Batman's Weirdest Christmas | Christmas With The Joker | Batman the Animated Series

[@Kosh131]

The best part of the episode was Mark Hamil singing "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" song. We were singing that in the 1970's as kids, but no one knows where it came from.

[@trisstudio625]

I was singing this for awhile

[@joshpetzoldt6344]

Well, obviously The Joker wrote it, but as for which one and when, that I couldn't say. 😊

[@trisstudio625]

@@joshpetzoldt6344 Mark Hamil my favorite one

[@vguyver2]

@@joshpetzoldt6344 If your going to give an answer, it may as well be multiple choice.

[@leithaziz2716]

Troy Baker's Joker even sang a variation of the song in Arkham Origins during the last stealth section in Blackgate. But it's rather hidden. Fun coincidence.

[@t1m3f0x]

The DCAU Joker is a real multifaceted incarnation of the character, he can fill the shoes of the golden age gangster, silver age clown, and modern age psychopath. That's why he's the definitive Joker.

[@Superheroine-Hunter9549]

This does proves that even villains like the Joker like Christmas as well.

[@realmoftheouroboros8313]

ofcourse the awfull music is anoying enough to drive one mAD

[@harryfleutv666]

I found this episode very nostalgic since it’s the first episode of BTAS I ever watched on vhs back when they were still a thing just before they died out, the scene where “awful lawful” family are shouting at Joker who’s taken aback very funny!

[@J1P2K]

Same. I might still have the VHS.

[@mattboy5296]

The VHS I had was called "The Legend Begins," and it had On Leather Wings, Christmas with the Joker, Nothing to Fear, The Last Laugh, and Pretty Poison in that order. As a kid born almost 4 years after the original BTAS run ended, it was those episodes that got me into the show and the DCAU. I also had VHS tapes of the pilot episodes of Batman Beyond, the pilot episodes of Justice League, and the World's Finest episodes of STAS repackaged as "The Batman/Superman Movie."

[@tykamen5588]

I'm just convinced that joker did all of that just so he can throw a pie of Batman's face.

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

Joker: "dashing through the roof in a one horse open tree, busting out i go."

[@WarlockPhantom]

"Laughing all the WEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

@WarlockPhantom "Ha ha ha ha ha."

[@ericjohnson6120]

I like the idea of Joker doing all this just for a practical joke on Batman. I believe that many modern takes on Joker forget the clown part of "The Clown Prince of Crime."

[@koichidignitythief7429]

Amen. Let Joker be silly again

[@Xehanort10]

He needs to go back to sometimes pulling harmless pranks, sometimes really evil things or a bit of both. The "I want to prove everyone's as bad as I am something something society" Joker needs to go away. It only really worked with Ledger.

[@JurassicRod]

Agreed. I miss him getting obsessed over a guy just to have him open a door for one of his schemes or putting smiles on fish to try copyright them. Insane nonsense that only makes sense to Joker. Now everything has to be some grand master plan.

[@marcusyates3044]

Joker: 🎶 Don we now our gay apparel, fa-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la! 🎶 (cackling) "Ho, Merry Christmas!"

[@dazzlethestar151]

I've always found it strange this was the first episode of the show to feature Joker (according to production at least, I think a different one aired first??). I didn't expect him to get an introductory episode like the other villains usually get, but it's kinda funny his first appearance is a Christmas special instead of just a regular episode. Anyway, Merry Christmas Serum and everybody reading this! Hope it's been a good day! 🎄❤️

[@SerumLake]

Merry Christmas to you too

[@KasumiKenshirou]

The way I remember it (but I could be wrong) is that "Joker's Favor" was the first Joker episode to air.

[@dazzlethestar151]

@@KasumiKenshirou Yeah I think it was, but this episode was first in terms of production and is usually listed as the second episode of the series so that's how I ended up first experiencing the Joker 😅

[@josecuestas7246]

6:28 I feels a lot pity by Summer, she was begging Joker to spare her mother. But instead to feels touched, the Joker simply commented that it will makes the train destruction more funnier. Good thing that Batman and Robin saves the day.

[@Kiiriminna]

This episode is part of my Christmas (Eve) traditions with my sister. Yesterday we woke up 6 am just so we could watch it before I went to work!

