The Simpsons - 'The Fight Before Christmas'
In four Christmas tales....Bart takes a "Polar Express"-like ride to the North Pole to ask Santa for a dirt bike; in the 1940s, Lisa worries about Marge after she's drafted to fight Nazis; Martha Stewart uses her household knowhow to spruce-up the Simpson house for the holidays; the family celebrates a Muppet-like Christmas.
Marge engages in the arduous task of assembling Christmas decorations on the roof of the house. Everything comes together beautifully until a plastic Santa-and-his-reindeer display slides off the roof and explodes. Later, Bart tells Marge that he's set a trap for Santa: he's prepared milk and cookies to trick Santa into standing still long enough to threaten him with his BB gun. It turns out that Bart is mad at St. Nick because he's asked for a dirt bike three years in a row. This year, Bart is determined to get his bike. As Bart dozes that evening, he dreams that a large locomotive pulls up to the house. With Otto at the controls—and marijuana feeding the train's firebox—Bart sets out on a psychedelic "Polar Express"-like journey to the North Pole. When the train reaches its destination, Bart approaches an elf-like Moe and asks to speak with Santa. Moe gives Bart a job in the wrapping room. Moe is so impressed with Bart's smarts, he quickly promotes Bart to Toy Inspector. Before long, Bart is promoted to Vice President. He makes his way to the building's top floor, where he speaks with Lisa. Lisa quickly realizes that Bart is interested in only one thing: confronting Santa about the toy he never got. Lisa calls security, but the Snowmen Guards melt when Bart turns up the heat. Bart notices a door marked "S. Claus." He walks inside and tells Santa he deserves his dirt bike. Santa tells Bart that Christmas-business is so bad, he's been forced to eat his own reindeer. Once Bart leaves the office, Santa lights up a cigar using a $100 bill. Later, Wiggum pursues Otto's flying train.
Lisa shuts her eyes and falls asleep. Her dream is set in the 1940s, with Marge serving as a WAC during the Battle of the Bulge and Homer relegated to riveting aircraft because of his weight. One night, Homer drags home a Christmas tree. Lisa tells Homer she used to love Christmas trees until the previous year, when she went tree shopping with Marge. On that night, Patty and Selma informed Marge that she was shipping out immediately. Lisa says she doesn't want to see another Christmas tree until her mother returns home, safe and sound. A short time later, Homer receives a telegram stating that Marge is missing in action. Lisa again associates Marge's disappearance with Christmas trees. Lisa runs off...and accidentally bumps into the salesman who sold Marge last year's Christmas tree. The tree salesman says that Marge paid for the tree but never took it. He's been keeping it healthy ever since. Lisa believes this is a sign that Marge is alive and okay. Meanwhile, in a spoof of "Inglourious Basterds," Marge blows up a movie theater where Hitler and his colleagues are watching a film.
Marge writes a letter to Santa Claus asking him to save the family Christmas. The letter blows out of her hand and sails through the sky, ending up in what appears to be the North Pole. But it turns out that Marge didn't address the letter to Santa; she addressed it to home improvement maven Martha Stewart. The letter swoops down Stewart's fireplace and ends up on a small end table. Stewart opens the letter, reads the contents and exclaims that she's on her way. She straps on a jetpack and flies off into the night. Stewart awakens Marge and sets to work improving the house for the holidays. She then turns her attention to Bart and Milhouse, dressing them up like toy soldiers. Homer presents a challenge. While he slumbers on the couch, Stewart covers Homer in a curtain and creates a traditional Christmas tableau. When Homer starts to awaken, threatening her work, Stewart knocks him unconscious by dabbing some green liquid onto a napkin and holding it over his mouth. Marge tells Stewart that, while she appreciates all of her help, Christmas just isn't the same without her family being themselves. Stewart waves a magic wand and returns the family to normal. On Christmas morning, Homer and the kids make Marge breakfast-in-bed.
(In this homage to "The Muppets," all of the Simpsons characters appear as live-action puppets.) Homer prepares to take the family to Hawaii for Christmas. They hire Moe to house-sit. He devours a plate of cookies, Cookie Monster-style. Before the family can set off for the airport, Mr. Burns appears. Homer realizes he's in trouble, as he faked a neck injury to get away from work. Burns explains that he experienced a dream in which three spirits showed him a single mourner at his gravesite. That's more than Burns had expected, so now he wants to celebrate. Homer drags Flanders' Christmas tree into the house and pretends as if it belongs to the family. Eventually, Homer comes clean and tells Burns he told a lie so the family could go to Hawaii. A sexy celebrity appears and gives Mr. Burns a hug. Burns forgives Homer and tells the family to enjoy their trip. He leads the others in a rendition of "Thirty-Nine Days of Christmas."
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