“ | It's the Tooth Fairy Incident all over again. | ” |
— Gretchen |
"Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave" is a special half-hour Christmas episode of the Disney animated television series Recess, aired as the eleventh episode of the show's second season. It was originally scheduled to premiere on ABC's One Saturday Morning programming block on December 19, 1998, but due to the block being pre-empted that week for ABC News' coverage on Bill Clinton's impeachment, it was postponed for a week and ended up airing the day after Christmas.
Synopsis[]
A few days before Christmas, Hank is getting ready to plow the snow, but to his displeasure, there's none on the ground, and the students are treating the weather like summer. The younger kids on the playground are still treating it like winter, however, such as building snowmen out of sand, and sledding on the grass. Vince brings up the fact that how when he and the rest of the Recess Gang were little kids, they would get excited for the Christmas season, too. They all discuss what's on their Christmas lists, and see Mikey over by the jungle gym, writing a list for Santa Claus, until the bell rings, where he went to go see the tryouts for the Christmas play.
In the auditorium, the kindergarteners, Upside-Down Girl, Hustler Kid, Randall, and the Ashleys are all on stage for the tryouts. At the same time, Principal Prickly is showing television producer Mr. Bream the school, to see if he'd use it for his Christmas special. Right as Mr. Bream tells Prickly that the school was like every other one he's been to, Mikey arrives. Originally not wanting to try out and just trying to get into the spirit, Mr. Bream wants him to be Santa in the play. Mikey tries out under expectations, until Prickly reminds him of how he sang for the middle school music teacher, Miss Salamone. He then belts out a "Ho ho ho!" in his singing voice, and is chosen to play Santa.
After trying out, the gang is sitting on the jungle gym when Mikey decides to invite Santa to the play. Randall hears this and taunts him for still believing in Santa. T.J. tells him that there are kids who don't believe in Santa, but he doesn't understand this. Gretchen tries to explain that an overweight man in a red suit delivering millions of presents in one night is very unlikely, and he still doesn't believe her.
Back in the auditorium, Miss Grotke is choreographing the play, and instructing the Ashleys' dance routine in the reindeer act. Also, Mr. Bream is on the phone explaining the play to the television station owner. The gang is sitting in the seats when Mikey brings a stack of encyclopedias to show them that Santa is real. Vince reads about St. Nicholas, and brings up the fact that he died years ago. Mikey still doesn't believe them, and runs out.
Later that day, the gang is at the mall in line for meeting Santa with Mikey. Mikey runs up the mall Santa, sits on his lap, and asks him to do a few things for the gang to show them that he's the real Santa. However, he can't take Mikey's weight on his legs, and pushes him off. He asks Trisha, his assistant, to get his replacement, which she can't because he's on break. The gang gets their Christmas photo taken--with the mall Santa ripping his beard off. Mikey, however, explains that he was just an imposter, and that the real Santa is appearing in the town's Christmas parade. The gang arrives at the street for the parade, and see Santa in it. "Santa" talks to the kids and offers them gifts, making Mikey excited, and Gus even thinking that Santa really does exist. However, when he's getting the kids candy from the back of his sleigh, his beard comes off, and it's revealed that he's actually Mayor Fitzhugh trying to get more votes. After the parade, Mikey hears Santa's voice on the radio, and runs down to the station, KXMS. He asks the receptionist where Santa is, and she tells him he's not there. He runs into the recording studio, and sees that it was just disc jockey Ricky McCloud imitating Santa for his radio show. Crushed, Mikey leaves in tears, and decides not to appear in the play.
That night, back at the school, Hank is still looking for signs of snow. People begin to arrive for the play, and the gang decides to tell Prickly that Mikey decided not to come. Before they can, Randall tells Miss Finster, who tells Prickly. They decide to have Randall play Santa instead. Meanwhile, as Mikey walks down the street alone, he sits at a curb and rips up his letter to Santa. An old man at the retirement home on the same street noticed him, and he told the man about how his friends don't believe in Santa. The man tells him that it doesn't matter if you can see him or not, if he believes he's real, then he's real.
The play starts, and each of the kids go up and say something about what they represent. Aside from the Ashleys as reindeer, Spinelli and Gretchen come up dressed as Druids for Winter Solstice, Gus as an elf, Vince as "Good King Kwanzaa", T.J. as "Harvey Hanukkah", and finally, Randall as Santa. Unfortunately, he gets stage fright when it's time for his act. All of a sudden, Mikey arrives as Santa, on a sleigh pulled by the kindergarteners dressed as elves. He and the gang begin to sing "White Christmas", as it starts snowing outside. After the play ends, Hank throws the doors open and exclaims that it's snowing. Everyone goes outside and notices the snow, and the kids begin playing in it. The old man whom Mikey met earlier tells him that he did a good job, and that he was there because Mikey invited him. The gang wonders who he was, but Mikey realizes that he was Santa.
Availability[]
- Main article: Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street
The episode was integrated as a flashback, along with three other episodes of the show ("Principal for a Day", "The Great Can Drive", and "Weekend at Muriel's"), in the direct-to-video compilation film Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street.
Cast[]
Voice actor/actreess | Character(s) |
---|---|
Jason Davis | Mikey Blumberg (speaking) |
Robert Goulet | Mikey Blumberg (singing) |
Andrew Lawrence | T.J. Detweiler (speaking) |
Aaron Page | T.J. Detweiler (singing) |
Pamela Segall Adlon | Ashley Spinelli |
Ricky D'Shon Collins | Vince LaSalle |
Courtland Mead | Gus Griswald (speaking) |
Megan Moore | Gus Griswald (singing) |
Ashley Johnson | Gretchen Grundler |
April Winchell | Miss Muriel Finster |
Ryan O'Donohue | Randall Weems Kid #1 |
Dabney Coleman | Principal Peter Prickly |
James Earl Jones | Santa Claus |
Allyce Beasley | Miss Grotke |
Paul Dooley | Hank Mall Santa |
Michael Shulman | Hustler Kid |
Anndi McAfee | Ashley Armbruster |
Michael McKeane | Mr. Bream |
E. G. Daily | Trisha Kid #2 |
Jess Harnell | Ricky McCloud |
Ronnie Schell | Mayor Fitzhugh |
Gregg Berger | Robotic Santa TV Editor Astronaut |
Dick Clark | Himself |
Bobbi Page | Additional vocalist for "White Christmas" |
External links[]
- Recess Wiki: Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave
- Disney Wiki: Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave
- "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave (Part 1)" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave (Part 2)" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave" at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave" recap at TV Tropes