RJ Writing Ink

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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South Park, Season 23, Episode 10, “Christmas Snow” Review

Since its inception, South Park’s been intrinsically tied to Christmas. In fact, if it weren’t for that video Christmas Card Matt and Trey made in college, South Park wouldn’t exist. Therefore, it feels appropriate to end its 23rd Season with a Christmas episode. However, don’t let the name “Christmas Snow” or the return of the official intro fool you. This finale’s about a different kind of Christmas snow.

Return of the Original Intro

Firstly, I felt surprised to see the normal South Park intro make its return. Given the season’s theme of faux spin-offs, I thought we wouldn’t see it again. At first glance, one would think this mean’s that Matt and Trey ran out of fake spin-off ideas. Thus, they went back to their usual routine. However, this proves to be a red herring, as once we get into the episode, we see why.

In an effort to curb car accidents, Santa has booze banned in South Park for the holidays. As a result, the grown-ups have no pick-me-up to get them through the stress of the holidays and become miserable. So they turn to another big guy in a red suit and a beard. And it’s someone I haven’t been a fan of this season: Randy Marsh.

Tegridy Weed Christmas Snow

I guess Matt and Trey couldn’t stay away from Tegridy Farms, even if not everyone liked it. They even take the time to reference the fact that some of the Tegridy Farms episodes weren’t that well-received. The moment of self-mocking passes, though, as Randy gets into the meat of the episode. Inspired by the snow falling on the ground, he and Towelie use their leftover weed to create what they call “Christmas Snow”.

The moment I saw the white stuff on the marijuana, I thought it was either mold or cocaine. Much to my amusement, it turned out to be the latter. While the Mayor freaks out since cocaine is very illegal (and dangerous), Randy nonchalantly fixes the problem. In what I can only assume is a jab at the efforts to legalize weed, Randy does a quick montage, comes back and says “Okay, coke is now legal”.

As hilarious as that scene was, I couldn’t help but feel a little disturbed at the implied undertones. Next to marijuana, cocaine is one of the most illegal drugs in the world, yet the people of South Park snort that Christmas Snow like there’s no tomorrow. At least the show reminds us of how bad coke is, so I think it evens out in the end.

Of course, none of this goes over well with Santa.

Santa Grinches the Coke

Maybe he’s genuinley trying to keep the people of South Park safe, or he’s mad at them running Mr. Hankey out last year. Either way, Santa refuses to let the grown ups get high on the road. Thus, in a reversal of the Dr. Seuss story, Santa Grinches everyone’s cocaine, leading Randy to chase him off a cliff.

What happens next is, in hindsight, one of the funniest things I’ve seen all season. Randy convinces Santa to try his Tegridy Christmas Snow, and the jolly man loves it. Then Jesus shows up and starts trying it as well. The trinity of South Park is sitting in the woods, snorting on that Christmas snow. As a result of loving it so much, they decide to share it with everyone. So, Jesus spreads the coke in the air as actual Christmas snow. It’s so weird and so funny. I think.

So That Happened.

To be honest, I didn’t think that this episode was that funny at first. However, after sleeping on it, I admit that the premise of “Christmas Snow” is pretty funny. I was just letting my dislike of Tegridy Farms get in the way of that. At the least, it beats the literal crap-show that was “Turd Burglars” which I refuse to discuss anymore.

That said, I honestly hope that next season, South Park puts its focus back on its original stars, the four boys of South Park. At the least, I hope that this is the last time we see Tegridy Farms. It’s a joke that’s run its course a thousand times over!

I Give “Christmas Snow” a 3.5/5. And that’s me being generous. Happy Holidays, South Park

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Star vs. The Forces of Evil Holiday Special Review- Stump Day

I know I said I wasn’t going to be doing this 25 days of Christmas thing this year. However, Star vs the Forces of Evil came out on Disney+, and its the first day of December. In other words, I couldn’t resist. So, here’s my review of the first half of the Star vs. Christmas Special, “Stump Day.”

All Hail Stump Day

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Mewni, Stump Day. When the first Mewmans found their way to Mewni, they were struck by a terrible winter storm. In order to survive they had to huddle behind a giant tree stump and forge bonds of friendship. ThentheylearnedmagicandusedittobeatuptheMonsters, the end!

