Jingle All the Way

In Minneapolis, workaholic mattress salesman Howard Langston loves his wife Liz, and nine-year-old son Jamie, but rarely finds time for them. He is often put in a bad light by his neighbor, divorcé Ted Maltin, who harbors unrequited feelings for Liz. Howard misses Jamie's karate class graduation, due to being pulled over by Officer Hummel. Howard resolves to redeem himself by fulfilling Jamie's Christmas wish for a Turbo Man action figure based on the popular television superhero. Liz in fact asked him to buy the toy two weeks earlier, which he forgot about. On Christmas Eve, Howard sets out to buy the toy, but finds that every store has sold out. In the process he develops a rivalry with Myron Larabee, a postal worker father with the same goal. In desperation, Howard attempts to buy a figure from a counterfeit ring run by con artists dressed in Santa suits, which results in a massive fight in the warehouse, broken up by the police. He narrowly escapes arrest by posing as an undercover officer. Exhausted at his failure and out of fuel, Howard goes to Mickey's Diner and calls home, intending to tell Liz the truth. Jamie answers the phone but keeps reminding Howard of his promise to be home on time for the annual Holiday Wintertainment Parade. Losing his patience, he yells at his son. When Howard tries to apologize, Jamie scolds him for not keeping his promises, causing him to feel guilty. Howard finds Myron at the diner, where they overhear a radio station advertising a competition for a Turbo Man doll. The ensuing fight between them results in the diner's phone getting disconnected, forcing them to race to the radio station on foot, where the DJ reveals that the competition was actually for a Turbo Man gift certificate. The police arrive, but Howard and Myron escape after Myron threatens the officers by pretending one of his packages is a bomb. However, when Officer Hummel opens the package, it actually explodes, much to Howard and Myron's shock. Upon returning home, Howard finds Ted putting the star on his family's Christmas tree. In retaliation, he starts to steal the Turbo Man doll Ted bought for his son Johnny, but cannot bring himself to do it. Liz catches him in the act, and Howard is left alone while his family goes to the Christmas parade with Ted and Johnny. After dropping off Jamie and Johnny, Ted attempts to seduce Liz, but she rejects him. Meanwhile, remembering his promise to Jamie to go to the parade, Howard decides to attend as well, but runs into Officer Hummell again. The resulting chase leads to Howard hiding inside a storage room, where he is mistaken for the actor portraying Turbo Man. As Turbo Man, Howard uses his chance to present the special edition action figure to Jamie. However, they are confronted by Myron dressed as Turbo Man's archenemy, Dementor. Despite Howard's pleas for Myron to stop, another chase ensues, during which Myron grabs the toy from Jamie but is cornered by the police, while Howard rescues Jamie. Howard reveals himself to his family and also, he tells them that from now on he will keep his promises and will spend more time with Jamie and Liz. Officer Hummell shows up and gives the Turbo Man doll to Jamie. Even though Howard apologizes to Officer Hummell for the accidents he caused, Officer Hummell is shocked to learn that he dealt with "Turbo Man" the entire time. Jamie then decides to have Myron have the doll to give his son, because Howard being Turbo Man and was the best gift he ever got. The entire parade then praises Howard as his son admits his performance as Turbo Man was the best present he could get. In a post-credits scene, Howard finishes decorating their Christmas tree later that night by putting the star on top. After kissing and hugging, Liz says that everything Howard went through for Jamie showed his love for him, and she says that if Howard is willing to go through what he did for the Turbo Man action figure, it makes her wonder, to which Howard asks, "What?" Then she smiles and asks Howard, "What did you get me?" With an alarmed expression, Howard realizes in horror that he completely forgot to buy her a gift, as the screen quickly fades to black. ==Cast==

Development The film draws inspiration from the high demand for Christmas toys such as the Cabbage Patch Kids and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which often led to intense searching and occasional violence among shoppers, such as the Cabbage Patch riots, over finding the toys. While admitting to missing the clamor for the Cabbage Patch Kids and Power Rangers, producer Chris Columbus experienced a similar situation in 1995 when he attempted to obtain a Buzz Lightyear action figure from the film Toy Story, released that year. As a result, he rewrote Kornfield's script, which was accepted by 20th Century Fox. Columbus was always "attracted to the dark side of the happiest holiday of the year", so wrote elements of the film as a satire of the commercialization of Christmas. Brian Levant was hired to direct the film. Columbus said Levant "underst[ood] the humor in the material" and "was very animated and excited, and he had a vision of what he wanted to do". Levant said "The story that was important to me was between the father and son... It's a story about love, and a father's journey to deliver it in the form of a Turbo Man doll. The fact that I got to design a toy line and do the commercials and make pajamas and comic books was fun for me as a filmmaker. But at its root, the movie's about something really sweet. It's about love and building a better family. I think that's consistent with everything I've done." Arnold Schwarzenegger was quickly cast. Columbus also exited that project to work on Jingle All the Way. The film marks Schwarzenegger's fourth appearance as the lead in a comedy film, following Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Junior (1994). Schwarzenegger was paid a reported $20 million for the role. Columbus initially wanted Joe Pesci to play Myron. but Columbus waited for him to return to allow him to audition and, although Sinbad felt he had "messed" it up, he was given the part. Schwarzenegger also improvised many of his responses in his conversations with Sinbad's character. Filming Filming took place in Minnesota for five weeks from April 15, 1996; at the time, it was the largest film production to ever take place in the state. Jingle All the Way was set and filmed in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota at locations such as Bloomington's Mall of America, but overall found the locals to be "respectful" and "lovely people." Levant spent several months in the area before filming in order to prepare. The film uses artistic license by treating Minneapolis and Saint Paul as one city, as this was logistically easier; the police are labeled "Twin Cities Police" in the film. due to safety concerns. The set was designed to resemble 2nd Avenue; the parade was shot from above by helicopters and stitched into matte shots of the real-life street. and the warehouse fight scene between Howard and the criminal Santas, for which a Pasadena furniture warehouse was used. ==Music==

