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A Jolly Molly Christmas Re-Rant

Reviewed: 12/24/2010
Additional Commentary: 11/10/2021

The Greatest Christmas Episode in Disney history!

Original Airdate: 12/20/1990 (Syndication); Episode #43 (TaleSpin Volume 2, Disc 2); Episode #64 (Production)

A Jolly Molly Christmas Notes
A Jolly Molly Christmas Transcript

Well; we are about 2/3's of the way through the series and it's only fitting that TaleSpin would have a Christmas episode that was a complete dozy in almost every way possible. (2016 Gregory Weagle Says: Yeah; it's been over 70 days since the last re-rant commentary because of an absect in my asshole. No joke. I was hospitalized for quite a while and I'm still healing at this point. So; I'm making up for lost time. Anyhow; everything about this episode said five years ago is perfectly true. ) It's an interesting case of having someone who can write pathos well; combined with a studio that was completely hit or miss and a decision that was hated by about 50% of the TaleSpin fan base. (Because Molly is considered a poison to men who think she's the reason why Rebecca isn't with a man.) I remember that a lot of Kit Cloudkicker fans were not amused by this decision because they felt that the focus should have been on Kit's first Christmas together with his new family instead of being a Molly focused episode since Molly has already spent five Christmas years with Rebecca and who knows how many with her late husband. (To be fair to Libby Hinson, cynical Kit wouldn't exactly work as well in a Christmas episode even though Kit doesn't seem to mind the holiday. A year ago; Libby Hinson appeared on DAF Radio with Rick Hinson (a sound editor for MPSE no less; so yes, the two are related) and she explained that the reason Molly was the focus character is because Molly represents the innocene of the child. There is a lot more to this story in that interview and I suggest you find it after reading this rant. I'll give the highlights as we go along.)

In fact; Dan Green wrote a fanfic on this and many try to pretend that canon never happened. Now as a Kit fan; I can understand their frustrations because anything that ties Kit's past into a Christmas episode would have been an automatic ***** in my book. (Dan Green's a great fanfic writer and several of his fanfics are on my website.) However; this was the second last episode in production and I betcha someone in BS&P told the creators to not go there with Kit Cloudkicker's first Christmas simply because that means going back into Kit's past and considering that Len Uhley opened a huge can of worms with Kit being an Air Pirate for a year, it would open up some wounds Michael Eisner clearly wanted to see go away. (Dan Green pretty much ran into this problem with his fanfic on Kit's first Christmas. However; BS&P had nothing to do with TaleSpin's Christmas episode being what it is. Libby Hinson is smart enough to know that millions of kids have already seen Plunder & Lightning and they know this will be Kit's first Christmas. Plus; Kit needs to act like nothing happened because this is supposed to be a joyous season (despite the fact that it's winter time and cold and for most people, it's the most depressing and exclusive time of the year.).)

We ended up having a Molly focused episode with her asking for Cape Suzette to snow on Christmas Eve (For her mother no less. She would throw away toys to see her mommy be happy. So Baloo, Louie, Kit and Rebecca basically use soap flakes to make it snow; but the tactic failed mainly because Don Karnage is an asshole par excellence; leaving Molly in a sobbing heap until the end when a miracle occurs. That is the plot of this episode and the last five minutes of this episode might very well be the most subtle use of the "Hijacked By Jesus" trope known to personkind.) which in my view was probably the second best choice they could have gone with in hindsight with the first being going with the BS&P nightmare Kit focused episode I mentioned earlier. I don't know how Libby Hinson turned to average after this series; but this is the episode I best remember her doing in fact. (Notice that the best episodes of this series are done either by Libby Hinson, Jan Strnad or Len Uhley? Also remember that Libby has only written like four episodes up to this point, all for this series while Len has been around before the mid 1980's. So anything great by Libby is considered a big deal at the time.) This was also Christopher L. Stone's biggest moment since most of the music for this episode is created solely for this episode and isn't heard anywhere else in the series. In fact; much of the music was available on the demo CD Stone created soon after this. (I should note that one of the pieces is titled: Molly Sees Santa. Well; after seeing this episode, Santa should have been in scare quotes, mainly because of the finish.) Let's rant on shall we...?!

This episode is written by Libby Hinson. The story is edited by Karl Geurs. The animation is done by Wang Films Animation .

Opening Moment #1: I believe this is the first time since The Wuzzles that a DTVA show used a title card and I love this one as it shows Molly watching a globe of a village snowing because it sets up the episode nicely and the snow globe even plays a part in the actual episode itself. The artwork is also well done here compared to the It's A Wonderful Leaf Christmas episode Darkwing Duck would have next year. (Len Smith; the character designer behind Kit Cloudkicker, Molly Elizabeth Cunningham and Don Karnage did the title card for this and it looks amazing. He would also do the title card for Ransom Of The Red Chimp; implying that episode was the Valentine's Day episode, which is also written by Libby Hinson and another ***** classic (although Joe felt it was ** 1/2 at best due to overuse of cliches of classic cartoons in the past.). Len would then go on to create the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games mascot. He was also on DAF Radio a year ago.)

We begin this one with a fade to black and return to a snowfall in the forest AFTER HAPPY HOUR (After dark) as we hear Sally Struthers' monologue. We zoom into a town and the town square with a Christmas tree with flashing lights as it snows a lot. Rebecca relates the story of her childhood during the Christmas season as Kit fans groan on cue knowing that their dreams of Kit's first Christmas have been dashed. This of course is not a real town at all as the snowstorm gets worse and we zoom out to see that it's a snow globe in Rebecca's hand. (So, thirty seconds in and they already paid off the title card. Too early; maybe, but Libby has set up the story nicely in a matter of a minute. That's effective storytelling and I care about Rebecca, so it works.) We then see Rebecca looking out the window (as it's raining hard – not unlike what is happening here in Halifax today. (And happening now; only tonight it is going to change to heavy freezing rain. Thank goodness I am home today and still not in hospital.)) with Molly in her arms licking a candy cane as Rebecca wishes it would snow just once in Cape Suzette. I should note that Rebecca is wearing a purple coat which seems too warm for her. Molly states that there is still two days left for snow; but Rebecca nicely blows it off because it never snows in Cape Suzette. (Remember that for later.) She also has an umbrella as she tells everyone to be good as Baloo is on the staircase doing nothing of note because Santa is checking his list...allegedly...and she's going to shop until she drops. See; Rebecca can be a stereotype when she wants to be. I don't see how Nightflight can sleep at night knowing this. I should also point out that Baloo does say "Later" here which is weird even in 1990. It's hilarious that Baloo speaks in pop-culture; but Kit speaks like a normal adult most of the time. (In the 1990's actually; which I guess didn't get him over because 1990's kids have some mysterious language no one understands and then is shocked and emo when no one gets it? 1990's Kid: You just don't get the word concenous.)

