December 2004, December 2005,
December 2006, & December 2007
Reviewed by Jasper
Segment 1
"Deck The Halls"
"Up On The Housetop"
Intermission 1
Ken Chuck E Derby
Funimation: "The Santa Claus Brothers"
5 Minute Countdown
Segment 2
"Jolly Old St. Nicholas"
"Oh Christmas Tree"
Intermission 2
Coke Spot 1
Larry The Technician
"The Boar's Head Carol"
5 Minute Countdown
Segment 3
"Jingle Bells"
"I Heard The Bells"
Intermission 3
Eddie Coker: "Happy Holidays"
Funimation: "A Wobots Christmas"
5 Minute Countdown
Segment 4
"Toyland" / "March Of The Wooden Soldiers"
"We Wish You A Merry Christmas" / "Here We Come Wassailing"
Intermission 4
Ken Chuck E Derby
Coke Spot 2
Funimation: "Connie The Cow"
5 Minute Countdown
Chuck E’s Happy Holidays Show has been updated this year, along the lines of the recent Summertime update. The show is slightly longer now to wear down on repetitiveness – but the segments and intermissions are more or less the exact same from the 2002 / 2003 version of Happy Holidays. One of the things that has been updated is the Studio C version has the Ken Chuck E Derby cartoons. These tongue-in-cheek intermissions are welcomed additions to the rather lacking Studio C version of Happy Holidays.
With the current licensing agreement between CEC and Coca-Cola, this show features short holiday spots. One spot is the CGI polar bear commercial that everyone must have seen at one point during the holidays, and the other is a newly produced short by Matt and Ryan featuring Santa Chuck E leaving a special “present” under the Christmas tree. Both Coke Spots are short and sweet – they get their points across just like the Coke Grooves from the January 2004 Show & Summertime, and the spots in the September 2004 Show.
The final new additions to this year’s Holiday Show are snippits from direct-to-video cartoons by FUNimation. The pieces include a wild sleigh ride around the world in the CGI “The Santa Claus Brothers”, a chase sequence from the CGI “A Wobots Christmas”, and a rather odd sequence from “Connie The Cow”.
The rest of the show is the same from the version we’ve seen and enjoyed in 2002 and 2003. The segments are direct lifts from before, featuring Santa, Mrs. Claus, Jimmy, and the Elves – and nice holiday songs including Jasper’s “Up On The Housetop” and Helen’s “I Heard The Bells”. Larry The Technician, Pasqually’s quirky “The Boar’s Head Carol”, Eddie Coker, the VJ Spots, and the holiday 5 Minute Countdowns also return.
Check out the Happy Holidays 2002 / 2003 Showtape Review for more information about the original show's segments and intermissions.
Ken Chuck E Derby - The Studio C version finally includes the two Ken Chuck E Derby animated shorts in this holiday show. The Ken Chuck E Derby shorts were revamped due to voiceover issues for the 2002 Holiday Show. The reworked shorts made it into the Existing Stage version, but not the Studio C dvds. Now all stores can enjoy these cartoons this year.
FUNimation - The three FUNimation intermissions are snippits from the direct-to-video releases of "The Santa Claus Brothers", "A Wobots Christmas", and "Connie The Cow". FUNimation is better known to CEC fans as the studio behind "Chuck E Cheese in the Galaxy 5000".
Coke Spots - Two Coke Spots have also been added to this year's Happy Holidays show - one of the famous Coca-Cola polar bear commercials (the one where the cubs try to push the tree up the hill), and a new promo produced by Department 18. The promo is simply Santa Chuck E leaving a bottle of Coca-Cola under the Christmas tree.
The Boar's Head Carol - The Studio C version now has the Happy Holidays show logo playing on the monitors instead of the CGI dancing elves. The Existing Stages version always used the show logo during Pasqually's song.
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music and video is the same from Happy Holidays 2002 & 2003.
-2 out of 5 Tokens-
There really isn’t much to the update of the Happy Holidays show, unlike the total intermission reworking of Summertime 2004. This is the exact same show from the last two years, except for the additions of the Coke Spots and FUNimation shorts. While the polar bear commercial was neat to see in stores, the CEC holiday Coke Spot had me scratching my head. Chuck E leaves a bottle of Coca-Cola under the tree – and then the spot ends abruptly. Guess I was expecting more to it – but as I mentioned earlier it still gets the “CEC promotes Coke” point across like all the spots produced in 2004.
The FUNimation shorts, on the other hand, are absolutely nothing special. The clips were edited too short and felt a bit pointless to the overall Holiday Show. I found them distracting because they felt so out of place. But “The Santa Claus Brothers” was a bit funny, and I laughed at “A Wobots Christmas” rather corny Star Wars chase sequence. “Connie The Cow” had me confused…I’m still trying to figure out the tie-in. Maybe the English accent had me?
In all, Happy Holidays is the same exact show from 2002 and 2003. The minor updates are nothing too super and fantastic – but you know, it doesn’t hurt having more intermission pieces in the line-up. It would have been cool to include some of the favorite intermissions from Chuck E’s Holiday Party – but I guess Connie The Cow won this one out. While watching this show, one thing that hit my mind that I thought was cool was the fact that this is the first show I have ever seen featuring mostly animation. Here you have Larry, Ken Chuck E Derby, the polar bears Coke Spot, and the FUNimation shorts all in one show. Definitely a bit different than we usually see for intermissions. Nonetheless, the upgrades are not as good and necessary as the ones in Summer 2004, and I give this show poor marks for it.
