2012 Editors Choice Award Winner-Best Online Animated Series/Short- “A Jesus Christ Christmas”

Yea, its late we know. But, Rich made sure to go through the nominees with a fine comb so that we can get a clear winner on the best animated short/series on the wire and tell you which one was the funniest. So say your prayers and jump!

I’d like to start off this article by saying that its been an absolute honor and privilege to be able to sit here and review internet videos for you guys and gals each and every week. I came on to the Webs Day team mid-season, taking over for John Blabber, and its been a hell of a ride. Writing these reviews and watching these shows has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to show you all what I’ve/we’ve got in store for next year. With that said, lets get down to brass tacks and start talking about what I thought was the best of the best when it comes to online animation.

Over this years run of Webs Day there has only been three perfect scores. That’s it…three. They were Frankly Frank, Arby & The Chief and a video from StuffGodHates called “A Jesus Christ Christmas.” I’ve been straining my brain to figure out which of these three shows deserved the title of Best Online Animated Short. I’ve seen these videos probably thirty times each. The audio from these shows has filled my house so many times that my future father-in-law actually knows parts of these shows word for word. Yeah, that much. I’ve flipped coins, I’ve drawn charts, hell, I even labeled three piles of food in my guinea pigs cage to have him vote! And then it dawned on me. Animated comedy, like other things in life, should not be this complicated and should be purely based on laughter. And “A Jesus Christ Christmas” made me laugh the most. Arby & The Chief was visually stunning for a Halo based mod, but lacked in the laugh department. Frankly Frank was friggin’ hilarious, but fell a bit short in the run time. Not that it was too short, it just ran into some stiff competition.

“A Jesus Christ Christmas” is not afraid to pull any punches when it comes to getting a good laugh. Jesus is called a bitch by a bird who represents the Holy Spirit, smokes weed, and calls his pet dinosaur Dinky a “materialist A-hole” for showing up with a Williams & Sonoma catalogue all within the first 4:30 of the show. And that’s before the Christmas War starts. And before Jesus, who is still high, debates the leader of The Global Atheists on The Pope’s Podcast. I think the part that made all of this overly hilarious to me is that the show loosely follows the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” story arch. Jesus playing the lovable loser, Charlie Brown style character combined with the the stereotypical stoner character was a genius move! The voice over acting in this show is great. Jesus (the hippie), God (the gruff but lovable father figure) and The Holy Spirit (a fast talking, almost ghetto bird) are all voiced perfectly to the character design.

The animation, to me, seems like a nice combination of old South Park and new South Park in a sense that the art is semi-basic but the brightness of the colors ties it together very well. The cut scenes where Jesus is smoking weed while the world around him goes paisley and tye-dyed were incredibly well designed and funny. The backdrops are very well drawn, the scenes are very well thought out and the colors pop right off the screen. All around great animating by our Lord and Savior.

I’ve had a great time watching all the videos in this years Webs Day but “A Jesus Christ Christmas” is leaps and bounds better than anything I’ve seen this year. Exceptional work and congratulations to God and his crew….. or are they disciples??? Regardless, they did a great job.