The KND have seemingly attacked the North Pole, so Santa's elite Elfa Strike team is deployed to retrieve his reindeer and keep Christmas safe. Up at the North Pole, the elves are happily working away on Christmas Eve to prepare for Santa's trip, putting together toys as they sing a Christmas version of the Rainbow Monkey theme song. The only elf not taking part is the gruff Wintergreen, who says his job is simply to keep an eye on things and he doesn't sing. A knock on the door gets one of the elves up, and he gets pelted with a gas dart that puts him to sleep before the Kids Next Door suddenly jump in, shooting darts everywhere. Before Wintergreen can leap into action, he is hit with multiple darts, and after eliminating the remaining elves, the KND reveal a secret elevator in the fireplace by pulling a stocking. They knock out an elf who yells at them inside, and enter a large, round room where Santa is sitting in his sleigh; they knock him out as well. As the KND fly through the sky later, Numbuh 4 mentions how they were in a close situation and were lucky to get out alive. Numbuh 3 replies that it wasn't so bad, and it allowed her to get her last gift, which is also the best one and is for Nummbuh 4. He tries to guess what it is, but Numbuh 3 says he has to wait until they exchange gifts the next day; she is sad to learn he again didn't get her a gift. When she asks if Numbuh 4 even likes her, Numbuh 5 jumps in to embarrass him, and he retorts that he doesn't see the need to get gifts for each other anyway, since that's what Santa does. Numbuh 3 counters that real friends do it as well, but is shocked to learn the others also didn't get her anything; Numbuh 1 diffuses the situation by pointing out they're back. Numbuh 3 shrugs it off, saying it's better to give than receive, and the group steps outside and realizes the treehouse has been stolen, much to Numbuh 1's irritation. Nearby, Wintergreen, now in costume, reveals he chopped the tree, and demands Numbuh 3's "reindeer" present; she shushes him, not wanting Numbuh 4 to know what it is. He says they took something from Santa, and it's his job to keep the man jolly; they jump into battle positions, so he calls for his "Elfa Strike." Wintergreen engages Numbuh 1, who impresses him with his abilities, but Wintergreen's own special ability is that he has bone claws, and his skeleton is made of "peppermintium." The others try to help Numbuh 1, and face the painful bite of the teleporting "Nutcracker," and Numbuh 3 casually chats with "Snow Angel," who gained the ability to control snow after a radioactive snowball hit her. Numbuhs 3 and 4 then encounter "Coniferous," with incredible strength and the ability to make his body like a pine tree, but Numbuh 3 bites off some of his needles and demands her present. Nutcracker toys with her for a bit, so she pummels him, and Wintergreen retrieves the gift; she attacks him as well, then seemingly lets him go before pantsing him and pushing him off the tree. Everyone stands down when she angrily asks if anyone else wants to take her present, but Wintergreen reveals his most powerful attack: the "12 Days of Christmas Attack." The groups from the song all suddenly fall from the sky on Numbuh 3, leaving her crushed under their weight as Wintergreen takes the gift once more. Contrary to WIntergreen's words, Numbuh 3 says she didn't steal this gift, she bought it for Numbuh 4. Wintergreen doesn't believe her until he rips open the box, revealing the "Secret Santa Surprise Reindeer Monkey." Numbuh 4 is annoyed, but Numbuh 5 points out he didnt' even get her anything, and Snow Angel points out that this doll is only available at the Rainbow Monkey Superstore on Christmas Eve, causing WIntergreen to realize the KND couldn't have been the ones who attacked before. Numbuh 5 confirms they were at the store all day waiting to buy the reindeer monkey, and as the groups wonder who really has the reindeer, we head back to the North Pole, where the group from before, still in the room with Santa, is unmasked as the Delightful Children From Down the Lane. The trapped Santa stays strong against the Delightful Children, asking if they've come to pick up their coal in person; they say this year's going to be different. He snarkily asks if they're going to be good kids this year, and they snap that they're better than children everywhere else and will prove it this year by getting all the presents while the other kids get nothing but coal. They reveal they have Santa's "reindeer," a strip of leather with jingle bells on it, and they ignore his warning that only he can handle the reindeer's power. Santa angrily tells them they don't know what they're dealing with, but they reply that they don't care and shove Santa off the edge of the long walkway they're on. The Delightful Children then activate the "reindeer," which sends electrical energy throughout the room, causing it to light up with images of kids. The narrator explains that Santa has gotten more high-tech over time, and his "reindeer present delivery system" that is linked to Christmas trees around the world and can instantaneously send kids the presents or coal they deserve. The kids choose only their own picture for the "nice" list, causing ever other picture to black out; around the world, kids' presents transform into coal. The Kids Next Door then arrive with Elfa Strike, as Wintergreen demands the reindeer. The Delightful Children hand things off to their substitute teachers group, the Faculty Four. The leader, Edna Jucation, rants about how Christmas people think they're the only holiday, becoming angrier when Numbuh 2 is surprised to learn of "Substitute Teachers Day." She says that her group will make their holiday the most important, and we are introduced to the "Thesaurus Rex," the "Unintelligible Tutor," the "Human Text," and the "Incredible Mr. Physically Fit-tastic," who go blow for blow with Elfa Strike. Wintergreen tells the KND to take care of the Delightful Children while they deal with Elfa Strike, saying the way in is down the chimney. While Elfa strike deals with this force, the Kids Next Door head to take care of the Delightful Children, but the power of Santa's reindeer does more than expected. This is another of my favorite specials to watch each year, and I decided to keep it as last in honor of the great Stan Lee (1922-2018), may he rest in piece.