We cut to the top of the staircase (Yes, we are in the offices of Higher....For...Hire; why do you ask?) with the candy cane and snow globe as she says goodbye to her mother and then hear sparks. The Christmas tree lights are on and WildCat is now a anthro tree. HAHA! I wouldn't be SHOCKED if Patrick Star stole that spot for the Spongebob Squarepants Christmas Special. (Because goodness knows that Patrick Star and Broadway from Gargoyles don't have the same voice more or less. It makes Deadly Force sound so laughable.) Even funnier; the opening theme for that special with the angels singing the Spongebob Squarepants theme is AWESOME BABEE! (And it is awesome. You never lived the 2000's without listening to that song once. It's surreal to say the least.) Baloo slingshots a blue ornament onto the tree which sadly has gained yellow garland from the previous shot. That's logic break number one for the episode less than two minutes in. Molly runs down the stairs as the crack animation team changes her snowglobe from blue to green as Molly climbs onto the desk and writes a letter as Baloo asks if she wants to help decorate. (Wang Films Animation is not very good in keeping objects striaght, what a surprise.) Molly is writing a letter to Santa see as Kit blows her off nicely because she already sent a letter to Santa once. (Kit calls this unfair. Compared to not getting your first Christmas episode as a focus character? FACKING BULLSHEET!) Kit is so awesome and dangerous that he puts garland on the tree using the pogo stick (Which made it into the TaleSpin video game for the NES, I should note.); which I'm certain Kick Buttowski will have his jaw drop when he sees it. (Not as dangerous as using a pogo stick in the clouds instead of his airfoil. That should be the next extreme sport: Bouncing on clouds in addition to surfing them, which has become a major investment to at least one daredevil in the past couple of years.)

Kit's bouncing like a Gummi Bear causes the candy cane on the desk to tumble off the desk, which crumble to pieces, and Molly groans because that was her last candy cane see. (Ironically; as this was happening, the voice of Kit Cloudkicker was moonlighting as Cavin from Adventures of The Gummi Bears in the final season. So Kit bouncing like a Gummi Bear actually is a cute little nod.) Baloo takes some of the carnage and examines it with the eye lens Louie used in Plunder and Lightning part two. Molly looks shocked as Baloo shows the piece and wants her to put the piece of candy cane under her pillow. Molly asks why and Baloo proclaims that it's for the Peppermint Fairy. Molly is now sitting down and blows Baloo off with the Gruffi pose. Yeah; Baloo's myths are seriously messed up if even a six year can see through it with ease. Baloo claims that the Peppermint Fiary is a cousin of the tooth fairy. Riiiiigggggghhhttt, Pop-A-Bear. They are kissing cousins right? AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (You know the old saying: If you are kissing cousins, having breath smell minty fresh, like peppermint is the best way to go. However; the most important point to this is: According to the Christmas DAFRadio interview; Libby Hinson explained that the Peppermint Fairy was in fact an angle for an aborted storyline involving the tooth fairy which was orignally what this episode was going to be about before Libby and Jymn pulled the plug on that to do the Christmas episode which is written and completed during the summer months. Not sure if they still do it like that today; I'm guessing they do since it takes half a year of production to make one episode.) Molly then sells the whole thing and takes the candy stick and jumps down from the desk and up the stairs. Baloo then ties a sting around his finger as he is going to trick Molly by putting the candy cane under her pillow tonight.

We get a closeup of said finger and then we fade to black and it's morning although the scene still looks kind of dark on the pan south shot of the outside office. The rooster is crowing as per in Volume 2 DVD sets; unlike the Volume 1 set which had a cock crowing. (Which means Disney Captions did get into trouble during Volume 1 with their subtitles. It would not be the last as Disney Caption missed some mild language in this episode alone.) Rebecca runs in and yells at Baloo because she has an emergency on her hands. We see Baloo sleeping on the chair with Kit on his right side (Damn; Kit must have been crushed at least once during the night.) as he wakes up. Rebecca is really hyper as she goes down the stairs and changes into her coat off-screen stage left with a box of a vegatable slicer as the store got the wrong order and Molly was supposed to get a nutcracker (Really Rebecca?! Methinks that store has some sexual malfunction at the junction if you catch my drift.). She talks at such greatneck speed that Struthers unintentionally tells Baloo to load up boxes of salt instead of soap; but she does make up for it somewhat by checking Baloo's eyes. (Nope; she never screwed up the order, it was soap flakes since there's no such thing as salt flakes. Salt cubes maybe; but not flakes.) Rebecca leaves as Baloo looks like a zombie as he notices his finger ribbon string and then gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY and yells loudly which wakes up Kit and WildCat. Wang Films' drawing of Kit is ultra weird; almost look like Max Goof from Goof Troop. (Acutally; it's not as bad as it looked on the DVD remaster; so I can live with it.) Baloo panics as Kit asks if he forgot about it (which Baloo nods of course). Baloo notices the conveniently placed candy canes right near the wooden basket on the wall and grabs one. Baloo then runs up the stairs yelling Peppermint Fairy to the rescue. Oy vey, Pop-A-Bear; do you honestly think Molly is going to fall for this crap?

