| “ | Hey, that voice! It's that ghost, whose book I destroyed! Wait, I'm trapped in his poem? Now I'm really annoyed! |
” |
— Danny right before the title sequence | ||
"The Fright Before Christmas!" is the Christmas episode of the Nickelodeon animated series Danny Phantom, aired as the tenth episode of the show's second season (though it is actually the season's seventh episode in production order).
On his Facebook account, David Kaufman, the voice of the series' protagonist, stated this is one of his favorite episodes.
Synopsis
Snow falls in Amity Park as Christmas approaches, and everyone is Christmas shopping at Amity Park Mall, including the trio of friends. While Sam is in a chipper mood, Danny is grumpy and annoyed. When she calls him out on his Scrooge-like attitude, Tucker tells her about "the fight": every Christmas, Maddie and Jack argue over the existence of Santa Claus, wreaking all sorts of havoc in Danny's life, which always led to traumatic childhood memories in his youth. Even as they are talking, they hear Maddie telling nearby children visiting the mall that Santa does not exist while Jack states otherwise.
Danny makes the mistake of incurring the Ghost Writer's wrath.
Frustrated, Danny flies to the Ghost Zone, destroying Christmas items to reduce stress. At the same time, the Ghost Writer has completed his Christmas poem, The Fright Before Christmas. Danny accidentally destroys the the Ghost Writer's manuscript, but he does not feel so bad about this due to his hatred of the holiday. Enraged at his behavior, Ghost Writer blasts him back to Amity Park, where he is now stuck in a rhyming-induced Christmas story, titled The Fright Before Christmas 2, in which anything that the Ghost Writer writes comes true until Danny's lesson is learned.
The Ghost Writer then turns all the reindeer at the mall into ghosts, leaving Danny to fight them off, destroying most of the mall in the process and causing everyone to blame him. At home, things are not any better as his parents still argue, causing him to finally explode at them and leave the house. As he turns ghost and begrudgingly flies away, presents float and trail behind him from the neighboring homes, angering everyone further, including his family and friends. Danny tries to escape to Sam's house, but finds that even her family's Hanukkah gifts were stolen, and the Ghost Writer then tricks Sam into believing Danny's the thief, causing the two friends to argue.
Danny battling the trees after the Ghost Writer brings them to life.
To further cause trouble, the Ghost Writer then brings all the toys to life. They all join together to form into a giant nutcracker toy. Danny blows it to pieces, but also destroys all the toys, which upsets everyone once again. Ghost Writer adds further insult to injury by bringing all the Christmas trees to life and turning them into monsters as well, surrounding Danny. As he handles the monsters, the news reports of the mutant trees cause Jack to put up the Ghost Shield and Maddie to stop squabbling with her husband long enough to go out and save her son. Danny destroys the trees with his Ghostly Wail before turning human in time for his mother to come and claim him, both returning home.
Danny and his enemies join forces against the Ghost Writer.
Danny enters the Ghost Zone to confront Ghost Writer at his home afterwards, but he types it so that Danny ends up in another place, one holding his ghostly foes. However, instead of a battle, the ghosts hold an "annual truce" where they do not fight on Christmas, instead befriending each other for the day. The Ghost Writer expects them to suspend the truce in order to attack Danny, but they do not, regarding the truce as equally applicable to half-ghosts. When Danny explains that Ghost Writer broke the truce, all the ghosts set out to attack him. The Ghost Writer, however, quickly writes away the truce, causing all the ghosts to battle one another instead. Danny then takes an orange to Walker's face, and since the Ghost Writer can't think of anything that rhymes with "orange", his spell wears off for the time being and the ghosts commence attack on him. Danny destroys his Quantum Keyboard and Ghost Writer is arrested by Walker and his cops, but to Danny's horror, he finds he is still stuck in the poem, because since the keyboard is destroyed, Ghost Writer cannot write "The End", so Danny controls the story now, and it cannot end until he learns his lesson.
Danny helps a kid put the star on his tree.
Danny sadly leaves the Ghost Zone, without saying a word, and returns to the now depressing human world. He sits down, ashamed and in sorrow - when his friends come to comfort him. There, he expresses his guilt over ruining Christmas, his speech causing all the presents to be fixed. Wanting to make things right, Danny and his friends, as well as his ghostly foes, all help return the gifts, Christmas trees, and other holiday items back to their rightful homes, restoring Christmas once and for all. Danny bids the ghosts a fond farewell afterwards and leaves for his own house where he apologizes for acting in spite, seeing the family celebrates Christmas their own way. Then all his ghostly enemies fly off via sleigh pulled by the ghost reindeer, to which Jack and Maddie (the latter finally believing in Santa Claus) give chase, believing them to be the ghosts that were causing all the problems earlier. Watching his parents chase after the ghosts, Danny reflects on his lesson and, after Tucker, Sam, and Jazz question why he's talking in rhyme, joyfully realizes the spell has finally been broken. The episode ends with Ghost Writer in jail, now finished with his new book (and teased by Walker by being given an orange).
Availability
The episode made its home video debut on the Nick Picks: Holiday DVD, released by Paramount Home Entertainment in 2006. It was later included on Amazon.com's Danny Phantom: Season 2 manufacture-on-demand DVD set, released on September 16, 2008. After Shout! Factory obtained the license, they included the episode on the Danny Phantom: Season 2, Part 1 DVD set, released on April 3, 2012, and again on the Danny Phantom: Season 2, Part 2 DVD set, released on August 28th of the same year.
Notes
- The toy store, Angrum's Toys, is named after storyboard artist Ray Angrum.
Cast
Danny with his friends Tucker and Sam.
| Voice actor | Character |
|---|---|
| David Kaufman | Danny Fenton |
| Rickey D'Shon Collins | Tucker Foley |
| Grey DeLisle | Sam Manson |
| Colleen O'Shaughnessey | Jazz Fenton |
| Tara Strong | Spectra Ember Tiffany Snow Baby Danny |
| Rob Paulsen | Jack Fenton The Box Ghost Kid Walla |
| Kath Soucie | Maddie Fenton Lunch Lady |
| Dee Bradley Baker | Lance Thunder Mikey |
| James Arnold Taylor | Walker |
| Kevin Michael Richardson | Skulker |
| Jim Ward | Bertrand |
| Will Arnett | Ghost Writer |
Gallery
Which is why I've inserted the boy in this plot."
Leaving Danny - yes, Danny - the blame for it all."
"Drink some anti-ghost tonic!"
I'm really quite wicked when I get the urge!"
"...Danny cried as he started to run.
Must we end every scene with a terrible pun?"
"...Danny asked."
Showed up in the form of Sam, Tucker, and Lancer."
The door had brought him where all his foes were assembled."
But I'd give all I have to set everything right."
"They're not damaged?"
External links
- Danny Phantom Wiki: The Fright Before Christmas
- "The Fright Before Christmas!" at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- "The Fright Before Christmas!" at the Internet Movie Database
- "The Fright Before Christmas!" recap at TV Tropes