[@willadeefriesland5107]

As a Boomer at the tail end of that generation, I got late 60's live action Batman, the Superfriends, Keaton's Batman... then best of all... Batman: The Animated Series. My hero got the show he deserved...

[@bryanstephens4800]

As a GenX we I watched this show after college. Was blow away with how great it was. This was a throwback to Superfrinds, but I grew up watching that in the 1970s.

[@Akute343]

Batman always reminds me of Christmas, Batman Arkham origins centered on Christmas felt so perfect

[@dinosoid2000]

Unabashedly one of my favorite episodes. They literally start with Joker singing Jingle Bells Batman Smells.

[@SerumLake]

Yep, very in character, I’d say.

[@nataliapanfichi9933]

@@SerumLake pleas do holiday knights.

[@kevinhansen8211]

I always got the feeling these early Joker episodes were leaning a bit too heavy on the Jack Nicholson Joker. After all, in the climax of the 1989 movie, Joker does throw a parade in Gotham, flinging out twenty million dollars to the crowd, all in a bid to kill as many as he could with his Joker toxin. In this episode, maybe, the creators, were trying to suggest that this Joker had almost unlimited resources like Jack Napier did. In fact, If I remember correctly there were several episodes in the early seasons that listed Jack Napier as Joker's real name.

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

6:40..... Love, love, loooooove that toy factory facade. Something about it just screams JOKER'S KIND OF PLACE! Dark, derelict, and foreboding while hiding behind a smiley facade. Very indicative of the dual mindset behind Jack Napier. The killer AND the clown all at once.❤

[@Unownshipper]

I simply love how you recreated "The Troubled Making of BTAS" with clips from "Why Aren't You Rich," "The Last Laugh," and "The Clock King." Really makes the story come alive in a very funny way.

[@williampulfer-melville8536]

6:24 I do like that the train resembles various American streamliners from the 1950's as it fits with how Gotham is a timeless city

[@kaylaturnis9486]

Besides the BTAS episodes, " Christmas With The Joker" & " Holiday Knights", there is a Justice League episode where it tells two seperate heartwarming Christmas tales, one was about Flash playing Santa for children at an orphanage, and the other is about Superman letting Martian Manhunter have Christmas dinner with The Kents.Kent's. Merry Christmas 2024!!! 🎄❤️💚

[@shikishinobi]

This episode, along with “The Laughing Fish” was apart of the Joker’s feature vhs when BTAS was gaining hard and fast traction. I enjoy the episode as a Christmas special, and I enjoy the irony of Mark Hamel’s first lines aired as the Joker being “Jingle Bells, Batman smells”. Iconic, I just want someone to explain how a joker got this all set up in such a hurry. Unless his henchmen worked for weeks on it knowing he would break ou Christmas Eve, it is highly implausible. I need to stop applying logic to the situation. Merry Christmas/happy holidays to you and all who enjoy these videos. And if you don’t enjoy them… we’ll you can have a happy holiday anyway.

[@flintlockwood25]

I think it's perfectly in character for Joker to pull all this elaborate chicanery only to shove some pie in Batman's face. I love this episode.

[@koichidignitythief7429]

It’s a simple premise. It seems like what the studio expected when asking the crew to imitate the Adam West show. But it’s a damn classic Joker story before future comics made him an unstoppable edgelord. Joker commits a bunch of crimes just to pull a petty prank on Batman; hopefully to make him laugh.

[@MegaFafnir]

"My mother's on that train!" "Well! That's different! (as "Laughy") Yeah! It'll be even more exciting when it CRASHES! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"

[@rainbowtoyfunrandomess1982]

The Joker may have tried to almost ruin Christmas in Gotham City, but I think he made it more fun especially when he sang, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells which is pretty hilarious. Merry Christmas, Serum Lake!😅😁😈🤡🎅🏻❄️🎁🎄

[@JanusHoW]

There's an underrated yet legendary KZbin Poop of this episode called "The Juhoker Meets Claude Speed" on KZbin that I watch at least once every year in the Christmas season. It's a riot if nonsensical humor with a heaping helping of crudeness on the side is your cup of tea.

