History WesternAnimation / ArthursPerfectChristmas

* BizarreTasteInFood: Buster likes the lutefisk, Binky's failed attempts at dessert, and the parsley at La Bruncherie...asking for a full plate of the latter.

** When D.W. sees that her last Christmas present is Quackers, a talking duck doll, instead of the Tina the Talking Tabby doll she wanted, her mother can sense the disappointment in her voice and asks her, "Are you upset?" D.W. says in a mopey voice, "No." Then just a couple seconds later, tears well up in her eyes, and she starts throwing a huge tantrum on how she wanted Tina, complete with InelegantBlubbering.
** The salesman at the kitchen supply store says the olive de-pitter has been selling like hotcakes...as he blows the dust off one.
* BrattyHalfPint: D.W., perhaps more than usual. She keeps bugging Arthur and her parents about wanting Tina the Talking Tabby for Christmas, and keeps accusing Arthur of having written her letter to Santa all wrong despite him saying he didn't. And to top it all off, there's her WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}-esque temper tantrum among seeing she did not get Tina the Talking Tabby for Christmas that's so loud [[TheScream it can be heard outside]], and ''she is not punished for her actions''.

* CallBack: When Arthur finally decides he's heard enough of the Tina radio jingle, he begs his mom to put on something else...and she proceeds to pop in the "Crazy Bus" tape. Arthur is less than amused.

* CoolUncle: Uncle Fred realizes something must be wrong if Arthur vanished upstairs on Christmas morning. He goes up, sees Arthur crying on his bed with a broken present, and comforts him. The first thing Uncle Fred does is examine if the bird can be fixed. Then he gets Arthur away from the glass shards, "borrows" the gift tag and presents his present as Arthur's to Jane. Arthur thanks him, and Uncle Fred sincerely says that his gift to his sister is better coming from Arthur.
* CordonBleughChef: Arthur's dad, as usual; he decides to make a dinner more closely rooted in the real Christmas in Jerusalem rather than go for a turkey. Much to Arthur's surprise, everything is delicious and he asks for seconds.

* DramaticShattering: Averted once and played straight once. When Arthur's gift for his mother goes flying the first time, he barely catches it. The second time, it falls into a dog bed...then falls out and breaks.

* EasilyForgiven: Francine and Muffy quickly forgive each other for their respective holidays' importances after the latter apologizes and they talk things through.
* EncouragedRegifting: Arthur wants to get his mom a glass bird to replace one he broke. Unfortunately, he breaks the new one the day of Christmas. He starts crying, thinking he's ruined Christmas but is comforted by his [[CoolUncle uncle Fred]]. Fred decides to take the gift tag from Arthur's present and put it on the gift he was planning on giving Arthur's mom, so that Arthur will have something to give his mother.

** Arthur imagines everyone's thrilled reaction to his present for his mother...and then, after the glass bird is broken, imagines being told that he's a failure and inherited "the clumsy gene". (Binky invades the last one.)

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Muffy's song is about wanting to spend time with Francine - mostly imagining herself enjoying lavish treatment while Francine works herself to the bone as her servant in situations such as her being a princess. Later, Ed Crosswire gifts the Frenskys with a ham, unaware that, as they're Jewish, they don't eat pork (Francine's father rolls with it, clearly understanding the Crosswires' good intentions).

* SmallNameBigEgo: PlayedForLaughs when Arthur imagines being so revered for his gift to his mother, he is the star attraction of a parade celebrating heroes of the 20th century - and where he's more cheered than the likes of Albert Einstein and Gandhi.

** When Jane senses that D.W. is disappointed for getting Quackers instead of Tina the Talking Tabby, she asks if D.W is upset. D.W. denies it...then she breaks down.
** While Arthur is getting the gift containing the glass bird out of the closet, he accidentally drops it, but it lands safely on Pal's dog bed...then it falls off and hits the floor, and the bird breaks.

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Jane and David look visibly worried when D.W. opens her last present on Christmas morning, which is Quackers instead of Tina the Talking Tabby. After seeing Quackers, she throws a WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}-esque temper tantrum that's so loud [[TheScream it can be heard outside.]]

* WorstWhateverEver: When D.W. is going berserk when she does not get Tina the Talking Tabby but a duck instead, she cries out, "This is the worst Christmas ever!" just before she activates the duck.

