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It's Christmas at Arkham Asylum, and all of the sociopaths are decorating and singing Christmas carols. The Joker is in the middle of the asylum choir, and naturally changes the words to "Jingle Bells" before making his escape on a rocket-powered Christmas tree. At the Batcave, Batman and Robin are leaving to go out on a patrol to find the escaped Joker, even though it's Christmas Eve. Robin gets Batman to promise that if they can't find the Joker, they'll come back and watch It's a Wonderful Life. They watch the city from the rooftops, but Batman can't find any sign of the Joker, or any other criminal activity. Robin teases him, saying that Batman just can't believe Gotham doesn't need them for even one night. Finally, Batman spots a young man racing down the street after an elderly lady. He swings to the rescue, but ducks into a nearby alley as the young man hands the lady a package she dropped a couple blocks back. Robin asks if they can go home now, but Batman just swings back up into the rooftops, causing Robin to mention, "He could give lessons to Scrooge."

The dynamic duo returns to Wayne Manor for dinner and Batman finally relents and decides to give It's a Wonderful Life a try. As they settle in for the movie, they discover that the Joker has taken over all the channels to show his own twisted Christmas special. The show starts off with a Santa Claus-topped tank cruising through Gotham city, scattering pedestrians and crushing cars in its path. Suddenly it stops and launches the Santa figurine up into the sky, where it bursts into a fireworks display of the Joker's head, and he welcomes his forced audience to "the show that nobody wants to see, but that everyone will watch." Back at the main set of this little Christmas special, the Joker rides a motorized one-reindeer sleigh onto the stage and greets his "audience," which we see is a bunch of cardboard cutouts of the regular cast - Batman and Robin, plus Gordon, Mayor Hill, Detective Bullock, and Officer Montoya.

Back at the Batcave, Robin admits that Batman was right about the Joker being up to something. Batman is using Gotham's electrical mainframe to search for power surges and looking for the source of Joker's broadcast signal. As they head out to put a stop to this madness, Joker mentions that since he doesn't have a family of his own to spend Christmas with, he's stolen one: The Lawful Family, consisting of Gordon, Summer Gleeson, and Detective Bullock. Joker says that he'll let the "family" go, if Batman can get there by midnight. (According to the clock behind Joker, it's 10:30) If not, naturally Joker will kill them. As if Batman doesn't have enough to deal with, Joker then brings in a hand puppet to introduce his next caper. After all, it's Christmas, so Batman deserves a present: in this case being shown that Joker's two Christmas-themed henchmen, Donner and Blitzen, are setting a demolition charge at a train bridge. The bridge collapses, and Joker announces that the 11:30 train is on its way. Batman has no choice but to turn around to stop the train. A panicked Summer reveals that her mother is on the train.

The Batmobile pulls up alongside the train and Batman and Robin split up so Robin can uncouple the passenger cars and Batman can find the engineer. Robin manages to stop the cars with ease, and Batman crawls up to the engine, grabs the engine and dives off the train to safety. The train continues off the bridge and blows up in the valley. In retaliation for his latest prank being sent awry, Joker blows up his studio audience. Batman and Robin return to the Batmobile, where Batman reveals that he's isolated the Joker's broadcast signal, and that it's coming from Mount Gotham. They race towards the observatory and find a present by the radar antenna. Batman suspects a trap, and sure enough the present bursts open to reveal a Joker-jack-in-the-box. While the duo is distracted by more of Joker's threats, the observatory telescope reveals itself to be a giant cannon and zeros in on Batman and Robin. They take off running as the cannon begins to fire, and the Joker cuts to a commercial.

We resume to find Batman and Robin still evading the cannon. This time they split up, with Robin heading inside the observatory. Batman causes the cannon to fire on the radar antenna, and Joker sends the cannon out of control, firing on Gotham City. Robin enters the observatory and finds a line of Joker dolls with machine-guns as hands. Robin rolls out of the way from the gunfire and dodges behind a pillar. Batman tells him to do "Operation Cause and Effect," which seems to consist of throwing a grenade at the cannon's control panel. Robin rejoins Batman outside of the observatory, and Batman admits he doesn't know what to do next.

Back on Joker's show, Joker brings Summer over to open up her Christmas present. She opens it and pulls out a Betty Blooper doll. Joker reveals that the doll is going to be wound up and set loose on Gotham City, but this time he's overplayed his hand. Batman realizes that Betty Blooper dolls haven't been made since the Laffco Toy Factory shut down fourteen years ago. They head to the abandoned factory. Joker's been waiting for them, however, and he starts "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" blasting through the factory's loudspeakers and then automates three giant Nutcracker robots to attack Batman and Robin. The team quickly takes them out, but there are more automated toys on the way to attack them. Batman and Robin don't have any trouble stopping this attack, but Donner and Blitzen show up on the catwalk to start shooting down at them. Batman and Robin evade their fire and duck behind a pile of teddy bears. The henchmen open fire on Batman's cape, but after they stop firing they realize they've been shooting one of the large bears and it falls off the catwalk, pinning them to the ground.

Before they can look for the Joker, he pulls back a curtain to reveal himself, along with his "Lawful" family, bound and gagged and hung over a vat of molten . . . lava? Ore? I'm not really sure what this is supposed to be, but it looks hot. He's poised to cut the rope, and holds out Batman's Christmas present. Expecting a trap, Batman takes the present and opens it. It turns out to be a spring-loaded pie in the face. Batman wipes the pie loose and races after Joker, who cuts the rope. Batman jumps on top of the vat and catches the prisoners, then turns them over to Robin. He catches up with Joker, who escapes because Batman grabbed onto a pair of fake arms inside Joker's jacket. Joker races on to the catwalk and trips on a skate, narrowly falling into his own vat. Fortunately for him, Batman is there to catch him.

Back at Wayne Manor, Batman and Robin finish watching It's a Wonderful Life, and we see that Joker is back in his cell at Arkham, so all's well that ends well.