Kids Next Door was always full of fun, cartoony action for kids, and this episode combines it with the enormous, creative world of Marvel. The entire episode is a comic book homage, and from the start we get references with Tom Kenny playing the announcer in a way that puts him in a Stan Lee role, constantly using the artist's phrase "true believers." Having the elves sing a rainbow monkey song helps keep things in the world of KND, and shows them to be your typical happy, cute elves. Then we're introduced to Wintergreen, who right off the bat is an obvious parody of the X-Men's famous Wolverine, with hair and sideburns to match, a gruff way of speaking and holding a candy cane like the mutant superhero would hold a cigar. When he later gets to see to some action, we're introduced to his bone claw ability and how his skeleton is made of "peppermintium," a funny and creative way to bring Wolverine, whose bones are coated in adamantium, into the worlds of KND and Christmas. The rest of his team are entertaining parodies as well, with Nutcracker, Snow Angel, and Coniferous obvious references to Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus, respectively. Just like with Wintergreen, these characters have aspects that are basically the same as the originals, simply with a Christmas flair added in. Nutcracker gets Nightcrawler's ability to teleport with a "bamf," adding in a nutcracker's ability to bite, Snow Angel's powers focus on snow rather than rain and lightning, like Storm, and Coniferous's body becomes a pine tree like Colossus's becomes hardened steel. Snow Angel is also a reference to another material, as getting pelted with a radioactive snowball "walking home from Santa's workshop on Christmas Eve" is similar to the song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." The Faculty Four is also a parody, as although their team members don't resemble the ones from the comics, their name is reminiscent of the Fantastic Four. Even Santa becomes a comic reference with the room in which he uses his reindeer, as it and the reindeer itself are parodies of Professor X's "Cerebro," a device he uses to locate mutants. With a mission directly connected to Santa, this special is just full of Christmas fun, even down to Elfa Strike's most powerful attack being about "The 12 Days of Christmas." There's a non-comic reference here that I didn't get as a kid, but I feel older audiences likely got a laugh out of, as when the narrator ends the list with "a partridge in a pear tree," a boy from the Partridge Family pops up. The beginning of the episode can be quite surprising and a good way of tricking viewers on their first time seeing it, as you have to wonder why the KND would attack Santa's workshop. By having the actual KND then ambiguously talk about what they were just doing, it help trick viewers into thinking it was actually them at the North Pole. At the same time, I have to wonder how and why in the world Elfa Strike even came after the real KND after the attack. The Delightful Children never left the workshop, so you would think Elfa Strike would've investigated and found them. They know the kids went after Santa's reindeer, but don't seem to know that they're still in the round room with Santa. Of course, the writers could probably find an easy way to say how this happened, and in the end, the episode is too fun for it to truly bother me. It's a classic comic moment to have two heroic groups going at it solely because of a misunderstanding, and that trope is represented well here. The KND themselves are exactly the way you would expect to see them here, not behaving differently due to it being a special. Numbuh 3's frustration with the others not getting her anything fits well with her kind and caring nature, and it's especially funny to see Numbuh 4 get the most ire for not reciprocating by giving her a gift. In what might honestly be one of my favorite moments in the episode, Numbuh 1 is hilarious in his anger upon finding the treehouse stump, fuming that everyone always takes his tree house and asking who's joined the "'take Nigel's pride and joy' bandwagon." With a lot of Christmas and comic fun, this episode is an excellent homage to the classic comic books that have entertained millions as decades have gone by. This year we might have lost Stan the Man, but the work he helped create and inspire will live on forever to continue entertaining and inspiring people.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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