TVT Records released the film's soundtrack album on Audio CD on November 26, 1996. It features only two of composer David Newman's pieces from Jingle All the Way, but features many of the songs by other artists included in the film, as well as other Christmas songs and new tracks by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Intrada Music Group released a Special Collection limited edition of Newman's full 23-track score on November 3, 2008. ==Release==

Marketing As Schwarzenegger only signed on for the film in February and the film was shot so quickly, only six and a half months were available for merchandising, instead of the ideal year. As such, merchandising was limited to a 13.5-inch replica $25 Talking Turbo Man action figure and the West Coast exclusive Turbo Man Time Racer vehicle, while no tie-in promotions could be secured. Home media The film was released on VHS on October 28, 1997, and in November 1998 it was released on DVD. It was re-released on DVD in December 2004, In December of the following year, the Family Fun Edition was released on Blu-ray Disc. Lawsuit In 1998, Murray Hill Publishing sued 20th Century Fox for $150,000, claiming that the idea for the film was stolen from a screenplay they had purchased from high school teacher Brian Webster entitled Could This Be Christmas? They said the script had 36 similarities with Jingle All the Way, including the plot, dialogue and character names. Laurel died a few months after the verdict, before receiving any of the money. On appeal, the damages figure was lowered to $1.5 million, before the verdict itself was quashed in 2004 after a judge decided the idea was not stolen, as Fox had bought Kornfield's screenplay before he or anybody else at Fox had read Could This Be Christmas? ==Reception==

Box office Opening on November 22, Jingle All the Way made $12.1 million in its first weekend, opening at #4 behind Star Trek: First Contact, Space Jam and Ransom; it went on to gross $129 million worldwide, recouping its $75 million budget in the first ten days of release. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Emanuel Levy felt the film "highly formulaic" and criticized Levant's direction as little more advanced than a television sitcom. Although he felt that the script did not provide sufficient opportunity for Hartman, Wilson and Conrad to give exceptional performances, he opined that "Schwarzenegger has developed a light comic delivery, punctuated occasionally by an ironic one-liner," while "Sinbad has good moments". Neil Jeffries of Empire disagreed, feeling Schwarzenegger to be "wooden" and Sinbad to be "trying desperately to be funnier than his hat" but praised Lloyd as the "saving grace" of the film. The New York Times critic Janet Maslin felt the film lacked any real plot, failed in its attempt at satire, should have included Myron's only mentioned son and "mostly wasted" Hartman, while Levant's direction was "listless". Similarly, the BBC's Neil Smith criticized the film's script, its focus on the commercialization of Christmas, as well as Schwarzenegger's performance which shows "the comic timing of a dead moose," but singled out Hartman for praise. Jack Garner of USA Today condemned the film, finding it more "cynical" than satirical, stating "this painfully bad movie has been inspired strictly by the potential jingle of cash registers." He wrote of Levant's directorial failure as he "offers no ... sense of comic timing," while "pauses in the midst of much of the dialogue are downright painful." Trevor Johnston suggested that the film "seems to mark a point of decline in the Schwarzenegger career arc" and the anti-consumerism message largely failed, with "Jim Belushi's corrupt mall Santa with his stolen-goods warehouse ... provid[ing] the film's sole flash of dark humour." IGN's Mike Drucker praised its subject matter as "one of the few holiday movies to directly deal with the commercialization of Christmas" although felt the last twenty minutes of the film let it down, as the first hour or so had "some family entertainment" value if taken with a "grain of salt". He concluded the film was "a member of the so-corny-its-good genre," while "Arnold delivers plenty of one-liners ripe for sound board crank callers." Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars, writing that he "liked a lot of the movie", which he thought had "energy" and humor which would have mass audience appeal. He was, though, disappointed by "its relentlessly materialistic view of Christmas, and by the choice to go with action and (mild) violence over dialogue and plot." Kevin Carr of 7M Pictures concluded that while the film is not very good, as a form of family entertainment it is "surprisingly fun." Accolades ==Sequel==

Over 18 years after the release of the original film, a stand-alone sequel, Jingle All the Way 2, was released straight-to-DVD in December 2014. Directed by Alex Zamm and produced by WWE Studios and 20th Century Fox, the film has a similar plot to the original, but is otherwise not connected and has none of the original cast or characters. The lead roles were instead played by Larry the Cable Guy and Santino Marella. ==See also==