Cowboy Church #247

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Let There Be Peace on Earth. This recording comes from the husband-and-wife duo's 1967 Christmas album, Christmas is Always. 

This is followed by Elvis Presley with O Little Town of Bethlehem. The lyrics to this hymn were written by Phillips Brooks in 1865. He wrote the words this hymn after taking a group of Sunday school children on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem. The music was written by Louis H. Redner, the church organist. There was originally another verse to this hymn, "Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child. Where misery cries out to thee, son of the undefiled; where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door, the dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more." However, Redner objected to the words "son of the undefiled." Brooks briefly changed the line to "son of mother mild" before dropping the verse all together. This hymn appeared on a small leaflet in 1868 and in The Sunday School Hymnal in 1871.This version of the hymn comes from Elvis' 1957 album, Elvis' Christmas Album. This album met with controversy upon its release for the rock and roll versions it had of classic Christmas songs and the contemporary rock and roll Christmas music. This was considered to be disrespectful. However, this song is performed in a rather traditional manner. It is also simply a lovely version of this classic hymn. 

Afterwards is Red Sovine with his 1956 recording of If Jesus Came to Your House. 

Then comes The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Dwelling in Beulah Land. Dwelling in Beulah Land was written by C. Austin Miles (who also wrote the gospel classic In The Garden) and was first published in 1911. C. Austin Miles once said, “It is as a writ­er of gos­pel songs I am proud to be known, for in that way I may be of the most use to my Mas­ter, whom I serve will­ing­ly al­though not as ef­fi­cient­ly as is my de­sire.” Roy Rogers (at this time Leonard Slye) sings lead on this song. This was his last year with the Pioneers before he would leave to start his solo movie career. 

Next comes Toby Keith with O Come All Ye Faithful. This hymn was originally written by John Francis Wade, who wrote the song in Latin under the name Adeste Fiedeles. Much later Frederick Oakley and William Brooke credited an English translation of this hymn. Instead of just directly translating the hymn, they also added some new stanzas. This English Language version of the hymn first appeared in 1841 in FH Murray's Hymnal for Use in the English Church. Toby's recording comes from his 2007 Christmas Album, Classic Christmas. 

This is followed by Gene Autry with his 1949 recording of If it Doesn't Snow on Christmas. This is the B-Side of his major holiday hit, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. While this may not be the Christmas classic that the A-Side is, it is a fun little song. 

Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash with This Train is Bound for Glory. This wonderful recording comes from John's 1979 album; A Believer Sings the Truth. This was a double length gospel album and Columbia Records felt that such an album from John could never be successful. However, Columbia allowed John to release the album on its own and it was successful earning a spot in the Country Top 50. A shorter version of the album called I Believe would be released in 1984, which would feature a select few songs from the double album. A Believer Sings the Truth would not find its way to CD until 2012.

Now it is time for a Christmas sermon. 

Today's movie is Headin' for the Rio Grande (1936) starring Tex Ritter. 

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, Lord, not to us

    but to your name be the glory,

    because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say,

    “Where is their God?”

3 Our God is in heaven;

    he does whatever pleases him.

4 But their idols are silver and gold,

    made by human hands.

5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,

    eyes, but cannot see.

6 They have ears, but cannot hear,

    noses, but cannot smell.

7 They have hands, but cannot feel,

    feet, but cannot walk,

    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

8 Those who make them will be like them,

    and so will all who trust in them.

9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—

    he is their help and shield.

10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—

    he is their help and shield.

11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—

    he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:

    He will bless his people Israel,

    he will bless the house of Aaron,

13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—

    small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,

    both you and your children.

15 May you be blessed by the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,

    but the earth he has given to mankind.

17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,

    those who go down to the place of silence;

18 it is we who extol the Lord,

    both now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

How Disney Brought Santa to Life: Santa’s Workshop & The Night Before Christmas - West of Neverland

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #260

 Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with one of my favorite Christmas cartoons of all time, Mickey's Good Deed (1932).  This film was from 1932, at this time, Mickey was at the absolute height of his popularity. He was famous in a way that no cartoon character before had ever been. Critics often compared his popularity to that of Charlie Chaplin's little tramp, and like that character Mickey had fans of all types. He was equally popular with intellectuals and small children. In fact, this same year Walt Disney would receive a special Academy Award for creating Mickey. Renowned Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein (best known for his silent film The Battleship Potemkin (1925)) was a huge fan and even wrote essays on Walt Disney, that discussed the brilliance of Mickey Mouse cartoons (He would remain a huge Disney fan and even later call Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) the single greatest film ever made). Almost every other American cartoon studio was copying what Disney had done with Mickey Mouse. Characters like Foxy (at Warner Brothers) and Cubby Bear (at Van Beuren) were extremely thinly disguised copies of Mickey himself. In fact, in 1931, the Van Beuren studio was sued by Walt for using two mice characters that looked exactly like Mickey and Minnie. There was no doubt, Mickey was movie royalty. Mickey did for animated comedies, exactly what Charlie Chaplin's little tramp had done for live action comedies. Like the comedy films made before Chaplin, the animated comedies before Mickey were often very funny, but you very rarely felt any other emotional response to what was happening on screen. Mickey changed all that and nowhere was it clearer than in Mickey's Good Deed. You may notice that this doesn't sound like your typical cartoon short of the era, and my point is it isn't. This film while not sacrificing the slapstick comedy, also adds a lot of drama to the story itself. However, the Disney studio understood exactly what Chaplin had found out earlier. If the comedy and the drama are both driven by the story and characters, they can both easily co-exist. This idea is done to absolute perfection in this cartoon. This is a beautiful and moving film, while it never forsakes the comedy. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Right up there with the best of these animated cartoons. Subject has a special holiday flavor in that it shows how Mickey and his dog manage to bring cheer into a big family of needy animal folks. Clever and lively as usual." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "Mickey's Good Deed: Mickey Mouse - Christmas cartoon. Kids like Mickey. That's why they come. One Mickey Mouse cartoon on your Saturday's program brings the kiddies out to the matinee. Running time, eight minutes. - Edmund M. Burke. Fort Plain Theatre, Fort Plain, N.Y. General Patronage."  

