Episode 4 - 'Invasion of the Secret Santas!' Discussion Thread

[Mister J]

"Invasion of the Secret Santas" - Batman and Red Tornado fight to stop Fun Haus' Yuletide crime spree.

Airing: December 12, 2008

[Spider-Jim]

The World's Finest has new images up from the episode:

http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=316

[DOG LIPS]

Ha ha ha, Batman kicking evil Santa ass! :funny:

[theMan-Bat]

Yes!

[The Guard]

Not the best episode. Decent backstory with the Waynes, and it's always nice to see Batman and Christmas, but the writers don't seem to understand the nature of Red Tornado being an android.

"Observation"
"Declaration"

Ugh.

Is "Funhouse" an actual villain from the Silver Age, or is that just a crappy "Toyman" knockoff?

[KINGT'CHALLA]

does anyone have the torrent link to this episode.

[spiderfan970]

Anyone catch the BTAS reference?

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Anyone catch the BTAS reference?

Yep. Baby Doll lives on.
In the teaser, Sportsmaster is foiled by Batman and Blue Beetle before he murders bowlers in a holiday tournament. As a bowler myself, I resented Sportsmaster's comment about bowling not being a sport, which is why I'm glad Batman kicked his ass. Plus, he was voiced by Thomas F. Wilson, so I was already excited for this.

The main story involves Red Tornado trying to find his Christmas spirit by putting on ugly Christmas sweaters and, in a hilarious scene, trying to spread holiday cheer by flatly singing carols in people's homes, in a failed attempt. Red Tornado, while not as interesting as the other heroes, still is a likeable character that tries to be human. His fight scenes against Fun Haus's flying saucers, robot Santas, and action figures were also pretty sweet. Corey Burton gives a good performance as Tornado.

Technically speaking, Fun Haus is NOT an original villain. His named and MO of using evil toys is taken from a company in the DC universe. The writers just personified Fun Haus Inc. into a villain, voiced by Gary Anthony Williams. Fun Haus was not as interesting as Ocean Master or Gentleman Ghost, but I have to admit I didn't recognize Williams's voice, since I'm used to seeing him in Malcolm In The Middle as Abe and The Boondocks as Uncle Ruckus.

The highlight of the episode was another one of Batman's flashbacks, this time as an ungrateful child who, indirectly, causes the death of his parents. I thought it was great character development, and the death scene itself was done well.

Overall, a very weird, but touching, Christmas episode.

5/5

NEXT EPISODE: Batman and Green Arrow travel to Camelot and meet Etrigan the Demon, the wizard Merlin, and the evil sorceress Morgan Le Fay.

[SHADOWBAT69]

Well, not my favorite of the 4 premier episodes.
Its always interesting to see flashbacks from Bruces childhood. Though I must say, the inclusion of Bruces Christmas morning disapointment tieing in with his parents murder added an extra sense of guilt for Batman. Something I didnt think we would see in this cartoon series. I loved seeing the Batmobile, very cool design. I really dont know much about Red Tornado, so his characterization I have no comment on. I did find him to be a bit annoying however. I dont recognize Funhouse as an existing character. He was designed like the Superfriends version of Toyman, and I had thought that was who he was until they said his name. There was the usual funny moments that mad me crack a laugh. For instance the "alien invasion" with the woman that kept screaming in closeups on the camera. The toy doll that looked like Baby Doll from BTAS was kinda funny. I did like the opening sequence with SportsMaster. It was cool to see Blue Beetle again, his character seemed to be a bit more developed. I dont expect to love every episode, and this one wasnt terrible, but as I said, not my favorite. Id rank it a 6.5 or a 7. Fun to watch.

[BubbaGump]

Awesome episode, but Cartoon Network replayed 5 minutes of the sleigh-scene after the commercial break then switched back to Fun Haus's robot attacking the town. This was in the Saturday morning showing.

Anyone know what happens in between the gap? I never found out what the gift was. :o

[KingOfMars]

red tornado is probably my favorite character to be introduced so far, even if his manner of speaking is somewhat cliche that is part of the charm of the show, it was saddening to see his longing to understand humanity and the isolation that comes with this.