[@samythekay]

Even if it's less psychologically profound than other episode it's one of the most jokerish plot ever. He escapes Arkham, hacks TV waves, takes hostages, explodes train bridges, fires on Gotham with probably stolen military equipment, builds an army of killer toys, threatens countless lives... All this precisely orchestrated terror and chaos just so he could pie Batman's face. Not even a cyanide pie. Just a regular pie. It's as deranged as it is corny and unpredictably petty wich is everything the Joker stands for.

[@Batman88878]

I love the crowd sounds of the live show. It's funny to have them there. And I love how nutty Joker is in the episode. The end is perfect. Not the greatest Joker episode, but a fun one & a Christmas episode. I also think that Joker wouldn't actually do the cyanide pie is because like he mentioned in "The Man Who Killed Batman" that without Batman, crime has no punchline. He needs Batman around.

[@YakkoWarnerTower]

"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! 🎶" Joker was quite welcoming in that episode, lol. Merry Christmas Serum!

[@alexandru5369]

This was a fun, goofy episode. As long as it's not "dumb fun" than it's a passable enough episode. It knew what it was supposed too be a , well, fun Christmas episode

[@seeleunit2000]

Honestly, don't think this episode is tonally dissident. The joker's whole thing is being unpredictable and chaotic... So, I could see him doing this. Plus I'm not gonna knock an episode that turns a Christmas tree into a rocket, that's just too good.

[@jacktoma21]

Yea this episode, among the other early episodes of questionable quality are the reason I don’t really stick to showing people the show in order.

[@seeleunit2000]

I disagree. I watch the whole series on DVD and I'm telling you everything is really good. Even a song called bad episodes are better than most things nowadays

[@koichidignitythief7429]

Out of all the early episodes, the Joker ones aged the best because it feels authentic to the silliness of Silver Age Joker.

[@polkadotproductions3459]

One of my favourite episodes, me and my brother watch this every Christmas as a sort of tradition. By far my favourite episode.

[@squeethemog213]

I think this was the first BTAS episode i ever watched. Thank you for covering it. And merry Christmas to ya 😃

[@theshenpartei]

I had the episode on VHS with the laughing fish episode. That VHS was my earliest introduction of BTAS.

[@jariussmith6688]

I love the music in this episode, especially the Christmas version of the Joker's theme. It's so comfortable and menacing.

[@HobGungan]

It's also worth noting that, like the rest of the pre-Joker's Favor episodes, Joker's presence and body language are a bit off because they were animated to Tim Curry's performance and overdubbed with Mark Hamill before airing.

[@saychaysarchive7065]

Personally I love the bit where Bats whacks the toy planes with a bat and Robin says, "They don't call you Batman for nothing."

[@cesarvictoriano8072]

A CERTIFIED BTAS CLASSIC. No further questions.

[@nvm9040]

Absolutely love this episode simply it’s so Christmas themed while being a typical Batman adventure 🎄🎁 This is probably my favorite Joker appearance ❤️💚

[@silentpaw]

I always thought the vat was filled with Molten Plastic. It would make more sense for a toy factory. But then again B:TAS was set in the past where they still made Die cast metal toys.

[@SerumLake]

Could very well be, it just looks kinda lava-like to me, but I suppose molten plastic would work.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

And it seems like EVERY factory in Gotham City has at least one open vat beneath walkways with flimsy railings.

[@jackofallclaws6672]

Actually, the vat of molten metal in an old toy factory makes more sense than you’d think.

[@ryanjones8381]

My favourite part of the episode is that when the joker escapes from Arkham on a Christmas tree and I enjoy that this is the start of Mark Hamil voice acting career as the joker.

[@willadeefriesland5107]

At least the never used a banana peel to make the Joker slip up, like the Trickster did to defeat Flash and Green Lantern in the DC Lego-verse...

[@Mashida_Killzzz]

I love this episode!!✨ Love how the joker looks in his sweater makes me smile :) best part the song!! Gotta love Mark Hamil!!✨💕💞☺

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

3:17 - hilariously enough, Hamill would play in a similar story in the CW Flash series as his _other_ notable DC character the Trickster during the second season's Christmas episode. Primarily relying on explosive presents handed out by Trickster in a Santa suit, and dreidels made from C4 because "why should have all the fun in killing you? Happy Hanukkah, Flash!".

