"Twas the Night" is a Season 1 episode of Johnny Bravo, as well as the series' first Christmas special.
Synopsis[]
Johnny has to take over for Santa Claus after he accidentally breaks his arm, thinking he was a burglar breaking into his house.
Plot Summary[]
It is Christmas Eve in Aron City, and Johnny is awoken from his sleep when he hears a noise. As his mother, Bunny, is still sleeping, having drifted off to sleep during a marathon of It's A Wonderful Life, Johnny heads up to the roof to investigate. He finds Santa and, mistaking him for a burglar, knocks him unconscious with a flying kick before realizing his mistake. After the big guy regains consciousness, he tells Johnny that he broke his arm, and thus Johnny will have to fill in for him.
Johnny takes off into the sky, getting reindeer's names wrong when he calls them out, and when he asks why "that freak with the big glowing nose" isn't leading the team, we see the reindeer in question battling some men working for the Grinch. Johnny delivers gifts to the townsfolk and animals (including speech therapy for Scooby-Doo), in spite of how bushed he finds himself getting. When Johnny finally finishes the task, he realizes he has lost a gift meant for his mother, which accidentally ended up at the mayor's house. Johnny returns home disappointed, only to find that he accidentally gave her a giant diamond ring (likely meant for the mayor's wife). Johnny is then surprised to find that Santa left him a gift - a pair of boxing gloves and a mouth guard, along with a note that says "Merry Christmas, you pinhead; round two is next year".
Characters[]
Major Roles[]
- Johnny Bravo
- Santa Claus
- Rudolph
- Bunny Bravo
- The Mayor of Aron City
- The Mayor of Aron City's Wife
Minor Roles[]
- Gorilla Girls (Cameo)
- Chronos (Cameo)
- Scooby-Doo (Cameo)
- Little Suzy (Non-Speaking Cameo)
- Jungle Boy (Non-Speaking Cameo)
- King Raymond (Non-Speaking Cameo)
- Tim and Tom (Non-Speaking Cameo)
Trivia[]
- First Christmas episode and first holiday-themed episode.
- This episode is narrated by Adam West.
- Chronos from "Bearly Enough Time" returns for a cameo appearance here.
- This is the second appearance of Scooby-Doo, who previously appeared in the crossover episode "Bravo Dooby-Doo".
- This is the second episode in the series where all the quotes are in rhyme, the first being Cookie Crisis
Cultural References[]
- The title is a reference to the opening line "Twas the Night Before Christmas", from the famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas. In fact, the format of this episode is presented in a way, narrated by Adam West, who quotes this poem and makes a few parodic changes to it.
- During the title card, an instrumental of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing plays.
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appears.
- One of the names listed on the nice list was "Sen. Puffnstuff". This is a reference to the character from the eponymic children's show, H.R. Pufnstuf.
- Johnny addresses King Raymond as "Magilla", in reference to the Hanna-Barbera character, Magilla Gorilla.
- Scooby-Doo's speech therapist is listed as "Cindy Brady", a character from the famous TV show, The Brady Bunch, who also had a lisp. This was most prominent in the episode "A Fistful of Reasons".
Gallery[]
