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!

Powerpuff Girls: "'Twas The Fight Before Christmas"

Premiered October 7, 2003.

"The point, Princess, is that you better change your ways, or all you're ever gonna get from Santa is a big, fat lump of coal in your stocking!" - Blossom

Christmas is coming and the people of Townsville, USA are preparing to celebrate the holiday season.

That's especially true for three kids:Blossom (Cathy Cavadini), Bubbles (Tara Strong) and Buttercup (Elizabeth Daily), better known as the Powerpuff Girls.

Buttercup worries that her Christmas list won't reach Santa in time. 

They're discussing the letters they've sent to Santa Claus when they're interrupted by their enemy Princess Morbucks (Jennifer Hale). She only wants one thing from Santa:to become a Powerpuff Girl.

Princess Morbucks is a spoiled brat with a penchant for criminal activity. 

The Powerpuff Girls remind Princess that she's committed many crimes and worked with felons.  Blossom says that Princess is "a spoiled brat who's greedy and jealous." This puts her on Santa's naughty list.

Princess Morbucks decides to get her present through alternate means.  She takes her family's plane to the North Pole, sneaks into Santa Claus' workshop and locates his list of children who are naughty and nice.  Princess changes the list so that every child on Earth is on the naughty list...except for Princess Morbucks herself!

Back in Townsville, Bubbles wakes up and hears Santa's sleigh on their roof.  She runs downstairs to see what presents have been left under their tree.  Bubbles is shocked when she sees no presents and becomes distraught when she finds her stocking filled with coal.  She flies around the city and uses her x-ray vision to see what other children have gotten.  It turns out Santa brought nothing but coal to children everywhere.

Bubbles wakes up the other girls and tells them what happened.  Suddenly, they encounter Princess Morbucks, who has become a Powerpuff Girl!  Her altering of Santa's list has paid off, big time.  The Powerpuff Girls decide to fly off to the North Pole to tell Santa Claus the truth about the list.  But in order to do so, they'll have to race against Princess and beat her to Santa's workshop.  But in order to get there, the Powerpuffs will have to battle Princess Morbucks and her new superpowers.  

The super-powered girls race to the North Pole. 

Can the Powerpuff Girls win the race to the North Pole?  Can Christmas be saved?

J.A. Morris says:

I was never a regular viewer of The Powerpuff Girls series, but I enjoyed it when I tuned in.  It was always full of action, humor and pop culture references.  "'Twas The Fight Before Christmas" is generally lots of fun, but it has two problems.

Prof. Utonium (Tom Kane) helps light the tree.

First off, it's much longer than regular Powerpuff Girls episodes.  Most ran for 22 minutes and contained two stories.  This Christmas special is 44 minutes and portions of it feel like padding.

Worse than that is the handling of the naughty and nice list.  As our summary states, Princess doctors the list so she can get what she wants for Christmas.  Everything we've ever learned about Santa Claus, from books, songs and other specials indicates that this would never happen.  You can't go behind Santa's back, change the list and get away with it...because Santa KNOWS who's been bad or good.  Santa wouldn't deliver coal to all but one child on Earth because a list said so.

"'Twas The Fight Before Christmas" has been released twice on DVD.  It's available as a standalone disc and can also be found on The Powerpuff Girls 10th Anniversary Collection - The Complete Series.

In spite of what I said above, It's still tons of fun and the positives outweigh the problems.  "'Twas The Fight Before Christmas" is recommended but the issues I mentioned prevent it from being a classic Christmas special.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

Although I was aware of and enjoyed watching The Powerpuff Girls from time to time in the early 2000s,  this particular episode was new to me.

Blossom gets to put the star on top of the tree. 

I quite liked the rhyming narration throughout and also the way the Powerpuff Girls race to put up the Christmas decorations at their house.  The way that they disagree with and eventually fight Princess Morbucks (who comes off like a warped version of Little Orphan Annie)  is also consistent with what I remember of elementary school fights. (Although the addition of superpowers adds an interesting twist!)  I definitely wanted to see the spoiled Princess receive her comeuppance!

Some of Santa's elves enjoy some refreshing (?) "Nog Cola." 

There are also a couple of amusing sight gags involving people getting tangled in Christmas lights and a "Nog Cola" machine in the break room at Santa's workshop.   The girls' horror at receiving coal in their stockings is both amusing and heart wrenching as well.

This episode is certainly entertaining, but as J.A. Morris mentions, Santa would know who was naughty and nice regardless of whether his list printouts had been tampered with.   So, that bugged me.   I also wasn't crazy about the tank top attired Santa -- although I like the look of the series in general.

This episode is not a classic, but it is nice to see a little girl powered (pun intended!) superhero holiday action, in any case.

RigbyMel's rating:

.5


2 and a half candy canes.

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!