The Predator Holiday Special

Last updated

The Predator Holiday Special
The Predator Holiday Special poster.jpg
Official poster
Directed by
  • David Brooks
  • Alex Kamer
Written by
Based on Predator
by Jim and John Thomas
Produced byChris Franchino
Starring
CinematographyHelder Sun
Edited byClayton Baker
Production
company
Distributed by Comedy Central
Release dates
  • December 18, 2018 (2018-12-18)
( The Predator DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release)
December 19, 2018 (Comedy Central)
December 20, 2018 (YouTube)
Running time
2 minutes, 15 seconds
CountryUnited States

The Predator Holiday Special is a 2018 stop-motion animated short comedy film based on the Predator franchise and the 1964 Christmas television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer . Starring the voices of Dave B. Mitchell, Xander Mobus, and Keith Silverstein, the film follows Santa Claus and his elves and reindeer as they have an encounter with a Yautja (Predator) at the North Pole. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

At the North Pole, elf-worker Sprinkles and security guard reindeer Blitzen are talking about how excited they are for Christmas Eve when a tri-laser sight from a Yautja (Predator) appears on Blitzen's flank. Recognising its indication, Blitzen pushes Sprinkles aside, draws out his signature mini-gun, and opens fire on the treeline, before he is killed by a shot from the unseen Yautja. Fleeing into the surrounding woods, a panicked Sprinkles attempts to radio Prancer and the other reindeer for backup, only to find the skinned corpse of Dasher hanging from a tree, before Sprinkles himself is impaled by the Yakutia's wrist-blades.

Having received Sprinkles' call, Prancer and several other heavily armed reindeer head into the woods to find the Yautja, but are ambushed and quickly slain. After decapitating its prey, the Yautja next makes for Santa's cottage; seeing the creature approach, Santa calls upon his final reindeer, Larry (a John Rambo and Dutch Schaefer-inspired reindeer), who guns the creature down with an M16, before Santa and Larry share a congratulatory hi-five.

Several more Yautja from the deceased's hunting party suddenly decloak around the fallen hunter's corpse; as a sign of respect for defeating their comrade, the group's leader hands Santa a trophy from a previous hunt — the Easter Bunny's basket, full of Easter eggs. As the Yautja prepare to leave in peace with their fallen brother, they are suddenly all killed by an enraged Sprinkles in a savage acrobatic hand-to-hand brawl, oblivious to their peaceful intentions. In a post-credits scene, Santa and Larry look upon the scene of carnage in shock, before one of the eggs in the Easter basket, a Xenomorph egg, opens, shocking Santa as a facehugger jumps out. [3]

Cast

Production

On December 12, 2018, The Predator Holiday Special was announced alongside the promotional poster, to air during a broadcast of BoJack Horseman . [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The short was released on December 18, 2018 with the DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release of The Predator , airing on Comedy Central the following day on December 19 in promotion of it, and to the 20th Century Fox YouTube channel the following day to that, on December 20. [10] [11]

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on December 17, 2018, Matthew Senreich and David Brooks of Stoopid Buddy Stoodios attributed the production of The Predator Holiday Special to "a random hangout moment" they'd had at Comic-Con with 20th Century Fox's vice president of worldwide creative strategy, Matt Motschenbacher, calling the film a "bloody and gory" take on the 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , while serving as "a fun homage to Predator in a stop-motion technique [and] turning it 90 degrees on its side". [12]

Reception

The Predator Holiday Special received a universally positive critical reception, by such outlets as Screen Rant , [13] MovieWeb , [14] Slash Film , [15] Cinema Blend , [16] ComingSoon.net , [17] The Playlist , [18] Geek Tyrant, [19] First Showing, [20] and It's A Stampede!. [21]

References

  1. ↑ Nguyen, John (December 12, 2018). "The Predator hunts Santa and his reindeer in upcoming Holiday Special". Nerd Reactor. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  2. ↑ IGN Staff (December 20, 2018). "The Predator Holiday Special". IGN . Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  3. ↑ Mollo, Drew (December 20, 2018). "Watch: The Predator Holiday Special Delivers Stop-Motion Gore". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ Squires, John (December 12, 2018). "[Trailer]'The Predator' Battles Santa Claus in Official Stop Motion Animated Holiday Special!". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved December 12, 2018. Check out the official trailer for the holiday special below and catch the entire special on December 19 on Comedy Central during " BoJack Horseman " at 10:30pm / 9:30 CT!
  5. ↑ The Predator Holiday Special, Airing December 19 on Comedy Central. Bloody Disgusting Horror . December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Paur, Joey (December 12, 2018). "The Predator is on The Hunt For Santa in This Trailer For The Predator Holiday Special". Geek Tyrant. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  7. ↑ Evangelista, Chris (December 12, 2018). "'The Predator Holiday Special' Trailer Pits The Predator Against Santa Claus". Slash Film . Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Cavanaugh, Patrick (December 12, 2018). "'The Predator Holiday Special' Trailer Released". ComicBook.com . Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ Cranswick, Amie (December 13, 2018). "The Predator Holiday Special gets a trailer". Flickering Myth. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  10. ↑ Dick, Jeremy (December 20, 2018). "'The Predator'Holiday Special Pits Predators Against Santa". Horror Geek Life. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  11. ↑ Millican, Josh (December 20, 2018). "In Case You Missed It: Here's the PREDATOR Stop-Motion Holiday Special from Last Night". Dread Central . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  12. ↑ Gomez, Patrick (December 17, 2018). "Behind the scenes of the Predator stop-motion holiday special". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  13. ↑ Cotter, Padraig (December 20, 2018). "The Predator Takes On Santa In Official "Holiday Special"". Screen Rant . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  14. ↑ Scott, Ryan (December 20, 2018). "Watch the Full Predator Stop-Motion Holiday Special". MovieWeb . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  15. ↑ Evangelista, Chris (December 20, 2018). "'The Predator Holiday Special' Has Stop-Motion Predators Fighting Santa And His Armed Reindeer". Slash Film . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  16. ↑ Libbey, Dirk (December 20, 2018). "The Predator Meets Rudolph In Violent NSFW Short". Cinema Blend . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  17. ↑ Long, Christian (December 20, 2018). "Watch The Predator Holiday Special and Get Some Christmas Cheer". ComingSoon.net . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  18. ↑ Barfield, Charles (December 21, 2018). "'The Predator Holiday Special' Is A Stop-Motion Bloodbath That Makes You Almost Forget About Shane Black's Sequel". The Playlist . Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  19. ↑ Paur, Joey (December 20, 2018). "The Predator is Out For Santa's Blood in The Predator Holiday Special". Geek Tyrant. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  20. ↑ Billington, Alex (December 23, 2018). "Ring in the Holidays with Fox's Stop-Motion 'Predator Holiday Special'". First Showing. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  21. ↑ Wiggan, Alex (May 30, 2020). "Watch: The Predator Holiday Special". It's A Stampede!. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
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