Editing A Decemberween Pageant

{{toonnav|Holiday Toon|xmas2002|Pumpkin Carve-nival|Superbowl Dealie}}
[[Image:xmas2002.png|200px|thumb|"Everyone's searching and looking and searching..."]]

The gang puts on a play about [[Decemberween]]'s origins.

'''Cast (in order of appearance):''' 
*{{Film|Homestar Runner}} as [[The King of Town (Decemberween)|The King of Town]]
*{{Film|Marzipan}} as [[The Angel]]
*{{Film|The King of Town}}
*{{Film|Bubs}} as [[Dr. Christmas]]
*{{Film|Coach Z}}
*{{Film|Strong Bad}} as [[Archibald]]
*{{Film|Pom Pom}} as [[Kobe|Kobe #1]]
*{{Film|The Cheat}} as [[The Popular Vote]]
*{{Film|Strong Sad}} as [[The First Decemberween]]
*{{Film|Strong Mad}} as [[Kobe|Kobe #2]]

'''Places:''' [[Stages|The Stage]], A Bathroom

'''Date:''' Monday, December 23, 2002

'''Page Title:''' A Decemberween Pageant

'''Running Time:''' 4:23

{{dvd|Everything Else, Volume 2}}

== Transcript ==
''{Marzipan and Homestar Runner are in costumes, Marzipan as an [[Angels|angel]] and Homestar as the King of Town.}''

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' Wow. I can't believe the night of the big Decemberween pageant has finally arrived! After all the weeks and weeks of rehearsing and practicing and memorizing lines...

'''MARZIPAN:''' Homestar, I don't think those are your lines.

''{Record scratch as the camera zooms out to show that they're both onstage, actually performing. The audience laughs.}''

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' What?!

''{Cut to the title sequence. "A DECEMBERWEEN PAGEANT" "THE USUAL CREDITS" "FADE TO COMMERCIAL" It fades to black, then comes back on with the "A DECEMBERWEEN PAGEANT" title.}''

'''ANNOUNCER:''' A Decemberween Pageant is brought to you by Fluffy Puff Marshmallows and Marshmallow Mayonnaise. ''{mumbled singing}'' "Made from the best stuff!" And Litigation Jackson, in theaters December 27th!

''{Fade to black. It fades up on Bubs and the King of Town, the latter of whom is wearing a Santa outfit.}''

'''THE KING OF TOWN:''' Puts on a Burger King crown and thinks he's cock of the block! I can't ''believe'' they cast Homestar as the King of Town.

'''BUBS:''' Yep. They did.

'''THE KING OF TOWN:''' At least I still get to play Dr. Christmas. I can't wait to&mdash;

'''BUBS:''' Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you about that. Uh...

''{Bubs takes the cap from the King of Town, puts it on, and walks off. Coach Z pops his head in.}''

'''COACH Z:''' Uh... Kingy? You can go home.

''{Cut to the stage, where Bubs and Strong Bad are on. Strong Bad has a spear, a turtleneck, and a beanie cap.}''

'''BUBS:''' Archibald! We've got to find the first Decemberween!

'''STRONG BAD:''' I'll search down by the docks.

'''BUBS:''' ''{quietly}'' What?

'''STRONG BAD:''' The docks. I'll search down by the docks.

'''BUBS:''' ''{still quietly}'' Ooh. I thought you said ducks. ''{louder}'' Good thinking! I'll come with ya.

''{They walk off, applause is heard. Cut to backstage as they continue walking and Coach Z is there.}''

'''COACH Z:''' Now that's what I call actin', boys! Don't go too far, Bubs! You're on again in farve!

''{Cut to Marzipan and Pom Pom, who is wearing a Lakers jersey.}''

'''MARZIPAN:''' I hardly recognize The Cheat. His costume is really convincing.

''{Cut to back on stage. Bubs is there, as well as Homestar Runner, and The Cheat, who is wearing a sign that says "The Popular Vote". There are gears in the background.}''

'''BUBS:''' We'll need fifty bags of jold! I mean, gold! Fifty bag of golds.

