The New Batman Adventures: "Holiday Knights"

Premiered September 13, 1997.

"I'll bet you've been a good little Bat Boy this year.  Unfortunately, Harley and I are still on the naughty list!"
-Poison Ivy.

This Batman episode features three holiday vignettes.

December 22:

Christmas is approaching and the criminal duo of Poison Ivy (Diane Pershing) and Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin) are looking for some holiday fun.  They crash a party where they encounter Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy), Gotham City's most prominent billionaire.  Poison Ivy gives Bruce a kiss while wearing her hypnotic lipstick and Wayne becomes their servant.  

Poison Ivy kisses Bruce Wayne. 

Harley and Ivy take Bruce to a department store and go on a shopping spree, using Bruce's credit cards.

But the effects of the lipstick begin to wear off.  When Harley tries to kiss Wayne to restore the hypnosis, she accidentally knocks him down an open elevator shaft.  But thankfully, Wayne changes into Batman and pursues the larcenous duo.

Bruce Wayne is forced to carry Harley & Ivy's haul.

December 24:

Police detectives Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo) and Renee Montoya (Liane Schirmer) are working undercover as a mall Santa and elf, respectively.  They're investigating a shoplifting ring that's been hitting Gotham department stores.

Detective Bullock is not very good at playing Santa. 

When several kids are witnessed stealing merchandise, the detectives spring into action.  They're shocked to discover that the shoplifters are actually Batman's old foe, the shapeshifter known as Clayface (Ron Perlman).

Thankfully, Barbara Gordon (Tara Strong) is shopping for Christmas presents and changes into her Batgirl identity to fight Clayface.

December 31:

New Year's Eve arrives, but Batman and Robin (Mathew Valencia) don't get to ring the New Year in peace.

Thousands are gathered in Gotham Square to celebrate the New Year.  However, the Joker (Mark Hamill) plans to set off a sonic bomb rigged to the Gotham New Year's Bell which will go off at midnight and kill all the revelers.

Joker has a henchman check the rigging of the sonic bomb. 

It's up to the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder to prevent the Joker from carrying out his evil plan!

Will Gotham City have a Happy New Year?

RigbyMel says:

I quite enjoyed this episode of vingettes from different points in the holiday season.

It's always fun to see Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy wrecking havoc and their shopping montage - making use of Bruce Wayne's credit cards - is pretty amusing.   Of course, they don't know that Bruce is actually Batman and wind up getting more than they bargained for!

I also like that Harley really wants a Christmas tree, but Ivy forbids it on plant abuse grounds   (although, Harley sort of gets her wish in the end ...).

The second sequence is not quite as strong.   Detective Bullock's terrible Santa-ing is fun to watch.   I really wish that Batgirl had been given more of a chance to shine here, but it's still nice to see her in action.

Joker's madly malevolent mayhem definitely makes for a fun adventure.

Joker unmasks ... some Joker masks!

He makes some good use of joker masks to put Batman and Robin off of this trail, and plays a mean stride piano version of "Auld Lang Syne."   One has to give him points for creativity!

Gotham City Christmas decorations. 

There's also a touching little tag sequence near the end of the episode that takes place in the wee hours of New Year's Day that involves Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings).

Batman and Commissioner Gordon share a New Year's toast.

The voice work in this episode is top-notch.   I can't say enough good things about Arleen Sorkin and Mark Hamill's villain voicing.   I also like that Robin the Boy Wonder is obviously being voiced by a teenager in this episode,  that is not often the case and Mathew Valencia did a good job here.

This holiday superhero episode is definitely worth a look if you've the time or inclination (and since it covers both Christmas and New Years here's a special variant rating for you!).

RigbyMel's rating:

3 candy canes

AND

3 champagne flutes

J.A. Morris says:

I mostly agree with my co-blogger, but I think I enjoyed "Holiday Knights" a little more than she did.

Ivy and Harley's Christmas shopping was loads of fun.  In fact, their holiday story would have made a great full-length episode.  Harley is a great character and was always lots of fun in this series.  I laughed out loud several times at her and Ivy's antics.  