Baloo runs to the upstairs door and listens to it and there is no sell. He opens the door and practices the fine art of not being seen nor heard by Molly as Baloo invokes the candy hand, but Molly wakes up instantly on cue. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! Pop-A-Bear is so totally BUSTED! Maybe yelling and panicking wasn't such a good idea. Baloo stammers like the idiot Peppermint Fatass that he is. POW! OUCH! Ummmm... (Why did you hit 2010 Me Pop-A-Bear?! 2010 Me was perfectly accurate here. You are the one who yelled out that stupid line for everyone to hear including the one person you were attemping to fool; which is Molly Elizabeth Cunningham.) Molly isn't buying it for one second as she accuses Baloo of lying to her. NO?! REALLY?! Wow; you know she's serious when she isn't using the word fib here. Molly even accuses Baloo of lying about Santa too and that's all a bunch of baloney. WildCat claims it's real because Santa hates bologna see. (Disney Captions screwed up the joke here since Molly used the term baloney as an expression of disagreement; while WildCat was supposed to say that Santa is a vegan by hating bologna. Bologna is the lively, historic capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, in northern Italy. ) I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic about a sky daddy there, WildCat. (Okay; it's an snow daddy being, although is there really a difference between God and Santa? As you will see at the end of this episode: Not much of a difference, in fact.) Molly is sitting on the bed wondering how she can send a letter to Santa if there isn't one. Now Baloo isn't amused by this and Molly walks to him and stands up to him which causes Baloo to recoil and sweet talk Molly into claiming that Santa is real. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! (That is so great and so Rebecca Junior of Molly to simply walk over and give the unamused face.)

Molly wants Baloo to prove it and Baloo takes the dare as he's going to fly Molly to the North Pole. Kit's reaction to that is PRICELESS on that one. Kit might not say much in this episode; but his actions are the key to him being so awesome here. Molly sadly has the "S" in Santa backwards on the letter as Baloo tells her to put her coat on as Baloo leaves and hopes to get it done before Rebecca comes back. Kit wonders what the hell he is doing as Baloo manages to slide down the stairs like a slide somehow. That just looks weird for some reason as Baloo has a Krackpotkin Plan of Doom in mind. (Actually; Baloo went down the steps and it looked better than 2010 Me claims it is.) That logically leads to that Island on The South Seas, Louie's. We zoom in and then head to the bar island as Louie is on the phone and has a blender on the counter. It's Baloo of course as Louie stuffs fruit into the blender and overfills it as he has a wee bit of trouble putting the top on. Louie asks Baloo what the favor is, the blender gets turned on and Louie is SHOCKED AND APPALLED to hear the request that he forgets to hold onto the top of the blender and gets juice in his eyes for his troubles. HAHA! Needless to say; Louie is not amused despite I am being so damn amused by that crack-up.

We go to the sky shot of Higher...For...Hire as we see WildCat with the boxes of snowflake soap on a lift . Baloo and Molly -- with her purple coat on -- run in, bump WildCat into the whirlwind spot and lose the cargo. Heh. Kit runs past as Baloo apologizes for the mess as the MIRACLE WORKERS CONNECTION PLUS SURROGATE SISTER are in the plane while WildCat has been stuffed through a box of soap. HAHA! (Wow; after seeing the "Long Flight Home" comic; that is almost dead on accurate on 2010 me's part.) WildCat asks if they are really going to the North Pole and we see Molly waving out of the SeaDuck with her letter to WildCat. The SeaDuck flies away the docks as Molly will put a good word for WildCat. However; WildCat runs to the edge of the dock and jumps because he promises to be good as long as he gets to come. HAHA! That is some awesome pouting there, WildCat Puma. We go to that island in the South Seas'; the North Pole wrapped in lime green and orange. (And Louie has the backwards lettering even worse than Molly. No wonder Rebecca doesn't want any part of Louie.) We then go to the dock in front of the door as Baloo presents Molly who is now wearing a blindfold to the door. Molly wants to peak; but Baloo won't let her ruin the surprise. Funny prop: The Christian Cross Candy Cane that doubles as a door knocker. Baloo uses the knocker and the window opens to reveal one of Santa's little helper monkeys. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay; I'll make it easier on everyone as that is Waldo who is voiced by the late Richard Karron whom passed away in 2017. Here's some interesting trivia from IMDB: Worked as a rather friendly bouncer at "Catch A Rising Star" on 1st and 72nd Street, New York City in the mid to late seventies before being discovered by Dustin Hoffman and asked to audition for a role in a play in which he was appearing at the time. His photo could be seen in the club carrying Hoffman who was smiling in the photo.

Waldo proclaims that they are at Santa's workshop and Baloo presents the blindfolded Molly Cunningham with her letter and they maintain CONTINUITY of the backwards S on the letter throughout the whole thing. Waldo tells her to come right in as Baloo gently pushes Molly into the “North Pole” and takes off the blindfold and Molly is in awe over the place. Well; she has only been at Louie's twice before this; so she's easily fooled by it. Ironic Moment: Season's Greetings is plastered on the ceiling in front of the stage despite the fact that the word Christmas is used many times throughout the episode in the audio. (They never said holiday either nor shown the phrase. Times change.) The monkey elves are working around the clock; even playing reindeer games outside the window literally. One of the elves is wearing Louie's straw hat I should point out. Kit then sarcastically puts his ears out as we hear bell jingling in the background. Man; R.J. Williams is so convincing even when he is faking a scene. Molly is a little frightened as we cut to the chimney --which looks kind of legit -- with stockings as Louie Santa comes down and lands on his ass complete with smoke (AND THAT'S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH, MOVIE RATINGS, AND THE GOOF TROOP CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!). He has his sack of toys on retainer and is even wearing dark shades for no reason other than to be a dick. (Well; he is voiced by the same guy who voices Don Karnage; so yeah.) He slides onto the blue rug and I must say Louie does look the part; but he has got to act with an English accent rather than the Jamacian accent he's using right now since that gives him away. Baloo thankfully tells Louie to "ixnay on the jive thing". I'm SHOCKED how many times TaleSpin used that word; considering how few times the show repeated promos. Baloo grabs Molly, Molly and Louie have a meet and greet as Louie kisses Molly's hand and doesn't use his foot this time. Louie puts up the shades over top of his eyes. I know he's playing Santa; but I think you get the joke here and sees Molly Cunningham eye to eye.

