Cartoon Network was well known for weaving a whole Yuletide tapestry of Christmas specials into their holiday programming blocks back in the day. From truly weird holiday stuff likeGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeerand the Pac-Man Christmas special to holiday-themed episodes of some of their best and brightest, likeThe Powerpuff GirlsandEd, Edd, and Eddy.
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TheseCartoon NetworkChristmas episodes often took a special place in the hearts of young viewers and ranked right up there with the top episodes in their respective series. Watching them again around the holiday season is about as close as the human race has gotten to time travel thus far.
7The Powerpuff Girls: “’Twas The Fight Before Christmas”
When Princess Morbucks and her endless greed threaten Christmas for the citizens of Townsville (and the world) the Powerpuff Girls must step in and throw down, even if it means taking the fight all the way up to the North Pole.
It tookThe Powerpuff Girlsfive seasons before they offered up a Christmas episode, but when they finally did, it definitely didn’t disappoint. “’Twas the Fight Before Christmas” isn’t just a regular holiday-themed episode, it’s a one-hour special full of classic Christmas TV and movie references that uses a rhyming narrator in the style of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” aka “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” In other words, it’s Yuletide television perfection and one of thebestPowerpuff Girlsepisodesever.
6Ed, Edd, and Eddy: “Jingle Jingle Jangle”
In perhaps his most insane scheme to date, Eddy decides he’d pull in a much better Christmas haul if he were adopted by someone else, so he sets out on Christmas Eve to do exactly that. Of course, much like all of his other schemes, this plot has some holes in it. This time, though, there’s a powerful holiday lesson for Eddy to take home if only he could ever learn.
Ed, Edd, and Eddyhas another great Christmas entry in season two’s “Fa-La-La-La Ed” but this full half-hour special has a lot more of thosefamiliar holiday movietrappings: Christmas lights, falling snow, glowing trees, nativity scenes, an emphasis on togetherness and charity, and a rotten Scrooge.
5Johnny Bravo: “A Johnny Bravo Christmas”
Johnny has completely forgotten to send the Christmas lists to Santa, leaving him with only one choice: to find his way to the North Pole and hand-deliver them to the Big Guy himself. The ensuing holiday adventure involves circus animals, hitchhiking with truckers, flying with a madman on a cargo plane, and Donny Osmond.
Johnny is a great characterfor a holiday special. He has the mind of a child with the autonomy of an adult, and he’s really, really selfish. His Christmas journey doesn’t just take him from his mom’s basement to the North Pole, it takes him from a self-centered jerk to a loving and charitable son who’s also kind of a self-centered jerk. It’s a Christmas tale as old as time.
4Dexter’s Laboratory: “Dexter Vs. Santa’s Claws”
Ever the pragmatist, Dexter is absolutely convinced that Santa Claus is not real. So convinced that he insists on proving it to the always-optimistic Dee Dee. However, his theory that Dad and Mom are involved in some elaborate holiday hoax is put to the test when a guy who looks an awful lot like Santa appears in their living room.
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Unlike many of the other half-hour or even hour-long Christmas episodes of the original Cartoon Cartoons, “Dexter vs. Santa’s Claws” takes up just one-third of a regular season episode. However, in spite of the lack of a spotlight, it still shines particularly bright.
3Codename: Kids Next Door: “Operation: N.A.U.G.H.T.Y.”
A raid on Santa’s Workshop turns out to be a plot from the Delightful Children Down the Lane to steal all the Christmas presents for themselves, which means it’s on the Kids Next Door to save the holiday. But first, they’ve got to prove to Santa’s Elfa Strike Squad that they weren’t the ones who tried to steal Christmas.
Codename: Kids Next Doorknew how to do action and adventure better than most kids' shows of its day (and most kids' showsever, really) and their season five Christmas episode was no exception. It does away with any holiday coziness in favor of somethingDie Hardwould be proud of.
2Adventure Time: “Holly Jolly Secrets”
Finn and Jake come across some top-secret tapes that the Ice King has hidden in the dump and decide to check if there are any “evil secrets” on them. Their watch party quickly goes from silly fun to incredibly heavy, though, when they find that the contents of the tapes reveal things about the Ice King’s past that are more tragic than the duo could have ever possibly imagined.
Adventure Timehad an incredible ability to weave in bits and pieces of a greater narrative into a show that was primarily episodic giving it depth andmaking it unexpectedly dark. “Holly Jolly Secrets” is one of the most significant examples of that in the entire series. Not only is it a fun little story about the show’s main protagonists sort of re-inventing Christmas, but it’s also a bombshell revelation about the show’s main antagonist that marked a shift in direction that has inspired a ton ofdie-hard fansover the years.
1Courage The Cowardly Dog: “The Nutcracker”
Courage comes across a nutcracker while rummaging through the dump after he gets locked in overnight along with Eustace and Muriel. When balletic rats come to cause trouble, Courage and his new nutcracker friend must save his loved ones once again.
Sure,Courage the Cowardly Dogis much more of a Halloween show than a Christmas one by today’s standards, but don’t forget that telling ghost stories around the fire was a Victorian-era Christmas tradition. There’s plenty of room for the eerie and unusual this time of year and Courage’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s famed Christmas play is undeniable proof of that fact.
