If you’ve actively been reading my blog this Holiday season, you know that an annual tradition for me is watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation around this time of year. It never fails to put a smile on my face, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Other favorites include the first two Home Alone movies, but when I want a good laugh that doesn’t require too much time during the busy Holiday season, I know I can always count on the Mr. Bean Christmas special, Merry Christmas Mr. Bean, which clocks in at just around 25 minutes.
I first saw this special in December of 1997 when it aired on CBC, and have seen it countless times since, and I still laugh as much now as I did back then.
What I’ve always enjoyed about Mr. Bean is that the humor is brought to the screen with very little dialogue. It’s a series that relies heavily on physical humor, something that Rowan Atkinson and the cast of supporting characters pull off extremely well, and this Christmas special is no exception.
Much like Christmas Vacation, Merry Christmas Mr. Bean has a great pace and manages to pack several memorable moments in its short runtime, whether it’s Mr. Bean having fun with a department store Nativity Scene:
Or conducting a street Christmas band…
And of course, who can forget the “turkey on the head” scene???
There is even an extended version of the episode floating around where it’s revealed how Mr. Bean was able to acquire such a big turkey! I have never seen this version on TV, and I believe it’s exclusive to certain (not all) home video releases.
This is one I can’t recommend enough, and as I said previously: It’s a quick watch that doesn’t require much of your time, from the opening scene in the department store, to Mr. Bean’s Christmas dinner with girlfriend Irma Gobb (Matilda Ziegler).
Here it is in all of its extended glory for you to enjoy this Holiday season!
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Jex Russell - Pop Culture Nut 
8 responses to “Review | Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean (1992)”
Aww, dude. This is a family favourite. I used to mess with my grandma’s Nativity scene at home so I take GREAT delight in that scene, not to mention the Dalek.
The scene of Bean conducting the band…there’s one shot of him making such a jazzy face — it is such an epic face scene for Rowan!
I remember when my sister first informed of the show. “It’s about this weird guy that doesn’t talk!” She didn’t describe it very well but it soon became a serious favourite of mine. I really enjoyed the first movie too.
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Yes, I know exactly what jazz face you’re speaking of, lol! It’s a big favorite in our family as well, not just this episode, but the whole series in general. Man, I had seen the first movie in theaters, and man oh man did we ever LAUGH! I can’t remember if it was in the theatrical cut, or just on the home video release, but they re-did the turkey bit in the movie, which I thought was kind of weird for them to recycle it, but overall the Bean movie is excellent. Rowan Atkinson and Peter MacNicol play very well off of each other.
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That turkey scene was in the theatrical, because we had the same experience. I think we went on NYE that year!
Additionally, there is a hilarious scene of McNicol singing “Yesterday” while Bean acts out the lyrics behind him. “There’s a shadow hanging over me…”
We also love the “I Love LA” finger scene.
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Mr. Bean! Classic, Jex. Henry. PS – Inspired by your recent post I’ve arranged a pay-per-view rental of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and plan to watch it this coming weekend!
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That’s great, Henry! I really hope you like it. Like I said before, if you watch it and manage to not laugh even ONCE, I’ll give you a trophy or something, because I can’t believe that’s even possible, HAHA!
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I laughed. Henry.
PS – I see Chevy did a last one in the late 90’s on his own without Hughes & NL (“Vegas Vacation”). Worth checking out?
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Awesome, glad to hear you enjoyed yourself! “Vegas Vacation” is a fun one just to see that Chevy/Beverly chemistry again, but it’s definitely the weakest of the bunch. I still say check it out once (it does have some funny moments in it), but set the bar real low before getting to it.
Happy New Year, Henry!
-Jex
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Thanks, Jex. Bonus comment: after watching the movie I reread your piece on it and strangely enough I would swear some of the “missing scenes” (the ones edited out of the TV version you first saw) appeared to be missing from the rental/streaming version I watched! In particular the scenes you mentioned with the relatives asleep on the couch and the gingerbread houses! Henry.
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