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' I just can't do it, Dr. Christmas. Famine has ruined all the town's gold. Let us away, Popular Vote!

''{Homestar starts getting lifted up by a rope. Pulley sounds are heard and Strong Bad is grunting. The audience makes impressed noises, then applauds. Homestar stops at about halfway up.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{offstage}'' Okay. That's all you're getting out of me. ''{The curtain closes.}'' Guy's like a frickin' house.

''{A thud is heard.}''

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' Oww!

''{Cut to backstage. Strong Sad is holding his head.}''

'''STRONG SAD:''' Augh! I'm totally freaking out here! I can't remember my lines, and if I don't remember my lines, then I'll ruin the whole play! At least the pageant.

''{Cut back to the stage. Strong Bad is in a boat named the ''USS Trimball'' and there are wooden cut-out waves being pulled back and forth, along with tentacles sticking out of stage right.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' How unfortunate! Oh, what a terrible fate has bestowed with me... uh, become to me... There's a squid.

''{Cut to later, onstage, with Marzipan and The Cheat standing by a prop Eiffel Tower.}''

'''MARZIPAN:''' I'll never forget you, Popular Vote! not in a million years! ''{The Cheat starts crying}'' Don't cry. Popular Votes aren't supposed to cry! You might rust. ''{audience laughs}''

''{Cut to backstage, with Coach Z)''

'''COACH Z:''' Oh! Hey! Ooh! Where's Strong Sad? He's on in two scenes!

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' Oh. He got nervous and went to the bathroom. I think he might be up-chucking.

''{Coach Z goes to Strong Mad}''

'''COACH Z:''' Hey Strong Mad. I need you to go get your brother.

'''STRONG MAD:''' I'M OPEN. I'M OPEN!

'' (Strong Mad waves his arms)''

'''COACH Z:''' 'Course you are, big guy. 'Course you are.

''{Cut to the stage where Strong Bad, Bubs, Marzipan, and Homestar Runner are doing a music number.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{singing}'' Everyone's searching and looking and searching...

'''MARZIPAN:''' ''{singing}'' And everyone's hanging around!

'''BUBS:''' ''{singing}'' And who can be sure if we're looking for something?

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' ''{singing}'' And looking for something I am!

''{They continue singing. Cut to Strong Mad and Strong Sad in the bathroom. Strong Sad has locked himself in a stall.}''

'''STRONG SAD:''' I'll be there in a second. Tell them to make something up until I get out there.

''{Cut to the stage. Bubs, Marzipan, and Homestar Runner are standing there.}''

'''BUBS:''' Everybody knows me. Mine name Cornbread.

''{Strong Bad walks in}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' Uhh... I found a computer. I think it can help us!

'''BUBS:''' So, this computer you speak of. Where is it?

'''STRONG BAD:''' Umm... on the moon. Naw it's a moon computer.

''{Cut to backstage with Strong Sad. He is now wearing a sash that reads "The First Decemberween".}''

'''STRONG SAD:''' Remember your line, remember your line...

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{offscreen}'' Y'know, the kind the planets use to do their taxes.

''{Cut back to the stage}''

'''MARZIPAN:''' I can take you there! Everyone hop on!

''{Strong Sad walks onstage, revealing himself wearing a diaper as part of his costume.}''

'''BUBS:''' Behold! The first Decemberween!

'''STRONG SAD:''' ''{perplexed}'' What?

''{The audience claps}''

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' This is the first Decemberween ever!

''{Applause gets louder, the curtains close, and "THE END" appears.}''

== Easter Eggs ==
*At the end, click on "The End" for the play's program, entitled "The First Decemberween." Click again to read the inside:
<pre>The First Decemberween Ever

Act I
Gerty discovers that there is
no Decemberween.

Act II
Archibald and Dr. Christmas fight
to the death on Mt. Rushmore.

Act III
The Angel and The Popular Vote
find out they have a secret past.

