The Santa Experience

The Santa Experience	Gallery	Transcript

Season 2 Episode 14
The Santa Experience
Original Airdate	December 6, 1992
VHS release	The Santa Experience
DVD release	Holiday Celebration Nick Picks Holiday Season 2 Holiday Collection Holidays in Diapers Nickelodeon Holly Jolly Holiday Specials Jolly Saint Nick Nickelodeon’s Christmas Stocking Complete Series
Previous Episode	What the Big People Do
Next Episode	Visitors from Outer Space

"The Santa Experience" is the fourteenth episode of Season 2, and the fifty-second Rugrats segment overall. The original title for this episode was "Christmas". Nevertheless, the producers changed its title to "The Santa Experience".

Characters Present

• Stu
• Didi
• Tommy
• Spike
• Drew
• Angelica
• Lou
• Chas
• Chuckie
• Howard
• Betty
• Phil
• Lil
• Morgan (cameo)

Characters Introduced

• Charlotte
• Santa Claus
• Elf
• Barney Stevens
• Cogs Unlimited-employee

Summary

The Rugrats and their parents go to the mountains to spend the Christmas holidays. Angelica, however, is skeptical of Santa Claus' existence. Will Santa convince her otherwise?

- Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot

Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica and their dads are at the mall, waiting in line to see Santa Claus. Chuckie's scared of Santa and is convinced that he's a bad person, but Tommy keeps insisting that Santa's a good person. Meanwhile, Angelica runs to the front of the line and begins to rattle off the list of toys she wants for Christmas, with her most desired toy being a deluxe playhouse for her Cynthia doll. Santa Claus accuses her of being greedy, so Angelica pulls off his beard, revealing him as an impostor. Angelica rushes off, holding the beard up, screaming that Santa Claus is a fake.

Back at Tommy's house, Drew's worried about the effect the events at the toy store earlier are having on Angelica. But Stu points out that she doesn't seem that upset and Chas even adds how the manager of the toy store gave her a box of toys to make up for the incident. Phil and Lil are impressed by the box of the toys, but Angelica's disappointed, because none of the toys the store manager gave her are what she originally wanted (even so, she refuses to share any of the toys with Phil or Lil). Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the adults are talking about what they should do for Christmas; Chas is worried that the holiday will be a disappointment for Chuckie like it was for him when he was a kid and Drew wants to reaffirm Angelica's faith in Santa Claus. Betty comes up with the idea to rent a cabin up in the mountains complete with a Santa experience for the kids. Didi goes to call a travel agent to book a place while Stu and Lou go to get decorations and stuff ready.

Back in the living room, Angelica's wondering what to do with all the toys she got from the mall when she gets a really naughty idea - first, she goes to Phil and convinces him to trade his Reptar doll for a box of crayons for Lil that she could use for her favorite coloring book, and then she goes to Lil and convinces her to trade said coloring book for a Reptar space helmet for Phil's Reptar doll. After that's done, Angelica's very pleased with herself. Meanwhile, Didi's on the phone with a travel agent looking for a suitable place for Didi, her friends and their families, while Drew and Chas are arguing over what to do to give the kids an experience with Santa Claus; Chas wants to play the part himself, but Drew keeps insisting on hiring an actor to play Santa Claus. Didi eventually finds a place up in the mountains nearby, to everyone's joy.

Back with the babies, Tommy and Chuckie are still arguing over whether Santa's a good or bad person. Grandpa Lou walks into the room and decides to tell the kids about Santa Claus, and how he gives lumps of coal to bad kids. Angelica gets a little worried, but after getting back to her house later that day, she dismisses her grandpa's warnings as untrue. Later, Angelica has a nightmare where she wakes up to Christmas morning and rushes downstairs to open a very large pile of presents. But every one of them is the same thing: lumps of coal. Angelica doesn't get how Santa could've known about the trick she played on Phil and Lil. At that moment, Santa himself comes in and tells her that as Santa Claus, he knows what she did. He confirms this by stating that he got Phil and Lil a new Reptar doll and coloring book respectively to replace the ones Angelica conned them out of, then laughs manically to what Angelica got, as he buries her in a pile of coal. Angelica screams and wakes up, revealing the whole thing was just a dream. Her dad comes in and tells her that it's not Christmas yet. Relieved (for now at least), Angelica resolves to make amends for what she did to the twins.

Later that day, all four families (with Spike in tow), drive to the mountains and get to their rented cabin. They start putting up decorations and getting dinner ready, while Angelica tries finding an opportunity to right the wrong she did to Phil and Lil--her chance comes when Didi and Betty take her and the twins to go chop down a Christmas tree. Angelica tries doing the right thing but gets separated from the twins when she falls onto the sled as it slides away. Betty and Didi, meanwhile, search for the right tree. Didi locates one she deems perfect-- so perfect, in fact, that she won't let Betty cut it down.

Tommy and Chuckie decide to booby-trap the cabin to catch Santa Claus so they can decide once and for all whether he is good or bad. They decide to block access points at the door, doggy-door, and window, but ignore the chimney, thinking "no one in their right mind would try coming down the chimbley." (failing to realize that's how Santa always enters a house). Didi, Betty, the twins, and Angelica arrive back at the cabin. Betty and Didi set up a fake tree while Lou finishes the decorations, and the others fix dinner. Soon the gathered families eat Christmas dinner together. But soon, the babies are sleepy and put to bed, much to Angelica's dismay. In bed, Tommy and Chuckie try to stay awake to listen for the traps to go off, but soon fall asleep. Angelica is worried that, because she couldn't fix her trick with Phil and Lil, she's ended up on the naughty list. She sees a TV ad for a Christmas hotline, so she calls a random number. The employee of the business she called tries to explain that she called the wrong number, but Angelica demands to speak with Santa Claus, so he plays along. "Santa" tells Angelica with a smirk that she's on the bad list and hangs up.