Next comes Frosty the Snowman (1954). This very short cartoon from the UPA studio (best known for the Mr. Magoo cartoons) was a holiday staple at Chicago's WGN-TV station including airing annually on WGN's The Bozo Show. 

Up next is a truly charming and lovely Christmas film from the Halas and Batchelor animation studio, The Candlemaker (1956). This animation studio was started by husband and wife John Halas and Joy Batchelor and is best known for their classic feature film, Animal Farm (1954). 

Bug Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979) is a delightful TV special that featured the Looney Tunes characters (though strangely not Daffy Duck) in three new Christmas themed shorts. In between these shorts there were a few interstitial scenes. You can watch those below. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Up next comes a classic Silly Symphony, The Night Before Christmas (1933). Though the Silly Symphonies were mostly one-off shorts, the occasional sequel could happen (with the Three Little Pigs sequels being the most well-known). The Night Before Christmas is a follow up to the often better remembered Santa's Workshop (1932). Yet as much as I love Santa's Workshop, I love this sequel even more. It could be argued that this movie picks up where the previous one left off, as the last one ends with Santa leaving the North Pole for his trip and this cartoon has him visiting houses. This is a reissue and there is a bit of a difference towards the end. In the original 1933 version, Little Junior is disappointed to get a chamber pot for Christmas. Here he is happy to get a puppy. In this version we do get a bit of Junior getting a blackface appearance from the chimney soot that would be cut out when the film was shown a Disney TV Christmas special in 1983. For all four years of the original Mickey Mouse Club, this would be the Mousekartoon on the last new episode to be aired before Christmas. The following is a brief article from The Film Daily (dated December 28, 1933), "In conjunction with the showing of Walt Disney's Silly Symphony, 'The Night Before Christmas,' The Radio City Music Hall is exhibiting six original Walt Disney drawings used in the production of this picture. The short, a united Artists release, will be held over a second week." A review of the cartoon in The Film Daily called The Night Before Christmas "... one of Walt Disney's best cartoons." Not everyone was so impressed as evidenced by the following exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE: Silly Symphony—These Silly Symphonies arc okay, but not worth difference in rental United Artists asks for them. -P. G. Held, New Strand Theatre, Griswold, Iowa. General patronage." 

Now for another holiday staple of WGN-TV, Hardrock, Coco and Joe: The Three Little Dwarfs (1951). 

My favorite Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon is True Boo (1952). This film puts a lot of delightful Christmas spirit in with its traditional Casper story. The gags where Casper uses everyday objects to make toys, heavily borrows from the Max Fleischer Color Classic, Christmas Comes but Once a Year (1936).

While it is easy to say that the DePatie-Freling cartoons of the mid and late 1970's were not on par with the studio's cartoons of the 1960's and early 70's without any sense of doubt, A Pink Christmas (1978) is a huge exception. This TV special is about as good a cartoon as the studio ever made. This dialogue-less special is somewhat based on O. Henry's The Cop and the Anthem. The Pink Panther has often been compared to Charlie Chaplin, mostly because he is a pantomime character. This though is probably the most Chaplin-esque film the cartoon cat ever stared in. It beautifully combines comedy and pathos, and the idea of a poor tramp like character looking for food of course has roots in Chaplin as well. In fact, this film borrows a gag from Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925) (involving shoveling snow). It succussed very well. It is both very funny and very moving.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman 

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein. 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Classic Short Film: It's Christmas Time (1952)

Movie Review: The Housemaid

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B-

A trashy but entertaining thriller. 

There is nothing subtle about this movie at all. The story involves a young woman who has just gotten out of prison, desperate for a job. She gets a job as the live in housemaid for a couple that has some serious and dangerous problems. Though her very sanity is being tested she can't leave because she will never get another job or a place to live with her record. The story milks everything it can out of this premise, with all the sex and violence one might image. While the movie may go more than a little overboard on the sex and violence, it still works. This is heavily because of the three main stars. Sydney Sweeny, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar are all simply wonderful here, with each one playing off of the others perfectly. Watching these three work with each other is worth the price of admission alone. They are simply dynamic on screen and make even the corniest moments a lot of fun to watch. This is also the rare modern thriller that kept me guessing what was going to happen all the way through. Many of the twists quite surprised me. If they are kind of over the top and soap-opera like in retrospect, they worked quite well while I was watching the film. Director Paul Feig also keeps the movie moving at such a pace that it never once becomes boring. 

 This movie is very soap-opera like and relies too much on the shock value of gore and sex. However, it is also a thriller that keeps you guessing what is going to happen next and benefits from a cast that gives it their all. 

Movie Review: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants

 

Michael' Movie Grade: B

A really fun SpongeBob adventure. 

This movie is in many ways an extended episode of SpongeBob. That is not to say that the film feels overlong (the hour and a half runtime goes by very quickly) but rather that there is nothing bigger or more cinematic here than in a typical TV episode. Sure, we may be dealing with ghost pirates and spooky danger, but The Flying Dutchman has been one of the series' characters from very early on. While as essentially a feature-length episode it does not reach the heights of the show's early season (which are still hilarious), it is still quite entertaining.