Molly sells as if Louie is Santa and shows Louie Santa her letter. Louie grabs Molly in a somewhat disturbing way. Think dragging a cat to a trash can. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Wait a second? That's like Kit holding Dewey in Ducktales 2017! That's not disturbing 2010 me, what are you talking about?!) Louie puts her in Santa's chair as he calls for Elf Waldo to get his list of naughty and nice. Waldo gives him the scroll and it's only about half a mile long. If you want to convince someone; make it two miles long guys. Louie goes through the list rhyming "olly's" until he finds Molly's name and she is on the nice list of course. Grade A quality too, according to Santa Louie. I wouldn't go that far; but she is nice which means beware. (Ask Convington about it; you do not screw with Rebecca, or you might have a couple of broken shins.) Molly asks if this means her wish will come true, Louie presses his hand against her jaw gently and Louie proclaims that she'll get everything. Louie then dives into the sack as the toys plop out instantly and Santa Louie basically throws about five hundred toys give or take ten onto Molly creating a toy tomb for her. HEE HEE! It's wonderful for BS&P to allow Molly to get that spot given that he's barely six years old. Another funny symbolic moment: The bone Christian Cross inside the sack. You know something; I don't think the Southern Baptists would be amused by this; albeit for different reasons. (Nah; it's a bamboo made pogo stick.) Also, the Louie-In-The-Box toy gets involved, of course. Molly tries to explain; but Santa Louie just cannot help himself as we see Molly is fully entombed in toys as she gets dragged off the chair and she does the "Kit carries more than her body weight spot" to Baloo and then throws away the stuff in a nice unspoken protest. If only Kit would do the same thing; but he is not a nepotist so there you go. Louie's promo was awesome and he even remembered to say "Merry Christmas" and "ho's" like a Santa.

Santa Louie is sitting in the chair as Molly goes over to Louie with the letter. I should note that Molly is still wearing her pink PJ's underneath the coat as Molly sits in Louie's lap. Louie grabs the letter and transfers it to Elf Waldo who reads it as we find out that the present is not for Molly; but for her mother and she wants it to snow. (Now THAT'S a giving person right there folks.) Everyone is SHOCKED to hear that one. Now THAT's just plain awesome to see. While most Christmas specials focus on contrived and forced spiritual stuff; and even the best are about basically forcing Christmas Spirit into you (It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol worked because the characters involved needed the spirit badly albeit for different reason.), this episode renders Molly as the selfless one who GETS the spirit of Christmas which is the spirit of giving and sharing. Yes; the gift she asks for is a miracle crap shoot at best; but the thought behind it is amazing and it doesn't seem forced at all. It also makes what happens in the climax, finish and ending into the legendary status this episode gets later on. Waldo gulps as Santa Louie proclaims that his wish is his command as he plugs Molly's ears and blows Baloo off for making him look like Jack Frost. HAHA! Baloo doesn't like where this is going and that ends the segment nearly nine minutes in. (Actually; it was barely eight minutes in as the final act is almost ten minutes in length. Libby did find a way to pad the running time without being boring: Insert Don Karnage and his pirates and do a "terrorize people to make them give presents to them" which is both incredibly heelish and fits Christmas to a T spirit wise. 2010 Me pretty much explained the point of this and it makes Molly into one of the better filler characters ever out there. To actually give up all the gifts in the world just to see her mother happy for something that cannot exist where they live is very noble, even though it's doomed to fail from the start. Libby Hinson really did a great job building this story up thus far and it's just going to get even better when the finish happens.)

After the commercial break; we head into Louie's office as Louie continues to blow off Baloo for his Krackpotkin plans to make it snow on Christmas Eve for a little girl. I knew those shades would turn him into a dick; I just needed the evidence to prove it. Louie throws down the beard in protest as Baloo has Krackpotkin Plan number two: Baloo and Kit will return to Higher...For...Hire to deliver the cargo of soap flakes. Baloo puts Louie's fake beard back on and Louie protests this as he's retired. Baloo asks if he's going to ruin Christmas for Molly and Kit eggs it on asking what the real Santa would say. Considering God; not much Kit. Louie finally decides to give in and play Santa Louie for a while yet while being flustered. Baloo just wants Louie to run interference for a while on Molly and sing Christmas carols as Baloo and Kit exit from the window. Louie asks what if his customers arrive and Baloo tells them to sing along too. This is going to backfire in their faces; I just know it. (The greatest part of this is that Baloo and Kit went out the window instead of leaving Louie's the normal way; thus making sure Molly didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Sadly; this would have worked better if Louie had not said anything when he was plugging Molly's ears with his fingers before the first act ended.) Louie goes back into the main hall as Waldo is with Molly as Louie proclaims that the snow will come at anytime now; so while they wait the elves and Louie are going to sing Jungle Bells. Personally; I would have gone with Silent Night; but that would make the finish too obvious anyway. (I think they were afraid that Silent Night would be too overtly religious in nature and there is a lot of references to Jesus Christ. No way that's passing muster. Saying god is okay, though.) Waldo isn't so sure; but the elves sing Jungle Bells in unison. So we head outside as Baloo and Kit run to the SeaDuck and get in. The SeaDuck flies away into the sky as we go to a sky shot of Louie's as the clouds slowly come in. Can you smell the finish coming?

