Batman:The Long Halloween, Parts One and Two

Part 1 premiered June 22, 2021.

Part 2 premiered July 27, 2021. 

A note from your trusted holiday bloggers:

This animated special contains multiple murders, bloody corpses and curse words.  It's intended for an adult audience and is NOT recommended for young children.

It's Halloween in Gotham City.  At Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne (Jensen Ackles), aka The Batman, is spending a quiet evening at home.  His butler Alfred (Alastair Duncan) has candy to hand out, but Bruce points out that no children have trick or treated at the mansion for years.

Elsewhere, Gotham's police commissioner Jim Gordon (Billy Burke) is preparing to take his children Barbara and James trick or treating.  Their plans change quickly when Gordon is called into work.

District Attorney Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel) arrives home to find his wife Gilda (Julie Nathanson) sitting alone in the back yard.  She wants them to spend Halloween together at home, but unfortunately, his job doesn't allow Dent to take off for Halloween.  

A mob informant named Johnny Vitti has been murdered, shot to death.  Dent is furious, because the next day, Vitti was supposed to turn state's evidence against his uncle Carmine Falcone (Titus Welliver), better known as "The Roman." 

Falcone is the head of a major organized crime family.  Gordon believes that all hope isn't lost.  If he, Batman and Dent work together, they can still take down Falcone.  He says Dent will work "in the light" while the Batman works "the other side," and instructs them to "bend the rules, never break them."  Batman has a long history with Falcone, since his father Thomas Wayne conducted business with the Roman.  

During his search for the killer, Batman is aided by his sometimes-villain/sometimes-girlfriend Catwoman (Naya Rivera).

At Falcone's headquarters, the Roman fumes over his nephew's death and believes Dent is to blame.  When it's time to discuss business, Falcone dismisses his bookish son Alberto (Jack Quaid), who the Roman describes as is "32, going on 13."  

Later that night, when Dent returns home, he's seriously wounded when his home is firebombed. 

The next month, Mickey Chen (Greg Chun) and his gang are gunned down during their Thanksgiving dinner.  The Chen gang had been employed by Falcone.  

This makes Batman and Gordon believe they have a serial killer on their hands.  They nickname the murderer "Holiday," since the killer only strikes on holidays.

Gordon and Batman question imprisoned villain Calendar Man (David Dastmalchian) in Arkham Asylum

The carnage continues on Christmas.  This time, Batman's greatest enemy, the Joker (Troy Baker) shows up and joins the list of suspects.  

Can Batman bring Holiday to justice before they commit another holiday murder?

J.A. Morris says:

It's worth noting that the first part of this movie premiered this past June, while the second part debut in July.  We're treating it as one film presented in two parts. 

I'm a big fan of superheroes and Halloween, and I've read the comic book miniseries that was the basis for Batman:The Long Halloween, so I went into this expecting to enjoy it.  And I did, especially Part One.  It features scenes that take place on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.  This movie is tailor-made for this blog!

In addition to Batman, it features the Joker, the Caped Crusader's greatest nemesis, and Catwoman, who assists Batman in his quest to unmask Holiday.  We get plenty of fight scenes that feature Batman taking on various antagonists.  There's a great scene involving the Joker attacking Gotham City with a plane.  

The mystery behind Holiday's identity is a good mystery that I didn't immediately solve.  

Fans of "Mafia" movies will appreciate visual and dialogue references to movies like The Godfather which feature prominently in the Falcone family scenes.  The scenes that feature Falcone berating his son Alberto are also well done.  I found myself feeling sorry for Alberto.

The voice actors all did a good job in Batman:The Long Halloween.  Jensen Ackles (best known for his role on Supernatural) voices Batman and provides solid work.  Naya Rivera plays Catwoman.  This was Rivera's final role before her tragic death and the film is dedicated to her.  In a small role, Fred Tatasciore is great as the zombie Solomon Grundy.  

Part One of this two-part film is very good.  The second part is much weaker.  Holidays in the New Year are barely mentioned in Part Two.  Granted, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day pale in comparison to Halloween and Christmas, but I think the filmmakers could've done something more interesting with those occasions.  It makes for a disappointing finish to the story.

Batman:The Long Halloween, Parts One and Two is a movie that will be enjoyed by all fans of Batman and Holiday programming.  Since it features multiple holidays, it's something that can be enjoyed year-round.  However, the lackluster Part Two prevents me from giving it a higher rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 and a half jack o'lanterns.

RigbyMel says:

Batman: The Long Halloween is a good animated adaptation of the comic miniseries of the same title by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.   The animated version suggests the art style used in the comic without straight up copying it and the story is a lot of fun.   

By virtue of the extended nature of the year-long string of murders,  we get multiple visits to Arkham Asylum and encounters with an assortment of villains from  Batman's extensive rogue's gallery. 

Poison Ivy (Katee Sackhoff) really makes an impression in Part 2 and Troy Baker's channeling of a Mark Hamill-esque Joker in Part 1 is fantastic.   

As J.A. Morris mentions above, there are fun meta references to other movies.  For instance, the scenes where Batman and Commissioner Gordon go to try and glean information from Calendar Man have strong Silence of the Lambs vibes.  

The notion of the serial killer who only operates on holidays is an interesting and creepy conceit and the mystery has enough surprises for Bat-afficionados and neophytes alike. 

Thanksgiving dinner a la gangster

My only real complaint is that it feels like the filmmakers got bored with the holiday murder concept by the time they got around to Part 2 and give it short shrift in that installment.   Still,  The Long Halloween makes for entertaining superhero/holiday viewing.   

RigbyMel's rating:

2 and a half jack o'lanterns

Teen Titans Go!: "Be Mine"

Premiered February 12, 2014

After defeating the super-villain Terra (Ashley Johnson), Raven (Tara Strong) imprisons her antagonist in alternate dimension, which also happens to be where the Teen Titans' dispose of their trash!

Six months pass and Valentine's Day arrives.  Starfire (Hynden Walch) asks Robin (Scott Menville) to be her Valentine and the Titans plan a Valentine dance party.

Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) isn't happy, because the only girl his heart beats for is Terra and he doesn't know what's happened to her.  Cyborg (Khary Payton) figures out Terra's whereabouts and Raven asks him not to tell Beast Boy.

Of course Cyborg can't keep the secret.  When Beast Boy learns of this, he lowers a rope into the "trash" dimension and rescues Terra.

However, Terra does not appreciate his efforts, she's spent her time in the garbage plotting her revenge on the Titans and especially Beast Boy.  Terra tricks him into helping her steal machinery that increases her earth-moving powers.  Raven tries to warn Beast Boy, but he's not having it.  We also learn that Raven is nursing a crush on Beast Boy.

Meanwhile, Robin is learning that being Starfire's Valentine isn't as fun as he thought it would be.

Finally, it's time for the Valentine party.

Terra attacks and threatens to ruin everyone's Valentine's Day.  Will Terra's plan succeed?  Will Beast Boy figure out that Raven has a thing for him?  Can Valentine's Day be saved by the power of song?  

RigbyMel says:

"Be Mine" makes for excellent, but not saccharine Valentine viewing.

There's teen angst and unrequited crushes.

There is love and vengeance.

Terra plots to destroy the Teen Titans while in the alternate dimension. 

There's Starfire's amusing take on the whole concept of Valentine's Day.

Starfire gives Robin an actual heart for V-day! 

There is Beast Boy in cat form, who remains (as I said in a previous review) adorable.   And he writes a LOVE SONG for Terra.   And it works!!

D'awww! 

There are troublesome cupids and Valentine cards as well.

This all adds up to a fun superhero Valentine frolic.  If you dig Teen Titans Go!,  you will dig this installment in the series.  If you're not familiar with the show, this is a fun starting off point.   I recommend this episode for the young and the young at heart.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 Valentine hearts!!

Titans Tower with bonus lovebirds

J.A. Morris says:

I'm in general agreement with RigbyMel about "Be Mine."  It's got humor, romance, action, super-hero fights, all in under 12 minutes!

Cyborg's Valentine Jinx (a villain) is, unfortunately in police custody on Valentine's Day.

Strange it might sound, there are parts of this cartoon that most of us can identify with. We've all likely been in scenarios similar to this one, where Beast Boy's feelings for Terra are not reciprocated. And the same goes for Raven's crush on Beast Boy.

It's got plenty of roses and heart-shaped boxes too, so it makes for nice annual Valentine viewing.

And like my co-blogger said, any episode with a guitar-playing kitty singing a love song has to be good!

In addition to frequent airings on Cartoon Network, "Be Mine" is also available for streaming on iTunes and Amazon.  It can be found on a dvd titled Teen Titans Go!:Couch Crusaders and a blu-ray called Teen Titans Go!:The Complete First Season.

This is a great episode of Teen Titans Go! and is highly recommended!  I plan to watch it every February from now on!

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Valentine hearts!

Wonder Woman: "The Deadly Toys"

Premiered December 30, 1977

"You should have stuck with the toys you were best at, Hoffman ... the harmless ones!"  - Wonder  Woman

Three military scientists have been working for months on a project known as XYZ. One of the scientists, Dr. Royce Tobias (Donald Bishop) announces that Project XYZ is too dangerous to implement.  He and his colleagues destroy all the paperwork related to the project.

As soon as he makes this statement, he suddenly melts, revealing that he's an android! This means the real Tobias and all of his knowledge of XYZ are missing.

Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) and Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) of the Inter-Agency Defense Command (IADC) are called in to investigate.  Steve has some personal interest in the case since his old friend Major Dexter (John Rubinstein) was spearheading Project XYZ.

Diana begins her investigation  in Tobias' laboratory.  When she encounters a suspicious man in the lab, Diana turns into Wonder Woman and confronts him.  He turns out to be another android.

While searching the lab, Diana finds a collection of toy soldiers.  She learns that the scientists play war games with toy soldiers in order to relax.

Dr. Prescott (James A. Watson, Jr.), another XYZ scientist, receives a box of similar toy soldiers.  One of the soldiers shoots him with a dart that puts Prescott in a trance.  He then receives a phone call that orders him to "do exactly what I tell you."  Prescott walks out of his apartment in a trance and is replaced by an android.  Diana visits Prescott and discovers the android. This leaves the third scientist Dr. Lazaar (Ross Elliott) as the only Project XYZ researcher left.  When Diana sees similar toy soldiers at Lazaar's home, she suspects there's a connection between the soldiers and the androids.

While all of this is happening, Christmas is approaching.  Steve asks IRA -- a supercomputer -- to help him pick out a present for Diana.  IRA tells Steve that the best way to find out what Diana wants for Christmas to "talk to Wonder Woman."

We learn that the androids are the creation of a maned named Orlich Hoffman (Frank Gorshin), who runs a toy store in Georgetown.  He's holding the real scientists captive in his basement.  Diana visits Hoffman's store when Lazaar tells her it's the store that sells the toy soldiers.  When Diana tells Hoffman she wants to buy toy soldiers, he plays dumb and says he doesn't have any.  Hoffman gives Diana a Santa Claus dashboard ornament and sends her on her way.

The dashboard ornament turns out to be a homing device.  Hoffman dispatches a model airplane armed with real bombs and weapons to kill Diana.  Thankfully, she transforms into Wonder Woman and stops the plane.

Diana later discovers that Dexter has been working with Hoffman the whole time.  Dexter is tired of taking orders from "idiots" and wants to get a lot of money and live the sweet life in exchange for information on Project XYZ.    Dexter and Hoffman decide to deal with Diana once and for all and hatch a plan to capture Lazaar and send him out of the country with the other scientists.  To do this, they will activate Hoffman's greatest creation: an android duplicate of Wonder Woman!