The storyline moves at a quick pace, and its comedic momentum keeps it consistently fun, even when some of the jokes fall flat. SpongeBob's desire to prove himself to be a "Big Guy" is instantly relatable to anyone that has ever been a kid. Meanwhile as silly as SpongeBob and Patrick's antics are, there is a real warmth to their friendship here that gives the film quite a bit of heart. We even get to see a warmer side of Mr. Krabs, which works quite well. The Flying Dutchman works perfectly as a villain here. His over-the-top evilness and how much the character enjoys himself is a pure delight to watch. The Underworld is also a great environment for this film. It is quite atmospheric, and the designs of the various creatures are really creative. 

For such a silly comedy, the humor can be a bit hit and miss at times. There are times when the filmmakers seem to be trying too hard to be funny and it doesn't come off. However, there are also moments that truly made me laugh out loud (the 30 minutes later joke is hilarious). 

As great as SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs and The Flying Dutchman are here, the supporting cast is not as strong. Many of the other SpongeBob characters are too sidelined and don't really get to do much. Meanwhile, the new characters simply aren't all that memorable. 

This may not be the best SpongeBob adventure, but it is still a really fun movie. 

By the way this movie is accompanied by a short Christmas-themed film with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This short is quite smart, funny and just as entertaining as the feature.  

Video Link: Bob Dylan - Must Be Santa (Official Video)

A Christmas Carol (1843)

 

A Christmas Carol is probably the quintessential Christmas story. It is one all of us are familiar with and is still one of the first stories we think of when we think of Christmas. It has been adapted for film and TV more times than I care to count. While when reading many classic books, one is shocked to find how different they are from various film and TV adaptions. However, with A Christmas Carol, one is amazed by how much the majority of film and TV adaptions follow the book. While they may have their own twists on the story (like having Gonzo be Charles Dickens) most adaptions not only follow the basic story but include multiple lines of dialogue straight from the book. Reading this book today it is easy to see why. Despite being an 19th century novella, it holds up near perfectly today and needs no changes to be accessible to a modern audience. 

You are all familiar with the story. Scrooge is a hard unfeeling man, who cares only about wealth and not about his fellow man. The night before Christmas he is visited by the ghost of his old business partner with a warning to change his ways. His business partner then tells him that he will be visited by three more ghosts that night. These ghosts show Scrooge his past, present and future. Through this he learns the error of his ways and wakes up Christmas morning a changed man. 

This book is a classic for a reason. The story is timeless. Themes of loneliness, greed, mistreatment of the poor and our moralistic to help those less fortunate are still as relevant today as they were in the 19th century. It gets across each of these themes in a way that is still entertaining and effective. Despite being a morality tale, it never feels like a sermon but rather the themes come across in a natural way.

 The main reason this story is so effective is that Scrooge is a fantastic lead character. Though the name has become a term for any greedy and selfish person, the character is more complex than that. Though Scrooge can be very unlikable towards the start of the book, he is never simply an evil caricature. Instead, he is something much more real and human. He is instead a man weathered and hardened by a tough life and an often-unfair world. As we see in the ghost of Christmas past segment, the change from an ambitious young man to a cruel unfeeling old man was a very gradual one, that he was not aware of as it was happening. Even at his most cruel his younger more caring self is still hidden beneath. This makes his transformation completely natural and believable. If the story was just a completely evil man learning the errors of his ways, it would not have been at all effective. It is the complexities of the character that make the story so powerful.  

Dickens writing is also incredibly wonderful here. Dickens has a way with the English language and that is something even his staunchest critics must agree on, Dickens so beautifully describes each setting creating a very atmospheric feel. Many claim Dickens was the inventor of many of the ways we view and celebrate Christmas and reading the way he describes the holiday, it is easy to understand why. As well as brilliant describing the settings, the book also gives us very detailed and well-written descriptions of each of the ghosts. The way Dickens describes them gives them an other-worldly and truly magical feel. 

One of the most overlooked elements of Dickens is that he was a great humorist. This is seen throughout this book. Despite the serious nature of the message, there were multiple moments that made me laugh out loud while reading it (I especially love Dickens' description of a doornail). 

This is a pure classic for a reason and essential yuletide reading.  

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Not Without Hope

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C

A serviceable survival film.

This film tells the true story of four men who were stranded out at sea by a storm during a fishing trip.

There is definitely stuff to like about this movie. The film does a great job at setting up a good amount of danger. Even though the characters are not very well written, the amount of danger built up and how well it is built up makes you still care about them. It also manages to be hopeful without sugarcoating things at all. Instead, the movie fully acknowledges the tragedies behind what happened. The acting is quite good especially from Zachari Levi. Also, the true story is compelling enough to make it work.

Unfortunately, this movie fails to live up to its potential in quite a few ways. The whole movie is full of incredibly corny dialogue, which immediately is at odds with a film that is telling a real-life story. This movie even tries to insert a little humor at times but unfortunately that humor is horrible. The pacing feels off making the movie feel longer than it actually is. The main problem though is the characters. By the end of the film, we don't feel like we actually know who any of these people are. If you asked me to summarize some of the major characters' personalities, I couldn't do it. 

This isn't a great film by any means, but it makes for a decent trip to the movies. 

 

Video Link: Muppet Songs: Muppet Christmas Carol - Scrooge

Video Link: What Came BEFORE Mickey's Christmas Carol? - West of Neverland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: A Christmas Story (1983)

 

A Christmas Story is one of those films that has made it into social conciseness. Even those who have never seen it, know quotes from it and quite a few of the comedic bits. Though released decades later, for many this has become just as much of a Christmas staple as It's a Wonderful Life (1946). 