[Doc_OCK_4MUGEN]

I felt bad for Red Tornado when the kids told him "You're just a robot..." and they laughed it off...

[Dread]

Only a third of the way into the season and BATMAN BRAVE AND THE BOLD manages it's first holiday themed episode, centered around Christmas. Batman's had a few recent episodes of cartoons revolving around Christmas; "CHRISTMAS WITH THE JOKER" in 1992 and "HOLIDAY KNIGHTS" to kick off the new season on a new network in 1997. The latter especially had some downright dark moments. This episode, "INVASION OF THE SECRET SANTAS" follows in the tradition of "THE TICK LOVES SANTA" in which the superheroes get to punch fake Santa's in the head a few times.

The hero of the week is Red Tornado, played by Corey Burton, who has also voiced Brainiac for SUPERMAN:TAS, JLU, and even LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, among countless other roles. He is DC's infamous red robot hero who came out around the same time as Marvel's Vision but hasn't been nearly as popular or deep, and has a trend of blowing up. And guess what he does at the end of this episode? Blow up. Classic!

The "teaser" at the start had another reunion with Will Friedle's Blue Beetle as he and Batman take on the Sportsmaster to foil a robbery at a bowling alley tournament. Sportsmaster was always one of those odd villains; his "power" was that he could use sports equipment in dangerous ways, which meant he basically had arms. The fight is pretty good and Batman refuses Beetle's offer of Christmas at the Reyes residence, although seeing Batman try to have holiday cheer with a typical family somewhere might have been funny, Tick-style. Instead he has to foil a plot by the evil "Mad Haus" alongside Red Tornado, who doubles as a college professor in archeology.

Red Tornado has what one would call a "typical robot personality". His voice is stilted, he uses big words and looks at things too logically, such as trying to examine what "Christmas spirit" is. A bit where some kids that Tornado says mock him for being a robot lacking it helps work to sell him as sympathetic to a degree. Batman of course does not take the holiday off and is on hand to seemingly stop an alien invasion single-handedly. The fact that the UFO's are actually just large toys helps sell the idea, even by the show's logic, that Batman could stop them all. Homaging a B-movie classic called SANTA CONQUERS THE MARTIANS, Batman and Red figure out the invasion was a hoax. Fun Haus, voiced by Gary Anthony Williams, is not an actual villain (although "Funhouse Master" showed up in OMAC once) and appears to be a more buff version of the old Superfriends Toyman, right down to the color scheme and odd "wooden puppet" mask. His scheme involves distracting the heroes with robot Santa's and a bomb scare to hide his real scheme; filling everyone's homes with evil action figures who then proceed to rob everyone, SMALL SOLDIERS style. Rather than tying up Kirsten Dunst, they all form into a giant robot that Red Tornado has to blow himself up to stop.

Perhaps the best bits of the episode are some flashbacks to Batman's youth where he recieves a gift he doesn't want from his parents shortly before they are killed in crime alley. For a light-hearted show, I was surprised we almost got to see their murders on camera. It was actually fairly powerful imagery, and the bit where Alfred hid the old nutcracker in the Batmobile was cool.

The rest of the episode was a bit standard. It was probably my least favorite episode out of the four yet, but nothing terrible.

[Swordmaster]

I couldn't believe they had the Wayne murders occur on Christmas. Pretty dark in comparison to the other aspects of the show.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Awesome episode, but Cartoon Network replayed 5 minutes of the sleigh-scene after the commercial break then switched back to Fun Haus's robot attacking the town. This was in the Saturday morning showing.

Anyone know what happens in between the gap? I never found out what the gift was. :o

Red Tornado saves Batman and the kids. Tornado notices a kid crying because he wanted a new action figure. Batman flashes back to when he was opening his gift. It was an old nutcracker that his father gave him that once belonged to Thomas's father. The spoiled rotten Bruce breaks it and whines about not getting the swashbuckler action figure he wanted, as Alfred cleaned the broken pieces.

Back in the present, Fun Haus pops up in a monitor of a robot Santa and warns the heroes that a bomb will destroy town. Batman and Red Tornado search for the bomb, until Tornado realizes it was a wild goose chase. Batman flashes back to Christmas Night, where his parents took him to see a swashbuckler movie to make Bruce feel better. Bruce still is mad at his parents for not getting him his figure, and they all walk away sadly to a dark alley. Two faint gunshots are heared as Bruce screams for his parents.

