"Have Yourself a Joyful Little Animas" is the Christmas-themed episode of the Cartoon Network original series My Gym Partner's a Monkey, aired as the ninth episode of the show's second season.
Synopsis
Everyone already celebrating Animas, five days in advance.
On the morning of Juberary, Animals throughout the city wake up and are excited for the celebration of the first day of Animas. When the members of the Zoo Aquarium get to school, Adam Lyon is apparently the only one who is unaware of the special occasion, as he has broken the so-called first rule of Animas, to lack wearing periwinkle on the first day, which results in him getting bonked on the head with coconuts.
In Mr. Hornbill's Class, it is explained by Hornbill, that Animas is an instinctual holiday and that all animals collectively know when the subjective date is going to take place, without even talking about it beforehand. Apparently, Animas takes place on the hottest day of the year and only animals are able to know when the temperature is at its hottest and most unbeatable. The other animals of the class laugh at Adam for his lack of basic knowledge on the topic.
Later on, in Miss Chameleon's class, the students are told to say what they appreciate most about the holidays. Windsor and Lupe express completely opposite points of view. Windsor says the holiday went from its initial sentimental celebration, and has now mutated into such a commercialized event, where corporations now make money off of selling worthless material objects. Lupe proves to be a brainless consumer, who obsesses over all the fancy and expensive presents she gets on the holiday.
"Gillsy the Grunch" hating Christmas from atop her mountain.
Every animal loves Animas for one reason or the other, all except for Coach Gills, who hates Animas in a style similar to that of The Grinch's. Gills takes the days of Animas off, and complains about the Animas commotion, watching from afar, sitting on top of a giant, mountain, alongside Horace Ferret. Gills' rants about the holiday are interrupted by Horace, turning on a radio, which plays an Animas narration, rhyming with everything she says. In her absence, Mrs. Warthog has to substitute for her as the gym teacher, and says to the questioning students that Coach Gills simply hates happiness and joy.
Adam begs the immortal human question "Where do I belong?"
On the second day of Animas, Adam comes to school wearing periwinkle, but the entire school is empty. The only inhabitants of the school are a bunch of tumbleweeds, one of which is a magical Talking Tumbleweed, who explains what is going on. All of the animals migrated South to have an amazing party bash, while he was to distribute gold and pollen, in their absence. He also clonks Adam's head with a coconut for wearing periwinkle, claiming that was only for yesterday. Adam runs in fear of the talking tumbleweed and comes across the unexpected return of all the animals, who again say that their instincts kept them all on the Animas bandwagon, which Adam is apparently lacking. Windsor then instinctively senses that it is time to decorate the Animas rock. The animals take off and Adam is left by himself, seeing himself as being unfit for the animal habitat and wishes to go back to his old school.
Animas is ruined and Adam is to blame.
Adam later tells Jake and the other animals that he does not have the instincts to help them find the Animas rock. This comes across as a complete shock to all of the animals, because now the holiday has been ruined thanks to Adam's incompetence. The animals scream in dismay, stating "Animas is ruined!" They all begin crying, and Jake reminds him of their hatred for him and clonks him on the head with a coconut.
On the third day of Animas, everyone is still depressed and angry at Adam for ruining Animas for them. Adam seeks help from Windsor on how to get a grip on his instincts, but when Windsor unleashes his animal nature, he ends up scaring Adam away. Slips laughs at the hilarity of this, but Lupe rudely reminds him that if Adam does not learn about his instincts eventually, Animas will be cancelled. That night at Coach Gills' House, a parody of A Christmas Carol ensues, when Mrs. Warthog, Principal Pixiefrog, and Mr. Mandrill visit her dressed as ghosts and try to give her a look into her past, to show her why she hates Animas. Mr. Mandrill and Pixiefrog play the roles of Coach Gills' mother and Coach Gills' past self, respectively. Coach Gills sees through this very quickly, as soon as soon as Mr. Mandrill mentions liking balonga, which could only mean this is false, since her mother is allergic to processed meat.
On the fourth day of Animas, Adam talks to Jake and claims to have lost the Animas spirit. He plans to then skip town and go on a soul searching journey, to help him find out where he really belongs, because it is certainly not at the animal school. That night at the Great Gourd Patch, a parody of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! happens, wherein Coach Gills has been dragged out to the patch by Horace, where it is rumored that The Great Gourd will arise for that one day only, which he does. It is actually just a stress induced hallucination, but he tells her to go back to Charles Darwin Middle School and celebrate Animas with her friends, tomorrow.
A hallucination of Coach Gills enlightens Adam on the true meaning of Animas.
On the fifth and final day of Animas, Adam reaches the City Limits and tries to fit in with the street kids, but they shun him as well. After feeling fully rejected, Adam goes to Samurai Quan's Sushi Bar, and the restaurant owner, Samurai Quan, tells him that he does have the animal instincts to fit in, but he just needs to clear his head. He gives him a mini-plate of Wasabi, and gives him a warning of how hot it is. Adam eats it before he can heed the warning, and this clears his head and nasal passages. It also gives him a stress-induced hallucination of Coach Gills, who tells Adam what The Great Gourd told her. Adam is now inspired to love Animas.
Adam runs back to CDMS, happily yelling that he has finally obtained the Animas spirit. The animals have been setting up the table for the great Animas feast and are overjoyed that Adam can finally save the holiday and find the Animas rock. Adam smells the awful stench of an unflushed toilet, which as told by Jake, is the smell of the Animas rock. Adam follows the disgusting smell and finds a disappointingly tiny pebble on the ground, but is still happy to have saved Animas.
Adam and his friends at the Animas feast.
At the great feast that day, everyone sits around the table and eats their food. Windsor also feels the need to make a speech. He says that he has learned from his experience and realized that although Animas may be over commercialized, it has become clear to him that maybe the corporate hacks who market the whole holiday have the Animas spirit too, and the Animas spirit tells them to sell a lot of products. Lupe says that she has learned nothing from the experience, since she was right all along about Animas being all about the presents. Jake has nothing to say. The whole time, Coach Gills is urging someone to mention the lesson she learned about how Animas is about spending time with one's friends, but this falls on deaf ears. Lastly, Adam makes a speech about what he learned on Animas, and what he learned is to stay home next year.
Trivia
- The title is a pun on the famous Christmas song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".
- Coach Gills' sideplot parodies famous Christmas stories, such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, and oddly enough, the Peanuts Halloween special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
- The song "Oh, Christmas Tree" is also parodied with the famous Animas song "Oh, Animas".
- This is the only episode to reference Coach Gills' family. She, Pixiefrog, and Mr. Mandrill mention her mother. She later noted that her mother was allergic to processed meat.
- Coach Gills says she is afraid of the dark and pigeons.
- Glendale has a population of 238,000.
- The selection of food for the Animas feast is very odd, including turkey, crab, and fried octopus, which would be considered cannibalism to some in a school like Charles Darwin. It can be argued that there are students, like Slips Python, who eat gerbils and fish. So, that food can be for them and the ones who belong to that species can simply choose to just not eat that.
Cast
| Voice actor/actress | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Nika Futterman | Adam Lyon |
| Rick Gomez | Slips Windsor Llama Kid Adam #2 Arc Tick |
| Grey DeLisle | Lupe Toucan Ingrid Giraffe British Kid |
| Tom Kenny | Jake Spidermonkey |
| Phil LaMarr | Adam #3 Reindeer Mauricio Polar Bear |
| Cree Summer | Kerry Mrs. Tusk |
External links
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey Wiki: Have Yourself a Joyful Little Animas
- "Have Yourself a Joyful Little Animas" at the Internet Movie Database