* AnAesop: Most of the special revolves around the cast learning to take things regarding Christmas in stride and to not allow their high expectations to ruin the holiday for them. Arthur eventually admits that his Christmas was perfect the way it was even without a traditional dinner, tree, or gifts. Muffy learns to accept that Francine doesn’t have the same traditions as she does and is able to enjoy her own time with her. Bitzi is able to realize her son just wants to enjoy Christmas with her and doesn’t need a huge, fancy day. As Uncle Fred tells Arthur near the end, "you don't always get what you want in life. Sometimes, you get something better."
* ArcWords: "A perfect Christmas."

* {{Jingle}}: D.W. really wants the toy Tina the Talking Tabby, a talking plush cat toy, having repeatedly heard its advertising jingle. Arthur, however, hates hearing said jingle, saying that it gives him a headache. The jingle goes as follows: "''What's really, really neat and is always at your feet? It's Tina the Talking Tabby! Just scratch behind her ears and this is what you'll hear: "I'm Tina the Talking Tabby!" Oh, Tina, Tina, tiny Tina, Tina, Tina, tiny Tina, Tina the Talking Tabby...''" Later, Arthur traverses a toy store at the mall and is forced to endure the chorus of "''Oh, Tina, Tina, tiny Tina, Tina, Tina, tiny Tina, Tina the Talking Tabby...''" seven-and-a-half times before finally escaping.

* BrattyHalfPint: D.W. of course, perhaps more than usual. She keeps bugging Arthur and her parents about wanting Tina the Talking Tabby for Christmas, and keeps accusing Arthur of having written her letter to Santa all wrong despite him saying he didn't. And to top it all off, there's her WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}-esque temper tantrum among seeing she did not get Tina the Talking Tabby for Christmas that's so loud [[TheScream it can be heard outside]], and ''she is not punished for her actions''.

* ExactWords: During a car ride when the Tina the Talking Tabby jingle is driving Arthur crazy again, he begs his mom to put on something different. She "remedies" the situation by putting on [[CallBack Crazy Bus]] instead, which needless to say does not relieve Arthur.

* FictionalHoliday: Buster creates Baxter Day to stop his mother's constant stressing over Christmas after the Brain points out that his own family celebrates Kwanzaa, which was invented by Mulana Karenga in the 1960s. It basically consists of him and Bitzi Baxter hanging out together and doing whatever they feel like, enjoying their togetherness.

* InnocentBigot: Muffy says that Hanukkah isn't as important as a secular holiday party. Francine gets ''furious'' and hangs the phone up on her; when Muffy comes by later to apologize, Francine explains to her why that was very Anti-Semitic and how the rituals with her family make her feel a part of something bigger.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Muffy’s song is about wanting to spend time with Francine - mostly imagining herself enjoying lavish treatment while Francine works herself to the bone as her servant in situations such as her being a princess. Later, Ed Crosswire gifts the Frensky’s with a ham, unaware they don’t eat pork (Francine’s father rolls with it, clearly understanding the Crosswires' good intentions).

* LethalChef: Binky tries his hands at holiday cooking, but his efforts are less than satisfactory; only Buster eats them, and not even Mr. Ratburn wants a taste of the brownies or cookies. Come Christmas Day, he's using storebought desserts and passing them off as his own.
* LittleNo: Arthur utters one when he sees the replacement swan shattered in the box.
* MeaningfulGift: Arthur wants to buy the best gift ever for his mother, a small glass bird to replace one he'd broken a few years ago. Unfortunately, his uncle's dog keeps treating his present like a toy, and when he tries to hide it at the top of the closet, the box falls and the bird shatters. When his uncle finds him crying, he decides to help Arthur out by using the present tag to present his gift as Arthur's, which is just as meaningful -- replacing a broken tea set, rather than a broken bird.

* QuiveringLip: When D.W. gets a plush toy of Quackers for Christmas instead of Tina the Talking Tabby, she says [[ObviouslyNotFine she's fine]], and then her lip quivers before [[BrattyHalfPint she starts bawling about how it's not the kind of gift she wanted.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Uncle Fred becomes this to Arthur after Arthur accidentally breaks the glass swan and worries his mother will hate him for it. He reassures Arthur that sometimes things don't turn out the way he hoped they'd be, and uses the gift tag from the bird on his tea set gift, so Arthur would at least have one present for his mom.
* RedHerring: D.W. and Arthur assume that she's going to get the Tina the Talking Tabby doll since she's been playing the theme song incessantly. It's implied that Tina the Talking Tabby was sold out, so Arthur's mom gets D.W. a talking duck instead. Arthur still finds it annoying.

