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The World's Finest Presents

Episode #01 - Holiday Knights
Original Airdate - September 13th, 1997 - Series Premiere

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy kidnap Bruce Wayne with Ivy's hypnotic lipstick, and use his credit cards to treat themselves to a Christmas shopping spree; Bullock and Montoya stake out a Gotham Department Store for pick pockets, but in actuality, it turns out to be the return of Clayface; Joker plans to kill all the people celebrating in Gotham Square on New Year's Eve with a sonic weapon. It is up to Batman and Robin to stop him before the stroke of midnight.

Media by James Harvey
Review by Robin III
Credits
Written by Paul Dini
Directed by Dan Riba
Music by Shirley Walker
Animation by Koko / Dong Yang

Voices
Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne
Tara Charendoff as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon
Mathew Valencia as Robin
Mark Hamill as The Joker
Ron Perlman as Clayface
Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn
Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy
Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon
Marilu Henner as Veronica Vreeland
Robert Costanzo as Detective Bullock
Liane Schirmer as Detective Renee Montoya
Rachel Davey as Mary McSweeney
Tress Macneille as Little Boy
Corey Burton as Uniformed Cop

Featured Video

Screen Grabs







































Pans



Quotes
HARLEY: I'm depressed, Red. Here it is, holiday time, and we're hiding out in this dingy rat-trap. No presents, no fun, no nothing. Can't we at least get a Christmas Tree?
IVY: What?! And support the mad campaign of botanical genocide that grips this country every December?
--
IVY: May we give you a drive, Mr. Wayne?
BRUCE: No thanks, I have my own car.
HARLEY: Oh, but we insist!
BRUCE IS SOMEHOW PULLED BACK TO THE LIMO UNDER SOMEONE ELSE'S POWER.
IVY: Season's greetings, Brucie! Your two favorite party girls are out for some Christmas fun!
--
HARLEY: OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod! We. . . We killed him! Oh well.
IVY: We were going to do it anyway.
--
IVY: So, where to now?
HARLEY: Anyplace is fine by me as long as it's away from that guy.
HARLEY POINTS OUT THE WINDOW, IVY LOOKS STARTLED AND LOOKS OUT AS WELL. THEY SCREAM AS BATMAN SWOOPS AFTER THE LIMO.
--
MONTOYA: Y'know, you could be a little more jolly, Saint Nick.
BULLOCK (as Santa): Gimmie a break, Montoya. This is the lamest stakeout I've ever been on. We better get some lead on this invisible shoplifter soon or-- oop!
A BOY LEAPS UP ONTO 'SANTA'S' LAP.
BOY: You're not the real Santy Claus!
BULLOCK (as Santa): Sure I am! Wanna see my gun?
MONTOYA SLAPS SANTA UPSIDE THE HEAD.
BULLOCK (as Santa): Oww!
--
BATGIRL: Don't waste your ammo on him, shoot the Santa!
BULLOCK (as Santa): You wouldn't?
MONTOYA: Not you, dope! That Santa!
MONTOYA POINTS TO A SANTA FIGURE ABOVE CLAYFACE.
--
BULLOCK: Well, so much for Frosty the lawn cigar!
--
JOKER: Hi-ho, couch potatoes! I'm interrupting the Toilet Bowl to give you my very special New Year's resolution. [Ahem!] Starting tonight at midnight, I, your loving Uncle Joker, do solemnly vow not to kill anyone for a whole year which means I'm going to have to work extra fast to bump off a few more of you today!
--
ROBIN: You sure he'll be here?
BATMAN: With murder on this scale, Joker will be close by to enjoy his handy work. Even in this crowd he'll stick out like a sore thumb.
THE PEOPLE IN THE CROWD ARE ALL WEARING JOKER MASKS.
ROBIN: You were saying?


Review: An adequate adaptation of The Batman Adventures Holiday Special minus the best story of the comic, the Mr. Freeze story on Christmas Eve. Even though it no longer applies in the Gotham Knights continuity, it would have been an excellent touch to the episode with both Batman and Freeze showing a human side and ending up walking off with Freeze quietly coming along to jail.

Otherwise, nicely done, especially the small touches on Robin's animation when he wasn't doing anything. This episode made him out to be what he is, a kid. In Gordon's office, the Boy Wonder was sitting cross-legged on the floor; later, he was sitting on Gordon'd desk swinging his legs over the edge. On the rooftops, he was walking the edge with his arms out and stepping one foot in front of the other. Later still, he blunders when Batman strikes a pose, so he makes up for it by copying his mentor's stance.

Overall, more episodes should be done like this, with short stories rather than one long one and a cliffhanger whenever a commercial is needed.


Bonus:
As mentioned in the review above, a Mr. Freeze-focused story from The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1
was left out from this episode. Read it below!


Plus: Enjoy some additional clips from the episode right here!


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