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DuckTales! Season 3, Episode 18/Holiday Special Review

“Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Old Scrooge laid barbed wire, about Santa he groused!” With those words from Della Duck, the third DuckTales! Christmas episode opens with the Duck family celebrating with the favorite tradition of Scrooge McDuck: keeping Santa out! And if it weren’t so early in the morning, I’d have laughed my butt off at that.

Next to what happened to Della, the reason why Scrooge hates Santa Claus has to be the biggest mystery of the DuckTales! reboot. The mere mention of him is enough to make him go nuts. But the show’s never given us an actual reason for his hate for St. Nick. Until now. That’s right, we finally learn why Scrooge hates Santa

Santa and Scrooge: Friends Forever?

Twas the night before Christmas, when who shows up at Scrooge’s door? None other than Santa Claus, who falls right on the floor! Somehow, Santa injured his leg and can’t do his annual toy run, so he asks Scrooge to do it. In exchange, he promises to never come to his house again. So, Scrooge and Webby fly around the world delivering presents so they can save Christmas!

As far as the “Saving Christmas” plot goes, this is a standard setup. What serves as the big draw of the episode is the flashbacks that reveal the story of Santa and Scrooge. It turns out that, in the past, they were business partners!

Years ago, Scrooge and Santa worked together running a delivery service. They’d go around the world delivering coal to people to warm their homes. Santa brought the charisma and jolly feelings, while Scrooge got him his flying reindeer and a magic diamond that slowed down time. Both Scrooge and Santa admit that they made a great team and got along great together. Which begs the question: what happened between them?

Turns out, Scrooge’s capitalist mindset happened.

How Scrooge Almost Ruined Christmas

It turns out, the pair had less of a falling out and more like Scrooge’s greed and ego led him to drive Santa away. Scrooge only cared about selling people the coal and earning money from it. So when Santa wanted to give people toys for free, he saw this as a betrayal and severed all ties with him. The worst part, though, is that even after all these years, Scrooge insists that his way is right. He goes so far as to swap all the presents out with coal; with invoices!

Seeing Santa (and even Webby) rightfully call Scrooge out on his actions helped to drive home the heart of the one-sided feud between the two. Scrooge is someone who believes in practicality above all, thinking that’s all people need in a gift. But he wants to charge people for it, which defeats the point of his argument. Santa understands the importance of generosity, hence why he faked his injury in the first place: to get Scrooge to finally see how selfish he had been. Truthfully, Santa back the friend who first believed in him when no one else would.

Thankfully, Scrooge sees reason, and he and the Duck family work together to save Christmas. And Scrooge finally drops his Santa vendetta at last.

A Great Christmas Story

I have to admit, I was expecting Scrooge’s grudge against Santa to be the result of something else. Like, he never gave him the present he wanted as a kid. Having them as business partners before their splitting up was a much more creative idea, though. It doesn’t just fit Scrooge’s character, but also highlights the downsides to his business-oriented mindset. That’s a pretty good moral to be had.

I know that the events of this year put a damper on the Holidays, but I refuse to let 2020 wreck Christmas! This Christmas episode helped to start the season off on the right foot, and that’s good enough for me.

I Give “How Santa Stole Christmas” a 4.5/5

Stray Observations

• This was the first time we’ve seen Launchpad since the Darkwing Duck special
• So, why did Santa give coal to naughty children?
• There was a deep reference to an old comic in this episode

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Just because I am a grown-up does not mean I have to stop loving cartoons, especially when said cartoons are excellent. Over the last few years, Cartoon Network has been on a roll, making shows that have appealed to both child and adult demographics. First, there was Adventure Time, then Regular Show, and we have Steven Universe. Rebecca Sugar’s creation is one of the best shows on Cartoon Network right now, and with next batch of episodes coming out, I thought it’d be appropriate to look at the Steven Universe Christmas episode.

It’s not blatantly stated to be a Christmas episode, but watch it and tell me if it doesn’t remind you of anything Christmas related. So, here it is, Three Gems and a Baby.