The Clayface portion wasn't as strong, but Clayface is an interesting character and one of the most bizarre villains in Batman's rougues gallery.  I also appreciated the presence of Det. Renee Montoya in the Christmas Eve segment.  Like Harley Quinn, Montoya was created for the animated series.  She was a good character and has gone on to have a long career in comic books as well, fighting crime as Batwoman and the Question.

In addition to Montoya, Batgirl's appearance in this segment gave it two protagonists who are women, something you don't often see in superhero programming.

The Joker is one of the greatest villains of all time and his scheme here is as humorous as it is evil.  I was also glad to see that New Year's Eve was featured in this vignette.

The Joker prepares to pop open his New Year champagne.

Compared to Christmas, there are very few New Year's-themed episodes, specials or films.  It's nice to have one more show to watch on New Year's Eve.

A huge crowd gathers to ring in the New Year in Gotham Square.

This episode can be found on the Batman:The Animated Series, Vol. 4 dvd set.  It's also available for streaming on Amazon and iTunes.

"Holiday Knights" is something that should be added to your Christmas and/or New Year's viewing and is highly recommended.  If there's anything to criticize, it's that these stories could have been expanded and this series could have gotten more holiday episodes.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5


3 and a half candy canes.

AND

.5


3 and a half champagne flutes.

Teen Titans Go!: "Black Friday"

Premiered November 19, 2015.

Raven: Black Friday is the one holiday everyone can agree on, because everyone loves a bargain!
Robin: Standing in long lines so you can buy things for 70% off is the ultimate act of love!

At Thanksgiving dinner, the Teen Titans scarf down their food at a breakneck pace.  When Starfire (Hynden Walch) asks why they can't slow down and appreciate the feast, Robin (Scott Menville) announces that they need to move on to the next "holiday": Black Friday!

Much to the dismay of her teammates, Starfire refuses to participate in the consumerist insanity.

Starfire conflates Scrooge McDuck with Ebenezer Scrooge.

She decides to take a nap, but is awakened by ghosts of Black Friday Past, Present and Future, who want to show her the true "reason for the season."

Starfire admires the Ghost of Black Friday Past's "dress."  

Will Starfire find the Black Friday spirit?   Will the other Titans get all the bargain prices on consumer electronics they hope for?  

RigbyMel says:

This short cartoon is hyperkinetic and very funny.   It uses "Christmas Carol" type spirits and tropes in a witty and subversive way.

Cyborg (Khary Payton) and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) as the Ghosts of Black Friday Present.   Note the "ghostly" background!

I also really like the look of the Teen Titans Go! series in general with its stylized drawings with a bit of anime flavor thrown in.

Although I am personally on Starfire's side of the Black Friday argument, I certainly appreciate the silly denouement of her visits from the Black Friday Spirits.

Starfire is Not Amused.

This short is well worth watching and might even make you think a little bit before engaging in consumerist throwdowns.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 Black Friday sale tags

J.A. Morris says:

I agree with just about everything my co-blogger said about "Black Friday," but I think I liked it even a little more than she did.  It features some good (if unsubtle) social commentary about today's culture of consumerism and how it relates to the meaning of Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, in addition to being a Dickens parody, this episode features some piano jazz on the soundtrack that sounds a lot like Vince Guaraldi's tunes from A Charlie Brown Christmas.  At one point, Beast Boy extols the "virtues" of Black Friday.  This reminded me a bit of Linus' recitation of the Nativity story.  Of course Beast Boy's message is "spend money!"

The Teen Titans chase down the villain Jinx in search of bargains.

"Black Friday" also contains lots of "blink and you'll miss them" cameo appearances of other DC Comics superheroes.  During the consumer stampede, Starfire (literally) bumps into Kid Flash...

...Batgirl, and many others.

This episode premiered last week, but it's already available for streaming on Amazon.
Teen Titans Go! also airs on Cartoon Network multiple times every week, so check your TV listings.

Raven (Tara Strong) appears as the Ghost of Black Friday Future.

