Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we continue our Santa Spectacle as we jump forward 23 years from yesterday's review to look at this obscure 1985 Christmas film. And sweet Celestia, this is one sad and depressing Christmas movie. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Trailer
Yeah, I know not the traditional trailer but it does give you somewhat of a feel for the movie from this clip but it also doesn't show what the movie is truly like, which honestly is okay as I'm not sure that there is a way that you could make a trailer for this movie without depressing the audience.
The Plot
We open on a Christmas angel named Gideon receiving a message from a voice in the skies that a woman named Ginny Granger has lost her Christmas spirit. And we are then taken to the Granger family (sorry, but I couldn't help but think of Harry Potter with these names) and see that things seem lost on the Granger family as they are in dire straits. Ginny is currently, the only one working and working at a grocery store under a boss that hates her as her husband, Jack had been laid off from the radio station that he worked and the family is being kicked out of the company house that they currently live in.
One night, Ginny's youngest child, Abbie goes to mail her letter to Santa in a rather bad snowstorm and here, the little girl meets Gideon, the angel that had been watching her family but Gideon stops her and says that she should have her mother mail the letter. Abbie agrees and as she walks back home, she is almost hit by a car that is barreling down the road but Gideon stops the impending accident, allowing the young girl to walk home without incident.
The next day, the family goes to visit Great Grandfather Caleb, and he has gifts for the two children, a Christmas book for Abbie's older brother, Cal, and a snow globe of Santa's workshop for Abbie. That night, Gideon visits Abbie in her room and finds out that Ginny didn't mail Abbie's letter. The guardian angel warns Abbie that things are going to change and not to be afraid. Meanwhile, Ginny and Jack are having an argument about their finances as Jack wants to open a bike shop as that is a hobby of his, and we event get a sense of this as he is building one for his kids' friend, Molly. Ginny doesn't want to hear any of it and thinks that he should find a new job and considering that it's December, and he hadn't had a job since June, I can't blame her. Jack goes out for a walk and Ginny goes out after him but things seem to get only worse. And as they are walking, all of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood going out, signifying the last of the Christmas spirit has been drained from Ginny.
The next day, is Christmas Eve and Ginny rides with a friend to a gas station but her friend needs to watch how she spends as she can't go over $8.00. While there, Ginny sees a father that is on harder times than her (and the film didn't seem to say this out loud but I think that he was meant to be homeless). This man, Harry Dickens tries to sell some of his possessions but she shrugs it off as it doesn't affect her and the poor man isn't able to sell any of the stuff. Meanwhile, Jack and the kids head to the bank, so that he can get a loan to some Christmas shopping. Abbie sneaks out of the car to go see her mom, at the grocery store hat she works at and tells her mom, that her dad is at the bank. And there, things are about to get really bad as the man from the gas station is there holding up the bank. Ginny is about to leave the grocery store and tell her husband off but as she leaves, her boss, Herbie fires her for leaving her register.
Ginny returns Abbie to the car and enters the bank and we see Harry holding up the bank. Jack tries to diffuse the tension in the bank but it ends up getting him shot and in a panic, Harry runs off in Jack's car with the kids in tow. Distraught, over this, Ginny returns home and we later find out that Jack has died.
DAMN!!!
Well, that got dark! Caleb comes to inform Ginny, that the kids are okay. The police thought that Harry dropped them off before running off but in reality, Gideon saved them as they were about to drown in a river. When the kids come home, Ginny informs her children that Jack has died and isn't coming back.
That night, Abbie runs away from home to the town Christmas tree in hopes of finding Gideon as that is where she was told to find him. He is there and Gideon says that sadly, he can't fix what has happened to her dad. The only person that can is Santa Claus and Gideon takes the young girl to the North Pole to see Santa. And yeah, I gotta be honest and say that Santa felt really crowbarred into the story. You could have taken Santa out of the story and nothing would have been lost on the story overall. And this Santa was really bland and really didn't bring much to the character. The only spin that they put on this Santa is that instead of elves working for Santa, the workshop is filled with nice people, who have died helping Santa.