Baby Steven Universe

As Beach City is being covered by a blizzard, Greg Universe and the Crystal Gems tell Steven the story of his first winter with Steven. 

In flashback, Greg is shown taking care of baby Steven whilestaying at a friend’s house in the middle of a blizzard. He does a good job atit, as well, though he gets a little confused about Steven’s need to expose his gem.

Now, when I first saw this episode, I started to get some serious baby Jesus vibes from it, whether intentional or not. First, Steven was not a normal baby. He was born through very unconventional means. Unlike Jesus, though, Steven is the son of a human and an alien. 

The comparisons don’t stop, as the Gems show up bearing gifts for the newborn Steven. Sound familiar? Well, the Gems gifts are mostly impractical. Why would a baby need a razor, after all? 

Everything changes when Steven’s gem starts glowing. The Gems are convinced it’s Rose trying to talk to them, and while Greg tries to figure out what’s going on, the Gems basically… kidnap Steven. Along with Greg’s van.

Steven Goes for a Ride

It was funny to watch the Gems try and figure out what Steven was, only to fail and make him upset. Even though Pearl thinks she can bring back Rose by removing Steven’s gem, she can’t do it. Reluctantly, the Gems have to face the fact that Rose may be gone for good, and that they need to focus on Steven now.

Then Greg shows up being chased by a dog and they make up. Back in the present, Steven can’t help but point out how the Gems were wrong about growing and changing is not natural for them, as they have all changed for the better.

Steven Universe=Gem Jesus

In hindsight, it is easy to see the comparisons between the story of baby Jesus and Steven. Considering everything that has happened with Steven, and the revelation that his mom was actually PINK DIAMOND, I can’t help but wonder if this was intentional.

Think about it: Steven is a special boy, born from a human father and a Gem mother. He has all the abilities of both Gems and Humans, and he has spent his entire life trying to help others, even if they were once his enemies. After he learns the truth about his mom, he tries to make peace with the other Diamonds. With the remainder of the “Diamond Days” coming up, I keep coming back to this episode and the comparisons. One thing keeps crossing my mind: does Rebecca Sugar mean for Steven to become a sort of savior or uniter of the Gems?

Steven Universe is part Gem, and a Diamond, one of the leaders, at that. Maybe he is meant to bring about a significant change in Gem society. This is just me speculating, but with recent events, I knew I had to re-watch this episode. It’s not just a Christmas episode, it may be a direct hint by the show’s writers about what Steven’s destiny may be. Or not. I don’t mind being wrong.

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South Park and Christmas

Howdy-ho, people! It’s time for another 25 days of Christmas. Since South Park will be wrapping up its 22nd season, I thought it would be appropriate to cover one of their Christmas specials.

More than any other show on TV, South Park has a strong connection to Christmas. The whole reason the show even exists is that Matt Stone and Trey Parker made a short film in their college days called “The Spirit of Christmas” that parodied Frosty the Snowman

Then that Executive from Fox asked them to make a sequel for a video Christmas Card called “Jesus vs. Santa”

The rest is history. Rather than argue about which South Park Christmas Special was the best, I’m skipping that and going with the one I loved the most: Woodland Critter Christmas

A Twisted Woodland Critter Christmas

This is one of the funniest and most original Christmas Specials I have ever seen, and I love every minute of it! It starts off like a simple Rankin/Bass special, with a bunch of cute little animals who “befriend” Stan Marsh and get him to kill the mountain lion that keeps eating the chosen mother of their savior. 

Since it’s South Park, though, nothing is ever that simple. The writers make everyone feel bad when it’s revealed the lion had three cubs. But then they pulled a plot twist on us by revealing the critters are Satanists giving birth to the Anti-Christ! I wasn’t sure if I should be laughing or just saying “Stan, dude, you f***d up big time”.

So even though Stan just wants to forget about everything, the Narrator forces him to go back and stop the critters. That goes about as well as you think, so he has to take the lion cubs to learn abortions so they can kill the Anti-Christ.

Oh, and the critters kidnap Kyle to use him as a vessel for the Anti-Christ.

