On the Sixth Day of Christmas, I saw on DVD… the Batman the
Animated Series episode “Christmas with the Joker.”
This was the second episode of Batman TAS and the first to
feature the Joker. It didn’t rely on an origin story as with most of Batman’s
rogues, mainly because nobody really knows Joker’s back-story. The episode just
sort of throws you into Arkham Asylum to witness the Joker escape by riding an
already converted Christmas tree like a rocket right out the building.
We jump ahead to Christmas Eve, as Robin cannot seem to
convince Batman to just relax and enjoy the holiday. After an uneventful patrol
of the city, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson settle in for a viewing of “It’s A
Wonderful Life” (which is also my tradition) to find all the channels are on
some odd show. The host of the show? The Joker. And it’s on.
This is a classic episode of this beloved series, but
whenever I watch it I have to question how Joker can pull off some of this
stuff. How did her convert the huge telescope of an observatory onto a cannon?
Where did he get several robots with machine gun hands that all look like him?
I mean, if anyone thought that the Joker in The Dark Knight had an excessively
unrealistic or over-elaborate scheme, this would about give that person a
stroke!
Don’t get me wrong, though. I nitpick out of a source of
love. It doesn’t really matter how ridiculous the Joker’s schemes were or where
he got those giant robot toy soldiers. It’s the freakin’ Joker and he was
voiced by Mark Hamill! That’s all it takes. Still, I will admit there were
better Joker episodes than this one. And if I really want to be critical I will
also note that, to me, “Christmas With the Joker” kind of lacked that warm,
gooey feeling that I tend to love about other holiday themed television
episodes. But I digress, Batman and Robin barely surviving the Joker’s traps
and ultimately saving the Christmas… it doesn’t get much better than that.
On the Merry Meter I give “Christmas with the Joker” 9 out
of 10.
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