Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas is the fourth episode of the third season of Ben 10, and the thirtieth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
When the Rustbucket's A/C goes on the fritz in the middle of the desert, Ben, Max and Gwen take refuge at Holiday Village, an over-the-top Christmas theme park that seems to appear out of nowhere. The place is run by an evil entity known as Mr. Jingles, who takes Max prisoner because he believes Max is Santa! It's up to Ben and Gwen to free Max and break the spell Mr. Jingles has cast on Holiday Village, freeing others who've been trapped there for years and releasing the theme park.
==Plot==
The episode begins with the Rustbucket driving through a desert called Death Valley during a hot day and the air conditioning is broken, so Ben transforms into Grey Matter to increase the air conditioner's output, only for it to be blown apart and overheat, prompting Max to pull over and vent out the smoke and dust. 
In the distance, Gwen and Grey Matter perceive some type of a cottage and the three check it out. It is the entrance to an abandoned holiday theme park, with cold air and snow. Inside, it is a winter village paradise. From afar, an old man watches the Tennysons arrive. When they get there, it turns out to be a large wooden building, flanked by two giant wooden soldiers that has a cool breeze coming from inside. Max said that it is probably an abandoned holiday theme park. Upon entering, Ben, Gwen, and Max come upon a winter wonderland village that had real snow in it. After having a brief snowball fight, the three of them walk into town to discover that it is entirely Christmas-themed, with people looking like elves, reindeer pulling sleds stacked with Christmas presents, a Christmas tree being decorated in the town square with a star on top, and a toy band marching around, playing horns. Max then says that this reminds him that their family never really had a proper Christmas together due to familial issues and that he hopes that it'll end so the Tennyson family can celebrate underneath one roof like he always wanted.
As Ben goes bobsledding and Gwen goes ice-skating, Max goes into a store for some hot chocolate where he encounters a group of elves, asking him to come with them. Max believes that he is being taken somewhere to pay for his drink as another elf looks at him, with his eyes blue instead of the usual green like everyone else's. Max is taken into a building where he meets Mr. Jingles, the mayor of Holiday Village, who claims that Max is really Santa Claus, and that the village was made specifically for him and does not want him to go. Mr. Jingles then orders the elves to dress Max up as Santa Claus, as he presses a button that magnetizes Max to a chair that is behind him after he is dressed. Mr. Jingles then pulls out a joystick remote that controls Max as he is brought into the workshop and presented to the elves working inside, causing them to cheer happily now that "Santa" has arrived. Mr. Jingles says that he was happy that Max brought his grandchildren along, claiming that he could always use more elves.
Out in the town square, Ben and Gwen are busy looking at some of the presents underneath the tree as they turned and saw several nutcracker soldiers, similar to the ones outside the front gate, arrive and begin to fire candy canes at them. Ben attempts to transform into Heatblast, but he transforms into XLR8 and he grabs Gwen and runs. XLR8 runs onto ice and has some trouble with it. The two fall into a snowbank and are surrounded by soldiers. Gwen continues to fight the soldiers and XLR8 grabs her and runs away. XLR8 throws snowballs at the soldiers, defeating them, before reverting back into Ben. The elf from before named Elsgood arrives and says that if Ben and Gwen don't leave, they will transform into elves. Ben is skeptical, but the transformations have already begun. Ben and Gwen's eyes become solid green, their cheeks turn rosy, and their ears become pointy. Elsgood tells the two that Mr. Jingles has Max, and the park turns to night. Snow monsters appear and chase the three. They hide in a building filled with pictures of Mr. Jingles. Elsgood reveals that he thinks it is still 1932. He opens a trapdoor and the Tennysons follow him. They fall down a chute into the workshop and Elsgood says that they need to destroy Mr. Jingles's machine called the Jingleator. Ben transforms into Wildmutt and, while pretending to be a reindeer, sneaks Gwen and Elsgood in. Inside, they get on a train leading to the factory below, as does a toy soldier. They knock him off, but more jump on. Wildmutt fights them, but the three are knocked off of the train by a jack-in-the-box.
They fall into the workshop and Mr. Jingles arrives. Ben sees Max and confronts Jingles. Ben, Gwen, and Elsgood are put to work on the assembly line. Elsgood points out the Jingleator and Ben distracts the reindeer and tries to transform into Four Arms, but he transforms into Grey Matter. Grey Matter sneaks along the assembly line, but he is spotted by Mr. Jingles. Luckily, Grey Matter escapes from Mr. Jingles' minions with Gwen's help and enters the machine. He makes his way to the center and shuts it down, causing all of the toys and Mr. Jingles' minions to shut down as well. The machine explodes and Max escapes from Mr. Jingles' control. Grey Matter reverts into Ben and the curse is still active. Mr. Jingles says that he needs to make perfect toys for the curse to lift and Max says that gifts aren't the true purpose of Christmas, but being together is. Ben transforms into Stinkfly and flies around the world in order to deliver the gifts. They return to Holiday Village to find the curse lifted and families there and meet an elderly Elsgood, who was never trapped. They return to the road, and the Rustbucket's air conditioning is still broken.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
====Character Debuts====
*Elsgood
*Elves 
*Mr. Jingles
*Giant Panda Plushes
*Nutcrackers
*Snow Phantoms
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Max Tennyson
===Supporting Characters===
*Elsgood (first appearance)
*Elves (first appearance)
===Antagonists===
*Mr. Jingles (first appearance)
**Giant Panda Plushes (first appearance)
**Nutcrackers (first appearance)
**Snow Phantoms (first appearance)
==Aliens Used==
*Grey Matter (x2; second time intended alien was Four Arms)
*XLR8 (selected alien was Heatblast)
*Wildmutt
*Stinkfly
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Allusions==
*The way Grey Matter jumps around from box to box inside of the Jinglelator and the music is similar to a Super Mario Bros. level.
*Elsgood's grandchildren are modeled after Konohomaru, Moegi, and Udon from Naruto.
*Sunmin's name is a reference to Sunmin Image Pictures.
Christmas (1481).png|Naruto reference
==Errors==
*In many shots, the Omnitrix's dial faces the wrong way.
Christmas (405).png|Omnitrix dial error
Christmas (447).png|Omnitrix dial error
Christmas (696).png|Omnitrix dial error
Christmas (763).png|Omnitrix dial error
Christmas (796).png|Omnitrix dial error
Christmas (1373).png|Omnitrix dial error
Christmas (1507).png|Omnitrix dial error
==Trivia==
*This episode is the franchise's first Christmas special.
*When the trio travel around the world to deliver the gifts, a map is shown, indicating their starting location to be in Texas. This means Holiday Village is situated in Texas.
*The cold open of the episode was storyboarded by Brian Clothier.
*Elsgood's grandchildren were designed by Philip Bourassa.
*The crew has not officially decided whether Santa Claus is real in the Ben 10 universe, but Mr. Jingles definitely believed so, before his death.
*As shown via deleted scenes on the Ben 10: The Complete Season 3 DVD, two scenes were meant to be longer than they were in the final version of the episode, namely Grey Matter's journey to the center of the Jinglelator and Stinkfly delivering gifts around the world.
==Notes==
==References==
===Production Material===
====Backgrounds====
===Crew Statements===
====Duncan Rouleau====
====Thomas Perkins====
===Cartoon Network===
==See Also==
*Magical Holiday Village Timeline
*Elsgood
*Thomas Jingles
*Jinglelator
*Elves
es:Feliz Navidad
pl:Wesołych Świąt
pt-br:Feliz Natal
ro:Crăciun fericit
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Season 3 Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by Sebastian Montes
Category:Filler
Category:Featured Articles