Animaniacs Episode # 79 - The 12 Days of Christmas Day 2

    On the second day of Christmas, my TV gave to me 3 weird monkey-dog things! (Seriously, what are the Warner Siblings?)

    Animaniacs (http://that90sguyreviews.blogspot.ca/2015/10/animaniacs.html) was a show that was....odd with its' Christmas-themed episodes. It had 4 of them. Now they had 2 in 1 December for some reason, but this (the third one) was the weird one......it aired in February. Now the 4th and final Christmas special aired in an even weirder time of year, but I'll be reviewing that episode later so I'll save that until then. But seriously, to the best of my knowledge, no one was ever informed WHY the Animaniacs Christmas-themed episodes aired on such weird dates

so I'm just going to presume it was a mistake.

Now this (like many an Animanicas episode) contained 2 cartoons and 2 short songs

My Mother, The Squirrel

Where Slappy ends up being imprinted on by a baby bird

The Party

Where Yakko and his siblings invite Mr. Plotz to a party with a "Steven" who Plotz presumes is Spielberg (Spoilers: He's not)

Oh Say, Can You See?

A bastardization of a classic American patriot song that sure has a lot more fun than the real song did, even anthropomorphising the candle that many American Revolutionists used to light their rooms when they needed to write

and

The Twelve Days of Christmas 

A bastardization of the classic Christmas song that inspired this series (SHOUTOUT TO THAT SONG, YOU THE REAL MVP) 

    All-in-all, not much of a special episode, and honestly not much to talk about. Just your usual Animaniacs episode, hilarious. I like it when we get to see how sad Plotz's love-life is. I like seeing Slappy have to deal with her total contrast: a happy-go-lucky newborn bird, and I like figuring out that it's NOT Steven Spielberg who the Warner Trio invited to their party. But what takes the cake to all that, the crowning achievement of this episode has to be.......the "say hello to Christopher Walken" meme

Why won't anyone say hi to me?

   But in all seriousness, this is not the best Animaniacs Christmas special and it's nothing special. Worth a watch for a giggle if you have the time but it's not a hard-hitter or a must-watch by any stretch of the imagination. See you guys tomorrow!

A Garfield Christmas Special - The 12 Days of Christmas Day 1

For the first day of christmas, my TV gave to me, A Garfield Christmas Special!

    Though many who watch this are going to assume it was part of the "Garfield and Friends" TV series (http://that90sguyreviews.blogspot.ca/2015/10/garfield-and-friends.html) that I previously reviewed on this blog, (hell, even I listed it as part of that series, just yesterday) it technically isn't as it actually came out almost a year before the series did. As a matter of fact, it was one of 8 Garfield-based TV specials that were released from 1982 to 1988 (when the series started). Nevertheless, it features the same cast and crew so fans of the series might like this too. However, I'll be the first to admit that this TV special is rather....well, special. It takes up a whole 22 minutes (triple the average Garfield episode) and it's NOT all comedy. That's right, there is actually occasionally some serious moral subtext in this special's run time (shocker I know). It follows Jon, Garfield, and Odie as they try to survive Christmas Eve with Jon's family. We meet Jon''s mother, his father, his brother, and his grandmother, who are all characters we don't see that often so it is fun to see them here. Speaking of Jon's parents, in the original comic strip weren't they the ones who owned Nermal?

Truly, the world's cutest cat......and also sadly not in this special, MOVING ON. 

    

    A disappointing lack of Nermal aside, Jon's family....isn't that fun. They're just your typical, run-of-the-mill farming family. You've got the doting mother, the well-meaning but occasionally grouchy dad, and you have the childish younger brother. While it's sensible for such a usual family to proudce such a usual character, such as Jon, they still could be a tad bit more vibrant. 

Now, the one glaring exception to this rule is the Grandma, who is a know-it-all, attention-seeking, self-absorbed, sarcastic, glory hogging, cynic..........just like Garfield. And Garfield notices this too, he actually develops a special bond with her over this special (back to the part where I mentioned this actually has  moral subtext). Now, WHY she is so cynical is explained as a result of her husband dying a while ago. Ultimately, Garfield gets her the best gift of all when he's able to get her a Christmas present that pleasantly reminds her of her late husband. Christmas morning, while all these gifts are being exchanged is also when we see Odie unveil a gift he's been making for Garfield the whole special long....and Garfield actually likes it. You heard me right folks, Garfield got a gift for someone other than himself, and Odie was able to do something nice for Garfield, all in 22 minutes. All this is missing is an Orson's Farm cameo and a Nermal appearance,  and we could call this a doggone masterpiece. 

This is not to say the special didn't have a few problems. It's not quite as funny as the show would become, and the animation isn't as good either (though that is a fault of the times, not the show). And as I mentioned, Jon's family is bland and generic (to the point even their designs are kind generic)

For real tho, I've heard of strong family resemblance but this is a bit too much

Overall however, I've gotta say this special's successes far out way its' faults and it's worth a checking out if you haven't given it one already. So with that, a ho-ho-ho and a Merry Christmas to you! See you tomorrow!

HUGE Christmas Project Annoucement

Hey guys! Long time no see, sorry for the hiatus but I promised I'd give you something big, and I always deliver. In celebration of my favourite holiday of all time, my favourite way to spend said holiday, and my favourite song about that holiday, i'm going to be reviewing a different animated Christmas special that came out in the 90s' everyday for the 12 days leading up to (and including) Christmas! Now, admittedly not all of these are animated, and not all came out in the 90s, but I think I was close enough that it's not gonna bother anyone. That being said, I'll be reviewing what follows:

Day 1 (Dec. 14) - "A Garfield Christmas" (Garfield and Friends) 

Day 2 (Dec. 15) - "Episode #79" (Animaniacs) 

Day 3 (Dec. 16) - "It's A Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special" (Tiny Toon Adventures) 

Day 4 (Dec. 17) - "The Santa Experience" (Rugrats) 

Day 5 (Dec. 18) - "We Wish You A Turtle Christmas" (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) 

Day 6 (Dec. 19) - "Alpha's Magical Christmas" (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers) 

Day 7 (Dec. 20) - "Dexter vs. Santa Claws" (Dexter's Labratory) 

Day 8 (Dec. 21) - "A Scooter for Yaksmas" (Ren and Stimpy) 

Day 9 (Dec. 22) - "An All Dogs Christmas" (All Dogs Go to Heaven) 

Day 10 (Dec. 23) - "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas" (Pinky and the Brain) 

Day 11 (Dec. 24) - "Episode #98" (Animaniacs) 

Day 12 (Dec. 25) - "Twas The Flight Before Christmas" (Powerpuff Girls) 

So that's all for tonight, but starting tomorrow, I'll be reviewing one of these every day until Christmas! Hope you guys are as excited for this as I am! :)