Danny faces punishment for being a Scrooge when he accidentally destroys the work of the Ghost Writer.
The holidays have hit Amityville, with even Sam walking around gleefully greeting everyone; Tucker says it's the one time of year she's not dower.
He then gets into the spirit as well, tying mistletoe to his hat, but Danny is not so cheerful, declaring he hates the holidays after some people bump into him. Sam doesn't understand how he could hate Christmas when she loves it despite not celebrating; Tucker realizes she doesn't know about "the fight." He directs her eyes to a nearby mall Santa, where Jack and Maddie are arguing about whether or not Santa is real; Maddie says no, while Jack is a firm believer. As Santa and the kids look on in confusion at the scientific argument, Danny states he'll be in the Ghost Zone letting off steam. In a ghostly library, meanwhile, the Ghost Writer (Will Arnett) finishes his first poem, "The Fright Before Christmas," when Danny shows up, skeet shooting decorations. The Ghost Writer exits the building just as one of Danny's ghost rays destroys a teddy bear, simultaneously incinerating his book. Though Danny apologizes, the Ghost Writer is enraged and flabbergasted, especially after Danny is overjoyed to learn he destroyed a Christmas poem. Re-stating his hatred for Christmas, Danny says that while he didn't mean to destroy the poem, it doesn't mean he's not okay with having done so. Sickened by Danny's Grinchy attitude, the Ghost Writer creates a keyboard he says dictates what really happens. Declaring that Danny will become his new Christmas poem since he destroyed the last one, he blasts the ghost boy, who disappears. Danny reappears inside back in the mall "The Fright Before Christmas 2," recognizing the Ghost Writer giving a rhyming explanation of what's going on.
The Writer starts the story explaining why Danny's in this mess, and though Danny says he can't be forced to rhyme, he ends up a part of Sam finishing the line (had to get my own rhyme in there, didn't I?)
Telling Danny he'll still have freedom in the story, the Writer says Danny will be in it until he's learned a lesson. Confused, Tucker asks Danny what's going on, and though the latter tells him and Sam everything that happened, they think he's just crazy. Sam asks Tucker if Danny's always grumpy in December; he reveals that even Danny's first Christmas was ruined, as Maddie and Jack were so busy arguing they didn't notice a dog before it peed on the infant Danny. Four years later, the squabbling parents caused a turkey to come to life, forcing Jazz to step up and protect her younger brother. As Jack and Maddie continue to feud, the Writer decides on a whim to annoy Danny by making all the reindeer in a nearby petting area ghosts. Danny leaps into action, though Lancer's poor cheese log takes a hit, and when the reindeer successfully wreak havoc and escape, the people blame Danny. That night, Jack comes down the chimney as evidence of Santa. As the fighting continues, Danny becomes angrier, but tells the Writer, who appears outside as a snowman, that he won't talk, preventing the story; Jazz fills in his intended rhyme. The Writer mocks Danny for believing he can get out of the situation, and though Danny tries to stay defiant, his rage at his parents finally boils over. Sick of the fighting, Danny storms out, leaving his parents wondering what's wrong with him, and Jazz says she can't blame him for losing his temper. She becomes angry herself, however, when the presents follow Danny out the chimney, which she thinks his his doing. Danny is surprised when presents from multiple houses hover out to him; the Writer reveals it's to create a crowd that will blame him. Jack and Maddie attack Danny, who finds it ironic that they say he has ruined their Christmas, and he flies away. Deciding to go where there's no CHristmas, Danny heads for Sam's house; she's revealed to be Jewish. However, even their presents were whisked away, and the blame again goes to Danny, since Sam knows he's quite a Scrooge. A single remaining dreidel then flies into the air and brings toys all across town to life. They converge at Sam's house and combine to form a giant Nutcracker.
No matter how much Danny shoots the Nutcracker, toys simply fall off it, but he stays determined and destroys it with a single concentrated blast.
Everyone is saddened, however, as their toys lie broken in the streets; Danny's friends leave in a huff and the residents of Amityville Park blame him for the destruction. A lone boy still likes Danny, so the Writer brings a bunch of trees to life that start rampaging, which causes Jack and Maddie to stop fighting for a moment to activate the ghost shield. As a news anchor gets attacked, the pair realizes Danny is out there, and though Jazz doesn't care, Maddie whips out two dual-bladed axes and leaps out the window. Though Maddie is near and calls out, Danny is too busy getting pummeled to reply, but when she tells him to scream, he realizes he can just use his Ghostly Wail. At this point in the series, this move still drained Danny immediately, so he reverts back to normal just as Maddie finds him. She leads Danny home, saying how she and Jack stopped arguing, and once there Danny decides he needs to go into the Ghost Zone to stop the Writer. The ghostly author has more tricks up his sleeve, however, and Danny's own personal holiday poem isn't over just yet.
I really haven't seen this Christmas special in quite some time, but had a good time revisiting it and Danny's Scrooge-like attitude.
The characters compare him to the classic miser multiple times in the episode, but it's a fresh take on the idea of someone learning the spirit of the season. Normally, this would follow the exact kind of story we originally had, where the person is introduced to three ghosts who show them the error of their ways. Obviously for Danny Phantom, that idea doesn't work as well, since the whole show focuses on ghosts, but it does follow the story a bit since it is still a ghost, but he's not showing Danny his own past causing a bad present and future. Instead, he's taking a seemingly backwards tactic by causing Danny more trouble, in a way to show him that his own negative attitude as a result of his parents is causing him to ruin the happy feeling others are getting. While this is shown through everyone being upset after his rough thinking destroys the toys, but it's best represented at the start when he destroys the story. Rather than showing remorse after he destroyed what the Ghost Writer had spent so long on, Danny is actually happy. Just because he doesn't like the holiday, he acts selfish and rudely by not giving it a second thought when he gets rid of the poem, despite it obviously being something that the Ghost Writer put a lot of care and effort into. In a way, Ghost Writer is in this way only an antagonist for the episode because of Danny's actions, as it seems like he wouldn't have done anything to anyone if not for the Ghost Boy. We get new dimensions to Sam with this episode as well, as she's so chipper for most of the episode, rather than keeping her usual gloomy outlook. We also learn she's Jewish, a fact that isn't really treated like anything odd or necessarily "special," but rather just as something that can be the case. It's also therefore interesting that Sam is so into Christmas, since it's something she doesn't even celebrate, yet it's the one thing that gets her away from darker things. The interactions between Jack and Maddie are funny in this episode, as although they obviously aren't great parents around Christmas, it's quite entertaining to see them feud about the scientific issues with Santa. Obviously Jack, the sillier of the two, would be the one who believes in Santa, and though the more serious Maddie doesn't, she acts childishly about the situation. In the finishing aspects of the episode, we also get a rather interesting side of the Ghost Zone that is reminiscent of a real-life event I've mentioned before. Unfortunately I don't want to say what it is because it would give away a part of the episode, but it's easy to recognize. The cast is great in this, with Will Arnett giving an excellent guest performance, and everyone doing a good job keeping up the episode's poetic rhythm. Though Danny is a grump for much of the episode, it's fun to see him learning a lesson about being a Scrooge.
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