Act IV
Everything turns out okay.
Decemberween finally shows up.</pre>
<pre>Cast:
Archibald.................Strong Bad
The King of Town.....Homestar Runner
Angel.......................Marzipan
The Popular Vote...........The Cheat
Dr. Christmas (Cornbread).......Bubs
Kobe #1......................Pom Pom
Kobe #2...................Strong Mad
Decemberween..............Strong Sad

Directed by Coach Z
Lighting by The Poopsmith

**The King of Town is not in this play</pre>
*At the end, click just below "The End" to see the Litigation Jackson poster.
:'''ANNOUNCER:''' The system really works...jerks!
<pre>LITIGATION JACKSON
THIS DECEMBERWEEN...
THE SYSTEM REALLY WORKS, JERKS!
A Sportsinterviews/Delabor Production</pre>

== Fun Facts ==

===Explanations===
*In [[Wikipedia:United States presidential election|United States presidential elections]], the popular vote refers to how many total votes each candidate receives in the election.

===Trivia===
*The Litigation Jackson poster has a man holding a box which reads "Legal Documents."
*The clipboard Coach Z is holding reads "note to self: the show must go on!"

===Remarks===
*Archibald and Dr. Christmas apparently "fight to the death" in Scene 2, yet both of them are still alive at the end of the play.
*Although they celebrate Decemberween, there's still a Dr. ''[[Decemberween#References to Christmas|Christmas]]''; possibly because "Dr. Christmas" is more phonically pleasing than "Dr. Decemberween".
*Coach Z's neck seems unusually long when he tells The King of Town that he can go home.
*Although it says in Act I that "Gerty discovers that there is no Decemberween.", there is no "Gerty" listed in the cast.
*Strong Mad and Pom Pom (Kobe 1 and 2) never appear in the portions of the pageant shown.
* In the beginning, the movie ''Litigation Jackson'' is sponsoring the pageant and is coming out on December 27th, but the poster says it comes out on Decemberween, which is on the 25th.
*While in the bathroom Strong Sad tells Strong Mad to tell the guys to make something up, so Bubs says "Everybody knows me. Mine name Cornbread." to stall. But in the program it says Bubs's character's name is "Dr. Christmas (Cornbread)", even though he made it up without informing any one else.
*In the bathroom scene, the lock is on the outside, instead of on the inside.

===Goofs===
*Marzipan's halo disappears after her line, "Homestar, I don't think those are your lines."
*When Strong Mad waves his arms at Coach Z backstage, there's obvious line distortion between his arms and his shoulders.
*Every time Coach Z turns his head, his headset is reversed. This is because instead of being redrawn for the new direction, Coach Z's animation was simply mirrored.

===Inside References===
*At the bottom of the [[Litigation Jackson]] poster, it says "A Sportsinterviews / Delabor Production", which refers to [[Lem Sportsinterviews]] and [[Thorax Corporation]].
*When Homestar says, "This is the first Decemberween ever!", it harkens back to [[The Best Decemberween Ever]], where Homestar and Strong Bad said, "This is the '''best/worst''' Decemberween ever", respectively.
*Bubs pronounces the [[G]] in gold like a J.
*Bubs also mentions [[Ducks]].
*This is the first mention of [[taxes]].

===Real-World References===
*The "Burger King Crown" is a real product provided for free at some Burger King restaurants.
*Strong Bad's costume and the scene with the squid are both patterned after the 1954 [[Disney]] film ''[[IMDB:tt0046672|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]''.
*Marzipan's line "Popular Votes aren't supposed to cry. You might rust." is a take-off of a line spoken by [[Wikipedia:Dorothy Gale|Dorothy]] to the [[Wikipedia:Tin Woodsman|Tin Man]] in ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]''.
*[[Litigation Jackson]] is a spoof on a 1988 movie called [[imdb:tt0094612|''Action Jackson'']], which starred [[Wikipedia:Carl Weathers|Carl Weathers]] and [[Wikipedia:Sharon Stone|Sharon Stone]].
*The description of Act II in the program in the Easter egg, "Archibald and Dr. Christmas fight to the death on [[Wikipedia:Mount Rushmore National Memorial|Mt. Rushmore]]" is a reference to the movie [[IMDB:tt0053125|''North By Northwest'']], which ends with a fight on Mt. Rushmore.  The movie starred [[Wikipedia:Cary Grant|Cary Grant]], whose real first name is Archibald.
*[[Wikipedia:Kobe Bryant|Kobe Bryant]] is a superstar basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers at the time this toon was released.
*The cut to a still image of the toon title with the main theme playing under the fake product plugs is exactly the way sponsor plugs appeared in annual Christmas specials like ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' on CBS in the '80s and '90s.
*The conversation in front of the [[Wikipedia:Eiffel Tower|Eiffel Tower]], between Marzipan and The Cheat about their "secret past," is a reference to the [[Wikipedia:1942|1942]] film ''[[Wikipedia:Casablanca|Casablanca]]''.
*Bubs's character "Dr. Christmas" is most likely a reference to the common English term for Santa Claus, Father Christmas.