* ShaggyDogStory: Arthur spends almost half the special protecting his mother's present like a child, only for him to accidentally shatter it mere moments before he's ready to give it to her. Becomes subverted when Uncle Fred decides to use his tea set gift under Arthur's name so he at least has something to give her.

* WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings: Arthur, over the summer, accidentally ran into the table that held the glass swan, so that it fell to the ground.

* BrokenTreasure: Arthur tries to replace a glass swan statue that he broke by accident; his replacement breaks thanks to bad luck and he ends up in HeroicBSOD over having nothing to give to his mother. Uncle Fred gets a new tea set for Jane to replace the one he broke last Christmas, which he uses Arthur's gift tag on so he has a present for her.

* BittersweetEnding: While Arthur breaks the glass swan, Uncle Fred gives him the tea set to present to his mother instead, and Jane is happy. D.W. doesn't get Tina the Talking Tabby but is satisfied with her duck. Meanwhile, Buster and his mother celebrate a low-key Christmas while Francine and Muffy have a great time at the movies. Binky doesn't learn to cook but he finds another solution.

** Arthur has an ImagineSpot where his family brands him a failure inheriting Uncle Fred's clumsiness... only for Binky to randomly pop up calling him a loser. When Arthur calls him out for it, Binky apologizes and offers him his peach cobbler, prompting Arthur to yell at him to GetOut

* BrickJoke: When Arthur is Christmas shopping, he sees an advertisement for the "Veginator" cooking device and wants to buy one for his dad, only to find out they are sold out. Later on Christmas morning, we see that the dad had gotten ''three'' Veginators as presents.
-->"Another Veginator! Well, [[SarcasmMode now I'll have a backup if these two break!]]"

--> '''D.W''': [[Main/NoIndoorVoice "I WANTED TINA THE TALKING TABBY! I WANTED TINA THE TALKING TABBY! I WANTED TINA FOR CHRISTMAS! I WANTED TABBY!"]] '''''wimpers''''' [[Main/NoIndoorVoice "SANTA, HOW COULD YOU! THIS IS THE WORST CHRISTMAS EVER!"]]\\

* PricelessMingVase: A running plot thread involves Arthur wanting to get a new glass bird for his mother after having broken one that past summer. He buys one, only to end up breaking that too, through no real fault of his own, but still having an ImagineSpot in which he is derided for being even worse than his notorious Uncle Fred. In the end, Uncle Fred ends up switching the tags on the gifts and making it so that Arthur gives Mrs. Read a tea-set to replace one that he had broke, telling Arthur that the gift was a lot better coming from him.
* QuiveringLip: When DW gets a plush toy of Quackers for Christmas instead of Tina the Talking Tabby, she says [[ObviouslyNotFine she's fine]], and then her lip quivers before [[BrattyHalfPint she starts bawling about how it's not the kind of gift she wanted.]]

-->"Can't a kid get any privacy around here?!"

* TruthInTelevision: DW's behaviour on Christmas morning. Most kids her age are the first ones up on Christmas morning, and wake up everyone else to open presents. It's also pretty realistic for tired, out of routine, overwhelmed preschoolers to have a small breakdown at least once on Christmas. That it was only a few seconds is the most unrealistic part.

->"This Christmas, I suspect, will be perfect in all respects. This Christmas will be the best Christmas yet!"\\
-- The final lines of the theme song.

[[caption-width-right:323:''Arthur's Perfect Christmas'']]

* EasilyForgiven: Francine and Muffy quickly forgive each other for their respective holidays' importances.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Muffy’s song is about wanting to spend time with Francine - mostly imagining herself enjoying lavish treatment while Francine works herself to the bone as her servant in situations such as her being a princess. Later, Ed Crosswire gifts the Frensky’s with a ham, unaware they don’t eat pork (Francine’s father rolls with it, clearly understanding Crosswire’s good intentions).

* NotNowKiddo: Francine tells Muffy 28 times that she has plans on the night of Muffy's big party, and she keeps track. Muffy refuses to listen and only realizes it when Francine doesn't show up.