To honor that memory, every year the Mewmans honor the Stump, or else. However, Stump Day’s not just Star’s favorite holiday, it also happens to be her birthday!

It may just be me, but the fact that Star’s birthday falls on Stump Day seems like a continuity wrinkle. Wouldn’t that mean the Wand Ceremony in the first episode should have had snow and holiday decorations or what not? Or did they move it to a different day to honor the Stump?

Unwelcome Birthday Party

Not realizing how important Stump Day is, and wanting to surprise his best friend, Marco throws a surprise party for Star that very night. This causes Star to freak out and try to destroy her own party. She never celebrates her birthday on her actual birthday out of respect/fear of the Stump.

Everything goes downhill from there. Marco and Tom start fighting when Marco calls him a bad boyfriend, then everyone’s yelling at each other and Janna throws the Stump in the fireplace. As a result of everyone’s actions, they anger the real Stump, and it tries to kill everyone present.

Personally, I found it a little ironic that no one believed the Stump was real aside from Star. Everyone present comes from other dimensions and sees magic on a regular basis. Given everything they’ve seen, is a giant, ax-crazy Mewman version of Santa hard to believe? In the end, it doesn’t matter, though: Stump Day comes to an end before the Stump can kill them all, and everyone comes together to celebrate Star’s birthday. The end.

Don’t Trust the Stump

I’ve seen several fanfictions re-use the concept of Stump Day since this episode, and a lot of them don’t paint the Stump in a good light. My personal favorite, though, is MoringMark’s story involving the Stump in his webcomic Echo Creek. Long story short, Mariposa and Meteora fight the Stump, and it reveals that it caused the storm that led to it being worshipped. It was revenge for them cutting down its tree.

Basically, I see the Stump as an axe-crazy hunk of wood that’s not to be trusted. However, it’s also the same kind of crazy you’d expect from a show like Star vs. The Forces of Evil. I know the chances of the story being continued anytime soon are low, but at least we get some great fanworks out of it.

This should be the part where I insert some cheesy Aesop about the importance of coming together for the holidays and/or possible death, but I got nothing. All I can say is that that rotting piece of bark is not to be trusted! Happy holidays, everyone!

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The First Spongebob Christmas Special

This special has been on long enough that I don’t think I need to explain much about the plot. So let’s just go over the basics.

After Sandy teaches Spongebob about the concept of Christmas, he shares the holiday with the rest of Bikini Bottom, and soon everyone is in on it. Everyone except for Squidward, who thinks everyone is being stupid.

So Christmas Eve comes, and Squidward is being the Scrooge who refuses to celebrate the holiday. So while everyone is waiting for Santa to come, he goes to sleep. Santa doesn’t show up, and everyone becomes disillusioned with the holiday. Even Spongebob tearfully admits that Squidward was right. Feeling guilty, Squidward decides to dress up as Santa to make Spongebob happy, and then ends up giving away all his stuff as gifts. Then the real Santa shows up and thanks him.

Good Times With Spongebob

As a kid who was making the transition from Nick Jr. to Nickelodeon proper, this was one of the first Christmas specials that I saw growing up, and I loved it. I was a huge Spongebob fan throughout my childhood and tried to emulate him as much as possible. I enjoyed watching his Christmas special every year. That being said, there was one thing about the special that always bugged me: why did everyone stay up to wait for Santa?

As a kid growing up, I was always taught that if you wanted Santa Claus to show up, then you needed to go to sleep so that he wouldn’t be seen. Granted, I know that that was so that parents could put out the presents. Why wouldn’t Sandy tell him that? Most kids will know that idea.

Furthermore, I get why Squidward wanted to rub the fact that he was right in Spongebob’s face. I would be probably be annoyed by Spongebob’s attempts to get him into the holiday spirit. But being right doesn’t give him the right to be a total jackass. Even so, I think Squidward’s decision to dress up as Santa was one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen him do. Too bad I don’t see him do that any more.

In all, though, this remains one of my all-time favorite Christmas Specials, and I hope that you guys have a Merry Christmas.

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Yes, people, I am a Brony, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I never cared for My Little Pony at first, thought it was not for me. But then I saw Rainbow Dash beat the circuits out of Starscream in an episode of Death Battle:

And then Pinkie Pie fighting Deadpool:

And then Twilight Sparkle fought Raven.

