Batman then shows up and prevents the rape by injecting Creeper with a sedative. He remarks he’s getting sleepy and then collapses on Harley his head coming to rest right in between her breasts.

Batman, Robin, and Ryder are then shown at Ryder’s apartment. He’s mostly removed his costume, save for those fashionable green undies, and is a tad distraught that his career is over. Batman informs him no one knows he was The Creeper, and informs him a patch he’s placed on his shoulder should keep him as Jack Ryder. He tells him he’ll supply him with more as he and Robin take their leave. Ryder watches them go from his balcony and seems to act derisively towards the patch, referring to it as “a little piece of cotton.” He then peels it off and walks back into his apartment. The camera stays on the balcony as he vanishes with his laughter soon filling the night air.

ryder bandage

Ryder is not a fan of the patch.

It was surprising to see a new face like The Creeper introduced so late in the game. Apparently, there had been a desire to include him going all the way back to the Fox days but it just never came to pass. Paul Dini has also mentioned they thought another season would be ordered so introducing him at this stage probably wasn’t frowned upon since he was clearly being setup to return in a future episode. Eventually, he would be added to the Justice League, but obviously there was no second appearance for the character in a dedicated Batman show. This episode also marks the final appearance of Robin in the show. Mathew Valencia would not return to voice the character in Mystery of the Batwoman, but he did return for the Batman Beyond film Return of the Joker.

For Joker and Harley, this is a rather inauspicious conclusion to their time on the show. A lot of their screen time is a bit derivative of “Mad Love,” in particular Harley trying to woo Joker and failing. It was a bit cute in “Mad Love” to see Harley try and be sexy for her Mr. J, but here it feels more indulgent than anything. It feels like the writers are just horny for Harley at this point, and that’s further driven home when Creeper is given an unhealthy attraction to the woman. It apparently wasn’t enough for Harley to be constantly abused by Joker, now we need to have her be sexually assaulted by another lunatic. Creeper’s licking and groping of Harley is gross and again it feels like we’re supposed to laugh at her constant abuse. Maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but I didn’t find it funny and instead I was left feeling sorry for Harley once again.

creeper uppercut

There may be some comedic potential in a Batman/Creeper pairing, but this being his only appearance in the show means it was never meant to be, I suppose.

Aside from the fact that Creeper is a downright creep, it was a bit interesting to see Joker targeted by another maniac. His constant giggling and chattiness reminds me of Freakazoid, though less charming. His look is rather goofy, but I suppose it befits the character and was true to his comic book counterpart. I would have preferred to see him remain focused on getting back at Joker than turning into some horn-ball for Harley. I think a better avenue for the episode would have been Creeper trying to use Harley to get at Joker, only to come to find Joker doesn’t actually value Harley thus ruining his plan. That would put Harley in the victim role again, but at least it would force her to again confront that Joker doesn’t care about her and she needs to remove him from her life, which would be a good place to leave the character as it would at least give her some hope.

“Beware the Creeper” is an entertaining episode, though one that perhaps reveals a bit too much about the men working on the show. It’s hard to watch this and not feel slightly dirty with how Harley is portrayed since the camera practically humps her in several scenes. It was fun seeing Joker’s origin reenacted once again, and the show made it a point to reveal that his old alias of Jack Napier was just that, an alias, which is a bit of a departure from Batman. I like an ambiguous origin for Joker and seeing the show maintain some of that ambiguity was nice. Had the show continued, I don’t know that I would have needed to see Creeper again. It would have been interesting to see if he returned with a Joker plot, or if he would have come back in another capacity. He has some sense of justice to him, so it’s possible he would have just returned as a vigilante that Batman encountered and probably would rather not work beside. An odd couple paring for the two has some comedic potential, but it was apparently never meant to be.

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