Late in the night, the sounds of the booby traps being tripped are heard by the babies, who wake up and leap out of bed to see if Santa Claus was caught. However, they arrive only to see it was just Stu. But moments later there's a racket behind them, as Santa Claus is suddenly in the fireplace. The babies freak out, but it turns out to be simply a disappointed Chas. Chuckie recognizes his father and gives him a hug to comfort him. Somebody rings the doorbell at the door, and Lou answers it; it's Santa Claus. Santa explains he couldn't go down the chimney because of Chas. Drew invites him in, playing along as if it's the actor he hired to play Santa. Santa gives all the babies presents, and none of them are afraid, including Chuckie. When Angelica gets her gift she immediately opens it and is delighted to find that it is the deluxe playhouse for Cynthia, and not coal! Santa explains to her that he understands that trying to be good and fixing your mistakes is just as important as being good in the first place. Santa Claus departs after that because, after all, he has many more presents to deliver.

Since it's almost morning, the grown-ups decide to open all presents now. The babies enjoy their new toys, but when Phil and Lil open the gifts they got for each other, they realize because they each gave up their Reptar doll and coloring book respectively, the gifts are virtually useless, but are both very thankful that they were willing to give up their favorite toy for each other. Immediately afterwards, Angelica gives back Phil and Lil's favorite toys, and they hug and thank her as well. Chuckie admits that Tommy was right about Santa-- he wasn't so scary after all. The grown-ups exchange gifts, including Chas and Drew. Chas admits to Drew that hiring an actor to play Santa Claus was ultimately a good idea, but then their conversation's interrupted by a phone call. On the other end, a man named Barney Stevens tells Drew that he is calling from his car phone and, because of the snow, he cannot make it to the cabin in time to appear as Santa Claus (the viewer can see he is really sitting at home watching TV). Drew becomes furious, and the man hangs up, muttering how he hates Christmas.

Chas asks Drew what the phone call was about, and Drew starts to explain that it was the actor he hired, telling him he could not make it. At the same moment, they both have the same thought: if the actor Drew hired did not come in the first place, then who was the man that came and gave the kids presents? As they ponder speechlessly to themselves, Angelica is happily looking at her new deluxe playhouse. As she looks at the garage, wondering if it came with a convertible as well, an unexpected surprise shocks her. Didi then walks up and asked in curiosity "is... is that a lump of coal?"

The episode then ends with Santa flying over the cabin with his reindeer; he says "Merry Christmas" and also "writes" this phrase out in a sparkly trail behind him, in the sky.

Trivia

• This is the first Christmas-themed episode.
• Morgan from the episode The Big House makes a cameo appearance in this episode.
• This is the second half-an-hour episode after "Tommy's First Birthday" in Season 1.
• The theme song in the intro is given a Christmas vibe to it.
• The working title for this episode was simply "Christmas".
• Charlotte, Drew's wife and Angelica's mother, makes her first physical appearance in this episode; she has been mentioned lots of times before, mostly by her husband or their daughter, but this is the first time she's actually seen in-person.
• This episode aired as the first of 4 other Nicktoons on The '90s Are All That's Merry Stickmas, which aired at midnight on December 23rd into the 24th.
• This episode parodies O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi" when both Phil and Lil willingly give up one of their toys for the other. Phil gives up his Reptar doll to give Lil a box of crayons for her coloring book, and she in turn trades the coloring book for a Reptar space helmet to go with Phil's Reptar doll.
• Unusually for a half-hour episode, the title card is used twice here. After the commercial break, the title card says "Later That Day".
• A similar plot would later be used in the Bob's Burgers Christmas special, "Nice-Capades".
• In this episode, Chas mentions how his Christmases were always disappointing and he was afraid it would be the same for Chuckie. In the All Grown Up! episode "The Finster Who Stole Christmas", it proves to be kind of the same for Chuckie as well (at least with the Christmas trees).
• In this episode, when Angelica rips off the mall Santa's beard, it is similar to when Buddy the Elf ripped off the Fake Santa's beard in Elf (only Buddy doesn't take off running), and Kyle unmasking the Mr. Hankey (the series' version of Santa Claus) mascot's head costume in a South Park episode.
• Morals:
• Being nice is the best way to share your things instead of being greedy.
  • It is better to give than to receive.
  • Apologizing and making up for your mistakes is the right way to solve problems.

Goofs

• When it showcases Phil after Angelica traded his and Lil's favorite toys, he is reading a book but there wasn't a book where Phil was sitting earlier.
• When Angelica falls asleep her footie pajamas are colored pink, but in her nightmare sequence they turn red.
• The axe Betty is carrying during the tree searching loses its silver tip when she brings it back to make a chop.
• While Angelica is following Lil during the tree decorating, Lil is somehow in her pajamas.
• Tommy and Chuckie push a log in front of the door where the doggy door is, but the log is not visible when Stu triggers their Santa Traps.
• When Chas comes down the chimney during his Santa act, the sack he was carrying disappears.
• Tommy uses a fire poker to trap Chas in the fireplace, but then it transfers to an ash shovel when Chas is trying to get out.
• During the majority of the episode, there was a log in the fireplace, but when Chas lands in the fireplace the log has disappeared.

Video Clips

The Perfect Tree Rugrats The Splat

Santa Explained by Grandpa Lou Rugrats The Splat

Why the 1996 'Rugrats' Passover Episode Still Resonates

External links

• Christmas Specials Wiki: The Santa Experience