After the flashback, Bruce figures out that Fun Haus is using the popular action figures to rob houses on Christmas morning. The figures go on a criminal rampage, and when Batman and Tornado try to stop them, Fun Haus assembles them into a giant robot.

Hope that helped. It makes the ending with the nutcracker make more sense.

[Mister J]

The bit with Bruce's parents was more than I expected this show to touch on, especially with him acting like such a brat. There's an angle they could delve into regarding his guilt and the eventual decision to don the cape and cowl, but I don't see it happening. It would seem to cut away from the established tone too much.

Decent offering, though probably ranking last in comparison with the others to me. Still definitely enjoyable. I might even give it another view while the games are at halftime right now.

I thought they did a good job at adding some humor to Reddy's search for the Christmas spirit, which is an endeavor that's been shown countless other times in numerous areas of media. I'm the first to call something like that stilted, nauseating and hackneyed, but this was OK. I love the way it ties into the inevitable Reddy blow-up (you knew it was coming :D). The gift from Alfred at the end was a nice touch too.

[Ceb-Man]

I liked this episode a lot. You see Batman's childhood and the tragedy. I thought it was well done even though the show is lighter. The producers didn't forget this. I also liked seeing Alfred in the flashback and seeing Reddy too. I love this show!

[Dread]

It should be noted that the episode was written by Beechen, a terrible comic writer who was behind all those episodes of THE BATMAN's first season that stunk. Notice that show got better once he wrote fewer episodes.

[protocida]

I just found out another reference to "Batman: The animated Series"!

Among the people that come running out of the store when the mechanical Santas attack the city, there's a old lady in a black/brow coat that looks exactly like a old lady that appeared in Christmas with the Joker, in a scene where Batman thinks a boy is going to rob her and he actually returns her one of her packages, that she left behind.

[Darkseid1]

really liked the flashbacks. loved the sci fi inspired music and the fake martian attack.i think this episode was on par with what weve seen thus far.

aside from the similarity between the baby doll bomb and the character of the same name on TAS, I dont see any other reference to the old series. I think some people are looking too hard for something that isnt there.

[tekken]

this episode was really funny. loved the interactions between batman and red tornado.

"merry christmas batman"
"now's not the time!"
"but isn't christmas tomorrow?"

hahaha oh man. and theres' more.

the cheesyness of the show rocks! it's like what adam west would be if he was still cool now.

[BubbaGump]

Red Tornado saves Batman and the kids. Tornado notices a kid crying because he wanted a new action figure. Batman flashes back to when he was opening his gift. It was an old nutcracker that his father gave him that once belonged to Thomas's father. The spoiled rotten Bruce breaks it and whines about not getting the swashbuckler action figure he wanted, as Alfred cleaned the broken pieces.

Back in the present, Fun Haus pops up in a monitor of a robot Santa and warns the heroes that a bomb will destroy town. Batman and Red Tornado search for the bomb, until Tornado realizes it was a wild goose chase. Batman flashes back to Christmas Night, where his parents took him to see a swashbuckler movie to make Bruce feel better. Bruce still is mad at his parents for not getting him his figure, and they all walk away sadly to a dark alley. Two faint gunshots are heared as Bruce screams for his parents.

After the flashback, Bruce figures out that Fun Haus is using the popular action figures to rob houses on Christmas morning. The figures go on a criminal rampage, and when Batman and Tornado try to stop them, Fun Haus assembles them into a giant robot.

Hope that helped. It makes the ending with the nutcracker make more sense.

Thanks! I knew there was something more to the nutcracker, but Cartoon Network was being silly.

[DOG LIPS]

I recorded this Saturday and STILL haven't been able to sit down and watch it. Damn you Christmas shopping!! :mad:

[spiderfan970]

I just found out another reference to "Batman: The animated Series"!

Among the people that come running out of the store when the mechanical Santas attack the city, there's a old lady in a black/brow coat that looks exactly like a old lady that appeared in Christmas with the Joker, in a scene where Batman thinks a boy is going to rob her and he actually returns her one of her packages, that she left behind.