Well, that got dark. I really don't like the implications here as it sounds like the North Pole is being treated as Limbo for people that unfinished business. The movie never says that outright but again, this is an odd idea that is rather uncomfortable.
Santa tells the young girl that the her mother is the only one that can bring back her Christmas spirit and he knows the thing that might do it, he finds a letter that Ginny wrote as a little girl and for some reason, the movie points out that Ginny spelt her name Ginnie as a little girl. It's not a big plot point and I'm not sure why the movie felt the need to focus on that. Gideon, then returns Abbie to her house, and there Ginny sees the letter and reads it. And I may have missed this but according to Wikipedia, it finally gets her to understand the true meaning of Christmas, celebrate what you have, don't be sad about what you don't have. So, Ginny goes and decides to mail her daughter's letter and that undoes the death of Jack. WAIT, you killed a woman's husband to teach her the true meaning of Christmas.
DAMN... THAT'S CRUEL!!!!
Yeah, mailing the letter rewound time as we see Christmas lights starting to come back on and Ginny relives the events of Christmas Eve, over again with a much brighter attitude as we see the family going through many different events from lighting the town tree, to delivering the bike to the kids' friend. And the film ends with Ginny giving Jack the money, he needs for his bike shop as a Christmas present and when she goes to hide it, she sees Santa Claus and he wishes her a Merry Christmas.
Do you want to know what the most joy, I got out of this movie was? Seeing the little girl in a Gizmo tee shirt. I think I may need to watch Gremlins to get over this film, at least that is a fun movie set at the holiday.
Yeah, there's a reason, that this is an obscure and most likely forgotten Disney movie as it's just too depressing. Sure, greats such as a It's A Wonderful Life are depressing but the acting helps to elevate the story and doesn't try and crowbar, a lousy Santa Claus into the story, when he wasn't needed. And it seems like this movie was trying to do Wonderful Life but it only went halfway with the idea. And the acting in this film is just above Hallmark Channel acting from their Christmas movies.
Characters
Main Characters
Ginny played by Mary Steenburgen
At the start of the movie, Ginny could be seen as unlikable but I never felt that way. I think she was more just put upon and I do feel bad for her and what she goes through but I don't like how extreme, the movie feels that it needs to go in order for her to get her Christmas spirit back.
Abbie played by Elisabeth Harnois
Abbie does come off the as precious six year old that he'll believe in anything and that works for this story, and she is a good contrast with her mom but it did get a bit sweet in some areas. She wasn't bad as she did feel like a real kid and there was a lot for me to get invested in with this character.
Supporting Characters
Jack played by Gary Basaraba
I feel like, there really wasn't much to Jack in terms of character, sure we know that he is trying to keep his head up and keep his spirits up in these hard times but I felt like he was more set up just to be the launching point for Ginny to get her Christmas spirit back.
Cal played by Robbie Magwood
There was even less to Abbie's older brother, than her dad. Sure, he was a good older brother but that's about all there was to him.
Gideon played by Harry Dean Stanton
Gideon was perhaps the best character in the movie and the most likable. Even his backstory was kinda sad in how he saved a young boy from dying but he couldn't save himself because he didn't know how to swim. He's not your traditional looking angel but I'm okay with that as he still has the warmth and spirit of the season and you see that all throughout, his interactions with Abbie.
Santa Claus played by Jan Rubes
I get what the film was going for by using Santa Claus but I don't think that he needed to be in the story at all. I feel like, if you took St. Nick out, nothing would have changed and as I said in the plot description, this Santa just felt lousy. He looked the part sure, but I never got the sense of warmth and awe that one should get from Santa. The actor put his all into the role but I could never buy him as Santa Claus.
My Final Thoughts
There's no need to see this. It's not the worst movie, that I've ever reviewed but I feel like it decided to be bleak, just for the sake of being bleak and not because that was the best way to tell this story. I see what the movie was going for but it didn't work for me and as I said, I feel like you could take Santa out and not lose anything. The Santa Spectacle will resume next Monday as we take a look at a more lighthearted Christmas movie as we how the voice actor of the Sultan from Aladdin is as Santa Claus as we look at...
Ernest Saves Christmas
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