So the Anti-Christ is born, and now the only one able to stop the madness is Santa, who rides in on his sleigh with a shotgun and kills them all, only for Kyle to let himself be possessed. PLOT TWIST!

Cartman’s Story

The best part, though, is when it’s revealed that everything that’s happened was part of a story Cartman made for class. Kyle tries to stop it, but everyone wants to know what happens next. If I were his teacher, I know I would be curious myself. This was a good story. It also explains why there is another son of the devil. Damian hasn’t been seen since Season 1, but he’s still there. Also, the Satan in South Park can be a chill guy.

So the Mountain Lions abort the Anti-Christ, though how, I don’t know. All that matters is that it’s dead. And as a reward for Stan, Santa uses his magic to bring back the mountain lion mom. 

I have been a fan of South Park for years, and I always look forward to seeing what they make fun of each week. I especially love their holiday specials, and this was one of their best ones ever. After this, there was nearly a ten year gap in Christmas Specials for South Park, so if this was going to have been their final one, they went out with a bang. It’s a great parody of Christmas Specials, though of what, I don’t know.

Who cares? Cartman probably got an A+, Christmas was saved, and everyone lived happily ever after… except for Kyle, who died of AIDS two weeks later. I knew Cartman would jab at Kyle. MERRY WOODLAND CRITTER CHRISTMAS!

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Christmas can be just as big a holiday in Japan as it is in other parts of the world, but not for the reasons you would think. There are not that many Christians in Japan, so they don’t celebrate for the religious aspects. It’s celebrated more for the romantic aspect, decorating trees, and eating KFC. That is, in fact, a thing in Japan, thanks to a promotional campaign KFC did in the 1970s. 

After reading D&A Anime Blog’s post about anime Christmas Specials, I decided I wanted to do more myself. So I went online and found a Christmas episode for an anime I’ve been meaning to watch, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

Here’s the synopsis first. This office worker named Kobayashi rescues this dragon from another dimension named Tohru, causing Tohru to fall in love with her. She (Tohru) then reveals she can turn into a human and starts living with Kobayashi as her maid. Then she gets joined by Tohru’s friend, Kanna, who is probably the winner for cutest anime character in 2017. It’s a cute slice-of-life anime, and the dub by Funimation is fairly good. If you like anime that are more laid-back and not as heavy on the action, I’d recommend it. Now onto the episode!

When one of Tohru’s friends from the town mall injures himself practicing for their annual Christmas Eve show at the local retirement home, she volunteers to put it on. So she gathers her friends, which include other dragons living on Earth, a young mage named Shouta, and Kanna’s classmate Saikawa who has a massive crush on her (as you can see in the above video at 1:50).

After trying to think up a bunch of ideas, they settle on a play of The Little Matchgirl. They try getting Shouta to dress as the matchgirl, but he’s too embarrassed. So they settle for Kanna, who is already cute enough (again as seen in the video)

We also get this cute little subplot during this whole thing. When Kanna gets worried they won’t be visited by Santa because they don’t have a chimney, Tohru…installs one for their apartment, right into Kanna’s room. That makes it hard for Kobayashi to give her her present without being caught. The struggle of every adult, I guess.

So Christmas Eve comes, and the play is performed, but it’s not the same as the story. The group ended taking some creative liberties with the story. The next thing I know, Shouta shows up as an old man selling straw hats (have to find out what story that’s from) and they turn into Magical Girls fighting alongside the 47 Ronin. That is literally what happens!

Fortunately, the elders love it, which is the whole point of the thing, so the play is a huge success. They then all head back to Kobayashi’s house for a Christmas Party, and the episode ends with Kobayashi and Tohru going for a ride in the night sky for Christmas. Well, the whole “Santa” thing happens after that, but that’s not the point. 

Overall, this was a nice Christmas episode. Like I said, Christmas isn’t as big a deal in Japan as it is to America, so there are not many anime Christmas specials. I loved this one, though, hilarity and all. Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a fun little slice of life.

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Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts!