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!

Teen Titans Go!: "Second Christmas"

Premiered December 4, 2013.

Beast Boy: Don't mind us, we'll just be waiting another 364 days till next Christmas.
Cyborg: 364.  Doesn't seem so long!   I can't do it, man! I just can't do it!  It's too many days!!
Beast Boy: It's not fair!  Why does Starfire get a second Christmas? 
Starfire:  Are my ears hearing correctly?  There is a second Christmas coming? 
Narrator:  And with that one question out of Starfire's mouth,  the magic of Second Christmas was born ... 

The Teen Titans wake up on Christmas morning, excited about celebrating a day of presents and ugly sweaters.

"So ugly!"  "Yet still festive!"

Their seasonal joy increases exponentially when they learn it’s snowing outside!  After playing in the snow, it's time for a bountiful Christmas feast.

The next morning, they wake up … realizing that there are 364 days until Christmas comes again.

Starfire (Hayden Walch) is off to her home planet Tamaran to celebrate the Great Kergoff.    When Starfire compares Kergoff to Christmas, some of her teammates are jealous and say Starfire is lucky she gets to celebrate a second Christmas.  When she hears this phrase, she asks if there is such a thing as "second Christmas."

SECOND CHRISTMAS!

Cyborg (Khary Payton), Raven (Tara Strong) and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) decide to trick Starfire into believing there's a second Christmas that's celebrated on December 26.  It even features a "second Santa" who is skinny, wears a green track suit and flies around with a jet pack.

Second Santa will deliver a miracle of ... someting.  

When Starfire says she wants to see Second Santa, her teammates tell her she needs to buy them gifts, decorate Titans Tower with more lights, cook a Second Christmas dinner and fly the Second Christmas kite.  After that, Second Santa will deliver the Second Christmas miracle.  Robin (Scott Menville) tries to intervene and tells Starfire the others are just trying to get more presents.

Will Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy come clean and tell Starfire there's no such thing as Second Christmas?   How will Starfire react when she learns she missed the Great Kergoff for nothing?

J.A. Morris says:

"Second Christmas" is a great holiday episode of a generally great series.  It made me think of how I often felt when I was a little kid on December 26 (or some years, the afternoon of Christmas Day).  Sure, my family always made sure I got good presents, but I felt a bit sad that Christmas was over and there would be no more holiday specials or songs and the anticipation of Christmas presents was gone.

The Teen Titans have that feeling here and do something about it.  Of course they go about it wrong, lying to Starfire, and just like in real life, little lies lead to more lies and get you in trouble.

I also appreciated Starfire's comments about her home planet's greatest holiday, the Great Kergoff happening right after Christmas.  It's a reminder to us Earthlings that many holidays and celebrations other than Christmas occur at the same time of year.

On Starfire's home planet, children get presents from Gilnark, The Terrible instead of Santa!

There are even some "Easter eggs" in the background, such as the ornaments on the Titans' Christmas tree.

"Second Christmas" can be streamed on Amazon and iTunes.  It's also available on Teen Titans Go!:The Complete First Season blu ray.  This series also airs all the time on Cartoon Network, so check their listings.

I have a feeling that I'll be watching this on December 26 for years to come.  "Second Christmas" is very funny and highly recommended for superhero fans and people (like me!) who have trouble adjusting to life when Christmas is over.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says:

I learned the term "anticlimax" on the day after Christmas when I was around 8 or 9, so I understand the Titans' sense of letdown.    Their solution is certainly creative,  even if the lack of honesty seems beneath them.     Then again,  they are teenagers and haven't settled into mature superhero-dom.

Starfire is starry-eyed about Second Christmas.

Starfire's enthusiasm for the hastily made up "Second Christmas" is actually kind of sweet.
Moreover, Beast Boy as a cat is adorable.

Look at him ... adorable!!! 

Even goth-chick Raven is not above getting excited about a "Pretty Pretty Pegasus" doll.  (Collector's edition!)

It's also amusing that Robin, the "Second Christmas grouch," is gung-ho about getting back to the team's regularly scheduled training while the others want to extend the holiday festivities.    I am sure we've all known (or been) on both sides of that equation.

 
The denouement of this episode deserves to remain unspoiled, but is also ... creative, and pretty wickedly funny.

Teen Titans is a super fun show in general and the post holiday mayhem of "Second Christmas" is great for helping to get over the post-holiday blues.   Highly recommended.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes!

Batman:The Animated Series: "Christmas With The Joker"

Premiered November 13, 1992.

"Live from Gotham City, the show that nobody wants to see, but everyone will watch.  Yes, it's Christmas with the Joker!"
-Joker

On Christmas Eve, Gotham City seems peaceful.  That changes when the Joker (Mark Hamill) escapes from Arkham Asylum.

Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Robin (Loren Lester) search the city for their escaped foe.  Robin doubts Joker will strike on Christmas Eve.  He makes a deal with the Caped Crusader:If they don't find the Joker, they will return to Wayne Manor, have Christmas dinner, watch It's A Wonderful Life and worry about apprehending Joker when Christmas is over.  After searching Gotham and coming up empty, they return home.

There seems to be a lot of goodwill in the air.  Batman is suspicious of this. 

When the Dynamic Duo turns on their TV, they're greeted by the Joker, who has taken over the airwaves.  He's created a twisted version of a Christmas variety special titled Christmas With The Joker.  It's Joker's special way of  threatening Batman and Gotham City for the holidays.  Joker also has taken three of  Batman's friends hostage:Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings), reporter Summer Gleason (Mari Devon) and Detective Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo).  The villain implies that the hostages will be killed if Batman can't rescue them by midnight.

The Clown Prince of Crime has a model of Gotham City and jokes about bombing sites on the model, starting with a railroad bridge.  Batman (correctly) suspects that Joker will detonate the real bridge just in time to blow up a train.

Batman rescues the train's engineer.

The heroes are able to intervene and save the people on the train.  However, they still need to find the Joker and stop him.

Will Batman and Robin find the Joker before midnight, save the hostages, and Christmas?

J.A. Morris says:

"Christmas With the Joker" is a great episode of one of the best animated series of the 1990s.

Bruce and Dick's conversation about watching It's A Wonderful Life is great all by itself.

The inmates of Arkham Asylum decorate their tree, Joker puts on the tree-topper.

Mark Hamill's voicing of the Joker is the real reason that "Christmas With The Joker" is great.  When Hamill was cast, he was known only for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies.  He did a fantastic job with the Joker and is today known as the definitive voice of the character.

The Joker and his "elf" Laffy watch a live remote.

I found myself laughing at the Joker and almost rooting for him here, even as he commits multiple felonies.  That's a credit to Hamill's skills.  

Joker taunts Harvey Bullock.

The other actors do a fine job as well.  Lots of actors have voiced the animated Batman over the years and Kevin Conroy is among the best of them.  This episode shows why he played Batman for nearly fifteen years. 

"Christmas With The Joker" can be found on the Batman:The Animated Series, Volume One DVD set.  It's also available on a "standalone" DVD called Super Villains: The Jokers Last Laugh.  This episode also streams on Amazon and iTunes.  

The Batmobile drives past a Gotham City movie theater.  Look what's showing on Christmas Eve!

This episode is a great superhero Yuletide romp.  If I ran a network, "Christmas With The Joker" would air in prime time every holiday season just like Rudolph, Charlie Brown and the Grinch.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says:

This is certainly an entertaining and action-packed episode of Batman: The Animated Series.  The whole of this animated series has a great film noir/expressionist look to it and this episode is no exception. 

Batman surveys the wreckage of the train crash.   It's good he and Robin saved everyone on board!

Mark Hamill's scene-stealing voicing of the Joker really makes this episode fun to watch. If I didn't already know that he voiced the character on the series,  I wouldn't know it was him, which is a credit to his voice acting.  

The Joker is quite dementedly gleeful with his holiday mayhem, beginning with his escape from Arkham Asylum via rocket powered Christmas tree!  (While singing a Batman-appropriate rendition of "Jingle Bells," no less!)   

"Jingle bells, Batman smells ..."

We see a tank with a Santa robot attached rampaging through Gotham.  Joker also makes use of a sleigh and an improvised "reindeer" in his pirate Christmas special.  

Festive mayhem in Gotham!

We also have all kinds of malicious toys that make appearances and add to the holiday atmosphere - giant toy soldiers,  Joker robots with machine guns, and toy airplanes that strafe the heroes, to name a few.   He even sports a Bing Crosby-esque holiday sweater! 

Note the Charlie Brown Christmas type tree on the left. 

You almost want to see what other felonious holiday mayhem he'll cook up!  (I do wonder how Joker had time to put together all of his elaborate sets and holiday pranks seeing as he's only just escaped from Arkham, though!)     

Of course,  we also see that Christmas is a time for less maniacal good cheer as well.  When Batman and Robin are out patrolling Gotham in the first part of the episode,  some situations that look like they could be bad things about to happen turn out to be people infused with Christmas spirit instead.   This comes as a relief to Robin and something of a disappointment to Batman, who is feeling a bit Scrooge-ish at the beginning of this episode.    

Batman and Robin's discussions about watching It's A Wonderful Life are quite amusing as well.   Batman has never seen it because he's turned off by the title and because he fears it will be "relentlessly cheerful" (like the Joker?).  But Bats seems to recover from his Scrooge-y attitude by the end of the adventure.  

Batman vs. Joker's toy planes.  As Robin says, they don't call him "Batman" for nothing! *rimshot*

I also quite enjoyed some of the meta commentary that goes on in this episode, such as when Joker hands us off to "our sponsors" at the point where the show would have gone to commercial when it originally aired.

Christmastime in Gotham City.

This is definitely a enjoyable addition to your holiday viewing.  

RigbyMel's rating:

.5



3 and a half candy canes