There isn't a lot of "Black Friday" programming out there, but this Teen Titans Go! episode is highly recommended.  I generally stay home and avoid malls on the day after Thanksgiving.  On future Black Fridays, I plan to add watching this episode to my non-shopping activities.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Black Friday Sale tags!

The Adventures Of Batman: "The Great Scarecrow Scare"

First aired on November 9, 1968.

"Stuff this top cop in a closet, while I masquerade as the top cop masquerading as me!"
-The Scarecrow

It's Halloween, and Gotham City is holding its annual charity costume party.  Batman (Olan Soule), Robin (Casey Kasem) and Batgirl (Jane Webb) are in attendance.  They're surprised to see their enemy the Scarecrow at the party.

It turns out to be Commissioner Gordon (Ted Knight) in a "Scarecrow" Halloween costume.  He says the "costume service" delivered it by mistake.  Gordon is there to act as MC of a charity auction.

But when the commissioner steps away, he's attacked by the real Scarecrow (also voiced by Knight) and his minions!

The villain takes out the commissioner with eggs that are filled with knockout-gas.  With Gordon captive, Scarecrow will pose as Gordon...dressed as the Scarecrow.

Batgirl has followed her father and gets gassed as well.  Scarecrow takes her hostage.  Batman says they can track her down through a transmitter on her utility belt.

But the Scarecrow discovers the transmitter and decides to use it to set a trap for the heroes.  The Dynamic Duo will do everything they can to save Batgirl.  Will the combined talents of the three heroes be enough to stop the Scarecrow?

J.A. Morris says:
This is a short, slight cartoon, about 8 minutes long.  It's about one step above "limited" animation.  It sort of falls in the "so bad it's good" category. The Scarecrow is the perfect villain for a Halloween episode.  But hardcore DC Comics fans might be disappointed that this version of the Scarecrow (and his costume) is dumbed down for Saturday morning fare.  He doesn't have his fear gas and is basically just a thug in a scarecrow costume.  But his eggs that shoot knock-out gas are sort of humorous!

Scarecrow steals a painting at the charity auction.

The Adventures Of Batman is (rightly) overshadowed today by later Batman animated series, but it was the first Batman cartoon.  This series featured Olan Soule and Casey Kasem as Batman and Robin (respectively), they would go on to voice the characters for the next decade in various Super Friends series.

At the last second, Robin is saved from getting threshed.

Speaking of voice actors, both the cackling Scarecrow and Commissioner Gordon are voiced by none other than Ted Baxter himself, Ted Knight!  As good as they are, the voice actors are, unfortunately the best thing about "The Great Scarecrow Scare".  It's a credit to Knight's talent that I didn't recognize his voice until I looked up this series on imdb.

At least Mary & Lou never had to deal with the Scarecrow!

The "plot" here is weak.  We see Scarecrow steal a painting at the charity auction that's worth a lot of money...and then the painting is never mentioned again, it just turns into a "Save Batgirl" story.  Did Scarecrow sell the painting on the black market offscreen?

And why would Gordon think it's a good idea to attend a Halloween party dressed like a wanted criminal?  Isn't that asking for trouble, one way or another?  The costume service screwed up so he had no choice but to wear it?  I'm guessing a police commissioner would be smart enough to attend without a costume instead.

Scarecrow cracks a whip at Batman & Robin, a bound & gagged Batgirl looks on.

The worst thing about it is the portrayal of  Batgirl.  She gets easily captured, then accidentally gasses both herself and Batman, allowing Scarecrow to their re-capture them.  Batgirl is nothing but a victim and an idiot here.  Not a very positive message about a smart & powerful woman (remember, Batgirl is both a superhero AND a librarian!) to put in a kids' cartoon, even by the standards of the late 1960s.  On a positive note, she does use a tractor...

...to send an SOS to Batman!

But that's not enough to cancel out all the negatives.

This series can be found on several streaming video sites.  If you were a kid in the 60s or 70s, "The Great Scarecrow Scare" might be an enjoyable Halloween trip down memory lane, and it was fun to hear the voice actors again.  But without the nostalgia factor, there's not a lot to recommend here.

Batman throws a punch at Scarecrow's henchmen.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 jack-o-lanterns