Everyone knows the basic story of this film. 9-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsly) wants nothing more than a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas, however his mom is dead against it, telling the kid "You'll shoot your eye out." This basic story is really an excuse for various vignettes revolving around childhood and Christmas time. 

This film is best remembered for its comedic moments, and it is downright hilarious. The kid getting his tongue stuck to a pole, the father winning a leg lamp (a major award), the pink bunny suit and the younger brother being too bundled up for the snow to move are all laugh out loud funny. What makes the comedy so funny is how instantly relatable it is. As kids, we have all had the types of daydreams that Ralphie has and we have all done something stupid because someone dared us to. Also, as kids we have all had times where getting the right toy for Christmas is the most important thing in the world and had moments of disillusionment like Ralphie discovering that Little Annie's message is just an advertisement. At the same time, we can relate to the fact the father is so proud of winning a major award that he can't see how tacky it is. We laugh because we see ourselves in each of these situations. If you ever see this movie with an audience, you will see just how funny this film actually is. 

Underneath the comedy, this movie has a lot of heart. Much of this comes from how this movie perfectly captures what it is to be like a child at Christmas. It does this so well that the film transcends cheap nostalgia. We become children again for the hour and a half we watch it. And to see Christmas again as a child is a truly wonderful thing. This movie also has an ending that perfectly captures the feeling of Christmas in a small and unassuming way. The parents simply look out the window reflecting on Christmas and the two kids lying peacefully in bed with their toys captures the feeling of the end a great Christmas day. 

The movie also benefits from the family being perfectly cast. Of course, Peter Billingsly is incredibly charming as Ralphie. Darren McGavin captures the father figure perfectly. He takes a character who could have been an over the caricature and brings a real humanity to him. Jack Nicholson was originally thought of for the role but as much as I love Jack, Darren McGavin is the better casting. Melinda Dillon is perfect as the mom, bringing a perfect balance of warmth and humor. Ian Petrella is charming and hilarious as the younger brother.

 

This movie was based off the stories of American humorist and radio star, Jean Shepard (who also narrated this film as adult Ralphie), whose comedy revolved around recalling his own boyhood in Indiana. Shepard would include serval of these stories in a book called In God We Trust, All Others Must Pay Cash. Director and co-writer Bob Clark (at this time known for the horror film, Black Christmas (1974) and the raunchy comedy Porky (1981)) had wanted to make a film based off of Shepard's work for twelve years. MGM offered him a small $4.4 million budget and Clark even used $150,000 of his own money. 

The movie opened around Thanksgiving with mostly positive reviews from critics. It received a modest $19 million at the box office but was out of theaters before Christmas. However, in the following years with home video and TV airings, it would become a true Christmas staple. 

Resources Used

Christmas in the Movies by Jeremy Arnold.  

Cowboy Church #246

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with a medley of What Child Is This and Sweet Little Jesus Boy. This comes from their 1967 album, Christmas Is Always.

This is followed by Floyd Cramer with O Holy Night. This hymn was written in 1847. The lyricist for the song (even though this is an instrumental version here) was Placide Cappeau. Cappeau was a poet who rarely wrote about Christian subjects; however, the local priest asked him to write a poem for Christmas mass. He didn't know what to write so he looked at the story of Jesus' birth in the book of Luke and tried to place himself there. He then asked his friend Adolphe Charles Adams (who had composed over 80 operas) to write some music. This hymn would gain controversy in France, when the church learned of its writers. Cappeau had left the church and joined the socialist party. Adams was not Christian, but rather Jewish. The idea that neither of the writers of a Christian hymn were in fact Christian, upset many church leaders. These church leaders denounced the song and deemed it not fit to sing in a church. Yet despite this the hymn was one of the most popular Christmas songs in France at the time. This recording comes from Floyd's 1996 album, We Wish You a Merry Christmas. 

Afterwards is the Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937recording of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This hymn began with a man named Anthony Showalter. As a fan of gospel music and an elder in a Presbyterian church, he held many "singing schools" at various churches in the south. One day he received two letters from former students who were struggling after their wives had passed. To respond to these letters, Showalter consulted scripture. He came across Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." After reading this verse lyrics for a song chorus went through his head and he wrote down, "“Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.” After using this in the letters to his former students he sent this chorus to his friend hymnist, Elisha Hoffman. In the letter he also wrote, “Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27, but I can’t come up with the verses.” Hoffman then wrote the rest of the lyrics to which Showalter put to music. The hymn was published in 1887.

Then comes Washington Phillips with his 1929 recording of I Had a Good Father and Mother.


This is followed by Johnny Cash with I Heard thew Bells on Christmas Day. This song began as a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on December 25th, 1864. At this time the United States was still in the midst of a civil war and this poem reflected and commented on this, ending with a message of hope, that even through all this war and violence, "God is not dead nor does he sleep." This poem featured two stanzas that were not used in the later hymn that directly referenced the Civil War. John B. Calkin composed the music in 1872.

Next comes Gene Autry with Frosty the Snowman. Gene recorded and released this song in 1950 (with When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter as a B-side). Later that same year, Jimmy Durante recorded it later the same year. This song was written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, who wrote another holiday themed song (though for a different holiday), Here Comes Peter Cottontail, which Gene Autry also recorded in 1950.

Next is Emmylou Harris singing Light of the Stable. Emmylou recorded this song in 1975. She would later state "Light of the Stable is one of my favorite tracks we ever cut. It was the jelling of the original recording group, the combination of Brain's [Brain Ahern] production and how incredibly creative those guys were was perfect. There is almost more space on the track then there are notes and I always loved that." The song would become the title track of her 1979 Christmas album, which I personally consider one of my favorite Christmas albums. [the quote comes from the liner notes of that album]

Today's musical selection ends with Gillian Welch performing Beulah Land.  