[@kendallbuhler3853]

years later and this is still my favorite episode .

[@adabuilder6711]

I always thought this episode was intended to be comic relief given how dark other episodes were. It's interesting hearing the story behind the chaos of making this episode

[@LowellLucasJr.]

❄️I got to give Joker some credit! Anytime he does his broadcasting schemes all over networks, he really knows how to get an audience! Phooey on those comedy critics! The Joker is made for television! ❤️❄️

[@cinemaarts8795]

You could read Joker actions in this episode as his way of spending Christmas with his "family", in his own twisted/Joker way.

[@1000jjwalker]

i love how kinda unhinged this episode is. it gose form to unhinged in like two seconds

[@Xehanort10]

4:52 Gotham just seems to have random abandoned places where dangerous chemicals get dumped.

[@shadowman_44]

I remember this one mostly because of that KZbin Poop "The Juhoker Meets Claude Speed".

[@prosperotorres7965]

If this episode was reanimated w/ new voice actors but w/ same script from scratch it could easily be an episode of the brave and the bold show of late 00s.

[@roshango125ab]

I just watched this episode right before you posted lol. I watch it every year

[@SerumLake]

We watch it every year too

[@DarkAngelBluejay]

I just want to know where cartoon characters get these scissors that can one-snip cut through a rope holding a few hundred pounds, like cutting through a piece of thread.

[@aidanhever3369]

What if someone made a Christmas episode of a Spiderman cartoon, where the Green Goblin dressed up as the Grinch ?

[@Bozek10]

The animators had to change certain things in the script before being made. Originally The Joker kidnapped a family instead of Bullock, Gordon & Summer. It was darker story.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

Yeah, he said that in the video.

[@Ingenuity009]

Jingle bells, Batman smells...........😂

[@joshpetzoldt6344]

Robin layed and egg. The Batmobile lost a wheel and The Joker got away, hey! Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[@YakkoWarnerTower]

Oh man it's a good and witty classical parody, lol. 😂

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Keep singing boys, we're learning a lot

[@tyrannozilla]

I've always loved this episode. Yes, there are more well written episodes of BTAS, but this one has always been a fun one to me, and I've never minded some of the more "goofy" episodes. I've always felt that since it's Batman, he's gonna experience a mixture of events when fighting crimes. Some of them more goofy like this one (or Batman in my Basement), and other times, stuff like "Heart of Ice." Still, it was a great series, regardless, imo, and I can handle some of the more "goofy" episodes over most of CW's DC garbage.

[@ajerjavec4723]

I don’t mind when the joke decides to do something crazy after all he’s the definition of chaotic evil I mean he is the image on the TV tropes chaotic evil page and that’s what makes the joker dangerous. He would probably do something just because he thought it would be fun. I mean this is a guy who broke out of Arkham just because someone made a joker themed casino after all.

[@abramsullivan7764]

Merry Christmas Serum Lake, and a Happy New Year

[@SerumLake]

Right back at you!

[@Karlos1234ify]

This Christmas was iconic

[@Jefferu_Nintendomoto]

This is easily my favorite Christmas episode of anything

[@calebmaybin6896]

A shame you rarely see Summer Gleeson outside TAS. She'd make a great mentor to a young Vickie Vale ... perhaps herself a Protégé of Gossip Gerdy.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

She was in the recent Penguin TV show.

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Wasn't Gossip Gerdy just exclusive to Batman and Robin?

[@kimeraclan3135]

The fact that Joker is kinda' incompetent in these earlier episodes makes his evolution up to the Justice League episode "And Injustice for All" very rewarding. In that episode he was willing to kill Batman without making a spectacle of it. Hell, he even tried getting Luthor to do it, but the metropolis millionaire maniac wouldn't have it. Joker's line towards Lex: "And they say I'm crazy!", highlights this proggresion really well.

[@danielpasilis4046]

Sorry I missed the premier was cooking Christmas dinner. Merry Christmas everyone!

[@SerumLake]

Merry Christmas to you too!

[@aliminator1310]

MERRY CHRISTMAS, SERUM LAKE!!!

