Penguins can’t fly - or can they? In Cyberspace, on one special night each year, the penguins of Penguia take a flight to deliver gifts to young borgs across the virtual universe. For the first time ever, the CyberSquad's friend Fluff is participating and invites his pals Matt, Jackie, Inez, and Digit to join him in the impressive Penguin March. They head to the Ice Palace, where the gifts are made and where magic snowflakes are sprinkled on the penguins so they can fly. But Hacker, up to his usual ruinous tricks, doesn’t want a happy holiday (let alone happy little borgs) so he creates a giant ditch in front of the Ice Palace and traps all the penguins in its icy depths! The CyberSquad must get the penguins ice-shoes so they can climb out before midnight, but how many do they need? With too many to count, the answer lies in the kids’ ability to sample the penguin population to make a close estimate. Can the CyberSquad save the penguins and their favorite holiday too??
Tropes in this episode:
- Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": The residents of Penguia are called “penguins” and while they share many of the general attributes of real life penguins, they are colored bright blue and purple and are rather alien-looking overall.
- Chekhov's Gun: The snowshoes the shoemaker points out at the beginning of the episode end up coming in handy to help the penguins climb up the giant wall of snow Hacker built to block them from the Ice Palace.
- Chekhov's Skill: The counting method the CyberSquad uses at the shoemaker’s is the same skill that helps them solve Walter Walrus’ riddle, as well as to get a head count on the penguins to see how many snowshoes they need.
- Christmas Episode: Cyberspace is getting ready to celebrate Starlight Night, their version of Christmas, but Hacker’s hatred of the holiday threatens to ruin it for everyone.
- Everyone Hates Fruit Cakes: Fruit cakes are #90 on Hacker’s list of things he hates about the holiday.The Hacker: Cake and fruit should never go together!
- Long List: The Hacker broadcasts himself listing off the 100 things he hates most about Starlight Night.
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Buzz and Delete fall asleep during Hacker’s anti-Starlight Night broadcast.
- Only Smart People May Pass: Walter Walrus refuses to let the penguins pass until they answer his “riddle”, although it’s less of a riddle and more of a math question.
- Race Against the Clock: The penguins have to make it to the Ice Palace before midnight so they can deliver presents to the rest of Cyberspace.
- So Proud of You: PJ tells his son Fluff how proud he is for getting the rest of the penguins to the Ice Palace in time.PJ: Good job, son. I knew I could count on you.
- You Mean X Mas: Starlight Night is a combination of New Year’s and Christmas, in which a lighting ceremony marks the beginning of the new year and the citizens of Cyberspace receive gifts from flying magical creatures.
