Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja: "Happy Hanukkah, Howard Weinerman"

Premiered December 3, 2014

"It is On-akkah like Hanukkah!"
-Randy Cunningham

Randy Cunningham (Ben Schwartz) and his friend Howard Weinerman (Andrew Caldwell) are hanging out at the Game Hole, a local arcade.  Howard, whose family celebrates Hanukkah, is complaining about the Hanukkah gifts he's received: socks.

Suddenly, a giant robot breaks into the Game Hole and trashes it.  Randy dons his ninja gear and battles the robot.  He defeats it, but not before the arcade suffers considerable damage and all the games are destroyed.

When the dust settles, local business-creep Hannibal McFist (John DiMaggio) arrives on the scene. He's ready to tear down the arcade and build a shoe store in its place.

Shoe-Mert??

McFist has brought along a city building inspector who cites an ordinance that says an arcade must have at least one game in operation at all times to maintain its status.  With no games working, McFist declares the Game Hole condemned and starts planning where to display shoes.

Thankfully, Howard notices one game, called "Fight Knight" is still working.  The Ninja provides Howard with game tokens and tells him to keep playing until he and Greg (Keith Ferguson), the arcade's owner, can go to a storage unit and get another video game.  If Howard loses, the Game Hole will become McFist's property.

Greg is not being overly helpful. 

The Ninja and Greg head for the storage unit and encounter McFist's robot gorillas (on snowmobiles!) and...a yeti!

All are bent upon preventing the Ninja from completing his mission.

The Yeti bot uses Greg's truck like a boom box. 

Can Howard play the game on one token long enough?  Can the Game Hole be saved?

J.A. Morris says:

There's not many Hanukkah-themed specials or episodes, and this one is an interesting "retelling" of the Hanukkah story.  Instead of the Menorah burning for eight night on only one night's worth of oil, Howard saves the Game Hole by fighting for eight rounds of a video game on only one token.

If you're looking for a thorough introduction to what Hanukkah's all about, you won't find it here. However, it's humorous and filled with lots of fun action scenes.  McFist is a good villain and his mechanical minions make entertaining adversaries for the Ninja.  There are also some funny asides about McFist's previous efforts to please his wife with Christmas presents.  The voice acting cast is also very good.

"Happy Hanukkah, Howard Weinerman", like every episode of the show is only eleven minutes long, so it's a bit thin on plot.  Otherwise, there's not much to criticize here.

This episode is currently available for streaming on Amazon.

If you're looking for some light superhero fun during the holiday season, "Happy Hanukkah, Howard Weinerman" will provide it.  The shortness of the episode and lack of plot keeps me from giving it a higher rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 dreidels.

RigbyMel says:

This is a silly, fast paced animated superhero adventure with a clever Hanukkah veneer.   There are some nice touches like the game token stretching long enough to fight eight knights and the robot yeti's head bearing a resemblance to a dreidel.

I also found it interesting that Greg -- the proprietor of the Game Hole -- seems to look like Wooderson -- Matthew McConaughey's character in the 1993 comedy Dazed and Confused.   Which is rather a nice little inside joke for older viewers looking in.

Cartoon Greg -- owner of the Game Hole

Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey)  -- the resemblance is truly striking! 

As J.A. Morris says, this short isn't really a great introduction to the "true meaning of Hanukkah" or anything, but it's certainly amusing and as there are relatively few filmed entertainments dealing with the holiday at all, it's nice to see some inclusiveness.

RigbyMel's rating: 

.5

2 and a half Dreidels.

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.

Marvel Super Hero Adventures: "Frost Fight"

Premiered December 11, 2015

"Santa Claus is beloved, celebrated, songs are sung in his name.  Hmm…using him to dominate the very beings that adore him…well that is just too devious to resist."
-Loki

The Avengers defeat Loki (Troy Baker) and his frost giant ally Ymir (Fred Tatasciore) in their latest attack on Earth.  But their victory isn't achieved without problems.  Reptil (Antony Del Rio), a teenaged Avenger-in-training, hasn't fully grasped the concept of teamwork.

Meanwhile, Ymir and Loki plot their next move.  Ymir suggests they steal the powers of Jolnir (Steve Blum), who is known on Earth as Santa Claus.

Jolnir has the ability to bend space and time, which is how Santa is able to deliver toys to children all over the world in just one night.

Loki falsely accuses Jolnir of multiple crimes and places a very high bounty on his head. 

In New York, the Avengers learn of this and decide they will journey to Alfheim, where Jolnir resides.  Team leader Captain America (Matthew Mercer) tells Reptil he isn't ready for a mission such as this.  Captain Marvel (Grey Griffin) thinks Cap is being a little hard on the kid.  Reptil begs Cap to change his mind, adding that he's a huge fan of Santa Claus.  Iron Man (Mick Wingert) vouches for Reptil (partially to get under Cap's skin) and Captain America changes his mind.

Hulk loves Christmas!

