Well, outside of the Merry Mixmas that is now playing in the car on the way to work, another sign of the holiday season is holiday collections from various studios. When you see those announced and sent to you, you fully understand what time of year it is. I’m okay with it, as it’s also a sign of the holiday season starting to come to a close.
Anyway, recently we received the Cartoon Network Holiday Collection, which features four cartoons, that are holiday related, and two additional cartoons to boot. Here is what comes packed with this collection:
Regular Show — ‘The Christmas Special’ — A particularly violent episode for Christmas, but nonetheless entertaining. Santa, who has been shot twice, requests help from Mordecai and Rigby to help retrieve a magical box that grants any wish to its owner. Long, funny, violent and just what you would expect from the Regular Show. It definitely brings a new type of Christmas special to the table.
Adventure Time — ‘Holly Jolly Secrets Part 1/2’ — Finn and Jake find a secret suitcase that the Ice King has hidden. Inside said case is a bunch of video tapes featuring the Ice King in various penguin situations. One tape, though, reveals an inner-most secret of the Ice King. It’s a sad sorta secret, so it’s definitely a pay-off by the end of the episode. Did this need to be in two parts? No, but it was and if it weren’t for the ending, this would be a bust episode in comparison to the others.
The Amazing World of Gumball — ‘Christmas’ — This is the best of the bunch. When Gumball and gang accidentally hit a bearded homeless man with a car, whom they think is Santa, they do their best to make up for the hit. This is basically a cartoon with two separate halves, and one that is entertaining, weird and hilarious, yet perfect for the holidays. I liked this one a lot. Again, best of the bunch.
While I can’t deny the entertainment value of the pack, I would rather have a bigger collection for the $14.98 price tag ($9.99 on Amazon to be fair). Even though the package comes with two additional Cartoon Network cartoons (Clarence – ‘Money Broom Wizard’, Steven Universe – ‘Together Breakfast’), it still needed a bit more to the package to make it worth your time and money.
Of course, as I’m typing this review, my kids are watching this for the fifth time this week. So, in a way, I’m really wrong about the price point and the amount of entertainment packed in because they’re getting a lot of mileage out of a small tank of gas, but on the other hand as a responsible parent, I know there is something better for the same price.