- Mr. Bluff
After sitting through a lot of crappy Christmas entertainment, it is nice to finally experience something again that captured my heart during my childhood that didn't have me ask for a new toy when the credits rolled. The Nicktoons line of animated television shows was, and in some cases is, a total display of originality and tapped into the anarchy and vibrancy existing in the minds of several visionary creators. The shows would either survive for a nice period, suffer a quick burnout, create a cult atmosphere, or become diluted for profit. Out of the original debuting three shows, Doug was Nickelodeon's safe bet and their dream media hit. It wasn't, but it maintained an overall good quality before becoming a sinking ship by the hands of Disney. Surprisingly, the original Nick show didn't end with its elegantly structured episode "Doug Graduates/Doug's Bad Trip". Instead, it had its grand finale with a Christmas special.
"Doug's Christmas Story" was the one out of the five Nicktoons I picked that I thought wasn't going to be as well as I remembered. In some cases, this is true; The final spotlight on Doug and his dog Porkchop's relationship is kinda schmaltzy and the main conflict could have been prevented if the characters weren't blind. Still, this episode really works, bringing some complex and adult readings to it, and the sentimentality of both the holiday and Doug's world is heartwarming and enjoyable.
The episode starts with Doug and his friends playing pine cone hockey on a ice-covered lake. Meanwhile on the other side of it, a sign warning of thin ice collapses into the arctic water and the ice begins to rapidly crack. The annoying rich girl Beebee skates near it to pick up the swatted pine cone and somehows doesn't see the danger looming ahead. Porkchop first tries to warn her through mime before forcibly moving her by biting her leg. This creates a scene amongst the friends that then spreads into the town of Bluffingtown and gets Porkchop arrested. Seriously.
I understand the episode's creators wanted to make a big early statement, but this is just ridiculous. The fact that nobody, especially Beebee, couldn't notice the ice breaks or the big hole in the lake is pretty dumb. Also, by showing Porkchop saving the day, you ruin a part of the overall tension. It would have been better to not show what happened, thus making Doug's mission more important and thrilling to see.
Thankfully, that was the only problem I had with this episode, as the rest is such a joy to watch. Though I dismissed it earlier as partly schmaltzy, the attention on the love between a kid and his dog is nice to see without being too easily exploitative. There is a sense of true holiday sadness when you see Doug hovering over his pet's vacant igloo or his fruitless adventure into the snow-filled streets. The tone and mood changes that happen are equally helped by Doug's always excellent musical and sound directions.
One of my favorite aspects of the show, something which often is forgot about, was the really frightening nightmarish imagery implemented at key moments. The show already had a surreal nature due to Doug's Walter Mitty tendencies, but the dream-like horrors spread into the world's reality as a tool to show the insecurities of Doug and his venture into the unknown. There is a definite sense of fear in several previous episodes, transforming things such as a cheesy B-movie, a photo-shop, or a comic book store into a new circle of Hell. This episode is the final example of this horror, shown during Doug's walk through the dog pound. For a place that has a lazy security staff and a big goofy poster saying "No Cupcakes", the pound becomes a dirty prison with harsh lighting and an endless abyss full of "Very Bad Dogs" and "Very Very Bad Dogs". Certainly the most controversial and shocking moment is a shot where a dog is modeled to be a death-row inmate and is clearly smoking.
Now as an adult, I do spot and see that the episode is a pretty harsh satire on media and Christmas manipulation. The mission to persecute and put down Porkchop is led by the ex-Mayor Mayor White and Beebee's rich dad Mr. Bluff. "Mayor" White, who is very happy this Christmas with the brief disappearance of the real mayor Mrs. Dink, controls the airwaves and the attention of the town's citizens as a popular radio host to smear and make a political and public example of the dog. Mr. Bluff plays the horrified "normal" citizen who wishes, and is easily granted due to his wealth, for the right to punish the attacker severely. Their mission is intensified through the television, with their hilariously over-the-top recreations of the events. Whenever Doug gets the chance to speak out against this slander either to them or to others, his opponents respond that he is ruining the spirit of Christmas and their own private lives and engagements. To these dimwitted and inappropriate individuals, a dog isn't a real family member and his/her life is nothing compared to the "joys" and "happiness" of Christmas.
Of course the episode ends happily and with all conflicts resolved, though the disturbing undercurrents are still starling. With its ending, "Doug's Christmas Story" sees Christmas as the act of giving and the love of family. You see Doug and his beatnik sister Judy shop for gifts for Porkchop and their parents, never speaking out loud about what they want. Doug's personal mission to save Porkchop is helped thanks to opportunities, such as the odd judical trial, and they are given second chances to clear the story and live on. Instead of getting retribution against his foes after being set free, Porkchop instead gives back to the other dogs in the pound with a Christmas celebration and new lives for them. And with raised glasses and a shout of Merry Christmas, Doug and his family gives the viewer a final farewell.
TOMORROW'S ENTRY: We experience the fears and thrills of Christmas through the eyes of babies.
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