Since its inception, DreamWorks Studio has weaved magic into the animated medium, especially in the way the studio redefined anthropomorphic characters by transcending a mere humanistic approach in their depiction and imbuing them with a distinctiveness of their own. While Puss in the Boots or the Kung Fu Panda franchise emulate this trait in the best possible way, the 2022 hit venture The Bad Guys has also proven to be a memorable entry in that regard. Centered on the eponymous team of miscreants, The Bad Guys quickly rose through the ranks of the best animated movies in recent years and gained appreciation for its self-aware humor, heart, and the classic mix-up of 2D and 3D animation styles the studio has mastered through the years.
Much like how all of Dreamworks’ celebrated movies received their own special, The Bad Guys has added one Christmas special short this year, titled The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday, bringing the ragtag ensemble of non-human criminal masterminds together for a special heist. The lighthearted special is aimed at setting the festive mood and serves the purpose well through a fun-filled, hilarious twenty odd minutes.
Spoilers Ahead
What Problem Did The Bad Guys Face In Their Holiday Routine?
Set in a time when the titular team of criminals consisting of Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Ms. Tarantula, Mr. Piranha, and Mr. Shark still hadn’t been reformed, the special misses the presence of one of the key characters from the original movie, Diane Foxington, aka Crimson Paw. Anyway, the special begins a day before Christmas, and while driving around the town in their lowrider, Mr. Fox and his team plan to initiate their Christmas routine, i.e., a mega heist, aka Holiday Heist-tacular. Understandably, as people get busy celebrating the day with their close ones, the city practically turns into a ghost town during the morning, which provides ample opportunity for the Bad Guys to carry out the most elaborate, grand heist for which they eagerly wait round the year.
However, their plans for the holiday heist receive a setback when, in order to avoid public detection, Mr. Wolf starts driving a bit rashly and, as a result, unwittingly destroys the Christmas mascot of the city, Big Nick, the giant Santa balloon. As a result, the holiday spirit is affected, and as Tiffany Fluffit’s interviews show, people have also started considering going by their daily routine, skipping Christmas entirely. Obviously, this is detrimental to the group’s holiday heist plan, which will fail unless the holiday vibe is restored. Wolf proposes to recreate a Santa balloon, which will get people right back into their holiday spirit once again.
The tech genius of the group, Ms. Tarantula, offers her latest creation instead: Robo Claus, which she invented for their special heist. But the flame-throwing robotic monstrosity doesn’t really seem jolly enough to become the city’s festival mascot, and Wolf proposes to create a new Big Nick. The gang fails to do so and creates an abomination of a balloon, eventually prompting them to plan something else to uplift the mood of city folk.
How Did The Bad Guys Plan To Resume Christmas Celebrations?
With a limited time frame at their disposal, the gang needs to come up with something that will restore the holiday spirit. Wolf proposes to steal gifts from stores and give them away to people, which will ensure the restoration of Christmas celebrations. While it is a feasible plan, Snake is skeptical about this Robin Hood-esque activity, but Wolf convinces him that they are doing it for the greater good. Also, due to the destruction of Big Nick, even the radio station in the city is not airing carols; instead, they are blurting out non-stop doom tunes, putting out the last remaining sparks of festive mood. Wolf plans to send Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula to distract the RJ and hack the radio station, while he and Snake will set the gift-giveaway plan in motion.
Dressed like Ebenezer Scrooge, Shark goes to the radio station and distracts the RJ, while Tarantula hacks into the station network and patches Piranha, who sings a lovely Christmas carol, which indeed gets the city folks into a jolly good mood. On the other hand, Snake and Wolf play Secret Santa, as in they deliver stolen gifts door to door, adding to the Christmas surprise, and it almost seems like the celebrations are back on track. However, even the earnest efforts of the Bad Guys aren’t enough to get the ball rolling.
How Did The Bad Guys Pull Off Their Christmas Heist?
Just when it seems all hope is lost, Shark brings forth the idea of introducing the staple Christmas element—snow—in the scene. Too much to the gang’s relief, there is an ice-shaving machine right around the corner, which Tarantula hacks and uses her amplifier to spread snow across the city. Finally, a white Christmas seems to be the only thing that was needed to officially initiate the festivities, as people across the city erupt in joy. However, an overenthusiastic Wolf had increased the snow amplifier to maximum settings, which went haywire in no time and created a devastating ice vortex storm, which froze everything in the surrounding area, jeopardizing the merriment in the process.
The gang confronts Wolf about his actions, who remorsefully acknowledges his mistake and is determined to fix it. The only way to stop the machine is to manually override it, but none of the members of the gang are strong enough to stand against the ice vortex. Fortunately, Tarantula’s Robo Claus is there to save the day, which Wolf operates to turn the ice-shaving machine off and finally put an end to the ice vortex. Tarantula’s Robo Claus is hailed as the city’s new Christmas mascot, and the city folks are in a jovial mood to begin the holiday merriments. With Christmas celebrations going into full swing, nothing is going to stop the Bad Guys from pulling off the mega holiday heist.
However, no good deed goes unpunished, and it turns out that while fixing the snow problem, the gang caught a cold, and as a result, they have to spend Christmas morning in their hideout, like regular city folks. To make matters worse, at least from their perspective, someone has even piled up Christmas presents for them at their doorstep, much to Piranha’s dismay, who would have been happier if he had received coal instead. With their reputation as Bad Guys in serious danger, Wolf starts planning a heist directly at the North Pole for next year’s Christmas, and the special comes to an end. Helping to bring a smile to everyone’s face, the so-called Bad Guys inadvertently have managed to present the best Christmas the city folks could ever ask for and have been rewarded in kind as well.
