| The Predator Holiday Special | |
|---|---|
 Official titlecard | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by |
|
| Based on | |
| Produced by | Chris Franchino |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Helder Sun |
| Edited by | Clayton Baker |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
December 19, 2018 (Comedy Central) December 20, 2018 (YouTube) |
Running time | 2 minutes, 15 seconds |
| Country | United States |
The Predator Holiday Special is a 2018stop-motionanimatedshortcomedy film based on thePredator franchise. Starring the voices ofDave B. Mitchell,Xander Mobus, andKeith Silverstein, the film followsSanta Claus and hiselves andreindeer as they have an encounter with aPredator at theNorth Pole.[1][2]
At theNorth Pole,elf-worker Sprinkles andsecurity guardreindeer Blitzen are talking about how excited they are forChristmas Eve when a tri-laser sight from aYautja (Predator) appears on Blitzen's flank. Recognising its indication, Blitzen pushes Sprinkles aside, draws out his signaturemini-gun, and opens fire on the treeline, before he is killed by a shot from the unseen Yautja. Fleeing into the surrounding woods, a panicked Sprinkles attempts to radio Prancer and the other reindeer for backup, only to find the skinned corpse of Dasher hanging from a tree, before Sprinkles himself is impaled by the Yautja's wrist-blades.
Having received Sprinkles' call, Prancer and several other heavily armed reindeer head into the woods to find the Yautja, but are ambushed and quickly slain. After decapitating its prey, the Yautja next makes for Santa'scottage. Seeing the creature approach, Santa calls upon his final reindeer, Larry (aJohn Rambo andDutch Schaefer-inspired reindeer), who guns the creature down with anM16. Santa and Larry share a congratulatory high-five.
Several more Yautja from the deceased'shuntingparty suddenly decloak around the fallen hunter's corpse. As a sign of respect for defeating their comrade, the group's leader hands Santa a trophy from a previous hunt — theEaster Bunny'sbasket, full ofEaster eggs. As the Yautja prepare to leave in peace with their fallen brother, they are suddenly all killed by an enraged Sprinkles in a savage acrobatic hand-to-hand brawl, oblivious to their peaceful intentions.
In apost-credits scene, Santa and Larry look upon the scene of carnage in shock. One of the eggs in the Easter basket, aXenomorph egg, opens, shocking Santa as afacehugger jumps out.[3]
On December 12, 2018,The Predator Holiday Special was announced alongside the promotional poster, to air during abroadcast ofBoJack Horseman.[4][5][6][7][8][9] The short was released on December 18, 2018 with theDVD,Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release ofThe Predator, airing onComedy Central the following day on December 19 in promotion of it, and to the20th Century FoxYouTube channel the following day to that, on December 20.[10][11]
In an interview withEntertainment Weekly on December 17, 2018,Matthew Senreich and David Brooks ofStoopid Buddy Stoodios attributed the production ofThe Predator Holiday Special to "a random hangout moment" they'd had atComic-Con with20th Century Fox's vice president of worldwide creative strategy, Matt Motschenbacher, calling the film a "bloody and gory" take on the 1964Christmasstop motionanimatedtelevision specialRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, while serving as "a fun homage toPredator in astop-motion technique [and] turning it 90 degrees on its side".[12]
The Predator Holiday Special received a universally positive critical reception, by such outlets asScreen Rant,[13]MovieWeb,[14]Slash Film,[15]Cinema Blend,[16]ComingSoon.net,[17]The Playlist,[18]Geek Tyrant,[19]First Showing,[20] andIt's A Stampede!.[21]
Check out the official trailer for the holiday special below and catch the entire special on December 19 onComedy Central during "BoJack Horseman" at 10:30pm / 9:30 CT!
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