The point being, the ponies from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic are pretty cool. Unlike previous versions, the characters in this version are not overly “girly” and go on funny and exciting adventures. But I’m not here to talk about the show outright. Today, I want to talk about their new holiday special, The Best Gift Ever.

My Little Pony: The Best Gift Ever

It’s the day before Hearth’s Warming Eve, the Equestrian equivalent to Christmas, and the Mane Six is busy trying to get each other gifts. And Twilight is… having her holiday meltdown from the stress of getting gifts for everyone. And preparing for her family to visit.

So Applejack suggests that they do a Hearth’s Warming helper (AKA a Secret Santa). So the gang goes their separate ways to find the perfect gifts for each other:

• Rarity heads to recover the gift she got for Applejack after it got sent to the wrong address
• Discord tags along with Rainbow Dash to get Fluttershy a new pet
• Fluttershy and Applejack head to a craft fair for gifts for Spike and Rainbow Dash
• Spike wants to get Rarity the best gift ever (because he loves her).
• Pinkie Pie heads to a trio of Reindeer to get a gift for Twilight.
• And Twilight’s gift for Pinkie Pie?

It wouldn’t be an adventure, though, if they didn’t run into hijinks. So things end up getting crazy, and no one ends up getting the gifts they wanted to give.

That’s alright, though, because, like any episode of My Little Pony, there’s a moral behind everything. The moral in this case is that you shouldn’t stress so much about what to get your friends and family for the holiday season. Getting gifts is always fun, but the best gift can be just spending time with loved ones and enjoying yourself. That’s what the holidays are for!

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s mention the touches that I liked about this special- in photo form!

So, yeah, the message of the story is one that has been told a thousand times, but I don’t think that that is a bad thing as long as it’s told in a fun way. And considering how much care Hasbro, the cast, and writers of the show put into it, I’d say that it was plenty of fun. I know I enjoyed it, at least.

Don’t go anywhere yet! I’ve got a bevy of more blogs that I want to do today! Then, check back tomorrow as I go over a bonus movie, recap the year, and what I look forward to in 2019.

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People, I believe that I have now hit rock bottom on Christmas Specials. Why? Because I just found the Christmas Episode for last season of American Dad. I was into American Dad for a time, along with Seth Macfarlane’s other shows (even got his autograph). But then I grew out of them. But then I saw this special and decided to give it another shot.

American Dad Christmas

Two things you need to know about American Dad: it’s about the family of extremely conservative CIA agent Stan Smith, and every Christmas Special has seen something bad happen to them. Past examples include:

• Getting separated by the Rapture
• Fighting the Anti-Christ. Twice!
• Stan wishing to be single for Christmas only to end up with the wrong family after the wish was undone
• Santa sending an army of elves to kill them
• Santa killing Stan’s dad and turning him into Krampus

Bottom line, the Smiths and Christmas don’t mix. So in this episode, Stan decides to just bail on the whole thing and have the Smiths go into stasis for the day to wait out the holiday. Except for his son, Steve, is isn’t ready to give up on Christmas and runs off to ride a train. But then that train full of kids gets kidnapped and taken to the North Pole by Santa.

Crazy Plan

Apparently, Santa needs them as slave labor in his mines to search for these magical gemstones. They were once part of the eyes of this mythical giant that was slain by the ancient Sumerian hero Gilgamesh and granting him godly power. Santa’s plan is to use them to do the same thing to himself.

Why, though? What on earth does he possibly have to gain from such a convoluted plan? That’s really dumb, but also cool at the same time. But still dumb! That is literally what I thought to myself while I was watching this episode! I admit that this episode had an interesting premise, but it didn’t really do much to make me think of the Christmas spirit. In fact, the revelation that Santa set up everything just for a ridiculous plot to become a god made Steve finally hate Christmas. Thankfully, the hate doesn’t last long and by the end Steve likes Christmas again. Oh, and Santa and the elves got sucked into the giant’s mouth, but then we see his hand climb out the neck in dramatic fashion.

Not a traditional Christmas Special, by far, but this is adult animation. So it gets a pass. I think I need to go have some eggnog after this. American Dad can be weird at times.