I'm also pretty sure that the guy driving that car was a caricature of Bruce Timm with black hair. Often in the animated series they'd stick the creators in there but change the hair color, sometimes they'd even make it the right color, but yeah I'm pretty sure that's him.

[KingOfMars]

I found it on youtube, strangely it hasnt been deleted since the premiere.

[KBX]

Superman has had 3 references in 4 episodes. This one with Star Labs...

It was a Christmas episode, so I wasn't expect much from it. It was OK

[ChrisBaleBatman]

I liked it. I mean...I am certainly liking the GOOOD cheese I get from this show.

I liked seeing the annoying brat Bruce once was. It was an interesting thing to see.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

It should be noted that the episode was written by Beechen, a terrible comic writer who was behind all those episodes of THE BATMAN's first season that stunk. Notice that show got better once he wrote fewer episodes.

I actually credit The Batman's improvement to Michael Jelenic, who took a bigger role in seasons two and three, and became story editor for season four. The man is incredibly underrated. He also helped make the second season of Legion of Super-Heroes rock and also works in this show as story editor.

[Drz]

Did you guys notice the screaming woman was always the same? :P Lol.

[CaptainCanada]

That was a remarkably melancholy Christmas episode; I'm amazed they got away with making Batman's origin even sadder.

[theMan-Bat]

I was disappointed with this episode. I didn't like them turning Bruce into a little brat and tieing that in with his parents murder - there by giving Batman a Spider-Manesque guilt complex.

[Mistah K88]

Well, almost every Batman origin story Bruce is a small factor that put his parents in the wrong place at the wrong time...Heck in Batman Begins it was because Bruce got freaked out by the opera. As for the brat thing, it was an interesting twist as all kids are like that at one time or another in thier lifetime, Bruce just happened to be bratty at the wrong time. I was surprised they went into Batman's backstory with this show being so lighthearted.

I loved the Baby Doll (Mary Dahl) reference/cameo with the exploding doll...I sure wish it said "I didn't mean to" when it was about to explode.

[theMan-Bat]

Well, almost every Batman origin story Bruce is a small factor that put his parents in the wrong place at the wrong time...Heck in Batman Begins it was because Bruce got freaked out by the opera.

Yeah, I didn't like that in Batman Begins, either. Parts of Batman Begins I love, and parts I don't like.

I was surprised they went into Batman's backstory with this show being so lighthearted.

I was surprised, too, and didn't like what they did with it. I just wanted to see Batman kicking robot Santa butt with Red Tornado. Not an origin revamp.

[Dread]

I actually credit The Batman's improvement to Michael Jelenic, who took a bigger role in seasons two and three, and became story editor for season four. The man is incredibly underrated. He also helped make the second season of Legion of Super-Heroes rock and also works in this show as story editor.

True. Beechen is also not a good writer.

Did you guys notice the screaming woman was always the same? :P Lol.

I did notice it. It got a little old.

[RootBeerMaster]

This is got to be my favorite episode yet, I love Batman vs the Evil Santa Clause. I also thought it was really cool watching the Red Tornado try to find Christmas Sprit. The Red Tornado was Awsome in this episode, and I like the Blue Beetle in the beging argueing with his suit that was funny.

"Batman doesn't argue with his suit." Blue Beetle.

I sort felt bad for Red Tornado, in his search but though it was funny he try to make it in to a math probablem. Batman beating up santa in front of the kids, you didn't see that. I rather enjoyed that episodes.
Maybe Red Tornado should work on his Christmas Caroling for next year.

[SHADOWBAT69]

I did notice it. It got a little old.


Awe, c'mon Dread. That was hilarious. It was only 3 times, and I laughed my ass off each time. It was so 60's Sci Fi.lol

[DOG LIPS]

This episode was just great. I always love Christmas episodes for some reason, and this close to Christmas made it even more special. Red Tornado was great, I loved his design and his voice. I was shocked they showed Bat's origin. :wow:

[DJ Kornphlake]

The guy that voiced Reddy kinda sounds like John Lithgow.

