Ralph as Santa Claus in "'Twas the Day Before Christmas".
Ralph Theodore Guard is a recurring character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Animaniacs. He is a fat, dim-witted security guard who works for the Warner Bros. movie studio and is always chasing after Yakko, Wakko and Dot whenever they escape from the studio's water tower. He originated, without a name, in several episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures where he occasionally appeared as a major obstacle in Plucky Duck's attempts to break into certain movie studios (in one episode, he was even able to outwit Buster and Babs). But while Ralph was quite competent at his job on Tiny Toons, he never succeeded at catching the Warner siblings and bringing them back to the water tower outside of Animaniacs' intro sequence.
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
Ralph plays major roles in two Christmas-themed segments aired during Animaniacs' first season. In "'Twas the Day Before Christmas", the studio's CEO, Thaddeus Plotz, picks Ralph to deliver Yakko, Wakko and Dot's Christmas presents to them. Dressed as Santa Claus, Ralph manages to fly a sleigh, pulled by eight pigeons (three of whom are the Goodfeathers), all the way up to the water tower and then crashes down through the roof. He places the Warner siblings' presents under their tree and then climbs up the tree and out the hole he made in the roof. He is unfortunately unable to get his sleigh airborne again and ends up crashing onto the ground, but luckily survives.
"A Christmas Plotz" gives Ralph quite a bit of focus, most notably including a rare appearance by his family. In this parody of A Christmas Carol, Mr. Plotz fires Ralph on Christmas Eve because of his inability to keep the Warner siblings under control. Later, Dot, as the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Plotz to the trailer park where Ralph lives with his wife and adopted son. Ralph Jr. vows to get even with Plotz for firing his adoptive father - which, in the future shown by Yakko as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, he does by taking over the studio and demoting Plotz to security guard. After Plotz sees all this, he shows up at Ralph's trailer on Christmas morning and rehires him.
Ralph also made a very brief cameo in "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the first Animaniacs Christmas segment produced after the show moved from Fox Kids to Kids' WB! Here, he appears as a member of the orchestra providing the music to the Little Blue Bird's performance of the titular song.
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