Can even Wonder Woman stop a duplicate of herself?  Will Dexter and Hoffman get away with their plans?  Will Steve figure out what to buy Diana for Christmas?

J.A. Morris says:

This is a fun episode, even if the plot isn't great.  Dexter's motivation for betraying his country and his friend Steve isn't very strong. 

Dexter is frustrated that things aren't quite going to plan.

But Wonder Woman was a generally fun series, and this episode is no exception.  Lynda Carter made this series enjoyable because she always played Wonder Woman in an earnest manner, never slipping into camp.  Lyle Waggoner is equally good, playing Steve Trevor in a very cartoony manner, and I mean that as a compliment.  Plus, we get an entertaining fight scene between Wonder Woman and her android double.

Frank Gorshin is also fun as the villainous Orlich Hoffman.  Sure he's a bad guy, but Gorshin makes him likable and almost sympathetic.

Of course, Gorshin is best remembered for portraying the antagonist of another DC Comics superhero.  He played the Riddler in ten episodes of the 1960s Batman series, plus an appearance in the movie. It's a shame he didn't play Hoffman again because he's a good opponent for Wonder Woman.

Christmas is not central to the plot of "The Deadly Toys," but the holiday season is certainly "in the air" throughout the episode.  There are Christmas decorations everywhere, "Joy To The World" and "Jingle Bells" play over the soundtrack, and Hoffman gives Diana a homing device that looks like Santa Claus.

"The Deadly Toys" is also a reminder that toys that talk, walk and play music can be a bit creepy sometimes.

Speaking of toys, my younger self owned two of the toys seen in Hoffman's store.  This image features Dragun, one of the giant Shogun Warrior toys:

Dragun on the right.  Did you own any Shogun Warrior toys as a kid?

And I also had Chimpy, the monkey drummer seen in this episode.

Chimpy (on the left, in the yellow hat) showed up under my Christmas tree in 1978.

Seeing these toys gave me pleasant memories of childhood.

The hairstyles and men's fashions on display are also amusing today.

This episode can be found on the Wonder Women:Season 2 DVD set.  It also streams on iTunes and Amazon.

"The Deadly Toys" is an exciting and funny nostalgic trip back to the 1970s.  It's recommended even if Christmas isn't its driving force. 

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

This is a fun episode of a fun series.   The plot is paper thin, but the actors involved sell it well.  

Although the fight between Wonder Woman and her android double is entertaining to watch,  it did cause me to wonder what happened to the double afterwards?   Does she melt like the other androids or is there an android doppleganger running around out there somewhere?

The melting androids are actually kind of intense for a family show.   I did not see this particular episode until this year, but the melting faces and resultant puddles of goo would have definitely creeped me out had I seen this when I was little.

Yappy dachshund toy preparing to take down a guard.

Toys turning on people is kind of a trope in Christmas action shows.   This is probably not the first TV show to have someone be strafed by a model plane, but the scene is effective.   There's also an interesting bit where mechanical butterflies are used to incapacitate Diana -- that's not something one sees everyday!

Nobody suspects the butterflies!

Gorshin does a great job as Hoffman.  It's interesting that although they share characteristics, Hoffman does NOT seem to be the same character as long running D.C. comics villain the Toyman, who first appeared in 1943.

As J.A. Morris says,  Christmas is a bit in the background of the episode, but the toy angle and Steve wondering about what to get Diana as a present add to the atmosphere.   We also get a nice shot of Wonder Woman using a can of spray "snow" to decorate the toy store window at the end.

This epsiode works reasonably well, despite the somewhat flimsy plot, due to the great work of the actors involved.  It's a fun way to include Wonder Woman in your holiday viewing if you're so inclined.  (And why wouldn't you be inclined?  Wonder Woman is awesome!)  It's not an essential episode, but it's enjoyable.

Wonder Woman uses proper punctuation (of course!)  since she's only signing with initials.

RigbyMel says:

.5


2 and a half candy canes