[CLARKY]

This is the most single stupidly horrible and boring episode I have ever seen in my bat-life. God I think I regret the "JTV" episode of the batman. I voted 2 only because of the young Bruce Wayne moments, that was good. Maybe slightly caricatural, but I enjoyed it a lot.
BTW I enjoy the new batmobile, not sure about the red lines ... Anyway when I hear C.Burton, I hear Brainiac, I didn't buy the crappy "christmas spirit" that Red Tornado lacks, I despise Red Tornado a lot, find him (it) boring as hell, the villain was über-crap, stupid motivations, horribly stupid way to get his goals, batman in the middle of the Santas ... ... sorry but no. I am ready to see lighter Batman, but I feel this episode was just crap.

[Bathead]

Did anyone notice the screaming woman that pops up during the Neptunian "invasion" also pops up during the attack of the Santas and the giant action figure? She really gets around! IMO, very funny.

[Rowen]

Did anyone notice the screaming woman that pops up during the Neptunian "invasion" also pops up during the attack of the Santas and the giant action figure? She really gets around! IMO, very funny.

I did see that to, i thought it was ironic but kinda funny, i was thinking thiers that same women again, but all in all it was played out for fun. the rest of the episode was okay, but i to was shocked that they did bruce's parent's death scene in this show that so lighthearted & geared towards kids. but i guess they can pull out shockers in this show. & also thought that funhouse was related to the joker somehow since he had the jester makeup & whatnot.

[MaskedManJRK]

Fun Haus was not as interesting as Ocean Master or Gentleman Ghost, but I have to admit I didn't recognize Williams's voice, since I'm used to seeing him in Malcolm In The Middle as Abe and The Boondocks as Uncle Ruckus.

Haus also does Uncle Ruckus? That's awesome. :woot:

I felt bad for Red Tornado when the kids told him "You're just a robot..." and they laughed it off...

"Observation: It is best not to laugh at someone who can blow your b***h-asses 300 feet into the air." -- What I would be tempted to put in were I writing this show.

Anyway, great episode. I loved how they connected Bruce's origin in this. It reminded me a bit of part of one of my favorite current Batman stories, Broken City.

[Spider-Bat]

The worst thing they ever did in this series is in this episode, it is a total insult to Bruce Wayne, and that, was showing Bruce as a spoiled little rich brat. Horrible thing to do. Bruce was never like that as a boy he was raised better than that and that was not the reason the Wayne's went to the movies. It made it look too much like it was Bruce's fault for their death.

It was a bad thing to do. The episode otherwise had some good moments, but this series sucks.

[ironman29758]

Haus also does Uncle Ruckus? That's awesome. :woot:



"Observation: It is best not to laugh at someone who can blow your b***h-asses 300 feet into the air." -- What I would be tempted to put in were I writing this show.

Anyway, great episode. I loved how they connected Bruce's origin in this. It reminded me a bit of part of one of my favorite current Batman stories, Broken City.
that exactly what spoiled bruce remind me

[Two-Face=Badass]

The worst thing they ever did in this series is in this episode, it is a total insult to Bruce Wayne, and that, was showing Bruce as a spoiled little rich brat. Horrible thing to do. Bruce was never like that as a boy he was raised better than that and that was not the reason the Wayne's went to the movies. It made it look too much like it was Bruce's fault for their death.

It was a bad thing to do. The episode otherwise had some good moments, but this series sucks.
Now if you were to calmly explain exactly why this episode was a letdown to you then people would take your opinion seriously, most have no problem with others disliking the series as that is a matter of opinion, but is it really necessary to just hate on it like that while only giving vague reasons?

Yes, Bruce was a brat in this episode, but you would be surprised how much this happens in the comics as well, showing young Bruce lose it. Do I think it was right? Maybe not, but I think it was handled well, as it was made so Bruce obviously just had a spat. But yeah, I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but I'm pretty sure people would like to hear a good argument from you rather than spouting out that "this series sucks" or "it is horrible garbage".

[CaptainClown]

I really really really liked the origin for Batman that they portrayed. It was refreshing to see something different. I remember seeing them walking down the ally too and thinking "man you know what would suck?" bam bam "oooo damn"

[drillmaster]

My single favorite moment was Red Tornado singing "Jingle Bells".

His sigh at the end makes me laugh every time.