Holiday Time

"Holiday Time" is the fifty-ninth episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and also the series' Christmas episode (though, for some reason, Christmas is almost always referred to as just "the holiday" in the story).
==Synopsis==
The holiday season has arrived on Capital Planet, and Mira and XR are walking around town. Mira loves how nice everyone is to each other this time of year, but XR says that he simply does not understand this holiday ("I spend ten unibucks on you, you spend ten on me. Why don't we all just keep our money?"). After a kid apparently mistakes XR for a big toy, the two catch up with Buzz, who is working as a street corner Santa. XR thinks Buzz is working undercover, but Buzz explains that this is simply how he gets into the holiday spirit, and remarks XR needs to do the same. Just then, a large bearded man comes up to them, saying that he is Santa Claus and he needs Buzz's help. The big guy says that something of his has been stolen, but he will not divulge what it is, and Buzz does not believe that this man is in fact Santa Claus. Buzz then gets a call from Booster, saying he needs help. Buzz leaves to go help Booster, leaving Mira and XR to take the big guy's case.
Buzz arrives at the orphanage where Booster is playing Santa, and the orphans are throwing snowballs at him because he's not the real Santa. When Buzz shows up, the kids don't think he's Santa either, asking him how exactly Santa is able to deliver all his gifts in a single night. Buzz, clearly unable to answer that question, drops his Santa act and decides to instead entertain the kids with stories about his adventures as he and Booster give out the toys. Eventually, though, Buzz receives a call from Commander Nebula, saying there's urgent business at hand.
Team Lightyear reports to Star Command, where Commander Nebula informs them that Evil Emperor Zurg is about to make a "whole lotta moves". He hands Buzz a list of the plans they've found out Zurg is plotting to enact - sabotage Star Command's fleet, bust out all the prisoners in PC-7, and steal Buzz's morning newspaper. All the rangers come to check in on their ships, which at first appear unharmed. But then there's a sudden flash of light, and when it's gone, Buzz is shocked to find that the ships are indeed all been sabotaged. Realizing that Zurg's going to hit PC-7 next, the space rangers get their ships repaired and make their way to the prison. They all form a blockade around PC-7, but then there's another flash of light, and suddenly the prisoners have all escaped. The next morning, just as Buzz is about to pick up the newspaper on his doorstep, the flash of light appears again and Zurg is right in front of him with the paper in his hands, right before disappearing with the same flash.
Later, at Capital Planet's holographic-tree-lighting ceremony, Buzz is still frustrated over how Zurg seems to keep achieving these victories. The bearded man from before shows up again, and Buzz's teammates, thinking this guy is just crazy (though Booster believes he is Santa), decide to leave. Santa frustratedly asks why nobody seems to believe anymore, to which Buzz replies that he stopped believing in Santa when he was nine. That's when Santa says that was the year Buzz wanted a Retro Rocket Racer with a working laser for Christmas, but Santa didn't bring it to him because Buzz accidentally scorched his pet cat, Fluffy, that year. Buzz, knowing that he never told anyone about that incident, finally realizes this man is Santa Claus, but he says he can't help because he needs to figure out what Zurg's next move is. Santa, however, says that Zurg is after much more than another attack against Star Command now - and sure enough, in the middle of their conversation, the flash of light happens again, after which they all see that Zurg somehow stole Capital Planet's big holographic tree. Buzz then gets another call from Commander Nebula and the Little Green Men, saying that Zurg has just stolen all traces of Christmas from every planet in the Galactic Alliance. With Santa telling him that Zurg has now stolen the holiday, the one things that's given hope to everyone in the galaxy, Buzz declares, "All right, Santa, let's save our holiday."