Meanwhile; we head to Pirate Island as we see the Air Pirates singing Jingle Bells and they are lousy as usual. HAHA! (Even funnier; the monkey elves at Louie's slowly sound like them later on.) The Christmas Tree they have looks like a prop from the first Charlie Brown Christmas Special. You know; the one with Linus basically revealing Jesus Christ in full bloom. That one deserves to be on par with this episode by the way just for Linus pulling that out of his ass. Gibber, Mad Dog, Dumptruck, Sadie, the pirate Kit shoved in Plunder and Lightning Part Three and the pirate from Ransom Of The Red Chimp all make an appearance to annoy Don Karange. Needless to say; Don Karnage does me proud by running in protesting this outrage. He even yells "Shut up" for good measure. Well; now we know where Kit Cloudkicker got that one from eh? Don is in his purple nightgown and cap proclaiming that the ships of plunder were dancing in his head; although Don sounds like he said Sh** of plunder. Works well enough for me. (Nope; the transcript I wrote and the audio clearly said "Visions of plunder". There is no conspiracy to get in swear words...Oh wait, later on; never mind what I said.) Don asks what is the problem and Mad Dog whines that they are getting nothing -- AND THE ROCK SAYS NOTHING -- for Christmas. Dumptruck claims that they have been real bad this year (Well, throwing Kit off the Iron Vulture was really bad in an awesome way.) Gibber then whispers in Don's ear and Don blows him off because they promise to be real good next year. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Memo to Gibber: You are a heel. You are supposed to be bad. Bad is good see according to Don Karnage's twisted logic. Don cuts his "hasty puddings" promo and asks if they want Christmas presents and the terrorists agree to it.

Don walks in front of them stage left asking if this is the season of giving and the idiots nod. Don proclaims that they should make people give presents to them. Now that is classic heelish logic for ya! The idiots love it as Don orders them to the planes and the idiots run stage right. Don proclaims that he not always generous; but Christmas does come once a year. HAHA! We go to the SCENE CHANGER OF DOOM to the back shot of the office of Higher...For...Hire as a taxi stops and out comes Rebecca with the JOKEY SURPRISE OF DOOM. I see the office hasn't made enough of that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH to buy Rebecca a car after having it trashed by a “valet” (Codeword: Kit Cloudkicker upon Baloo's request) in A Spy In The Ointment. (I'm still wondering about who trashed Rebecca's car?) She slams the door with her foot as the taxi speds away which Wang Films slightly screws up as we see Rebecca walking with the presents as she notices WildCat sitting on the soap flake cargo. (I think this was one of the few times Rebecca wore boots.) She goes over and apparently has put the presents down somewhere -- logic break number two for the episode -- as she asks why the cargo isn't on the plane and where is the SeaDuck, Baloo and Kit...and Molly. WildCat sniffles with the snow globe in his hands because Baloo left him out of the deal and cries badly. He then recoils and wonders how to work the snow globe just as the Seaduck touches down onto the water. HAHA! The SeaDuck lands as Kit and Baloo take some soap flake boxes and try to escape into the SeaDuck while saying hi and bye to Rebecca; but they are clearly BUSTED as they stop about 20 feet away from the SeaDuck. Rebecca wants answers to Baloo stealing her soap flakes and Baloo confesses. (I should note that the soap flakes are called Sudsy Wudsy. Maybe one of the dumbest puns ever and it comes from Libby Hinson of all people.) Rebecca has the WRAITH OF BECKEY on at half mast.

Kit comes from behind Baloo and tells her that Molly asked for snow this Christmas for her mother, while doing these hand motions. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Kit also does this hand motions in Ducktales 2017 as well.) Baloo wants to make her wish come true as Rebecca recoils and is happy. Now that was just awesome and Kit times it just perfectly on that one. Like I said; Kit doesn't have to say much to be effective; actions define his character. However; the rain is pelting down hard on Baloo as Baloo doesn't like this storm and wonders what else could go wrong. We head to the “North Pole” outside as we see that Louie's patrons are outside a barricaded door yelling for Waldo to open the doors. Well; one of them is a fox furry. Apparently; at least five Thembrians have made the trip to the place. I wonder if Thembria is becoming like China...Nah; that would be too obvious. They must be the ones seeking asylum in Usland; that's the ticket. (In an interesting twist; one of them looks like the same guy from Flight Of The Snowduck; which was also a Molly focused episode; albeit with WildCat as well.) Waldo is at the window telling them that they are not ready yet. The decorations aren't up yet as he boards the windows; and of course "Jungle Bells" is singing in the background as the patrons are outraged and they try to bust through the door; but no dice. I see one of them looks like that bear from "Song of the South"! (Are you sure, 2010 me?! I'm certain it was not.) We head into the main hall as Louie seems tried, Molly comes over, pulls on Santa Louie's suit, asks about making it snow soon and Louie states that he will as long as he is in the "Jungle Bell" mood see. Louie is tried as hell as we continue from the top and then we hear Baloo's voice as he plays the Undercover Elf to Santa on a radio (Which apparently is Louie's new present since it looks completely different and modern from the rest of the series.). We see the cockpit of the SeaDuck and Baloo on headset proclaiming that the best Christmas present of all time is on the way. We cut to the Air Pirates flying in V-formation. Don Karnage is on headset listening to Baloo and Santa Louie on the jury rigged radio in the CT-37SE, of course. Baloo's codename is "Rudolph" which is funny because that's the fake prince's name in Waiders of The Wost Tweasure. (Not really; it's really Ruldolf in that spelling rather than Rudolph.)

