Legends of Tomorrow: Beebo Saves Christmas

December 3, 2021 5:49 PM - Season 1 (Specials)

Dear Loyal Customer, This letter is to confirm your Christmas wish has been received. Thank you for your interest in the holidays. Sincerely, Your North Pole Care Team. Although this is tagged as a Legends of Tomorrow episode it really isn't one. It's a one-shot spin-off of a character that first appeared in Legends, and even then, it's not the Legends character exactly. It's more like an interpretation of the origin of a character. That's a long way of saying you don't have to watch any of the Arrowverse shows to understand this modern take on a traditional Christmas cartoon-musical special. Suitable for slightly older children.

AV Club review

posted by sardonyx (5 comments total)

I had this on while I was doing other things. For MeFites who regularly watch Legends, I'd say don't bother watching this. I was hoping for a few nods or winks for Legends fans and there really weren't any of note.

I don't have kids and it has been a long time since I was a kid of the age where I'd tune in every year to watch the stop motion Santa or Rudolph specials or the animated Frosty. So I'm probably not the right person to review this for parents, but I'll give it a go. I think it will be fine if you're looking for a new Christmas special for the kids. There is an evil elf who fired Santa and replaced him with a giant robot. The robot might be a tiny bit scary for really young kids, but if your children can handle (and understand) classic Bug Bunny or Roadrunner cartoons, I suspect they'll be fine with this.

Even though it's all about Christmas values, it's a much more modern take on what those values are: it acknowledges, for example, that some people enjoy running around doing panic shopping or living their lives on social media.

The most "adult" comment is made in a song describing what other holiday icons could take over from Santa. The Easter Bunny gets a mention, so do leprechauns. Cupid is also raised as a possibility, and he is described as a "nearly naked man" (or something to that effect) and there's a joke about arrows and quivers that has some innuendo.

The singing is better than I expected. The main song is a bit catchy.

There is nothing actually wrong with the animation, but for a Christmas special it somehow feels too cheap and not special enough. The style is more Saturday morning cartoon than holiday classic. And yes, it does kind of have that put-together-cheaply-to-advertise-a-toy feel, but given how Beebo came into the Arrowverse, that's kind of appropriate. Don't worry: there is no Beebo toy, despite Legends fans saying they've wanted one for a few years now. Maybe this show will be the tipping point for DC to authorize one. Who knows?

Oh, and case anybody is worried that this is a superhero show, it's definitely not. Also there is no time travel.
posted by sardonyx at 7:50 PM on December 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

I recorded the show, but gave up watching partway through the first song. I didn't delete it (yet), but I think the odds of my ever going back and finishing the watch are slim.

Thanks for taking one for the team, sardonyx!
posted by oh yeah! at 4:17 AM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

Feel free to delete it!

I think there were two ways to go: try make a wild, wacky, Legends-worthy adult Christmas cartoon special or try to make a children's Christmas classic. They chose the latter option. Personally, I think they should have gone with the first.

As we all know, whenever you try to make something "special," it's always a hit or miss proposition. There is always a good chance that you'll miss the mark, and that's entirely what happened here. I mean, it's not egregiously bad; it's not offensive; it's okay. I, however, want more than okay from a Christmas special. But I guess if you're a parent sick of watching the same old Christmas reruns on a loop this would be fine as a "here's something different" break. I just wouldn't expect the kids to be excited to see this replayed year after year.
posted by sardonyx at 11:02 AM on December 4, 2021

This wasn't Beebo to me. This was a saccharine '80s-animation Lesson of the Week focus-grouped-to-death faux Beebo.

Real Beebo would have elbow-dropped that robot and that woulda been that.
posted by humbug at 7:54 PM on December 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

I think this Beebo is meant to be a very early Beebo, before there was a Beebo plush doll, let alone a Norse god or the collective imagination of the Legends. Here Beebo is a sweet but mildly annoying and cheaply produced 80s/90s Saturday morning children's cartoon character that Sara/Ray/Nate would have watched when they were kids. Presumably the character gets popular enough that a talking Beebo plush was produced (and probably all sorts of Beebo toys, games, books, etc.) and the character becomes ubiquitous and irritating much like Tickle Me Elmo dolls. That would also explain why there is no shout outs to the Legends (except for the Beebo holding that "Legends of Tomor-BO" DVD or book at the end) because the Legends don't yet exist at this point in Beebo's timeline.
posted by plastic_animals at 9:21 PM on December 4, 2021 [2 favorites]