Now for a Christmas Sermon.

Today's movie is Tex Ritter in The Whispering Skull (1944). 

Psalm 76

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

1 God is renowned in Judah;

    in Israel his name is great.

2 His tent is in Salem,

    his dwelling place in Zion.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows,

    the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.

4 You are radiant with light,

    more majestic than mountains rich with game.

5 The valiant lie plundered,

    they sleep their last sleep;

not one of the warriors

    can lift his hands.

6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,

    both horse and chariot lie still.

7 It is you alone who are to be feared.

    Who can stand before you when you are angry?

8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,

    and the land feared and was quiet—

9 when you, God, rose up to judge,

    to save all the afflicted of the land.

10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,

    and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

11 Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;

    let all the neighboring lands

    bring gifts to the One to be feared.

12 He breaks the spirit of rulers;

    he is feared by the kings of the earth.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #259

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.

Today's cartoon selection begins with one of my favorites of the early Merrie Melodies cartoons, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933). I love the atmospheric feel to the early scenes in this cartoon. There is a delightful amount of detail in these opening moments. I also simply love the title song. Despite being a Christmas cartoon, this film was released to theaters on January 7, 1933, just barely missing Christmas. The animation of the dolls singing, and dancing was reused from an earlier Merrie Melody, Red Headed Baby (1931).

Next is The New Three Stooges cartoon, Dizzy Doodlers (1965). The Stooges voice themselves in this made for TV cartoon. This is one of my favorites of The New Three Stooges cartoons. 

Next comes the Terry Toons short, Prescription for Percy (1954). This cartoon was directed by Mannie Davis. Mannie Davis had been with producer Paul Terry, since Terry's silent Aesop's Fables cartoons of the 1920's. Davis remembered working on these Aesop's Fables silents stating, "The story was very sketchy. The main thing was to get a laugh out of each little act. You know, a little piece of antic that a character would do. Today it wouldn't mean a damn thing; it's got to be acted out, and it's got to have continuity of thought. We'd be springing all over the lot. But we would keep it ... in the location it started out in. If it's an African story, everything would be down in the jungle, and then in the desert and all that. I was my own director, my own story man, and my own animator. Each man did his own little thing, his little reel, and we had, I think one month to make them ... and there were five of us making them and [we] rotated." Davis would continue working with Paul Terry and Terry Toons up until 1961. 

Now for a classic Donald Duck film, Toy Tinkers (1949). This movie features Donald once again going up against Chip and Dale. This film is directed by Jack Hannah, who at this time was directing the majority of the Donald Duck cartoons. When Chip and Dale had their very short-lived series of shorts, Jack Hannah directed all three cartoons in that series. This cartoon is laugh out loud funny. The slapstick is spot on and timed perfectly. Every joke works and they are all very funny. The humor is also displayed perfectly through the great character animation one should expect form a Disney cartoon. While Disney cartoons are often called sweet and cute in contrast to the hilarious antics at studios like Warner Brothers and MGM, the Disney studio could make slapstick cartoons as great as the rest of them (this is not an insult to Warner Brothers and MGM as I love there cartoons a lot as well). This stands as one of Disney's funniest shorts (a joke involving a telephone never fails to make me laugh out loud). The music in this cartoon was provided by Paul J. Smith, making it the first Donald Duck short in over four years to have music by someone other than Oliver Wallace. Smith's score briefly quotes a bit of music from an earlier Disney cartoon, the Silly Symphony, The Country Cousin (1936), whose music was by Leigh Harline. Unlike many theatrical Christmas cartoons, this short was actually released during the Christmas season. It hit theaters on December 19, 1949. The cartoon was nominated for an Oscar but lost to the Pepe Le Pew cartoon, For Sent-imental Reasons (1949). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for the Van Beuren cartoon, The Family Shoe (1930). The gag where the four singers' mouths all morph into one mouth was used in quite a few of these black and white Van Beuren cartoons. There is a surreal quality to this film that makes it very endearing.   

Next comes a delightful Christmas treat from Famous Studios with Hector's Hectic Life (1948). This movie was directed by former Disney animator, Bill Tytla (probably my favorite Disney animator). Tytla had worked on some of Disney's finest feature films including Snow White (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941) and his animation was often a highlight even in these masterpieces. Though the Famous Studios cartoons he directed might not be as highly praised as his animation for Disney, these films often showed him as a very capable director. This movie is a good example of this. 

Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, The Lion's Friend (1934). 

We close with The Simpsons in Simpsons X-Mas (1988). This is one of the shorts made for The Tracey Ullman Show before the animated family got their own TV show. 

Thanks very much for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald 

 Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

Video Link: Walt Disney Presents: From All of Us to All of You (1958)

Movie Review: Dust Bunny

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A

A wonderful nightmarish fantasy. 

This film's director and writer, Bryan Fuller has already proved himself to be one of the most unique voices in television. For TV he created such shows as Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies (a show I used to watch regularly) and Star Trek: Discovery as well developing Hannibal. With Dust Bunny, he brings his unique vision to cinema screens for the first time. The results are delightful. 

In the wonderful creative storyline, a little girl (Sophie Sloan) hires an assassin (Mads Mikkelsen) to kill the monster under her bed after it eats her parents. 

