Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh is a 2008 American Christmas comedy television film based on the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh. It is the sequel to Drake and Josh Go Hollywood. Drake Bell, Josh Peck, Miranda Cosgrove, Nancy Sullivan, and Jonathan Goldstein reappear as their respective characters, with several recurring characters from the TV series also reappearing.
The film premiered on December 5, 2008 as a Nickelodeon Original Movie, a year after the show's original end in 2007. As such, it also serves as the narrative conclusion of Drake & Josh. It was the third most viewed TV movie on cable behind High School Musical 2 and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, both owned by Disney Channel.
Plot
As Christmas approaches, Walter and Audrey leave for a tropical vacation, leaving their kids, Drake, Josh, and Megan, alone at home. Drake plans to hold a party on the roof of Josh's workplace, the Premiere Theater. Josh's boss, Helen, approves on the condition that Drake dresses as Santa at the mall. While hiding from a woman looking to kiss him, Drake accidentally makes an unbreakable promise to a little girl named Mary Alice to give her family the best Christmas ever.The party is crashed by uninvited guests whom Josh calls the cops on, but a mix-up results in Josh getting arrested. He bonds with his cellmate, Bludge, who pretends to beat Josh up to maintain his tough-guy image in front of the other convicts. Knowing he must fulfill his promise after Mary Alice tells him about her sick foster mom and busy foster dad, Drake attempts to break out Josh to help him, only to get caught and arrested. Acting as Drake and Josh's lawyer, Helen informs the judge of Drake's promise to Mary Alice, who decides they will not be sent to jail as long as they fulfill it. Afterwards, they meet their cruel and embittered parole officer, Perry Gilbert, who says he will take a vote from Mary Alice's foster family if they had the best Christmas ever; if any of them vote "no", Drake and Josh go back to jail.
The duo meets Mary Alice's foster family, which includes frequently feuding twins Lily and Violet, foreign boy Zigfee who speaks an unknown language, and know-it-all Trey, as well as Mary Alice's cynical, loner older biological brother Luke. Gilbert sabotages the duo's attempts to give Mary Alice's family the best Christmas ever, so Drake bribes Megan to help them with his friend Trevor's rare Smith Royal oboe passed down from his grandfather; Megan agrees but later reneges upon discovering Drake lied about Trevor having a Smith Royal oboe. Meanwhile, Walter and Audrey's vacation proves less than idyllic; their "deluxe bungalow" turns out to be at a small dilapidated hut that blows away in a tropical storm, and they have to prepare their own dinner.
After receiving several more tickets from Gilbert, the brothers learn from his mother that he always wanted a live pet chimpanzee for Christmas as a child, but when he finally got one, it attacked and urinated on him before fleeing, causing him to hate Christmas ever since. Drake and Josh then attempt to get the children into caroling, leading them to enter a Christmas parade Drake had shunned earlier. At the parade, Gilbert tricks Josh's co-worker Crazy Steve into loudly reminding them to keep their promise or else they'll be arrested; believing Drake and Josh were only being nice to avoid punishment, Mary Alice and her family leave, heartbroken.
Still determined to keep their promise, Drake and Josh borrow Steve's wood chipper to make it snow in front of Mary Alice's house by putting ice in the machine, but they inadvertently shoot large chunks across the neighborhood causing great damage. In trying to stop the machine, the brothers are knocked unconscious but are brought home by Gilbert, who was secretly gifted a nice chimpanzee by Josh and began to love Christmas again.
The brothers enter their living room the next morning, where Mary Alice's family surprises them, having learned the truth from Gilbert. Everyone votes "yes", and the charges against Drake and Josh are dropped. Bludge, dressed as Santa, comes down the chimney to deliver gifts to everyone, including a Smith Royal oboe for Megan, while Steve gets Sally to make snow using hard cheese. Walter and Audrey return home and everyone enjoys Christmas by playing in the "cheese snow".
Cast
From the TV show
The show's vast majority of recurring characters returned for the special, all played by their original actors. Crazy Steve takes a more major role in this film, having a larger role than Audrey or Walter.| Character | Actor/Actress |
| Drake Parker | Drake Bell |
| Josh Nichols | Josh Peck |
| Megan Parker | Miranda Cosgrove |
| Crazy Steve | Jerry Trainor |
| Audrey Parker Nichols | Nancy Sullivan |
| Walter Nichols | Jonathan Goldstein |
| Mindy Crenshaw | Allison Scagliotti |
| Eric Blonnowitz | Scott Halberstadt |
| Craig Ramirez | Alec Medlock |
| Helen Dubois | Yvette Nicole Brown |
| Gavin Mitchell | Jake Farrow |
| Mrs. Hayfer | Julia Duffy |
Movie only
These characters all have a larger role than most characters, second only to Drake, Josh, and Megan.| Character | Actor/Actress |
| Mary Alice Johansson | Bailee Madison |
| Luke Johansson | Devon Graye |
| Lily | Camille Goldstein |
| Violet | Cosette Goldstein |
| Trey | Daven Wilson |
| Zigfee | David Gore |
| Bludge | Kimbo Slice |
| Judge Newman | Henry Winkler |
| Officer Perry J. Gilbert | David Pressman |