While bringing Buzz to his home planet, North Polaris, Santa explains how this problem began. Three days ago, while Santa was out at the reindeer games, Zurg invaded and stole Santa's Chronal Disruptor, a gadget that Santa uses to stop time, which is how he's able to deliver all his gifts on Christmas Eve. At North Polaris, Santa introduces his ElfGMs, a subspecies of LGMs who work as his toymakers and designed the Chronal Disruptor. They are already at work on a replacement, but it will not be ready for another week, and Christmas Eve is tomorrow. When Buzz asks Santa how he was able to make the deliveries before he had the Chronal Disruptor, the ElfGMs reveal a giant snowflake-shaped jetpack called the Hyperspeed Accelerator. Santa tells the ElfGMs that he does not want to attach "that monstrosity" to his ship again, but Buzz has a plan and says he'll need to attach the Accelerator to his back, and then tells his teammates to meet up with him at Tradeworld.
Later, at Tradeworld, Buzz reveals to Mira, Booster, and XR that the man is indeed Santa Claus, as they are at a loss, he's real (save a gleeful Booster) and that they have to set up a bunch of Christmas decorations. Soon after, Buzz broadcasts a live video message from Tradeworld, saying that the holiday spirit is alive and well there, in hopes that Zurg will see it. After finishing the broadcast, Buzz, having attached the Hyperspeed Accelerator to the back of his rangersuit, explains to his teammates that he's going to use it to chase down Zurg. Santa, however, explains that he'll need to launch right at the exact moment Zurg stops time. Zurg soon arrives and Team Lightyear surrounds him as if they're trying to lead him into a trap. Zurg mocks them and activates the Chronal Disruptor, gloating as everything around him appears to be frozen in place. However, Buzz fortunately launched the Hyperspeed Accelerator just as Zurg stopped time, and he is able to chase down the evil emperor in an extravagant fight sequence.
Eventually, the two combatants come to fisticuffs, resulting in both the Chronal Disruptor and the Hyperspeed Accelerator being completely trashed. As time returns to normal, Zurg finds his ion blaster is out of power and signals for his flying throne to get him out of there just as Buzz's teammates and Santa show up to outnumber him. As he escapes, Zurg gloats that he's still winning, because with the Chronal Disruptor and the Hyperspeed Accelerator both destroyed, Santa can't bring his holiday joy to everyone in the Galactic Alliance, and thus all the kids may lose hope in everything good.
Back at North Polaris, Santa explains to Team Lightyear that he fears Zurg may be right, but Buzz assures him he won't miss this holiday. XR asks Santa how exactly he was able to deliver all his gifts before he had the Hyperspeed Accelerator, so Santa brings out "the old way" - his flying sleigh, which he explains is powered by belief. Booster, Mira, and Buzz all express that they believe in Santa, which gets the sleigh powered up, but Santa says he can't make the trip if the sleigh isn't at full capacity. He says that someone in this room doesn't seem to believe, referring to XR. XR says that he still doesn't get "this holiday stuff", but Santa says that he does believe more than anyone and refuses to admit it. XR insists that's not true, but then Buzz says the sleigh's gauge is almost full, and XR, after accidentally saying this must be "a Santa trick", finally does realize it. With that, Team Lightyear assists Santa in delivering presents to all the good children in the Galactic Alliance. When they're finished and celebrating a job well done, Mira notices XR is missing, and Santa explains that it's because he had something special he wanted to do. We then see that XR is spending Christmas with the kid who mistook him for a toy at the beginning of the episode.
==Cast==
*Patrick Warburton as Buzz Lightyear, LGM
*Stephen Furst as Booster
*Larry Miller as XR
*Nicole Sullivan as Mira Nova
*Wayne Knight as Zurg
*Adam Carolla as Commander Nebula
*Shaun Fleming as Boy
*Earl Boen as Santa Claus
==Trivia==
*Buzz dressing up as Santa is a coincidental reference to how Tim Allen played both characters (the latter in The Santa Clause film series).
*Earl Boen, who voiced Santa in this episode, had previously voiced the character in the Pinky and the Brain Christmas episode five years earlier, and would voice the character again in the Johnny Bravo Christmas special a year after this.
*Santa and Buzz's "You're mocking me, aren't you?"/"Oh, no no no..." exchange is a direct nod to a scene in Toy Story, in which Buzz himself questioned if Woody was mocking him.
==External links==
*Christmas Specials Wiki: 
Category:Buzz Lightyear of Star Command episodes
Category:Christmas episodes