We cut back to Santa Louie on the radio; which has changed since the last shot; on the transmitter with the shades on looking like a dick as usual. Santa Louie cuts the reception and tells Molly to get her mittens on because she's getting her snow. Molly loves this and embraces Santa Louie, which is real sweet. We cut back to Don Karnage's plane as Don turns off the radio with the pink knob and gets the transmitter giddy as the Air Pirates turn on a dime stage left as they have hit the jackpot. We cut back to the SeaDuck flying in the storm as Kit is in the navigational seat with the map as WildCat and Rebecca are in the back loading the soap flake boxes ready for "Operation Snowstorm". Rebecca and WildCat open a box each and then the SHOOTING COMMENCES~! Wang films = yellow flashes. (Just like with Walt Disney Animation Japan.) At least they aren't using the Transformers sound effects this time as Rebecca and WildCat are forced to duck and the bullets miss by about a foot and destroy some of the boxes. (Wrong 2010 Me! They are clearly Transformers sound effects which is odd since this show uses bullets and bullet sound effects most of the time.) To those who are surprised by the guns in a Disney cartoon: In TaleSpin; it was a special day when the guns are NOT pulled out and used in an episode. Baloo and Kit realize right away that Don Karnage is attacking as the CT-37's surround the Seaduck and Don Karnage cuts his promo proclaiming that he is Santa Karnage! HAHA! If BS&P wasn't such an ass; he would have called himself Satan Karnage instead. After all; Santa is Satan spelled sideways. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummm...Oh; and if they refuse to give him the best present of them all; they'll reduce the SeaDuck and everything into tinsel. Now THAT'S a pretty effective threat there. That ends the segment 13 minutes in. (On a religious note; Baloo actually says "Oh God, Air Pirates!" here. Gilbert's lack of acting made it barely audible; but it's there. So now Kit and Baloo have taken God's name in vain in this series. There is one more character to come and it's another Libby Hinson written episode that this happens and Don actually says it twice in two episodes along with a Len Uhley written episode.)

After the commercial break; we see the wind blowing around ; the rain whipping and the SeaDuck in major trouble with Don Karnage and the Air Pirates up the tailsection, so to speak. Oh and there are thunderclaps; cannot forget that little bit of information. The shooting commences fully as Don Karnage's face on the cockpit shot is priceless before the shooting begins. More shooting and dodging as WildCat does flips in the back and knocks into the soap flakes boxes as the Transformers sound effects finally kick in for the second time in the series. Rebecca then runs into the cockpit and gets onto the transmitter and blows off Don Karnage (Remembering to call him Dog Garbage in the process- I see she's taking notes from Kit. Libby Hinson used this as part of her demo tape which should be on Youtube now. It was also when I discovered she and Elizabeth Hinson were the same person.) for stealing her little girls' Christmas gift. Don proclaims that she has a point on her head as he would be stealing candy canes from a baby...and then recoils and proclaims that he loves such a thing. HAHA! (There's your money line of the episode right there.) He calls for more shooting and we get up to 0.8 Trigun in no time flat as the entire roof edge is shot and the props. We are getting closer and closer to the killer finish folks. We see Kit in the navigational seat panicking because they cannot out run the Pirates in a storm. Baloo sees only one way out as he goes to the lever (JESUS~!) as Don Karnage is behind the SeaDuck now as Baloo offers to give Don Karnage the best gift in history and Don Karnage gets giddy. I would leave right now Don because you are going to be room feed now. The tail section opens and we see Rebecca, Kit and WildCat yell Merry Christmas as they push soap flake boxes over and rake the soap suds out of the SeaDuck's back. The soap flakes flutter around the CT-37's and they somehow clog the engines. Absurd perhaps; but it logically makes sense for some perverse reason.

Think ice on the wing and you'll get a better picture. All the CT37's are disabled and I betcha Kit told Baloo about that weakness, too. The planes drop dead like flies into the sea. Baloo tells them to save some for Molly; but the THUNDERBOLT OF DOOM nails the SeaDuck. We have chaos and mayhem inside the back as Rebecca flies out of the SeaDuck; but Kit manages to grab something on the SeaDuck and grab Rebecca at the last minute. Like I said; actions define this character, not words. Kit yells at WildCat to close the hatch and WildCat invokes the pulley lever (JESUS~!) and closes the hatch as Kit and Rebecca tumble like little rug rats after a play fight. They also take some really good bumps into a big ass crate of soap flakes for good measure. (Get my Quack Pack references out of my rant, 2010 Me!) Kit and Rebecca stare at the ceiling in awe. So we head down to sea level as the CT-37's are all crashed together and Don Karnage is sucking bubbles. HAHA! Oh well; better luck next time Don. Dumptruck and Mad Dog seems to love the gifts though as they sink down as well just to be idiots. HAHA! Ah; let them sink in their bubbly little world; they can be the scapegoat for the SeaDuck dumping that soap and not being environmentally friendly. (Well; it is 1936 in this story, so environmental concerns do not exist. Yet.) We cut back to the sky as the SeaDuck is flying and the storm has finally stopped as Baloo proclaims that they lost all their cargo. WildCat comes in with a small box of open soap flakes; and there is only a few flakes left as we see the SeaDuck fly over the soap flake snow falling CT-37's away as the moon comes out and Baloo wonders how to tell Molly about this. We are now seventeen minutes into this episode and we have five minutes left to do the killer finish and it begins right now. We head back to the main hall of the “North Pole” as Santa Louie and Molly are in the Santa chair as the monkey elves continue to sing "Jingle Bells". I'm SHOCKED that they still have some voice left singing the same song. I wish they would sing another song; or at least sing "Jingle Bell Rock" which would fit Louie more although that song didn't exist until 1957. (Now they are singing like the Air Pirates so much that you would swear that they are recycling the Air Pirates ADR here.)