===Fast Forward===
*A poster for "Litigation Jackson 2" appears in an Easter egg in the Strong Bad email [[rampage]].
*The music playing in the Marzipan/The Cheat scene can be heard again in [[2 years]] and one of the Easter eggs of Strong Bad Email [[pom pom]].
*Strong Bad would dress up in his Archibald costume again in a [[Blubb-O's Commercial]].

== DVD Version ==
*The DVD version features creators' commentary. To access it, switch your DVD player's audio language selection while watching.
===Commentary Transcript===

'''MATT:''' Homestar's wearing a Burger King crown, Mike!

'''MIKE:''' That's right, and he's taped a puff of, uh, poly-fill to his chin with a piece of tape.

'''MATT:''' How do you think Marzipan's keeping that halo over her head?

'''MIKE:''' Hey, the same way Homestar Runner picks up toys.

'''MATT:''' Oooh, item&mdash;... yeah, I really like the crowd in, um, that's watching the Decemberween Pageant.

'''MIKE:''' ''{laughs}''

'''MATT:''' I just drew this really quick drawing, and you were like, "Nope, we're keepin' it."

'''MATT:''' ''{gibberish, in the voice of The Announcer}''

'''MIKE:''' Ooh, did YOU do this voice, Matt?

'''THE ANNOUNCER:''' I'm going to join you doing the commentary this time, Mike.

'''MIKE:''' ''{laughs}'' Oh, it this announcer guy.

'''THE ANNOUNCER:''' Uh, I usually like to rep&mdash;, say that things are sponsored by Dolly Madison...

'''MIKE:''' ''{laughs}''

'''THE ANNOUNCER:''' ...and York Peppermint Patties.

'''MIKE:''' So, Matt, are you back?

'''MATT:''' Yeah, that guy left.

'''MIKE:''' I remember this cartoon was made in a...

'''MATT:''' A fury.

'''MIKE:''' ... a fury, and at the end of it, I was in pretty rough shape.

'''MATT:''' Yeah, did we go out...

'''MIKE:''' We went to that Mexican restaurant with Renee and Matt's dad.

'''MATT:''' ... and Stacy&mdash; did we meet Stacy Bodee that time, too? Did she show up later? 

'''MIKE:''' Yeah, I think that's... I think we did.

'''MATT:''' Yeah, we both hadn't slept the night before, and we went and had margaritas lat&mdash;''{laughs}'' at the Mexican restaurant. That was a good idea. I like this play!

'''MIKE:''' There's part of me that wants to see the rest of the play. 

'''MATT:''' Yeah we&mdash; we should make the entire play.

'''MIKE:''' Archibald, Dr. Christmas, is that one?

'''MATT:''' The Popular Vote.

'''MIKE:''' The Popular Vote...

'''MATT:''' The show must go on.

'''MIKE:''' Two Kobe Bryants.

'''MATT:''' Two different Kobes.

'''MIKE:''' This was before Kobe was quite as controversial as he is now.

'''MATT:''' Yeah.

'''MIKE:''' Although his controversy is waning

'''MATT:''' He was clean as driven snow.

'''MIKE:''' We're all forgetting.

'''MATT:''' ''{laughs}'' Yeah, just like O. J..