What makes this movie work so well is that it fully puts us into the mind of a child. For most of the movie, we only get fleeting glimpses of the monster as we spend much time viewing everything from under her covers with us. This brings us back to being unable to sleep at night because of all the noises we hear. While the monster is fully seen in later parts of the film, keeping it hidden during these early scenes was very much the right choice. Also helping these scenes bring us back to our childhood fears is none of the grownups believing her. This was always one of the most frustrating parts of being a child and it is perfectly captured here. The idea of no grownup believing us, also tending to make our fears worse. The sheer creativity in the storytelling also reflects, how our minds worked as a child. The idea of only being in danger if you touch the floor and the girl's creative ways of touching it are just the type of creativity that we all had as children. As this movie reaches out to our inner child, it does so from our most cynical side. Rather than dragging the child into the adult world, this film drags the cynical and skeptical adults into the child's world. This makes us as an audience more susceptible to this movie's childlike charms. 

As well as capturing our childlike fears, this movie is also wildly entertaining. The creepy scenes are delightfully creepy without ever becoming too scary. The action scenes are a lot of fun. The humor is often really funny. Even the relationship between the little girl and the assassin are surprisingly heartwarming. The cast is also excellent without a single weak member. Mads Mikkelsen and Sophie Sloan are wonderful as the two leads and have great chemistry with each other. Sigourney Weaver also often steals the show in her supporting role. The score by Isabella Summers (the keyboardist for the band Florence and the Machine) is also a delight and perfectly fits the tone of the film. 

Typical of a Bryan Fuller product, this move has a wonderfully creative and atmospheric look to it. The sets and the use of color are wonderful and heavily atmospheric. It is no wonder this was by the guy responsible for Pushing Daisies. Though the monster is kept mostly hidden in the early scene, when we finally see it in all its glory, the design is wonderfully creative being whimsical and scary at the same time. 

It is a shame this movie got an R rating. I am not quite sure of the reason for this as I have seen PG-13 movies that are much more intense than this. However, I think this would be a perfect gateway horror movie for kids and there is not much here that is inappropriate for at least older kids. Yet this R rating is going to keep this perfect protentional audience away from this great film. 

This is a true delight that I hope one day finds a big audience. It deserves that.  
   

Movie Trailer: Supergirl

Movie Trailer: All You Need Is Kill

Movie Trailer: Mercy

Movie Trailer: Scarlet

Video Link: Johnny Cash Christmas Show [1970]

Video Link: The Judy Garland Christmas Show (1963)

Christmas in the Movies (2018, 2023)

 

Christmas and movies are two of my favorite things in the world. So of course, when you combine them and get Christmas movies, it is a match made in heaven for me. I am not the only one to feel this way. Gathering together with loved ones to watch a Christmas movie with loved ones has become a time-honored tradition. 

Christmas movies now make up too vast a subject to ever have a definitive book. However, Jeremy Arnold's Christmas in the Movies is the best book about the subject I have read. 

One of the best parts of this book is the wide selection of Christmas movies contained within (the original 2018 edition has 30 and the updated 2023 version has 35). These films include black and white classics such as Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) to 21st century holiday traditions as Elf (2003) and Love Actually (2003) to more atypical Christmas films as Gremlins (1984) and Die Hard (1988). This selection gives a great overview of how large the world of Christmas movies is and how there is a Christmas movie for you regardless of what your taste is. The list of movies here are also full of many great films that are essential viewing for any movie fan. 

Jermey Arnold's writing style also makes this book essential reading. His writing style is very warm, inviting and unpretentious. Yet at the same time, it is incredibly insightful, giving you an even greater appreciation for movies that you have already seen many times. 

The 2023 revised addition not only includes more movies, but it also includes overviews of Christmas cartoons, the various film adaptions of A Christmas Carol and Little Women, Christmas film noirs and 21st century Christmas films. These overviews are just as well written and insightful as the essays about each of the main movies. 

This is essential reading for anyone who loves both Christmas and movies.   

Movie Review: Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

A fun but messy anime compilation film. 

A type of movie that is becoming more common today is the anime compilation film. These are feature length films that are edited from various episodes of an anime TV show. These movies are usually quite entertaining but come off as very messy in their story telling as they are being presented in a format you are never meant for. 

Fans of the franchise already know that this film can be separated into two different portions. The first is previously seen material and the second is brand new material (that will serve as the start of season three). The first portion is definitely weaker than the second. This is not due to the content (which is excellent) but rather the editing. The editing is incredibly messy. The filmmakers try to shove too much into too short of a time. The result feels rushed and doesn't work as part of a movie. Taken as part of a movie it feels too rushed. For newcomers it is hard to follow, and the characters feel greatly underdeveloped. For fans they would enjoy watching the full episodes more. With a movie that only runs an hour and a half, why couldn't they just make it longer and edit less out. Everything improves greatly in the second portion of the film. This second portion is played straight without anything noticeable being edited out. During this second portion it truly feel like a movie (despite an abrupt ending) and is simply much more enjoyable to watch. Newcomers will also now have an idea who these characters are.

AS for the content itself, it is excellent. The animation is excellent, the monster designs are creative, the action is exciting, and it has a great sense of atmosphere. It is a shame for much of the runtime; this great content is hurt by poor editing. 

 

Video Link: How Chip and Dale Created Disney’s Wildest Christmas Cartoons - West of Neverland

Cowboy Church #245

 Hello my friends and welcome back to another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers' 1940 recording of Silent Night.  This song was written in 1818 by Josef Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber. Raised in Salzburg, Mohr became an ordained priest on August 21, 1815. He was then sent to a town just north of Salzburg called Obendorf. That is where he met a schoolteacher named Franz Xaver Gruber, who would later become the organist at Old Saint Nicholas Church in 1816. They were in a need for a song on Christmas Eve, 1818. Mohr presented Gruber with a poem he had written a few years before and Gruber quickly put it to music on his guitar (the organ was broken) and that Christmas Eve the first ever audience heard Silent Night. The tempo of that earlier version was faster paced than the one we know today but it was still very popular with the audience and would soon become a song synonymous with Christmas. 