[@SerumLake]

Merry Christmas to you too

[@Hunter_UT]

After Christmas With Joker i see kind of obsession with TV programs in Joker's mind) Christmas With Joker - Joker's show Almost Got'im - Joker's Show The Laughing Fish - Joker's advertisement that episode from Justice League, where The Joker and The Royal Flush gang - Joker's Show)

[@leithaziz2716]

There's an (unintentional?) running joke with how often Joker hijacks TV channels to broadcast whatever he's doing.

[@langpascal-e2h]

Happy X Mas!

[@DariusExplains]

I watched every DCAU Christmas episode.

[@6DireWolf9]

Enjoy your holiday, Serum!

[@SerumLake]

You too!

[@nancyhodges444]

Yeah not the best, a bit corny, but still enjoyed it!

[@MatthewPrower]

ngl i actually wanna see a list of btas episodes done pre-burnett also apparently this was hamill’s favorite episode (even tho he prolly wasn’t there to do the initial voice work)

[@SerumLake]

That’s right he had to dub Tim Curry’s performance for this episode, Be A Clown, and The Last Laugh. I did once read that he dubbed Joker’s Favor too, but I heard Mark Hamill say that he was blown away by Arleen Sorkin during the recording for that episode, so perhaps that was the first one where he recorded with the rest of the cast?

[@jenniferm914]

Merry Christmas 🎄 ❄️

[@SerumLake]

Merry Christmas to you too

[@calebmaybin6896]

To this day I still don't understand how those candy canes gagged the hostages. 🍬🤬🤔

[@tayloredwards9144]

Merry Christmas

[@SerumLake]

Merry Christmas to you too

[@michaelandreipalon359]

I really like this ep though. Besides it being the VERY FIRST B:TAS ep I (and some other fellow fans) have ever watched, it's also one those watchable "those were the good old days" tales of the DCAU, before things changed by the time we reach "Mad Love", "Old Wounds", the Return of the Joker movie, "Rebirth", and more. 2:15: It's just the fact that their assignment will be fated to be outdated and thus feels jarring in comparison. Remember, S.C. Derek is known for her work with toons like The Smurfs... and we know how that show hasn't stood the tests of time when compared to the DCAU. 3:22: Does that mean he moved to work on Exo-Squad, which also had some creatives from X-Men: TAS like Mark Edens? Either way, seems a huge loss, moving to a has-been animation group, while the DCAU showrunners will thrive on up to The Brave and the Bold. 4:02: But fits in so well with the rest of the DCAU. Superman: TAS and Justice League+Unlimited had things change, after all. 4:11 and 7:21: A neat shout-out to Fleischer's Superman animations. 4:21: Had a similar experience with works like Princess Tutu, Little Women (preferably the book), and Miss Congeniality. Believe me, I am glad to be proven wrong... and yes, I do have a soft spot for female-centric stories, what with being fed up with the Rambo sequels, a buncha 80s films that aren't called Predator and Hamburger Hill, and toons like Johnny Bravo. What anyone would do so to make the Joker fall into those furnaces, the risks of changing history be darned because Multiverse Theory has contingencies, of course. Gotta thank Batman 1989 for codifying the Joker signature of hijacking the airwaves and show off his malignancy. 6:13 and 7:04: It's the Joker. Nothing should make sense for his aforementioned malignancy. 7:41: My experience with otherwise flawed works like Mass Effect 3, Batman: Arkham Knight, and SpongeBob SquarePants Season 4. 8:08: Depends. That ep also had capeless Batman, Captain Clown, and the Ming vase. Still wish this Alfred neatly showcased his informingly implied Special Air Service skills. At least the otherwise short-lived Beware the Batman did just that.

[@ggbetz]

I think this was my 1st btas episode? For some reason, I thought the joker did Christmas specials regularly. Did you do a video on the unused scripts and if you thought they could work? I do love the title card on this episode.