Man; the animation seems to just improve as this episode marches on as Louie tickles Molly's nose with the finger as Santa Louie proclaims that it will snow so much; you can wash your clothes in it. EWWWWWWW! (Geez Louie; don't give away the facade with that kind of subtley.) Molly is loving this as Waldo -- with tray filled with drinks -- goes over to Louie to inform him that the facade can no longer be held because the door breaks down (The patrons found a giant ass log and used it to break down the door. In a loving twist, the ADR seems to be saying "What the hell?!" at random points at least twice during this. So "hell", "god" and "f*cking" are allowed on DTVA. Disney purists and moral guardians should be panicking like hell right about now.). Here comes the angry mob with the big ass log of doom which they used to break down the door. The Thembrian Patron climbs onto the stage and demands answers to this outrage. Louie waves as Molly proclaims that this is not Louie; it's Santa as she pulls on the fake beard and some of it breaks off. UH OH! The patrons all laugh their asses off right in Molly's face. Memo to Kick Buttowski fans: Brad Buttowski has NOTHING on these jerks. Trust me. Molly cannot believe this as Louie comes over to the Thembrian patron who has grown a white beard instead of the brown one trying to explain and the patron pulls the faux beard completely off Louie's chin. UH OH! Remember the scene where Bart Simpson starts to cry when Homer Simpson gives Bart a gun and wants Bart to shoot Blitzen all just to prove he isn't gay? In the immortal words of Moe: Cue the waterworks! Louie just turns around and looks at Molly, who is about one step away from sobbing her heart out as the laughing continues in the background. Sadly; the sound guys forgot to loop the tape and we hear nothing but silence for about thirty seconds flat; although really, that mistake doesn't change the scene awesomeness one bit. (Actually, the audio comes back about ten seconds later so it's basically a nod to TaleSpin's Japanese animation roots. I think this error is more of a problem than the missing sound effect of Santa's sack of toys by Horta Editorial. MPSE would have corrected both errors for sure.)

Shot of the fake beard on the ground as Louie tries to explain himself; but Molly has had enough as the laughing continues and even Louie realizes there is no way out of this and just shrugs. Great non-verbal cue there because that's enough for Molly to run; grab Louie; grab the letter from his pocket and she runs out of Louie's crying her eyes out while the laughter continues. (Yeap; the facade and the dream are dead all in one fell swoop.) Louie tries to chase her; but the patrons keep getting into the way and Louie then blows them off for making her cry. I don't blame Louie at all for that; what a bunch of jerks! I know there is a lot of cynical adults out there (And many of them are Molly haters to boot; who project their sexism on her until that doesn't work and then project onto Rebecca when called out on it.); but this is a six year old girl we are talking about. At least wait until twelve years old when she can take context a lot better; you assholes! I hope every Molly hater is happy that they turned Molly into such a wrecked up states over this. At least Baloo and Louie cared about her to try the crap shoot even if it was going to backfire. Anyhow; we head outside to the beaches of Louie's AFTER HAPPY HOUR (That is either sarcasm or 2010 me being incredibly tone deaf. I cannot tell which.) as Molly is running on the beach with no coat on to boot stumbling, fumbling and crying her eyes out. Janna Michaels selling is AMAZING here given her age as Molly makes it to the cliff near a tree and flops onto the ground and sobs so well Sally Struthers should be ashamed of herself. Molly gets up and calls this all a lie as she walks up and throws the letter she wrote into the water; but the letter screws all logic and reason and spirals up into the heavens. It doesn't even touch the water once as Molly just cries her eyes out near the tree. The letter continues flying up into the sky and we cut back to Molly near the tree who has actually stopped sobbing and just merely teary-eyed now.

Molly then hears Rebecca and Baloo's voice as Molly wakes up as we see the babyfaces walking on the beach yelling for Molly. I actually have a slightly alternative finish in mind which would have pleased BS&P; but I'll share it with everyone in The Review Line. Molly sniffles wondering what she can give her mother for Christmas now as she stands up and walks over to the cliff; and then the stars twinkle and Molly's ear twitches literally. This according to Alaska Animal Lover is the most important non-verbal cue in the entire episode and she's absolutely right as Molly turns around as the cloud roll in again and Molly watches the sky from the sky shot of the cliff. Great spot: Molly's shadow goes from three o'clock to nine o'clock when we zoom into Molly on the sky shot. If Wang Films wasted their best efforts on this then it was damn worth it. (This was the peak of Wang Films' work in TaleSpin without question.) The wind blows in her face and she giggles and then turns around giggles again and simply looks at the stars. One other note: Other than Molly giggling once; the whole scene up to Rebecca reuniting with Molly is in complete silence with just the lovely Christopher L. Stone music playing. That would never happen in the new Disney simply because the execs believe that you must fill everything with action; or the kids will turn on it. That's the mind of a demographics, Detroit Disease company in a nutshell. This is what gives this episode the killer status that people claim it deserves. I cannot tell you how misty eyed I get when watching this episode and then realizing Disney pissed it all away with Darkwing Duck's contrived attempt of it in That's A Wonderful Leaf. That's what makes this episode all the more sadder in my view. ( Because kids just want comedy see.) We get some more cloud shots and Molly viewing and star twinkling as we cut to Rebecca and Baloo walking in as Rebecca leads the yelling and she finally notices Molly watching from the cliff in her pink PJ's. Notice the spotlight on Molly? Would Santa seriously do that sort of stuff?! Rebecca comes over (and she's wearing boots now) as she puts the coat over Molly asking if she is all right and Molly just continues to stare at the stars. Rebecca asks Molly and Molly invokes this line:

Molly: Mommy. I saw "him".

This is where a lot of us were amazed that Libby Hinson would get away with such a line without realizing the implications of said line. The fact is; Molly never actually says Santa's name here which any kid would say his full name "Santa Claus". Molly only states that she saw him. This is really a powerful line because in my personal opinion; Molly is implying that she saw God. Seriously; I believe that is what Molly is implying here. It also helps my case when the spotlight was on her during this entire sequence. Another theory was that Molly saw her father; but that would imply that Rebecca's husband is dead and Jymn Magon claims that she separated. Personally; I believe it's both as Unforeseen Impact would state; but Jymn has flip-flopped on so many things about TaleSpin; that it's hard to believe him anymore. Another would be a freak "once in a lifetime storm" which does happen in real life even in that region. I agree with some that we are the ones who are supposed to figure out what Molly actually saw; but that is what makes the show great is that the ending can be anything and still make sense in the context of the episode. (Yeap; the most subtle version of "Hijacked By Jesus" being used here. If it was really Santa, we would have heard and seen shadows of all the trappings of Santa and his reindeer. There was none of that here. If it was merely a freak weather moment; then there wouldn't be a spotlight on Molly when Rebecca finds her.) Anyhow; Molly points to the sky as Rebecca asks Baloo if he sees it and Baloo just gulps and nods as we see Louie, Kit and WildCat (with the snowglobe which looks completely white now) enter in and they all stare at the sky as the first snowflake falls down slowly as ever and it lands on Rebecca's nose. HEE HEE! Sadly; Wang Films animated the snow onto Rebecca's nose BEFORE it officially dropped on her nose. Louie calls it crazy as more snowflakes drop and everyone is in shock. Kit is amazed and he even lashes a snowflake with his tongue for good measure. More snow falls as Molly dances around with glee as her pink PJ legs turn blond flesh colored on the sequence and apparently without the coat; she's naked. Got to love perverted logic there. (Apparently; the DVD version fixed this.)

