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

Father Christmas (1991)

Premiered December 24, 1991

Another Christmas Eve mission has just been successfully completed and Father Christmas (William Dennis Hunt) returns to his simple house where he lives alone with his cat, dog, and two reindeer.  

After consulting some travel guides, Santa decides to visit the south of France.  

He converts his sleigh into a camper..

...and his reindeer fly him to his destination.  

He dines on the local cuisine and buys clothes that will help him "fit in" with the locals.  He's having good time until he samples some French cuisine, which does NOT agree with his digestive system.  This prompts Father Christmas to leave France.

His next stop is Scotland, where he dances at a pub, wears a kilt and swims in Scotland's cold waters.  His visit ends when a little girl notices that he's Santa Claus.

Father Christmas decides his next stop will be Las Vegas.  He enjoys elaborate stage shows, gambling and relaxing in the hotel pool.  

However, once again, he's recognized and decides to head home.

When he arrives at his house, Father Christmas is greeted by a huge pile of letters!  

He observes that Christmas seems to come sooner every year and gets started with reading letters and preparing for Christmas.  Santa has to rush to get everything ready for Christmas Eve.  

He sets out on his annual trip around the world.

He delivers everything and has time to visit the annual Snow Man Christmas party at the North Pole.  

During the party, Father Christmas discovers that he still has two presents in his sleigh that weren't delivered.  

Can Santa get them delivered in time before the children wake up on Christmas morning?

J.A. Morris says:

Father Christmas is a nice, light special that features a more down-to-earth Santa.  There is no Mrs. Claus, no castle at the North Pole, no scenes of elves making toys.   There is a passing reference to a gift being sent to Santa by his elves, that's the only concession to the "conventional" portrayals of Kris Kringle.  The "plot" consists of Father Christmas visiting various vacation destinations, until circumstances force him to leave.  The story isn't very deep, but that's okay, since the beautiful animation and solid voice-acting by William Dennis Hunt are entertaining enough to carry the special.  

If I'd seen Father Christmas when I was a child, I might have been a bit unnerved at first to see a version of Santa that doesn't live in his "traditional" trappings.  And I would've wondered what happened to his other six reindeer.  

Having said that, it's nice to see Santa kicking back and taking a much-deserved holiday, gambling and drinking (I believe my "younger self" would've been glad to know Santa gets to relax now and then!). 

It treats Father Christmas as a human being who lives a simple life in a modest home with his dog and cat.  Speaking of his pets, we're treated to multiple scenes that show Father Christmas adoring them, which is an endearing touch.  

If it's not obvious from our summary, Father Christmas is a sequel (of sorts) to The Snowman (1982), an earlier classic TV special.  The Snowman and the boy from that special are seen during the Snowman party.  

Father Christmas is an enjoyable special that features gorgeous animation and a unique take on Santa Claus and I recommend it to every fan of holiday programming.  However, I wouldn't say it's a classic that I intend to watch every December.

J.A Morris' rating:

3 candy canes.

RigbyMel says: 

Father Christmas is an enjoyable and VERY British little animated short.  It is based on two books - Father Christmas (1973) and Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (1975) - by English author & illustrator Raymond Briggs.    It also takes place in the same universe as the 1982 film The Snowman. 

The film's version of Father Christmas is a bit more grumpy than the American incarnation and lives modestly in a little row house somewhere in the UK sans elves or Mrs. Claus.  It's rather fun to see this curmudgeonly version of Santa Claus engaging in daily tasks like gardening and taking care of his (adorable) pets.  I also quite like the pun inherent in his referring to his reindeer as "m'dears".  

As he prepares for his vacation, Father Christmas comes off as something of a stereotypical British tourist,  trying to learn a bit of French while converting his sleigh into a camper van, and griping about the food/weather.  

Interestingly, the version of this short animated film that is most readily available here in the U.S. is a bit different from the original release.  In the original version, Father Christmas is voiced by English comedian Mel Smith  - possibly best known to American audiences as The Albino in The Princess Bride.  You can see/hear Smith performing the song from the film at this link!  

The American edition of the film (which is the most common home video release per Wikipedia) makes a few changes - most notably opting for a more jolly voice over for Father Christmas by William Dennis Hunt and the elimination of over 75 instances of Santa using the British slang term "blooming" and some tweaks for American cultural mores. 

(Personally, I get a bit irked by "translated" versions of UK programming for American audiences, but studios are going to do what they think they need to do to make their films accessible to particular markets, I suppose.)  

Overall, this is a lovely and humo(u?)rous little animated special and worth seeking out even if it is not quite a classic. 

RigbyMel's rating: 

3 candy canes