This is followed by Patty Loveless with Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. This recording comes from her 2002 album, Bluegrass & White Snow, A Mountain Christmas. 

Afterwards is Washington Phillips with his 1928 recording of What Are They Doing in Heaven Today. /

Then Gene Autry's 1947 recording of Here Comes Santa Claus.  Gene wrote this song's lyrics (the music was written by Oakley Haldeman). He was inspired by a time when he rode, Champion Jr. in Hollywood's Santa Claus Lane Parade. He rode in front of Santa Claus and heard a small boy shout, "Here comes Satna Claus." He knew that this would make a perfect Christmas song. This song became such a hit that many Christmas recordings followed as well as songs for other holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving. 

Next is Tex Ritter with his 1957 recording of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. The song was written by Edmund H. Sears. This hymn first appeared in Boston's Christian Register, on December 29, 1849 (yes after Christmas). That version has a verse that does not appear in this version, "But with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not the love-song, which they bring: O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!" This verse reflects the state if America at the time this song was written. The Civil War was approaching, and Sears found himself concerned with the division in our country. Unlike many Christmas songs, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear is not a song about peace on Earth but rather a plea for it. With the division and anger that is so prevalent today, this is a perfect Christmas song for our time. This song has been put to different tunes over the years and the two most prevalent are Carol (by Richard Storis Willis in 1850) and Noel (by Sir Arthur Sullivan in 1878). Carol is the preferred version of this song in the U.S. and is the one Willie performs here. The tune had been used for other lyrics dating back to when it was written in 1850, and was first used to accompany, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear in 1878. 

Then comes Tennessee Ernie Ford with Jesus Paid it All. Elvina Hall wrote the words to this hymn on the flyleaf of her hymn book and handed it to her pastor. Meanwhile the church's organist John Grape handed the pastor a new piece of music he had just written. Noticing that the poem and the music fit together perfectly, the pastor put the two together and the hymn was born. The hymn came to be in 1865.

Today's musical selection ends with The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1948 recording of Rounded Up in Glory. 

Today's movie is Where the Buffalo Roam (1938) starring Tex Ritter. 

Now for a Christmas message from Dr. Charles Stanley. 

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,

    and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

    you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

    you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;

    your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,

    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;

    I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #258

 Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Disney cartoons have long been associated with sentimentality and cuteness. Yet this wasn't always the case. The early black and white Mickey Mouse films were mostly pretty much the opposite. They focused purely on the gags and jokes and with keeping the comic momentum going. A perfect example of this is Mickey's Orphans (1931). This movie has all the makings for a sentimental cartoon. It takes place at Christmas time and the involves Mickey adopting a bunch of orphans. Yet all of this is played strictly for laughs and some of the kids can be a little sadistic. A review in the Motion Picture Herald stated, "The youngsters will get a real kick out of this short, and the oldsters will extract a bit of enjoyment." A review in The Film Daily gave the same sentiment stating, "It will delight all children and get many a laugh from their elders." An issue of The Film Daily (Dated February 7, 1932) stated "In addition to El Brendel in person this week's show at the Roxy is a special treat for the kids. The presentation includes four scenes based on 'Mickey's Orphans,' the Mickey Mouse cartoon that was held over for three weeks at this house. The characters of Mickey and Minnie are portrayed by the Arnaut Brothers, popular pantomimists. Patricia Bowman, Fred Waring's orchestra in a novelty entitled 'Dancing Melodies,' and the Roxyettes also are part of the proceedings. In the Mickey scenes, the Roxyettes and ballet group are made up to represent kittens, musical notes and animated furnishings in Minnie's boudoir." This cartoon was reissued to theatres in 1934.

Now for another cartoon mouse, here is Mighty Mouse in The Sultan's Birthday (1944). This film was directed by Bill Tytla, a former Disney animator and possibly my favorite Disney animator. Terry Toons producer Paul Terry thought Tytla was a great animator but a less than stellar director. Terry would state about Tytla, "He was one of the best animators that had ever lived. And he could render anything that you gave him to render very well. But he didn't seem to have that starting quality. He was lost unless somebody laid it out pretty well and then he would embellish it." Terry when talking about Tytla singled out a bit of animation from this particular film. "I remember a dancing girl in that picture. Really made that picture. A beautiful piece of animation." 

Next comes Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil in The Fright Before Christmas (1979). This short was originally created for the TV special Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979). This was the final of three segments in that special and was directed Friz Freleng. This makes this the first time Taz was directed by someone other than Robert McKimson. The result like the whole special is a delightful Christmas treat and one of the best uses of Taz after the golden age of Looney Tunes. Also appearing here is Bugs' nephew Clyde. Clyde had only appeared in two theatrical shorts, His Hare Raising Tale (1951) and Yankee Doodle Bugs (1954). Both of those were directed by Friz Freleng. 

Now for The New Three Stooges cartoon, Tin Horn Dude (1965). The Three Stooges voice themselves in this made for TV cartoon.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now it is silent movie time with the Walt Disney directed Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Empty Socks (1927). This cartoon was lost for years, when in 2014 archivist Kjetil Kvale Sørenssen found a print in the National Library of Norway, incorrectly labeled as a Felix the cat cartoon. The film runs shorter than the average Oswald cartoon making it seem likely there are still a couple minutes missing. The cartoon features a legendary trio of animators working on it, Ub Iwerks, Hugh Harman and Rollin “Ham” Hamilton. Hugh and Ham would leave Walt the following Spring. Both would later become instrumental figures in the earliest Looney Tunes shorts. Ub Iwerks would go on to be one the most important figures in early Disney history, even being Mickey Mouse's co-creator (with Walt Disney of course). Unlike many Christmas cartoons of this era, this film was actually released in December. It had its general release on Monday, December 12, 1927. 

