Prancer

With all of the hype that surrounds the many Christmas releases and remakes, here's an original that all of the family should see. It is sweet yet real. It restores hope and decency to movies.

We've rented it before, now we own it. After "A Christmas Story" and the Alistaire Sim version of "A Christmas Carol", this is the Christmas movie our family MUST watch every year.

While not without a couple of problems [like pacing], PRANCER is one of the better family/holiday movies I've seen. I didn't see this until after I saw PRANCER RETURNS about a week ago on cable. After PRANCER RETURNS [the sequel to this] was over, I went to the video store and rented this. Now while this one seemed to have a lower budget than PRANCER RETURNS, it still is just as well-acted and heartwarming [if not even more so]. Most holiday movies tend to show the holidays as times where everything is perfect, but this one shows that the holidays aren't as perfect as we'd like them to be. It's able to capture the ups and downs of the holidays while keeping everything pretty close to reality. Though I really enjoyed the film, CHRISTMAS VACATION remains to be my favorite holiday flick.

I have to say, as for the quality of the movie, I am a bit biased, because if was filmed largely in my home town. A small town like ours (LaPorte, IN) doesn't get national attention (except for the movie "Daylight" where Sly asks Amy Brenneman's character where she's from), so it was exciting to have all the celebrities in town. Still, I think it is a great family movie that was well done.

And on the topic of celebrities, I don't think you could have assembled a nicer, more gracious group. Chloris Leachman came and spoke at our high school, Rebecca Harrell and Ariana Richards visited with kids at one of our elementary schools, and all of them met with fans at an autograph session. In addition, the producers showed their thanks in several ways. They had a giant mural painted that was autographed by the celebrities and placed in our mall during Christmas time. Also, they bought all new light post Christmas decorations for the city's main streets.

Check this movie out!!! Don't listen to those people who say it's for little girls only...

Prancer is one of those special movies that come along every once in a great while that truly touches your heart. It doesn't rely on gimmicks or special effects, but relies on the characters themselves. Jesse, the central character in the story, finds an injured reindeer near her home, and believes it to be Prancer. And she nurses the reindeer back to health in order to deliver him back to Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The true meaning of the movie is said by the preacher in the church during the Christmas service. Today's kids grow up so fast, and loose the child-like faith that Jesse has in a few short years. They then don't believe in anything that science doesn't prove. But Jesse, against impossible odds, sticks to her beliefs, and in the end brings back the faith of those who lost theirs long ago. Prancer is one of those holiday movies to buy for both your kids and yourself.

Not many people seem to remember Prancer, but I saw it in the theater when I was a little girl. The storyline escapes me, since I haven't seen it in years, but I remember I cried quite a bit while I was watching it. Maybe I'll rent it one of these days. It doesn't deserve to be so forgotten.