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Christmas in Space

It’s time for another Regular Show Christmas Special. The final special, to be exact. In late 2016, Regular Show was wrapping up its 8th and final season, leading to its hour long finale in January 2017. That is a story for another day, though. The Holidays were a big part of Regular Show, and I grew to look forward to their holiday specials every year. The Halloween specials were the main ones, but they also had several Christmas episodes to go with it. So, for the final Christmas special, I guess they just decided to combine both into one. So we got CHRISTMAS IN SPACE!

Instead of a single storyline, this special followed the anthology format of the Halloween episodes, something every one noticed. Even Benson calls the group out about it at one point. Although, they were in space by that point. So, let’s look at each story as I give my two cents.

Planet Celsius

In this first story told by Skips, the Park Gang travels to the Planet Celsius so they can have a white Christmas. There’s just one rule: they can only stay while there’s sunlight, because afterwards, snow monsters will come and attack them. There’s also only sunlight for five minutes.

So, the gang has a good romp in the snow, playing with the natives, and exchanging Christmas gifts in five minutes. Then Muscle Man takes too long to do his family’s annual ski run, and they get caught outside in the dark. And the natives turn into snow monsters.

Right away, I felt this plot was similar to the movie Gremlins with the Celsians turning into monsters after dark seeming very familiar. Then again, I never actually watched the movie, so I could be wrong. I do know what thing that was a direct parody, though: Ludlow the Laser-Nosed Reindeer. He’s a poorly animated knock-off of Rudolph that comes down and saves everyone with his laser nose, then just floats away like a stiff board. I don’t know what the meaning behind that was. Christmas in Space, so why not?

Annoying Rock Caroler

Next is Benson’s story, where the Park gets visited by this strange, rock caroler. That is, someone who sings Christmas carols in rock form. In this case, he does The Twelve Days of Christmas. All twelve verses. And the gifts just appear and start attacking the Park Gang.

The Twelve Days of Christmas was not one of my favorite Christmas songs growing up, mainly because I never remember the lyrics after the fifth verse. I liked this story though because it made me realize something I never noticed: there are a lot of birds as gifts in that song! The first third of the song was just birds. Eventually, the gang gets rid of the caroler by giving him cookies, and then he explodes into snow. Because, why not?

Theoretical Mall

In Mordecai and Rigby’s story, they forget to get Pops his present for Christmas, so they have to go to the one mall in the universe that is open… theoretically.

This story is a homage to the classic show The Twilight Zone from start to finish. It even has the door in space and everything. Mordecai and Rigby have to travel to the fifth floor/fifth dimension of the mall to get their gift. As it turns out, the fifth dimension lets them see every possible choice they make. In Rigby terms, every time they get distracted, clones of the two are made that wander off. Soon, it’s a race to the elevator before the mall closes and implodes on them.

This story wasn’t that big on the Christmas theme, but this is the kind of surreal adventures that made me fall in love with Regular Show in the first place. Plus, the ending is classic Twilight Zone.

Krampus

Fed up with everyone’s stories, Benson decides to tell one of his own. In this one, Rigby disobeys Benson one too many times, so he calls Krampus the Christmas Demon to punish him for it. It was meant to be a joke, but it turns out that Krampus is real and actually comes for Rigby. Thus the Park Gang is forced into a battle against the anti-Santa.

This is the kind of story that can fit in both Halloween or Christmas: it’s both scary and keeps with the tradition of Christmas. Even Mordecai and Rigby admit that it’s a good story. Until Benson ruins it by having Krampus defeated by handbells. Benson has been trying to get the gang into handbells all episode, and this was a lame way to do it.

Someone does come along who appreciates Benson’s love of handbells though: Space Santa! Handbells and Christmas Carols for everyone as the episode ends! Christmas in Space!

So that’s basically it. Personally, my favorite Christmas episode of Regular Show was the original, but I want to save that for later. I still miss Regular Show, and I hope that it’s just the start to a bright career for creator J.G. Quintel. I still liked Christmas in Space, though. Now if only TBS would air his new show already.

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I would like to thank cakedablerd from Pop Culture Uncovered for giving me the idea to watch this. Go check out her original post. I have never been one for work by Sanrio, but Aggretsuko might be an exception, especially since the main character is the opposite of Hello Kitty. Retsuko is a 25-year-old accountant in some random company… and she hates every minute of it. A lot of her co-workers are annoying, her boss is a jerk, and she just wants out. A lot of people can relate. Most of her co-workers don’t know, but she channels her anger by singing death metal karaoke.