Oh well...I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy the updated Happy Holidays show!
"Deck The Halls"
"Up On The Housetop"
Intermission 1
Ken Chuck E Derby
Funimation: "The Santa Claus Brothers"
5 Minute Countdown
Segment 2
"Jolly Old St. Nicholas"
"Oh Christmas Tree"
Intermission 2
Coke Spot 1
Larry The Technician
"The Boar's Head Carol"
5 Minute Countdown
Segment 3
"Jingle Bells"
"I Heard The Bells"
Intermission 3
Eddie Coker: "Happy Holidays"
Funimation: "A Wobots Christmas"
5 Minute Countdown
Segment 4
"Toyland" / "March Of The Wooden Soldiers"
"We Wish You A Merry Christmas" / "Here We Come Wassailing"
Intermission 4
Ken Chuck E Derby
Coke Spot 2
Funimation: "Connie The Cow"
5 Minute Countdown
Chuck E’s Happy Holidays Show has been updated this year, along the lines of the recent Summertime update. The show is slightly longer now to wear down on repetitiveness – but the segments and intermissions are more or less the exact same from the 2002 / 2003 version of Happy Holidays. One of the things that has been updated is the Studio C version has the Ken Chuck E Derby cartoons. These tongue-in-cheek intermissions are welcomed additions to the rather lacking Studio C version of Happy Holidays.
With the current licensing agreement between CEC and Coca-Cola, this show features short holiday spots. One spot is the CGI polar bear commercial that everyone must have seen at one point during the holidays, and the other is a newly produced short by Matt and Ryan featuring Santa Chuck E leaving a special “present” under the Christmas tree. Both Coke Spots are short and sweet – they get their points across just like the Coke Grooves from the January 2004 Show & Summertime, and the spots in the September 2004 Show.
The final new additions to this year’s Holiday Show are snippits from direct-to-video cartoons by FUNimation. The pieces include a wild sleigh ride around the world in the CGI “The Santa Claus Brothers”, a chase sequence from the CGI “A Wobots Christmas”, and a rather odd sequence from “Connie The Cow”.
The rest of the show is the same from the version we’ve seen and enjoyed in 2002 and 2003. The segments are direct lifts from before, featuring Santa, Mrs. Claus, Jimmy, and the Elves – and nice holiday songs including Jasper’s “Up On The Housetop” and Helen’s “I Heard The Bells”. Larry The Technician, Pasqually’s quirky “The Boar’s Head Carol”, Eddie Coker, the VJ Spots, and the holiday 5 Minute Countdowns also return.
Check out the Happy Holidays 2002 / 2003 Showtape Review for more information about the original show's segments and intermissions.
Ken Chuck E Derby - The Studio C version finally includes the two Ken Chuck E Derby animated shorts in this holiday show. The Ken Chuck E Derby shorts were revamped due to voiceover issues for the 2002 Holiday Show. The reworked shorts made it into the Existing Stage version, but not the Studio C dvds. Now all stores can enjoy these cartoons this year.
FUNimation - The three FUNimation intermissions are snippits from the direct-to-video releases of "The Santa Claus Brothers", "A Wobots Christmas", and "Connie The Cow". FUNimation is better known to CEC fans as the studio behind "Chuck E Cheese in the Galaxy 5000".
Coke Spots - Two Coke Spots have also been added to this year's Happy Holidays show - one of the famous Coca-Cola polar bear commercials (the one where the cubs try to push the tree up the hill), and a new promo produced by Department 18. The promo is simply Santa Chuck E leaving a bottle of Coca-Cola under the Christmas tree.
The Boar's Head Carol - The Studio C version now has the Happy Holidays show logo playing on the monitors instead of the CGI dancing elves. The Existing Stages version always used the show logo during Pasqually's song.
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music and video is the same from Happy Holidays 2002 & 2003.
-2 out of 5 Tokens-
There really isn’t much to the update of the Happy Holidays show, unlike the total intermission reworking of Summertime 2004. This is the exact same show from the last two years, except for the additions of the Coke Spots and FUNimation shorts. While the polar bear commercial was neat to see in stores, the CEC holiday Coke Spot had me scratching my head. Chuck E leaves a bottle of Coca-Cola under the tree – and then the spot ends abruptly. Guess I was expecting more to it – but as I mentioned earlier it still gets the “CEC promotes Coke” point across like all the spots produced in 2004.
The FUNimation shorts, on the other hand, are absolutely nothing special. The clips were edited too short and felt a bit pointless to the overall Holiday Show. I found them distracting because they felt so out of place. But “The Santa Claus Brothers” was a bit funny, and I laughed at “A Wobots Christmas” rather corny Star Wars chase sequence. “Connie The Cow” had me confused…I’m still trying to figure out the tie-in. Maybe the English accent had me?
In all, Happy Holidays is the same exact show from 2002 and 2003. The minor updates are nothing too super and fantastic – but you know, it doesn’t hurt having more intermission pieces in the line-up. It would have been cool to include some of the favorite intermissions from Chuck E’s Holiday Party – but I guess Connie The Cow won this one out. While watching this show, one thing that hit my mind that I thought was cool was the fact that this is the first show I have ever seen featuring mostly animation. Here you have Larry, Ken Chuck E Derby, the polar bears Coke Spot, and the FUNimation shorts all in one show. Definitely a bit different than we usually see for intermissions. Nonetheless, the upgrades are not as good and necessary as the ones in Summer 2004, and I give this show poor marks for it.
Oh well...I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy the updated Happy Holidays show!