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!