[@A1ml33y]

I❤this episode Nuff said made me laugh as a kid and still more so now

[@KasumiKenshirou]

A Nacelle Company documentary about The Simpsons blames Kent Butterworth for the terrible animation in the Simpsons pilot which had to be redone, pushing the episode from being the first to the last of the first season. But it's the Nacelle Company, so this could be complete B.S., as their documentaries contain a lot of factual errors. I just thought it was interesting that this same guy was blamed for problems with an early incarnation of a cartoon that would go on to become insanely popular. The worst thing about this episode is that it was animated by AKOM. I'm not dismissing the story problems (such as how on Earth did the Joker smuggle in a Christmas tree rocket into the asylum?), but I thing people would overlook a lot of this if it had top-tier TMS animation. The aspect of Joker taking over the airwaves is actually very similar to the very first published Joker story in the Batman comics, where he similarly takes over radio broadcasts to announce murders he's about to commit.

[@benderthepirate]

I’ve always loved this episode.

[@DHatter000]

I just did a short with the Joker version of jingle bells. I am not sure if this is where that parody started or if it was earlier, but this episode is for sure where I know it from. Is it a good episode.... eh mid...... but this time of year, particularly today, it is top three for sure.

[@SerumLake]

I’m pretty sure that jingle predates this episode, but it was definitely popularised by Christmas with the Joker!

[@MisterSouji]

Wait... did you notice Joker seems to get better AFTER Harley is introduced to the series? What if in universe she helps out with his schems and that's why they're more coherent?

[@orionfettes5501]

It's not weird it's a standard very enjoyable Christmas special that just happens to have Batman in it and I will die on that Hill

[@l0stndamned]

Was this the first episode to have Robin in it? First time I remember seeing him. Also a fair few fan-artists seem to have noticed those candy-cane gags.

[@TheTomac]

It wasnt very good, no, but i think the joker needed a whole bunch more of these. just... doing stupid shit because he thinks it would be funny. i always felt his threat level should be damn near random, from an ultimately harmless huge waste of time to straight-up warcrimes.

[@darthdigital666]

You keep saying 'I got Batman in my basrment,' is the worse episode ever.. I still think 'Cat Scratch Fever,' is the worse, but I digress. As for Xmas with the Joker; this episode was a yearly tradition with me for many an Xmas. Always tried to watch it each year as part of a holiday list of Xmas themed shows. It certainly borrowed from other Warner themed comic film/tv adventures. Jokers cardboard audience that he blew up looks like a suspicious rip off of Mark Hamill's live action performance on the 90's Flash TV series. The audience were mannequins, but same result. And Summer Gleeson's 'My mother's on that train,' plea to the Joker reminded me of Miss Tessbaucher from the 1978 Superman film; "But Lex; My mother lives in Hackensack..." Anyways, fun episode. The part I found the most fascinating was Batman's 'to the point,' counter to Robin's suggestion that even the Joker would spent the Holidays with his family. "He has no family," If I didnt know any better, Id think Batman was happy the Joker was causing trouble on Christmas. Perhaps the brothers would have a Merry Christmas afterall...

[@delavarproductions]

Why did he suddenly start playing clips of Jervis while talking about Butterworth?

[@DreadArkive]

Hokey as it is, I still enjoy this one as a festive tradition of sorts. And you may call me a blasphemer, but I also really do enjoy The Forgotten, even if the musical number does get tiresome after a while.

[@SerumLake]

Oh no, I love the music in The Forgotten, it's probably my favourite thing about it

[@TheKeyser94]

Didn't Tim Drake actually kill the Joker with one of his guns, and that ending was changed somehow, I not remember correctly, even that I remember the movie.

[@thegreatacolyt1277]

Peak episode

[@ShannonAnderson-o8m]

love this show!

[@JurassicRod]

Jokers schemes should never be rational.

[@jessemartin7718]

I like this episode. Not love but genuinely like.

[@TheRealNekora]

While Joker is far, FAR from my favorite vilian, heck, even far from my favorite DC character, i will say i have a bit of a soft spot for this episode as it not just was my very first exposure to the Joker but also BTAS over all. all my other batman exposure being first batman beyond and later justice league

[@Queen3210]

You are actually way too kind with this episode. It absolutely sucks.

[@tvheadd]

TEWLAWLYURFRENSABOWTMEH!!

[@noneofyourbeeswax7379]

Engagement

[@timtwoface]

Fun episode but clearly nor the best, and before the writers hit their stride. Especially with Joker episodes.