Hulk (Tatasciore again) and Thor (Travis Willingham) stay behind in case they need to fill in for Santa.  They visit a toy store and buy the store's entire inventory (charging it to Tony Stark).  The store manager is named Nick and bears as rather striking resemblance to Santa/Jolnir.

Nick is afraid of heights!

At the same time, elsewhere in the galaxy, Rocket Raccoon (Trevor Devall) and his friend Groot (Kevin Michael Richardson) are in need of quick money for spaceship repairs.

Rocket learns there's a bounty on Santa's head and decides to visit Alfheim to cash in.

The Avengers arrive safely in Alfheim where they encounter cranky warrior elves, a monster called the Eurokraken and of course, Loki and Ymir lying in wait for them.

Rocket and Groot arrive separately and have their own run-ins with zombie gingerbread men and Mrs. Claus (Jane Singer)!

Will Loki succeed in stealing Santa's powers and ruin Christmas for all time?  Can the Avengers, Rocket and Groot stop them and save the day?

J.A. Morris says:

We had no idea this brand new special existed when we began our "Christmas with the Superheroes" series.  What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be!

Loki and Ymir's scheme to take Santa's power and destroy Christmas puts them right up there with the Grinch and Mr. Potter in the Christmas Villains Hall Of Fame.

One of the best parts is Hulk, Thor and Nick's attempt to substitute for Santa.  Hulk talks about his love for Christmas and even performs "Deck The Halls" with modified lyrics. We also see touching moments where Captain Marvel, Reptil and Captain America tell stories about receiving presents from Santa in their youth.

Captain America remembers when Santa brought him a baseball bat.

Like many Christmas movies, Santa/Jolnir is shown to be more powerful when people say they believe in him.  Reptil is a character I hadn't seen before Frost Fight.  He ends up playing a crucial role, since he is closer to childhood than the other Avengers.

Of course it's not all Yuletide sentimentality.  We get several thrilling super-powered fight scenes where the heroes do battle with Asgardian gods, archer elves and even a dinosaur!

All of the voice actors do a great job in Frost Fight.  Fred Tatasciore is especially great doing double duty as Hulk and Ymir.

Nick confronts Loki.

Troy Baker manages to make a vile character such as Loki seem almost likeable, with a little bit of humor mixed into his evil monologues.   Kevin Michael Richardson, as Groot, only gets to say "I am Groot" over and over again.  But each time he manages to convey Groot's emotions and keeps the character interesting.

If I have any problems with Frost Fight, it's that some scenes feel like padding.  There's also a battle between the Avengers and the Eurokraken that's only shown in silhouette. This feels like it was done to save time and money on animation, and viewers are robbed of a good chance to see the Avengers in action.

Frost Fight is available for streaming on Amazon, iTunes and Google Play.

If you love the recent movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and enjoy Christmas programming, Frost Fight is a no-brainer.  This special is recommended, superhero fans won't be disappointed!

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

3 and a half candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

This Marvel adventure is a rollicking good time overall.     We've got a nefarious plot by the deliciously wicked Loki to steal Santa's powers.    We get Hulk singing -- and referencing A Christmas Story with his "fa ra ra ra ra"s.

Hulk explains Santa to Thor.

We also get to see the Avengers acting like a family that bickers and doesn't always see eye to eye -- a feature of most Avengers tales, but well played here.

Our heroes have to "hug it out" to avoid being blown away by Ymir's icy winds!

We get to see Rocket and Groot do battle with zombie gingerbread and then encounter Mrs. Claus.    Mrs. Claus causes Rocket to freak out when she takes his spaceship for a spin too -- which is pretty amusing.

We even get sweet holiday memories from some alongside a plot that hinges partly on Iron Man's LACK of belief in Santa and Reptil's youthful enthusiasm for Mr. Kringle.

Captain Marvel helps deliver presents.

It's also nice to see Captain Marvel show up in an animated Avengers adventure.   This is the first time I recall seeing her in the Marvel Animated Universe.   It would have been nice if she'd had a bit more to do in the episode, but it was still good that she was present.

We get an interesting take on Santa/Jolnir's origin in this episode -- apparently he is half elf and half frost giant!   I find it intriguing the way that the writers tied Jolnir into the world of Thor.   After all, here in Midgard, there are some that trace Santa's roots to Norse mythology and Odin, the white bearded ruler of the Nine Realms who travels through the sky on an eight-legged horse named Slepnir.  (Often on Yule -- Yule/Jolnir -- get it?)

So, Frost Fight appeals to the mythology geek as well as the superhero fan and Christmas afficianado in me, and I suspect, it will appeal to others.

Loki gets what he deserves for the holidays.

As J.A. Morris mentions above, there are some extra scenes (one involving dinosaur drool) that, while fun, feel like they are mainly there to pad out the running time and there are occasions where the animation is sometimes a bit constrained by budgetary concerns.   However, the main story is so much fun that it almost doesn't matter.

Frost Fight is lively and entertaining and well worth sharing with the superhero and holiday fans in your life.

RigbyMel's rating:

.5

3 and a half candy canes.