The "Community" Animated Episode: A "Claymation-style" Christmas Special on NBC Thursday, December 9th

"This is the most important Christmas in the history of the world. I'm assuming that's why we're all stop motion animated," says Abed Nadir, with his signature nonchalance, in the teaser for Community's Christmas special, Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas on NBC.

NBC's official plot summary for Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas reports that "when Abed wakes up in stop-motion animation, he takes it as a sign that he and the group must re-discover the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, Jeff and Britta become growingly concerned about Abed's mental health and enlist the help of Professor Duncan."

Dan Harmon, creator of Community, tells Entertainment Weekly that NBC's Jeff Gaspin decided "Community should do an animated episode ... that's the kind of stuff I'm usually suggesting and guys like him veto.'"

"Star-Burns Industries" set right to work, and the episode will air Thursday, December 9th at 8:00/7:00 Central on NBC.

Star-Burns, a supporting character on Community, is played by Emmy-award Winning comedy writer Dino Stamatopoulos (The Ben Stiller Show), who created the stop motion animated series Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole for Adult Swim (Cartoon Network's late night programming block).

Currently working as a consultant for Community, Stamatopoulos wrote the "Claymation-style" Christmas episode with Harmon, and has written for several hit comedy TV shows including Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Show with David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse.

"The story is great; it revolves around Abed and his belief in the magic of the holidays, and John Oliver, Professor Duncan, is kind of the villain," Joel McHale tells viewers in a behind the scenes clip currently available on Hulu.

McHale plays the lead role of Jeff Winger, a lawyer disbarred until he earns a legitimate degree in America, thusly attending Greendale Community College.

He also details that Harmon wrote the lyrics for the episode, and Ludwig Göransson composed the music, as he generally does for Community. The episode is directed by Duke Johnson, with several animators on board, one of whom explains in the behind the scenes videos that she was hoping to finish a 30 second scene in 3 days.

"It was really fun," McHale recalls of the musical aspect of the episode. He laughs, "I felt like I was on Glee for ten minutes ... except I'm 20 years older than them."

Additional behind the scenes material on Hulu features a look at the puppets, hosted by actors Danny Pudi, who plays the role of Abed, and Alison Brie, who plays the role of Annie.

"It's actually the perfect episode, because we do explore some darker themes ... Abed's family situation-- and we all wake up stop motion," Pudi beams.

Pudi and Brie share the puppets with viewers on the hot set, each with its own "misfit toy" feel. This includes Jeff-in-the-Box (Joel McHale), Britta-Bot (Gillian Jacobs), Baller-Annie (Alison Brie), Teddy Pierce (Chevy Chase), Troy Soldier (Donald Glover), and viewers may also hear an improvised song about "Topless Baby Shirley" (Yvette Nicole Brown) while surveying Gumdrop Road.

"I've always wanted to be Claymation. Who hasn't, you know? It's kind of a perfect thing for us; this is season 2, it's a very ambitious show, and we're always trying to go some place different, and, I mean, look at this," Pudi proudly broadcasts, motioning toward the set and puppets.

"It's like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when you were kids, except--" he begins.

"But better," Brie chimes in.

Pudi concurs with a laugh, "Except better. It's gonna be awesome!"

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NBC's Community; "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" airs Thursday, December 9th at 8:00/7:00 Central.

To view Community's behind the scenes clips on demand, visit http://www.hulu.com/community

Sources:

Bell, Carrie. "Scoop: Community pulls a Rudolph," Inside TV, Entertainment Weekly. Sep 17, 2010. http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/09/17/exclusive-community-pulls-a-rudolph/

"Community" on IMDB, internet page. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1439629/

"Dino Stamatopoulos" on IMDB, internet page. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0821786/

"The Stop Motion Community," Video, NBC. http://www.hulu.com/community