So, I spent a whole day binge watching the first season, because the Christmas Special came out today: We Wish You A Metal Christmas.

We Wish You A Metal Christmas

If you remember my posts about the Fairy Tail and Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Christmas Specials, you may remember that I said Christmas is more about romance in Japan. That, and eating KFC, but that’s beside the point. It’s Christmas Eve, and everyone is making plans for the holiday. Everyone except for Retsuko. She’s been too busy trying to get Instagram likes to make plans, and then her jerk-boss, Ton the pig, gives her extra work. Because he’s a jerk.

Meanwhile, Retsuko’s friends, Haida and Fenneko are out drinking. Haida has had a crush on Retsuko, but she turned him down, and he still hasn’t gotten over it. So he’s getting wasted to get over the pain. Especially since he thinks Retsuko has plans.

Fortunately for him, Fenneko’s social media detective skills help her realize that something’s up with Retsuko’s Instagram posts and that she doesn’t have anything to do for Christmas Eve. So Haida tries to rush over and help her, only to find out she already left. Love is never easy.

Luck is on Haida’s side, though, as he happens to run into her as she’s out with some of her friends, and they end up getting some time together. It’s a cute way to end the episode, but the clincher is the heavy metal version of “Jingle Bells”. I never knew how badly I needed that.

Retsuko Is an Exception

As I said before, Sanrio is normally not my cup of eggnog, but I’m glad I tried this show out. It’s got enough of anime in it to keep me interested, while the premise is relatable enough for non-anime fans to get into it. What makes this enjoyable, though, is that it serves as a reminder of how no one should be alone for the holidays. Yet many people out there are. They don’t have any family or friends nearby, so the holidays can be a sad and lonely experience. But when you have people you care about with you, they become a lot brighter.

I also find this to be an interesting commentary on how some in our generation go out of their way to look amazing on social media to make up for the fact that they don’t like where they are right now. While stuck at work, Retsuko even fakes a fancy dinner photo just get people’s approval.

My advice: social media is fun, but it doesn’t beat having physical friends to hang out with. But I don’t want to preach, so instead, I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas!

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Earlier in the month, I did a writing about a Dragon Ball Z Abridged Christmas Special: The Christmas Tree of Might. Last year, Team Four Star produced a follow up: The Plan to Eradicate Christmas. I was browsing through the internet, and I thought it would be fun to watch this again. 

Like Christmas Tree of Might, this is not really a Christmas Special. This is actually based on an OVA that came with the game Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast 2. Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans was about a supercomputer made by a species the Saiyans wiped out trying to get revenge for it’s deceased creators. That is disregarded in this special.

Evil Santa

In keeping with the Christmas theme, this special sees the Earth being threatened by a giant cloud of coal dust and naughtiness, and the ghost’s of Christmas Villains past. You know how this song and dance goes. Fight, Goku and allies first lose, they rally and win. 

What I liked about this special is that it once again shows how creative Team Four Star is able to get with their work. They took an OVA that had nothing to do with Christmas and make it into a holiday special. They even added Santa Claus into it.

Everyone is Naughty! Except Gohan!

Speaking of Santa, he’s the one behind this mess. Team Four Star must have taken a page from the evil robot Santa from Futurama, because this Santa has deemed everyone on Earth naughty. And the Saiyans and Piccolo are at the top. Piccolo for him and his dad trying to take over the world, Trunks for the time travel thing, and Vegeta. Dear god, where do we begin? But Goku is the worst because he’s put the universe at risk. And as if to prove a point, Team Four Star puts up an ad to the watch the Tournament of Power arc on Crunchyroll. Gohan is the only one who’s on the nice list.

So, Santa has clearly gone evil, which means the group has to waste him. To the tune of “Carol of the Bells”, which was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

So, Santa is dead, but the point the group is about more than just Santa. I know that’s been said time and again, but we still need to hear every now and then. After that, everyone goes home to Goku’s home for Christmas dinner. Even Vegeta, and he hates everyone. Christmas miracle.

So, that was a traditional Saiyan Christmas, I guess. It was, it was weird. I wonder if Team Four Star would do another Hellsing Christmas Special? I got to go find out! Or maybe they’ll done another Dragon Ball Z Abridged Special for Christmas!

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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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