WildCat shakes the snow globe and finally proclaims that he got it to work at last and then recoils on cue when he sees the snow. HAHA! Louie goes over to Baloo asking how he did that and Baloo is absolutely dumbfounded to answer because he didn't do it and he wouldn't believe it if he told him anyway. Rebecca and Molly embrace as Molly whispers "Merry Christmas" to her and Rebecca sheds two tears in embrace as we go to the sky shot of the snow falling down to finally end the episode at 21:15. (Great story: Janna Michaels during recording at B&B Studios on Jolly Molly Christmas suffered a legit broken arm before recording. I have no idea how she broke it and I don't really want to know. The point of this is that Janna could not turn the pages, so Ginny McSwain had Libby Hinson do that for her. In the final line Janna had to read; which is "Merry Christmas Mommy!", Ginny asked for Janna Michael to embrace Libby Hinson and squeeze while cutting the line, and she did it perfectly. It felt like a real legit scene. Everyone in that recording room looked great here. Libby explained this moment via DAFRadio's Christmas 2014 Podcast by the way; and I recommend that one for Magon's work on Goofy Little Christmas, Len Smith doing the Jolly Molly Christmas title card and the Libby Hinson stuff on Jolly Molly Christmas, including finding out that she is married to Rick Hinson, a well known MPSE sound editor. I don't know what has happened to Janna Michaels; other than at last report that she was perfectly fine and well.) Libby Hinson is beyond amazing now. Too bad half of the viewers wanted to see Kit as the focus character here because this ending kicks 9999 asses and is good enough to kick a thousand more. AlsoI still stay that it was God who provided the miracle here. ***** (100%). (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Ironically in Ducktales 2017, where Santa Claus is a real polar bear furry in the same vein as Father Christmas being one of a few humans in Peppa Pig, Molly Cunningham finally saw Santa (It's even the name of one of the background music pieces composed by Christopher L. Stone) while being a prisoner about to be killed in The Last Adventure! As I say: Molly realized right there that Santa Claus was real all along.)

THE REVIEW LINE

I don't think I have to say much about this episode other than what I have already said in the rant. Everything about this episode clicked perfectly; even Wang Film's minor mistakes weren't enough to ruin this tender episode. It also was one of those episodes where you had to feel really sorry for Molly Cunningham who was an innocent six year old who decided to be selfless and give up all the toys in the world just to give her mother the present of snow and then realize that it was all a white lie created by Baloo who was trying hard to make the wish come true even if it was a lost cause. You have got to see the finish in this one as it will make you cry and make you feel Molly's pain and also in the end her happiness when the wish came true from the heavens. Kit was Kit when he needed to be as was WildCat. Finally; the real reason why this Christmas Special is so special to me: It's the best animated special after 1985. A Christmas Carol was very special; but it's based on a novel. It's A Wonderful is amazing; but it could easily been done without the Christmas Themes. A Charlie Brown Christmas was amazing; but only because that special was gutsy enough to talk about Jesus on the air in a tribute. Most of the other classic specials are more or less based on commercialization of the non-religious and even religious aspects of Christmas than anything else.

Jolly Molly Christmas was the first episode where I felt that the right message of Christmas was shown: Giving instead of taking; being with family; and respecting God. This episode relates to me much more than those Christmas Specials and it doesn't sound very old. The Goof Troop Christmas Special was very good; but it didn't quite make it over the hump. (Well; it was an average Christmas episode that had the greatest musical dance in DTVA history: The Reindeer Dance. Considering what Jolly Molly Christmas did; it was for the best. There was no way pathos were going to work anymore because no one was topping Libby Hinson. Quite frankly; it would be best not to try. I'm sure someone might in the future; but for now, Libby Hinson cannot be topped.) In the end; this was the best Christmas Special ever and that's saying something indeed. Thank you Molly; for proving to everyone that you belong in this series and thank you Libby Hinson for writing an episode that shattered by perspective on what Christmas specials are about. (TaleSpin had three Christmas stories: This one on television; "Shine A Little Light" which was booked similar to Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Rankin-Bass version) which caused Hanukkah to break out in Thembria. It was all right; but cannot top Jolly Molly Christmas. There is a third comic book from France called Super Noel; but I have zero idea what the story is and it's doubtful I'll ever get to review it because it was written in France and not even Steet has it. So there you go.)

Now about what I said about the finish: I do have one slight alternative finish in mind and it is mostly the same. The exception is to have Kit find Molly Cunningham first and sit beside her as she goes on this rant about being lied to about Santa Claus and how fake he is. Kit would respond with puppy tear eyes saying only that he wishes Santa Claus was real too and embraces Molly which is enough to calm her down. Kit then puts his sweater on Molly and they are about to walk back to Louie's when the ear twitch of Molly's happens and Kit and Molly see whatever we were supposed to see. That's the only thing I would have changed in that episode (And what Libby wrote is perfectly great; don't get me wrong.) because it would have made the Kit/Molly relationship that much more special to see two kids who have through hell (Molly losing her father; Kit losing both parents; being a runaway and joining the Air Pirates.) come together and it would have pleased BS&P and pleased the Kit fans. It would have also paid off Mommy for a Day really well too. (The best thing about this is; if they had widdled down the dogfight about thirty seconds; this could be easily put in.) Merry Christmas everyone and I'll see you all with My Fair Baloo next week. So...

Thumbs way up for this episode and I'll see you next time.

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