Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas

"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"
Community episode
Abed imagines his friends in stop motion, like members of the Island of Misfit Toys, on their way to discover the true meaning of Christmas.[1]
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 11
Directed by	Duke Johnson
Written by	Dino Stamatopoulos Dan Harmon
Production code	222[2]
Original air date	December 9, 2010 (2010-12-09)
Running time	21 minutes
Guest appearances
Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton (voice only) John Oliver as Ian Duncan (voice only)
Episode chronology
← Previous "Mixology Certification" Next → "Asian Population Studies"
Community season 2
List of episodes

"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community. It originally aired on December 9, 2010, on NBC. Abed (Danny Pudi) begins experiencing the world in stop motion. His study group enlists the help of psychology professor Ian Duncan (John Oliver) to end the delusion, but turns against Duncan after he reveals Abed's delusion began when he learned his mother is not visiting for Christmas.

Series creator Dan Harmon and writer Dino Stamatopoulos had been interested in launching an animation studio and saw an NBC executive's suggestion of an animated episode as a starting point. With Duke Johnson as director and help from the animation studio 23D Films, the episode was Starburns Industries' first production. The script was completed within a few weeks in August 2010; the animation process began on October 18 and finished on December 8, the day before the episode premiered. A scene was also filmed for later use in "Paradigms of Human Memory".

The episode was critically acclaimed for its animation and themes of holiday loneliness, earning the show its only Primetime Emmy Award in the Animation category.^[3] It draws on the style of Rankin/Bass Christmas specials and develops Abed's characterization, concluding that his meaning of Christmas lies in his found family—the study group.