Every generation of children who grew up with a television in their living rooms watched cartoons on Saturday mornings, be it the Flinstones, Jetsons, Scooby Doo, Transformers, or He-Man.  Most of these shows, if they actually made it this far, had holiday based episodes, meant to impress upon children the same morals that other specials and films did.  When I was a younger child, I watched a lot of television, mostly cartoons on the Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and (most of all) Nickelodeon.  Of all the shows I watched, I specifically remember three holiday specials, from what were probably the most popular animated shows of the time.

In the Christmas episode of Spongebob, our spongy yellow friend attempted to bring Christmas to Bikini Bottom for the first time, as the majority of the residents have never heard of the holiday, or of Santa.  In the special for Fairly Odd Parents, Timmy Turner, who loves the presents that he receives on Christmas, has a wish granted by his Fairy Godparents to make it Christmas every day.  Finally, in the Christmas special of Jimmy Neutron, Jimmy travels to the North Pole, in order to prove to his friends that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.

All three of these specials have the same kinds of child-friendly comedy that the shows always had, which is funny in a nostalgic way.  Some of the comedy is really witty, like the slow transformation of Timmy’s parents becoming tired of having Christmas every day.  Because, let’s be honest, most parents look pretty tired after one Christmas, let alone many in a row.  These shows had the childhood comedy at their best, and the specials didn’t break the mold.  Jimmy Neutron’s is probably the most creative, with Jimmy accidentally hurting Santa in his endeavors to prove his non-existence, and having to do the big man’s job himself.

There’s not much else to talk about, the morals that they all express are common to the season.  If you are a fan of the shows, you are a fan of the specials.  If you found any of these shows annoying, you aren’t going to be swayed by the Christmas episodes.