Huffington Post — Watch Santa give Krampus a seasonal smackdown on “The Aquabats! Super Show! Holiday Special”

Jim Hill

11 years ago

He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake,
He knows if you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake.

This particular refrain from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” has
always kind of creeped me out. Mostly because — according to European folklore
— St. Nick actually has this sinister sidekick called Krampus. And this horned
holiday devil will not hesitate when it comes to dropping the hammer on naughty
little girls & boys.

So how big a bad-ass is Krampus really supposed to be? Well,
if you tune in “The Aquabats! Super Show! Holiday
Special” (which airs today, December 21st on the Hub Network at 1 p.m. ET / 10
a.m. PT), you can actually watch as this seasonal demon handily defeats
five middle-aged superheroes with just a handful of switches.

“I love that scene in this show,” admitted
Christian Jacobs, who not only plays the M.C. Bat Commander on “The
Aquabats! Super Show!” but also serves as the executive producer of this
Daytime Emmy-nominated action-comedy TV series. “I mean, we put our really
tough Christmas outfits. And the Aquabats make a battle stance and then
immediately fall into the fetal position as Krampus whips us with switches for
30 seconds.”

Now it might an odd choice to build the Aquabats’ first-ever holiday special
around a beast-like creature straight out of Alpine folklore. But as Jacobs
revealed during a phone interview earlier this week, creating a Krampus-centric
“Super Show!” episode has always been a Christmas dream of his.

“When we first got signed by the Hub to do an Aquabats television series
and were then compiling possible story ideas for this show, we actually talked
about how — if we ever got the chance to do a Aquabats holiday special — how
we should really make that show ‘The Aquabats versus the Krampus,’ “
Christian explained. “I mean, having our characters do battle with this
figure out of holiday folklore who — thanks to the Internet & YouTube is
now very much on America’s Christmas radar — just seemed like a perfect
premise to build a Aquabats episode around.”

And speaking of building, the Krampus costume which was exclusively created for
“The Aquabats! Super Show! Holiday Special” honestly has to been seen
to be believed. It’s this feature film-quality full-body suit with hooves &
horns that — when married with the Arnold Schwarzenegger-inspired voice that
writer, actor, comedian Robert Smigel does for this seasonal demon — may wind
up temporarily sending some of the sensitive kids out in the audience scurrying
out of the room.

Not to worry, though. As he does in all good holiday specials (SPOILERS AHEAD),
Santa Claus eventually comes to the rescue. Screaming out of the sky aboard his
jet-powered sleigh, St. Nick saves the Aquabats by first attempting to reason
with Krampus. And when that effort fails … Well, let’s just say that Santa
must have watched a lot of WWF back in the day. Because he then begins to
deliver a sack full of holiday hurt to this seasonal devil.

Mind you, just like with every other episode of “The Aquabats!
Super Show!,” all of the on-screen fighting is very family-friendly. More
to the point, during the Aquabats’ dealings with Krampus & Santa Claus,
these characters’ tongues are always firmly planted in their cheeks.

“That always has been our goal with the Aquabats television series.
Creating something that kids & parents can enjoy together whenever they sit
down to watch the show. Which is why we’ve taken a page out of the playbook of
the greatest camp TV
show of all time, which was the ‘Batman’ television series from the
1960s,” Christian explained. “That show — with its amazing ability
to entertain both the adults and the kids in the audience, plus its
villain-of-the-week conceit — has always been the template for what we’ve trying to do with
the Aquabats television series.”

And clearly this effort is paying off, given the recent change in demographics
that Jacobs has noticed at Aquabats concerts.

“We’ll go out on the road to perform these days. And as I look out over
the audience, I notice that there are suddenly all of these 8 year-olds who are
out there dancing and singing along, clearly having a ball,” Christian
enthused. “Which means that Mom & Dad must have thought highly enough
of what we’ve been doing with the Aquabats television show to then pile the
family in the mini-van and then drive out on the concert so that their kids can
then catch the Aquabats in person.”

Which — as the father of four himself — pleases Jacobs no end. That after
nearly two decades of performing together (The Aquabats! will officially
celebrate its 20th anniversary as a group in 2014), the ‘Bats suddenly find
themselves with this brand-new audience full of kids & adults who are clearly
just discovering and now enjoying their campy mix of music & comedy.

And speaking of music … Christian and the boys are looking
to head back into the recording studio next month to mix their new album (which
may be preceded by a few singles that will be released via iTunes). They’re
also awaiting word from the higher-ups at the Hub Network about whether they’ll
soon be able to shoot any additional episodes of “The Aquabats! Super
Show!”

But all of that is off in the future. For now, Jacobs &
Co. are just concentrating on getting the word out about “The Aquabats!
Super Show! Holiday Special” as well as talking up the two “special
episodes” which immediately follow. These include “Shark
Fighter!” (which airs on the Hub Network December 28th at 1 p.m. ET / 10
a.m. PT) and “Kitty Litter!” (which airs on the Hub
Network January 18th at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT).

So if you’re now tired of watching all of the wholesome, heartfelt
holiday specials that the other networks have been airing and/or have ever
dreamed of seeing Santa show off his WWF moves, then be sure to tune in to the
Hub Network this Saturday to catch “The Aquabats! Super Show! Holiday Special.”