Dong-Chouel's Perfect Christmas

***Dong-Chouel's Perfect Christmas*** is an hour-long *Dong-Chouel* special that first aired on December 22, 1988

## Characters

* Dong-Chouel
* Young-Chouel
* Lee-Choi
* Sid-Jeon
* Swoople
* Jimmy
* Joey
* Harrison
* Mr. Chouel
* Ms. Chouel
* Ki-Chouel
* Kim-Seo
* Myung-Hee
* Mall Elf
* Mall Santa
* Deon de Newsman
* Harameoni-Chouel
* Harabeoji-Chouel
* Eun-Chouel
* Seok-Chouel
* Hana-Chouel (does not speak)
* Nari-Chouel (does not speak)
* Iseul-Chouel (does not speak)

## Plot

On Christmas Eve, Young helps Dong-Chouel redeem his year's worth of bad deeds for one last chance to get on Santa's nice list. Meanwhile, Swoople, Lee and Sid find a gift for Ki-Chouel

## Summary

The Chouel Family are excitedly celebrating Christmas as they are all together again. After singing a joyous song, Young informs Dong-Chouel he might be on the naughty list due to his numerous misdeeds. He panics at the thought of not getting his Christmas presents this year, but Young tells him he still has good in him and they will simply go out and perform good deeds before the day is done. Outside the Chouel house, Swoople waits by sitting down from Dusk till dawn, As his contury cousin Harrison comes,

The next day, Dong-Chouel makes sure he gets some great gifts for his parents including the same glass bird Ki-Chouel broke in Chuseok.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chouel has big plans for how he wants to celebrate Christmas Eve before the big day, but when he mentions how the family will give each other gifts as Lee and Sid get to the Chouel house, They panic that they did not get anything for Ki this year. Not wanting to disappoint him, the two decide to team up to get him a gift. they go on a quest, Joining Swoople and Harrison with them

Dong-Chouel and Young perform numerous good deeds, but Dong-Chouel gets tired and decides to simply go to the mall to see Santa. After sneaking past a mall elf, Dong-Chouel tries to speak to him, but is outed and accidentally depants Santa who tells him he is definitely naughty. Feeling no one else should celebrate Christmas, Dong-Chouel decides to simply pull pranks non-stop,

As the four get ready to go to the mall, they see the school having the play about Baby Jesus, Lee tells Kim-Seo that they don't have much time for the play

Dong-Chouel decides his next prank will be to replace the giant star on the Christmas tree with "a moon", but while doing so, he and Young fight resulting in the destruction of the star and toppling of the tree. Young is caught and accused of ruining Christmas by everyone with the mall store Santa stating he is on the naughty list. After running away, Young voices his disapproval of his brother's actions and how he is disappointed in him, making Dong-Chouel feel bad. Swoople angrily heads home and watches television when he sees a blizzard is coming and races out to find Lee, Harrison Sid and the Chouel family, starting with Lee, Harrison and Sid who both are thankful for seeing him.

Dong-Chouel sadly wanders through the snow before being approached by another Santa, whom Dong-Chouel thinks is the same one from the mall, but clearly different. Dong-Chouel admits he was wrong and should not have done what he did. Santa offers Dong a present that can be anything he wants, but Dong decides he just wants his brother on the nice list and Santa leaves. Dong is found by Mr-Chouel who also got Young. The entire family returns home in silence. The next morning, The Chouel kids are shocked they got all their presents - even Dong because of the selfless act he performed, and Ki finds the terrible Crazy Train figure from Swoople and Harrison and happily thanks them for it. As Dong-Chouel opens one of the gifts, he sees the box, nothing, Dong-Chouel super angry that he, threw all the ornaments out of the tree, threw the Christmas tree out of the house, and causes another mall incident, Dong-Chouel gets caught and has an angry crowd, (including his parents and the police) around him,

The entire crowd turns against Dong-Chouel and throws tomatoes at him, Dong-Chouel passes by a shanty area, and runs by a poor family and injures the son, The Chouel family were shocked at the poor child's condition,

The Doctor tells a worried looking Dong-Chouel that the boy will pull through but that for the foreseeable future he needs plenty of bed rest, accompanied by peace, and quiet. No sooner does he say this, than a commotion is heard outside.

Swoople looks out the window and sees an angry mob has gathered. Instead of showing sympathy, they bear slanderous signs and banners, whilst repeatedly chanting "It's Your Fault, Dong-Chouel" over and over. Ms. Chouel, infuriated and fed-up, confronts the mob and scolds them for what they had done to both her son, and the boy. When she, Young, Ki, Mr-Chouel, Lee and Swoople call everyone hypocrites, since they themselves participated in similar events when they were younger, the crowd has absolutely no counter-response. Swoople states that this unjustified treatment coupled with the memory of his first christmas with the Chouel's last year, Now feeling guilty, the entire town (except Hongdo-Geum and his grandson) apologizes for insulting Dong-Chouel and seeking to make amends

At sundown, The entire family sings again, The special ends with Swoople throwing a snowball to the camera

## Trivia

* Clips from "Dong Betrays Sae", War of the Weirds", "Dong's Family Reunion", "Dong-Chouel and the Harsh and Difficult Winter" and "Mr. Perfect" are seen during Dong-Chouel's recollection of bad deeds,
* The background music for this special was recorded by a orchestra at Abbey Road Studios with Hoyt Curtin conducting the music
* Re-used animation from Dong-Chouel's Valentine is used during the opening when Dong-Chouel throws a big snowball to Ki-Chouel
* Young has done very few naughty deeds according to his tally list; those may allude to throwing a persimmon to an old lady in "On The Way to Seoul", accusing Dong-Chouel for ruining his puzzles in "I Think I Will Never See Dong-Chouel Being In Trouble", ruining Mr-Chouel's soufflé in "Dong's Family Feud" and telling Chang-Ho to forget about the Swoopie War, in "War of the Weirds"
* This episode might take place after Dong-Chouel and the Harsh and Difficult Winter
* List of Dong-Chouel's good deeds
	+ Returning a gift an old lady dropped
	+ Massaging an old lady
	+ Helping feed a dog on the sidewalk
	+ Giving a sweater to a freezing man
	+ Giving food to the poor
	+ Saving one of Ki-Chouel's friends from getting hit with an icicle
	+ Getting Young back in the nice list
* List of Dong-Chouel's naughty pranks
	+ Tripping a man over garland
	+ Lets a man slip on an icy patch
	+ Adding gochugaru to peoples' hot cocoa and candy canes
	+ Tosses a wreath into a poor family's house
	+ Throwing snowballs at the *Gyeongbokgung*
	+ Alters a "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" sign to "Buy All Free"
	+ Dents a soldier's hat with his toboggan
	+ Spills chestnuts down a sewer
	+ Stabs some snowmen with tinselstring
	+ Scares some children looking at the Toy Store window
	+ Adds fish to peoples' stockings
	+ Replaces the Jamsil store Christmas star with him mooning the people

## Cultural References

* During "Christmas Ingenuity", The Chouel Family (except Ki) mimic repetitive dance moves from A Pup Named Scooby Doo
* The song "If I Can't Have Christmas" where Dong-Chouel goes naughty and pranks the town is reminiscent of the Grinch stealing Christmas in the Dr. Seuss book

## Goofs

* During the intro when Dong-Chouel throws a snowball at Ki's snowman, Rene Goscinny's name is erroneously credited as Albert Goscinny