When they learn that Beast Boy was responsible of sending Santa to jail as a plan to not let him conquer other holidays (like 4th of July, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, Halloween and more) from the previous event, the Titans plan to infiltrate the prison that has Batman and Gotham's most dangerous villains (and the Titans' too) to break him out and save Christmas one last time!
Plot[]
Christmas is approaching, and the teen titans share what they want from Santa Claus. Cyborg wants custom accessories for the T car. Starfire says she wants a tiny pet, holding up a cage for it. Beast Boy asked Santa for snacks. Robin wishes for a best friend, and since he stickers his face over Commissioner Gordon's in the photo of him and Batman together, one can assume he would like Batman as a best friend. Rather than a tangible present, Raven just wants peace and quiet.
Beast Boy suddenly remembers he sent Santa to jail last year, so he won't be bringing presents this year.
The titans decide to break Santa out of jail. They arrive disguised in orange jumpsuits, greeted by the sight of villainous inmates. Assuming they are tough and cruel, Robin attempts to fight the tallest, most muscular prisoner, who just wants to give them a "welcome to prison" gift basket.
The titans spot Santa, who doesn't care to leave prison, telling them there's nothing for him on the outside. Starfire reminds him of the reindeer, but Santa claims their relationship soured after he was arrested. However, the titans have arranged a visit between the reindeer and Santa. They make up, and Santa is in.
The titans plan a prison Christmas party to distract the guards. Beast Boy gathers snacks for the party (and stashes some for himself), Cyborg and Raven take advantage of license plate duty to make invitation plates stamped "XMAS PRTY" (and others for themselves), and Starfire grabs socks out of the laundry basket to use as Christmas stockings (and finds a cute mouse hiding amongst them).
As everyone enjoys the party, Cyborg uses tools to break the bars covering the fireplace. Santa and the titans sing a Christmas song to drown out Cyborg's clanking. Then, they head down the hall to make their escape. The reindeer pull them up, only for Santa to drop the teen titans back down, explaining they had been naughty that year.
However, the teen titans realize they got what they wanted for Christmas without Santa. Cyborg had a cool license plate for the T car, Starfire had a tiny pet mouse, and Beast Boy had snacks. Raven, locking herself in her cell, states she got peace and quiet. "And looks like Robin has a new best friend.," says Cyborg, referring to the inmate who gave Robin the "welcome to prison" gift basket.
When the crew reached out to Robert Morse to reprise his role as Santa, he said he was unable to record his lines due to health issues. Since it was too late to rewrite the episode, auditions were held for soundalikes and Fred Tatasciore was the closest.
As a result, this episode is the first time Tatasciore would voice Santa, due to the passing of Robert Morse.
Bane receives yet another redesign in this episode.
Raven was originally going to be wearing her cloak while also being in the prison uniform in the storyboards.[1]
James Adomian reprises his role as Bane from the 2019 Harley Quinn TV series.
As of this episode, the Titans are now on the "Permanent Naughty List" as punishment.
This is the first time where allthreemembers of the Brotherhood of Evil that has appeared in the show up to this point have appeared in the same episode.
Continuity[]
This is a sequel to Season 7's "A Holiday Story". The events of this episode is even mentioned by Beast Boy.
This is one of the few episode to directly reference events from previous episodes.
Raven is seen unhooded for the 152nd time in the series.
Beast Boy says that the true meaning of Christmas is about love and spreading good cheer, with the other Titans dismissing him. This is reminiscent of "The True Meaning of Christmas", where the Titans believe that Christmas was only about presents.
References[]
After Beast Boy gets slapped by Raven, he is positioned in the famous Family Guy death pose.
When Santa receives a visit from his reindeers but is rejected, Robin says "You can't just walk away, you filthy animals!", the second half of the line being a reference to the earlier Home Alone movies, which also have a Christmas setting.
Errors[]
Running Gags[]
Transcript[]
The transcript for "The Great Holiday Escape" can be found here.
Gallery[]
The image gallery for The Great Holiday Escape may be viewed here.