Next is Betty Boop in Is My Palm Read (1933). This short features Betty at her sexy, naughty and surreal pre-code best. 

Now we celebrate Christmas with Pooch the Pup in Merry Dog (1933). This short has everything I love about Walter Lantz cartoons of this era. The jokes are incredibly silly and more often than not just plain strange. In fact, this film is pretty much one bizarre joke after another, and I simply love it. The following is an exhibitors review from the Motion Picture Herald, "MERRY DOG, THE: Pooch the "Pup—Excellent cartoon for anybody's program. "Night Before Christmas" theme with snowstorm and blizzard effects which almost made us forget that it was the hottest day of the summer. (106 and no shade.) Running time. 8 minutes. —Wm. Sayre, Delmar Theatre, Morrill, Neb., Rural and small town patronage."

Today's cartoon selection ends with A Garfield Christmas Special (1987). This is a very underrated TV Christmas special that I believe deserves much more attention and love than it gets. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons by David Bossert

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

https://www.jbkaufman.com/movie-of-the-month/empty-socks-1927

 

Movie Review: Hamnet

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A wonderful tearjerker. 

So far, I have been a big fan of director/writer Chloé Zhao's work (The Rider (2017), Nomadland (2021), Eternals (2021)) and this movie is just the kind of greatness I expect from her.

This movie follows the story of Willaim Shakespeare meeting his wife, falling in love and having children, including a boy named Hamnet. However, as he follows his dream of being a playwright, he spends less and less time with his family, leaving them alone during hard times. I don't know how true this story is. I have read almost all of Shakespeare's plays (as well as having watched many movie adaptions) but have never done much looking into his actual life. 

This is a pure tearjerker plain and simple. Anyone susceptible to these types of movies and even some who are not usually, will find themselves an emotional wreck with a least a couple moments. Yet this movie is much more effective than many sad movies as of lot. Too many modern sad movies simply seem to take a perverse pleasure in torturing the main character as much as possible, simply piling one misery on top of another until it simply becomes ridiculous. Yet this is luckily not the case here. While the sad scenes are truly heartbreaking, there are also moments of joy, sweetness and romance here. These scenes all make the story feel more real and natural, making the heartbreaking scenes even more effective. There are also some very quiet and reflective scenes here. One of Zhao's best gifts as a filmmaker is how well she can use quiet and silence at the exact right moment to make the movie more emotionally powerful. This can be seen in all her movies, but it is especially effective here. The film is also boosted by very real and moving performances from Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckly as the leads. Both bring a real emotionally honesty to this movie. Buckley's performance in the final scenes will leave you heartbroken. 

If I had one complaint about this film, it is that for some reason, the filmmakers decided not to use William Shakespeare's name until the film was nearing its end. This is pointless because we all know this is a movie about Shakespeare, especially after he writes, " But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." Even someone who has never actually read Shakespeare knows where that quote is from. 

This is such a moving and powerful film.   

Video Link: Judy Garland - Merry Christmas (From in the Good Old Summertime (1949))

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: The Santa Clause 2 (2002)

 

It took 8 years for The Santa Clause (1994) to get a sequel, but the wait was worth it. While this sequel may not be the pure Christmas classic the first film was, it is still a yuletide delight. 

In this sequel, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is incredibly happy in his new role as Santa Claus. However, things go south when he finds out that he must get married to continue to be Santa Claus. If he doesn't, he will lose his Christmas magic and have to go back to being a regular man. At the same time, he finds out that his son Charlie has found himself on the naughty list. He decides to go back home to both find out what is happening with his son and find love. To run the North Pole while he is gone, he and two of his main elves create a toy Santa. However, the toy Santa believes all children are naughty and believes that they should all get pool.

This sequel is cornier, sillier and more over the top than the first movie. However, it knows exactly what it is, which makes it a lot of fun. In fact, humor is the one area where this film may improve over the first. The scenes with the toy Santa are incredibly over the top and funny. While this may not be a franchise that necessarily needs villains at least we have a very entertaining one here. This allows Tim Allen to let out his over-the-top comedic side without distracting from the film's story. There are also plenty of slapstick gags throughout and most of them work very well. 

While the movie is more over the top in the comedy department, it still has a lot of heart. The romantic story is actually very sweet and heartwarming. Elizabeth Mitchell and Tim Allen have great chemistry and the romance between them is very believable and surprisingly touching. Another great addition to this film was Scott's niece Lucy. Played wonderfully by child actress Liliana Mumy (who now in her adult career has been providing voices for cartoons for years (most recently as the voice of Leni Loud on TV's The Loud House), she is a sweet and adorable child who feels completely natural and never cloying. Her relationship with both Scott and Charlie feels completely real and earned. 

I only really have two complaints about this film. One is that there is too much going on with multiple storylines. This takes away some of the simple charm if the first movie. The other complaint is that many of the songs on the soundtrack seem to be trying too hard to be hip and cool. This can make the movie feel too much like the early 2000's that it takes away from the timeless quality this type of Christmas film should have. 

This movie was directed by Michael Lembeck. Like John Pasquin (the director of the first movie), he is much better known for his work in TV. He worked on TV as both an actor and director. As an actor his best-known TV role is as Max Horvath on the sitcom, Max Horvath. As a director he directed episodes of such popular shows as Mad About You, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and Baby Daddy. He would also go on to direct the third film in this series. In this movie the Tooth Fairy plays an important role. Lembeck would later direct Dwayne Johnson in The Tooth Fairy (2010). 

This may be a corny and silly movie. However, with a mug of hot coco it makes for delightful Yuletide viewing on a December night.