10 Best Cartoon Network Holiday Episodes, According to IMDb

It’s that magical time of the year where friends and family alike can hang around the television for some good old holiday specials. It has also been an extraordinary year where most people have even more time than normal to catch up on these specials. Regardless of the circumstance, holiday specials are a television tradition that is every bit as ornate and special as the decorations adorning houses.

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Cartoon Network as a children’s block has famously contributed timeless special after timeless special. Whether they’re prepping for Halloween or getting people in the mood for Christmas, Cartoon Network has developed quite a few originals to celebrate with.

10 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, “Nightmare On Wilson Way” (8.2)

Halloween is that special time of the year where naughty children and overzealous teenagers everywhere are just expected to pull pranks on people. Being the little troublemaker that he is, Bloo takes full advantage of the situation to try and pull off the snake-in-the-can trick, despite him having used that trick the previous year.

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After several failed attempts to find a taker, he eventually gets Mr. Herriman to open the can, only to kill him in the process accidentally! Not wanting to get in trouble, Bloo does his best to hide the evidence. However, unbeknownst to him, a zombie uprising begins to take over Foster’s.

9 Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Boo Haw Haw (8.2)

Who better than the Eds to represent a holiday that’s literally about mooching candy off of other people? As the trio gets ready for some traditional trick r’ treating, Eddy arrives, stumbling upon another one of his keepsakes from his brother. This time it’s a map to a legendary neighborhood known as “Spook-E-Ville” that is said to give out quite a bit of candy.

However, misadventure follows certain elements of the map, becoming obviously dubious. The boys constantly cross paths with the other kids, and Ed suddenly finds himself hallucinating various monsters after his long-binge watch of monster television.

8 Justice League, “Comfort And Joy” (8.2)

The animated series for Justice League was a timeless superhero show in so many ways, almost to the point that many identify its roster for the League as one of the franchise’s best. Much like how they fight crime, the group proves in “Comfort and Joy” that they’re also exceptional at making holiday specials.

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In it, different members of the League split off to enjoy the holidays after a successful mission. Here, Green Lantern shows Hawkgirl how to have a snowball fight, Flash and Ultra-Humanite team to deliver a children’s toy, and Superman shows Martian Manhunter what a quality, family Christmas is all about.

7 Billy And Mandy Save Christmas (8.4)

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy may not be what most people think of, aesthetically speaking, when they want to be filled with holiday cheer. While the series itself has made no effort to assuage those feelings of horror and dread, it was able to harness what made the series special, to make a Christmas special that’s just hard to forget.

When Billy wants to meet the real-life Santa Claus, Grim transports him and Mandy to the North Pole. In doing so, they discover that Santa has somehow been transformed into a vicious vampire. To save Christmas, the ghastly trio venture out to find a way to reverse Santa’s curse but find themselves fending off all manner of holiday bloodsucker.

6 Adventure Time, “Holly Jolly Secrets” (8.5)

Before this holiday episode, Adventure Time’s Ice King had mostly been the comic relief/silly villain of the series. Fans knew that he’d try (and fail) to do bad things but would humor his attempts. It isn’t until “Holly Jolly Secrets” that people would realize something deeper behind him. At first, Finn and Jake paw through old tapes from the Ice King and try to piece together some evil intent, all while getting really comfortable in the process.

Having learned that Finn and Jake were up to something, Ice King and his cohorts try to infiltrate the treehouse and suddenly find themselves in a very festive garb. It isn’t until the second part of this episode that Finn, Jake, and friends would learn Ice King’s tragic past and begin a series spanning arc that would slowly but surely redeem the older man.

5 Regular Show, “Terror Tales Of The Park VI” (8.6)

Modeled after The Simpson’s Treehouse of Terror series but made into something truly their own, Regular Show’s Terror Tales of the Park became a Halloween tradition within their own right. Standing above them all is “Terror Tales of the Park VI.” As part of Regular Show’s space season, this edition spun terrifying, sci-fi tales as the group neared a black hole.

The first story involves the group exploring a planet where all of their fears come true, striking fear into Skips. The second story has the group trick-or-treating on the Space Tree Station to come across a group of vampires. And in the final story, the park workers reveal how terrifying a bad roommate can be.

4 The Amazing World Of Gumball, “Halloween” (8.6)

In the appropriately titled “Halloween,” The Amazing World of Gumball shows a fantastic party truly befitting of people willing to party till they literally drop. Instead of trick r’ treating, Gumball takes Darwin and Anais to an abandoned house in the cemetery where Carrie is waiting to take them to a ghosts only party.

To do so, Gumball and Darwin drink a magical potion that allows them to become ghosts for the night, leaving Anais all by her lonesome outside. As they enjoy the wild and spooky party, the two learn that they must revert to their bodies before midnight, lest they become ghosts forever. Unfortunately for them, Anais accidentally loses herself in the party.

3 Codename: Kids Next Door, “Operation N.A.U.G.H.T.Y.” (8.7)

While the Kids Next Door may dedicate themselves to battling adult tyranny, there’s at least one adult that they don’t want to get on their bad side, Santa Claus. Unfortunately for them, Sector V is framed for stealing an important item from Santa’s Workshop and must now fend off Santa’s superpowered force of holiday protectors.

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With Christmas on the line, the kids must find a way to clear their name and find whoever did steal from Santa. Making more than a few homages to Marvel Comics, the KND shows that they truly do the holidays like no one else.

2 Billy & Mandy’s Jacked-Up Halloween (8.7)

For a series centered around ghouls, demons, and everything unruly, it makes sense that The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy would have one of the best Halloween specials around. After a night of successful trick r’ treating (tricks and treats at the full display), Grim tells the tale of how he started tricks on Halloween.

This involves a confrontation with a legendary trickster within Endsville who tried to cheat him for immortality that he, in turn, cheated out of a head on his shoulders. That person was Jack O’Lantern, who, after he meets Billy, soon hatches up a plan to exact his revenge.

1 Regular Show, “The Christmas Special” (8.8)

Because the park can’t go one day without something magical twisting everything or the groundskeepers getting in a fight, Christmas Day has the group defend Christmas from an evil elf. One of Santa’s lead scientists, Quillgin, invents a box that can grant any present/wish. However, the box was deemed too powerful as it corrupted anyone that got their hands on it.

Outraged that Santa tried to take away his invention, Quillgin now sets out to use the box to destroy Christmas. After crash landing on the park, Santa enlists the groundskeepers’ help to destroy the box and defeat Quillgin.

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About The Author Sean Cubillas (475 Articles Published)

As a writer, auteur, and innovator, I seek to expand human potential through the creative medium, intellectually and emotionally challenging the mass audience. I seek to work in visual and written media, whether it be in film, video games, or publishing, using a variety of mediums to express the full spectrum of art. Over the years, I’ve familiarized myself and worked with film organizations and workshops, such as the Austin Film Society, Austin Film Festival, and Austin Film Meet, to grow my understanding of the industry and hone my craft as a writer. My interaction and networking with the Austin film community as well as my interests and studies as a Writing & Rhetoric major have contributed to a fundamental and growing understanding of trends and changes within the art and media industries. In this instance, my knowledge and research could be fundamental in creating and editing effective material. As a whole, I’m a valuable asset to any organization seeking experience and knowledge of the media industry as well as any group seeking ambitious storytelling and content creation.

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