If there’s one thing Homestar Runner is known for (besides its weird sense of humor and colorful character designs), it’s musical numbers.
Fans bought hundreds of thousands of copies of Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits, and two of the songs from that album (Strong Bad’s “Trogdor” theme song and Limozeen’s hair-metal pastiche “Because It’s Midnite”) were included as bonus songs in Guitar Hero titles. The Brothers Chaps have collaborated with They Might Be Giants numerous times (like the “Puppet Jam” shorts and the tune to Strong Bad’s “Different Town” song in SBEmail #99). And some cartoons are devoted to a whole catchy song, as can be seen with their 2007 holiday cartoon Happy Dethemberween
The cartoon opens with the gang watching Brundo the Decemberween Yak and the Sword of St. Olaf, a fictional holiday special in the style of Rankin-Bass Productions’ stop-motion specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Strong Sad is baffled as to what a magic sword and a talking yak have to do with Decemberween.
Homestar: You heard that nasty old puppet! The magic of Decemberween is inside all of us!
Strong Bad has his own idea of what Decemberween is all about and, as anticipated by Strong Sad, tells everyone about it... in the form of a song, no less.
Strong Bad: It happens each Decemberween
Though some would say it doesn’t
The best thing that you’ve ever seen
Even better than your hot cousin!
Marzipan: Better than Deborah?
Strong Bad: Well, maybe not better than Deborah... ooh, Deborah!
I’m talking about a magic man
That defies the laws of physics!
He turns “Decemberween” into “Dethemberween”!
Strong Sad: Tell us, man, who is it?
That figure is none other than the Thnikkaman, the mysterious figure from the Strong Bad Email “monument” who catches the attention of all with his cool attitude and sassy back-up singers... despite just being Bubs in a pair of cool shades with the letters “TH” taped to his chest.
Strong Bad: He’s the Dethemberween Thnikkaman
And he’ll make your dreams come true!
No, there ain’t no beatin’ that holiday feeling
When he says “Shut up!” to you!
Thnikkaman: Yeah, shut up, kid!
Apparently he serves double-duty as a Santa Claus-like figure who borrows people’s hedge-clippers, fills your bedroom slippers with blank cassette tapes and rewrite-able DVDs (”It was eight-tracks, back in my day!” according to Coach Z), and cold-calls folks with “discount travel packages” (”Las Vegas, for twenty dollars a night? Thanks, Dethemeberween Thnikkaman!”)
Strong Bad gets everyone so excited about a visit from the Dethemberween Thnikkaman (”Flying through the night in an unmarked van”) that they all join in for a rousing reprise of the chorus
All: He’s the Dethemberween Thnikkaman
And he’ll make your dreams come true!
Homestar: Doodly-doodly-doo!
Strong Bad: No, there ain’t no ceiling on that holiday feeling
All: When he says “Shut up!” to you!
Thnikkaman: Yeah, shut up, to one and all o’ dang y’all!
Homestar: Uh, just so we're all on the same page here, we are just talking about Bubs with a piece of paper taped to his chest, right?
“Happy Dethemberween” is a short but simple cartoon that puts a surreal twist on the Santa Claus mythos, much like “The Best Decemberween Ever” and “Homestar Presents: Presents” mocked the “must find the perfect gift for your best friend/significant other” plotline and other Christmas special cliches.
Next year’s special will be another two-fer, with more holiday music and a hot Jones for some death-defying entertainment...
