When I was younger, the winter holidays did not officially begin until television channels started airing Christmas specials. And to me, Nickelodeon cartoons stole the show when it came to holiday programming. Each one of these episodes fills me with overwhelming, wholesome holiday spirit. While many of these episodes, unfortunately, do not rerun on television anymore, it is still important to reminisce how incredible each one was.
4. Danny Phantom: “The Fright Before Christmas.” Danny Phantom is a tragically underrated Nickelodeon cartoon, which is quite a shame when considering such masterpieces such as its Christmas episode. The episode reveals that Danny is a bit of a scrooge when it comes to the holidays, because his parents always fight about the existence of Santa. After letting off some steam in the Ghost Zone, he accidentally destroys a poem by the elusive Ghost Writer, called “The Fright Before Christmas.” To get revenge, the Ghost Writer plunges Danny into a revised “The Fright Before Christmas 2”, controlling Danny’s every move, wreaking holiday havoc both on Amity Park and the Ghost Zone, and blaming it all on Danny. From this point on, every line spoken in the episode is in rhyming couplets, a feat in and of itself. To end the Ghost Writer’s curse, Danny teams up with all of his former ghostly enemies (who cite a Christmas Truce as the reason for their brief camaraderie) and repairs the destruction of the human world just in time for Christmas Eve.
3. The Fairly Odd Parents: “Christmas Every Day.” This episode may seem like a typical Fairly Odd Parents episode; Timmy makes an absurd wish which has unforeseen repercussions and has to go to great lengths to fix everything. What I love most about the Christmas episode, however, is exactly why Timmy makes his wish. He asks Cosmo and Wanda to make it Christmas every day, not because he loves getting presents or being off of school (though those are, he admits, excellent parts of the holidays), but because he gets to spend quality time with his often-absent parents. This wish almost buries Dimmsdale in snow and causes a political uproar as banks and grocery stores stay closed. Above all else, the Easter bunny, Cupid, and other holiday mascots are out to destroy Santa Claus out of pure jealousy. Timmy can’t unwish his wish because Cosmo, Wanda, and every other fairy have donated their magic to Santa so that he can make all of the toys on time. Timmy travels to the North Pole, enlisting help from children across the globe, to fix the mess. He then learns that, while Christmas is incredible, its joy is worth waiting an entire year for.
2. Every single Rugrats holiday-themed episode. Rugrats has the most diverse group of holiday specials, and it was impossible for me to choose just one. How could I forget “A Rugrats Chanukah” or “A Rugrats Kwanzaa”, when both Tommy and Susie learn the importance of celebrating their heritage? Or “The Santa Experience”, when Angelica learns from a fake Santa Claus that she’s on the naughty list and will only receive coal, so it’s up to her to repair the outcome of a Christmas trick she pulled on Phil and Lil? Or “Babies in Toyland”, when all of the adults are trapped in a frontier house buried under fake snow, and the babies go on an adventure in a Christmas-themed park?
1. Hey Arnold: “Arnold’s Christmas.” I have stated before that I think that “Arnold’s Christmas” is the most impeccable 22 minutes of modern animation. Call me crazy, but I’m not exaggerating; everything about this episode, from the music to the animation, is perfect. Helga, struck by her secret crush on Arnold, laments her inability to find the perfect present for him. Meanwhile, all of the members of Arnold’s grandfather’s boarding house pick names for a Secret Santa. Arnold picks out Mr. Hyunh, a quiet and introverted boarder. Mr. Hyunh, in a remarkably touching flashback scene, relates to Arnold the loss of his daughter, Mai, during the Vietnam War.
On Christmas Eve, Arnold and his friend, Gerald, enlist the help of Mr. Bailey, a city archivist, to search for Mai, but Mr. Bailey says that he will only help if Arnold does his Christmas shopping for him. The last item on the list is a pair of Nancy Spumoni snow boots, a popular item sold out all throughout the city. Helga’s dysfunctional parents, who normally ignore their younger daughter, reveal that they bought her a pair of the exact same snow boots. After Helga sees Arnold and Gerald leaving Mr. Bailey’s office, dejected that they were unable to complete the Christmas list, she gives up her beloved snow boots and stays up all night with Mr. Bailey so that he can find Mai. Mai then surprises Mr. Hyunh during the boarding house’s holiday party. Arnold is amazed, and Gerald tells him that he must have “a Christmas angel or something.” The episode ends with Helga, standing in the snow outside of the boarding house, whispering, “Merry Christmas, Arnold.”
I could go on and on about the implications of this episode, like the fact that Helga remains anonymous with her gift, though she wants nothing more in the world than for Arnold to love her back, or the fact that a children’s cartoon references such a violent part of history as the Vietnam War. But this episode, more than any other, relates to me the pure goodness and hope of the winter holidays.
If you feel yourself in any sort of holiday funk, I recommend searching for any of these Nickelodeon holiday episodes. They are sure to put you in the Christmas spirit!
Images: christmasspecials.wikia.com