Hello, and welcome back! I think, to try and get through everything by the 25th, I may have to do 2 reviews a day from now through Christmas Day.
This time, to continue my look at modern Christmas classics, I’ll be doing a look at a series of TV specials put out over the last few years that were all based off the different animated film franchises that Dreamworks has done, each one using most if not all of the same cast as the films. The first to come along was ‘Shrek the Halls’ in 2007. A year or so later, there was ‘Merry Madagascar.’ Last year, there was ‘A Kung- Fu Panda Holiday,’ and this year, there have been two: The TV special ‘An Ice Age Christmas (Yes, even though that series took place eons before the birth of Christ, it still got a Christmas special),’ and the direct- to- DVD short ‘How to Train Your Dragon: Gift of the Night Fury.’ While all of these were good or at least watchable (Dreamworks appears to be the only animation studio that can give Pixar some real competition at the moment), I’ll be focusing on ‘Shrek the Halls’ and ‘Merry Madagascar.’
‘Shrek the Halls’ takes place between the third and fourth films in the 'Shrek' series. As it starts, good old Donkey enthusiastically keeps reminding Shrek that Christmas is coming, but the big lovable ogre doesn’t care about Christmas. However, when he learns on December 23 that his wife Fiona DOES care, and is reminded that it will be the first Christmas for their three ogre children, he decides to do what he can to make it a memorable one for them. He uses a book called “Christmas for Village Idiots†to get an idea of what needs to be done, but the stores are all sold out of everything that he needs. So, he improvises with what he can get (i.e. an old hollow log as a tree, a toilet seat with a bow on it as a wreath), and prepares for what he hopes will be a quiet Christmas with his family, but of course, that is not to be. Donkey, Puss in Boots, and the rest of Shrek’s fairy tale friends barge in and throw a raucous Christmas party in his house. Donkey, Puss, and the Gingerbread Man each try to tell their own version of ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (All are funny, though Gingy’s is also rather disturbing, as Christmas is a very difficult/ dangerous time to be a magical living cookie), and Shrek has had enough and throws everyone out. Fiona reminds Shrek that Christmas is a time of caring, and that it doesn’t have to be perfect, there just has to be love. So, Shrek apologizes to everyone, they all come in and hear him tell his own version of ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ then go outside to see Santa soaring through the sky.
As far as potential problems with ‘Shrek the Halls’ go, there are two I can think of, both of which involve how Puss in Boots (Normally one of the best characters in the series) is portrayed. One is that they could have done more with his version of ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ it gets cut off too soon. The other problem is that they never have Puss do his now- legendary “Cute, Sad Kitty†face. They could have easily had him do it, especially in the scene when Shrek kicks everybody out of his house.
Aside from that, though, the characters are well- portrayed, as they are in the films. Donkey’s irritating but likable, Shrek’s a lovable grump doing the best he can, and Fiona’s clever and considerate. There’s of course the typical Shrek humor all throughout, from bodily- function jokes to subtle yet amusing pop- culture references, and it all works out well.
‘Shrek the Halls’ is a funny, touching special about what it is truly like to meet with large groups of friends or family over Christmas: Hectic and infuriating, yet also deeply enriching of everyone.
‘Merry Madagascar’ takes place between the 1st and 2nd films in the always- funny ‘Madagascar’ series. At its start the 4 main animals from the series (Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo, and Melman the giraffe) are attempting to return from Madagascar to their former home at the New York Zoo on Christmas Eve. Their plans are derailed, however, by their balloon accidentally being shot down by the wild and flamboyant lemur King Julian, who tells them that every year on that time (Rather than Christmas, the lemurs on that island celebrate “Julianuary,†a celebration of King Julian), the “Marauding Red Night Goblin†flies overhead and showers them with coal. Alex shoots him down when he comes, but it of course turns out to be Santa Claus, and the crash causes jolly old St. Nick to get a nasty bump on his head and develop amnesia. So, since Santa is in no condition to drive the sleigh, the 4 main animals have to deliver the presents for him, and since the reindeer (Who amusingly have Russian/ Siberian accents) refuse to help on the grounds that they only take orders from Santa, they use some magic dust in the sleigh to enable the lovable penguins from the series to fly and pull the sleigh. They initially aren’t thrilled about the task, but then realize how much happiness they’re bringing to kids on Christmas (One child refers to them as 'Santa's Hairy Helpers'), and start getting a lot more joy out of the job as a result. Meanwhile, back on Madagascar, even though Santa has amnesia, it seems he can still remember how to make toys. He starts making presents for all the lemurs on the island, but then King Julian, furious at not being the center of attention on “Julianuary,†takes all of them for himself. Eventually, though, he realizes that the presents aren’t making him happy, and Santa helps him see that it’s better to give than to receive. Ultimately, Christmas is saved, Santa regains his memory, and the 4 main animals are each given nice gifts that remind them of New York to reward them for their kindness.
A small hangup is that while most of the voice actors from the film series reprise their roles in this (i.e. Ben Stiller as Alex, Chris Rock as Marty, Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria, and David Schwimmer as Melman), I was rather disappointed that for some reason, they were unable to get Sacha Baron Cohen (Aka Borat) to reprise his role as the voice of King Julian. The guy that they have playing him in this is alright, but it’s not the same.
That said, ‘Merry Madagascar’ still has a lot of funny moments, typical for the series (i.e. a small but very fun subplot about one of the penguins falling in love with the reindeer Cupid, made all the more strained by the fact that the two sides apparently despise each other normally), and a very nice message about the importance of giving, both through what happens with King Julian, and through the fact that the 4 main animals are willing to sacrifice their chance to return to New York in order to save Christmas.
So, that’s ‘Merry Madagascar.’ Not the deepest or most meaningful Christmas special you can find, but still a lot of fun and good family viewing. Come back later tonight when I’ll have another review up, and this one’ll be a great one!