'''MIKE:''' Yeah, he's playing basketball well, and&mdash; you know.

'''MATT:''' What do you think those gears... gears are part of?

'''MIKE:''' I think they might be inside a clock tower.

'''MATT:''' Oh. I always thought the were in some toy-making machine. 

'''MIKE:''' Oh. No, it's a clock tower.

'''MATT:''' Oh.

'''MIKE:''' So I think we've mentioned it before...

'''MATT:''' Ooh.

'''MIKE:''' That that's the stage from Vanderlin Elementary where we went to elementary school.

'''MATT:''' What was the name of the play that you were in when you were in a big Sylvester the Cat costume?

'''MIKE:''' That was, uh, um, "Toys"... "Christmas Toys" ''{laughs}''

'''MATT:''' "Babes in..."?

'''MIKE:''' "Babes in.." It was from "Babes in Toyland". It was a snippet of that movie.

'''MATT:''' Oh, okay.

'''MIKE:''' "Babes in Toyland" and I forget what it was called.

'''MATT:''' Yeah, look at that guy on the far&mdash; in the front row on the far right. ''{laughs}''

'''MIKE:''' Is that his mouth?

'''MATT:''' Is that his shoulder? Is that his nose?

'''MIKE:''' Does he have a big hand? A mitten-hand?

'''MATT:''' ''{laughs}'' ''{regarding The Cheat crying}'' Awwww.

'''MIKE:''' Dry your eyes!

'''MATT:''' Is she breaking up with The Popular Vote here?

'''MIKE:''' In Paris! She took him to Paris to break up with him.

'''MATT:''' ''{laughs}'' ''{regarding Homestar's "upchucking" phrase}'' Eww, Mike. 

'''MATT:''' This really gives a lot&mdash; this is how the fifth grade plays that we were in as kids ran backstage, too. I think.

'''MIKE:''' ''{laughs}''

'''MATT:''' There is a lot of insight in to the production of such a play.

'''MATT:''' That's a good song.

'''MIKE:''' I like it.

'''MATT:''' It's hard to sing as Bubs.

'''MIKE:''' ''{laughs}''

'''MATT:''' Especially back then. 

'''MIKE:''' I like the fe&mdash; the kind of hand motions and head-raising when you would sing in elementary school.

'''MATT:''' Oh yeah.

'''MIKE:''' When you hit those high notes, you gotta lift your head back.

'''MATT & MIKE:''' ''{singing}'' "Buuuuuut, theeeeee, cat came back..."

'''MATT:''' So, this is some good improv, they're just havin' make all this stuff up, right?

'''MIKE:''' Yeah, presumably. I think there was a computer involved in our fifth grade Christmas play.

'''MATT:''' There was. Yeah. Was the&mdash; was the computer a character, even?

'''MIKE:''' Uh, it wasn't a character, because if it was I certainly would've been playing it.

'''MATT:''' ''{laughs}'' So... so is that his line he was all worried about memorizing, Mike?

'''MIKE:''' I think so.

'''MATT:''' Is he supposed to ''say'' "What?" or...

'''MIKE:''' That's what I&mdash; that's how I wrote it.

'''MATT:''' That's the old Burger King logo on his Burger King crown, there, too. I wish they'd bring that back.

'''MIKE:''' Maybe they will now that you've asked for it.

===Fun Facts===
*''[[Wikipedia:Babes in Toyland (operetta)|Babes in Toyland]]'' was an operetta set in an enchanted toy factory.  Movie adaptations include a [[Wikipedia:Babes in Toyland (1934 film)|1934 Laurel and Hardy comedy]] and a [[Wikipedia:Babes in Toyland (1961 film)|1961 Disney musical]].
*[[Wikipedia:Sylvester the Cat|Sylvester the Cat]] is a [[Looney Tunes]] character.

== External Links ==
{{extlinks|xmas2002|youtube=iWYd_qPDE0U}}

{{decemberweennav}}

[[Category:Decemberween|Decemberween Pageant, A]][[Category:Performances]][[Category:DVD Commentary]]