One Magic Christmas

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One Magic Christmas
One Magic Christmas Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPhillip Borsos
Screenplay byThomas Meehan
Story byThomas Meehan
Phillip Borsos
Barry Healey
Produced byPeter O'Brian
Starring
CinematographyFrank Tidy
Edited bySidney Wolinsky
Music byMichael Conway Baker
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Distribution
Release date
  • November 22, 1985 (1985-11-22)
Running time
90 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$13 million [1]

One Magic Christmas is a 1985 American/Canadian Christmas fantasy film directed by Phillip Borsos. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and stars Mary Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton. It was shot in Meaford, Ontario with some scenes in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.[2]

Plot[]

Santa Claus assigns the Christmas angel Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) to restore the Christmas spirit of Ginnie Grainger (Mary Steenburgen), the mother of Cal (Robbie Magwood) and Abbie (Elisabeth Harnois). Her husband Jack (Gary Basaraba) has been out of work for six months, and they must vacate their company-owned house by the new year. Jack fixes bikes as a hobby and dreams of opening his own bike shop, which would use up all the family savings. Ginnie works as a grocery store cashier.

Two nights before Christmas Eve, Abbie meets Gideon while mailing a letter to Santa. Gideon asks her to have her mother mail it instead and protects Abbie from being hit by a speeding car. Abbie gives the letter to her mother, but she refuses to mail it.

The family visits Jack's grandfather Caleb (Arthur Hill), who gives Abbie a snow globe of the North Pole. Gideon visits Abbie again and warns her that some bad things are going to happen, but she should not be afraid. He "accidentally" drops and shatters her snow globe, then magically restores it. Ginnie and Jack discuss their finances where Ginnie tells Jack he should find a new job instead of opening the bike shop. Frustrated, he leaves the house to go for a walk. She goes after him and meets Gideon. All the Christmas lights on the street around her turn off.

On Christmas Eve, on her way to work, Ginnie meets Harry Dickens at a gas station who is trying to sell some of his possessions in order to support himself and his son. She goes on her way while Jack leaves the children in the car while he goes to the bank to withdraw some of their savings for Christmas shopping. Abbie leaves the car to see Ginnie at the grocery store across the street and tells her that Jack is at the bank. She leaves to stop him and her boss fires her. She returns Abbie to the car and enters the bank, which Harry is robbing at gunpoint. Jack attempts to calm Harry down, but he impulsively shoots and kills Jack. He flees in Jack's car with Cal and Abbie still inside. Ginnie takes his car to chase after him, but runs out of gas before she can catch up to him. He swerves to avoid the police, but skids off a bridge into the river. Believing she has lost her husband and children, she returns to the house grief-stricken. Gideon rescues the children and the police bring them home. Ginnie tells them that their father is dead and is never coming home.

Abbie goes to the town's Christmas tree to find Gideon and asks him to bring back her father. He tells her he can't and the only one who can is Santa Claus. Gideon takes Abbie to the North Pole to see Santa, who informs her that he also cannot fix what has happened or make her mother feel better, but perhaps Abbie can. He shows her his workshop, which is a factory run by Christmas angels (dead people like Gideon) instead of elves. He retrieves a letter Ginnie sent him as a child and tells Abbie to give it to her mother.

Gideon returns Abbie to her house and she gives her mother the letter. Reading it makes her realize that the spirit of Christmas is to be thankful for what she has. She goes outside to mail Abbie's letter and says goodbye to Gideon. All the Christmas lights on the street come back on and it is the night before Christmas Eve again. Jack is alive.

The next day, Ginnie's boss gives her the day off so she can spend it with her family. At the gas station, she buys Harry's camp stove. He does not rob the bank. That evening, she attends the tree lighting in the village square and joins the participants in singing O Christmas Tree. Later, the family is celebrating Christmas at Caleb's and she writes a check to Jack for the bike shop as a Christmas present. Ginnie hears Santa downstairs and finds him putting presents under the tree. He tells her "Merry Christmas, Ginnie" and she says it in return.

Cast[]

Release[]

The film was theatrically released in Canada and the United States on November 22, 1985. It opened in Brazil on December 18, 1985, and in Australia the following year, on November 27, 1986. It was released in Uruguay on December 12, 1986, through VHS (Montevideo), and in Japan the following year, on November 25, 1987, on VHS.[3]

The film was released in many languages with several alternate titles.

  • Bulgaria (Bulgarian title)....Една вълшебна Коледа (A Magical Christmas)
  • Brazil....O Natal Mágico (The Magical Christmas)
  • Canada (working title) (English title)....Father Christmas
  • Canada (French title)....Un Drôle De Noël (Funny Christmas)
  • Spain (TV title)....Navidad Mágica (Magic Christmas)
  • France....Un drôle de Noël (Funny Christmas)
  • Spain....Navidades Mágicas (Magical Christmas)
  • Finland....Joulukuun Kaksi Päivää (Two Days Of December)
  • United Kingdom (video box title)....Disney's One Magic Christmas
  • Greece (DVD title)....Kapoia Magika Hristougenna (Some Magical Christmas)
  • Greece (TV title)....Magika Hristougenna (Magical Christmas)
  • Hungary....Varázslatos karácsony (Magical Christmas)
  • Italy....Un Magico Natale (A Magical Christmas)
  • Peru....Una Navidad Mágica (A Magical Christmas)
  • Poland....Czarodziejskie Boze Narodzenie
  • Portugal....Natal Mágico (Magical Christmas)
  • Sweden....En Förtrollad Jul (An Enchanted Christmas)
  • Soviet Union (Russian title)....Волшебное Рождество (Magic Christmas)
  • West Germany....Wenn Träume Wahr Wären (If Dreams Were True)

It was released on DVD in the United States (Region 1) on August 21, 2001.[4]

On December 4, 2012, Netflix released the DVD and later made it available to stream in the United States, France, and the Netherlands.[5]

Box office[]

One Magic Christmas grossed $2,662,241 in its opening weekend in North America, November 22–24, 1985,[2] and a domestic total of $13,677,222.[6]

Critical response[]

One Magic Christmas has a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 17 critics and 69% from general audiences.[4] Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "This is very unfortunate. What we have here is a movie with an intelligent screenplay, wonderful performances and skillful direction, but it is a tactical miscalculation from beginning to end."[7]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the film "modern[,] with a gratifyingly old-fashioned feeling, some of which is a matter of its unself-conscious plainness".[8]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "One Magic Christmas". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "One Magic Christmas". www.imdb.com. November 22, 1985.
  3. ^ "One Magic Christmas (1985)". www.imdb.com.
  4. ^ a b "One Magic Christmas". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "One Magic Christmas - Is One Magic Christmas on Netflix". FlixList. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "One Magic Christmas (1985) - Financial Information". Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 25, 1985). "One Magic Christmas Movie Review (1985)". RogerEbert.com.
  8. ^ Maslin, Janet (November 22, 1985). "Film: 'One Magic Christmas' With Santa and Angel". The New York Times. p. 14.

External links[]

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