# Best of the Worst: Christmas or Chance Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TibXnvtziRI Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/TibXnvtziRI Generated: 2025-12-21T17:03:43.177+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview The "Best of the Worst: Christmas or Chance" game resulted in disastrous selections for both players, with the first player losing points for picking the Hallmark-esque Christmas film "Merry Christmas" from the director of "Money Plane," and the second player losing even more points for selecting the incomprehensibly bad 2002 animated short "Rap City Street Kids Believe in Santa," which featured A-list voice actors like Mark Hamill and Nancy Cartwright despite its abysmal quality. **Key Points:** - Player one selected a Christmas movie, "Merry Christmas," starring Joey and Matthew Lawrence, noted for being from the director of "Money Plane," resulting in a score of minus one point. - The Lawrence brothers' film featured their real mother playing their grandmother, reflecting vanity issues regarding their age, and contained no real conflict, concluding with the brothers having a double wedding on Christmas Day. - Player two, Jack, initially chose from the Christmas pile and earned two bonus points because it was the secret pile that round, but later lost those two points for selecting the terrible Christmas movie. - Jack's second pick from the Chance pile was the action film "Rampage," directed by Steve Ser, which earned a minus five point deduction. - The second major selection was the 40-minute animated short "Rap City Street Kids Believe in Santa," described as the worst 3D animation ever seen, featuring bizarre visuals like convulsing children and characters sinking into the floor. - Despite its atrocious quality, "Rap City Street Kids Believe in Santa" featured high-value voice actors including Mark Hamill (Joker), Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson), and Jodi Benson (Ariel), who likely never saw the final product that aired on The WB in 2002. - The failure of the animated short is attributed to a producer who sold the project based on concept art and a test reel, never checking the final product which was allegedly made using consumer-grade 3D software. **Context:** The video presents an installment of "Best of the Worst" titled "Christmas or Chance," where two players, referred to as Player One (Jay) and Player Two (Jack), must choose between two piles of tapes/DVDs: one pile containing Christmas-themed movies and the other containing non-Christmas, 'Chance' genre movies. The host, acting as Santa Claus, explains the rules, which involve kneeling by an "artificial seasonal fear tree" and selecting a film to watch and judge, with points awarded or deducted based on the film's quality and adherence to the chosen category. ## Detailed Analysis The game structure involved rounds where players chose piles, accumulating or losing points. Player one chose the Christmas pile and received "Merry Christmas," a low-effort Hallmark parody starring the Lawrence brothers, which featured a non-existent plot revolving around them accidentally scheduling concurrent Christmas Day weddings, leading to a score penalty of minus one. Player two, Jack, initially chose Christmas and got a bonus two points, but later selected the non-Christmas film "Rampage," an action movie by Steve Ser, resulting in a minus five penalty. The subsequent selection was the animated short "Rap City Street Kids Believe in Santa," which was so poorly animated it was compared to CG from 1979, despite being made in 2002 and featuring major voice talent like Mark Hamill and Nancy Cartwright. The discussion revealed that the animation company likely defrauded the producer by showing a superior test reel, as the final product aired on The WB network was incomprehensibly bad, leading the hosts to label the entire experience a cautionary tale about production oversight, concluding that the Lawrence brothers' film was only slightly less offensive than the animated short. ### Game Setup and Initial Choice - Player One (Jay) kneels before the selection tree and chooses the Christmas pile - The Christmas pile yields "Merry Christmas," directed by Andrew Lawrence, which Jay loses points for due to poor quality - Player Two (Jack) initially chooses Christmas and gains secret bonus points, totaling two points. ### Review of 'Merry Christmas' - The film stars Joey and Matthew Lawrence, whose real mother plays their grandmother due to vanity concerns - The plot involves two brothers accidentally scheduling their weddings on the same Christmas Day, a non-problem that resolves without conflict - Hosts noted the film felt like an unintentional parody, lacking any substantial plot tension. ### The Chance Selection and Second Christmas Pick - Jack switches to the Chance pile for the save Christmas round, selecting "Rampage," an action movie by Steve Ser, resulting in a minus five point deduction - Jack's second Christmas selection was "Rap City Street Kids Believe in Santa," causing him to lose his accumulated two points. ### Analysis of 'Rap City Street Kids Believe in Santa' - This 40-minute animated short utilized notoriously bad 3D modeling, appearing sometimes 2D or like convulsing JPEGs - The short featured high-value voice actors including Mark Hamill, Nancy Cartwright, and Jodi Benson, who were likely unaware of the final product's quality - The production failed because the animation company sold the project based on a superior test reel and concept art to distributors like The WB, without the producer verifying the final product. ### Host Commentary on Film Quality - Hosts concluded that the disastrous animation was worse than other bad films reviewed, attributing the failure to either gross incompetence or outright fraud by the animation company - The hosts agreed that the Lawrence brothers' film was marginally better because it was at least filmed with human actors in a location, unlike the animated short which seemed confined to one house or basement.